Habitat and density effects on the demography of an expanding wolf population in Central Europe

Demographic parameters are key to understanding population dynamics. Here, we analyse the survival and reproduction of the German wolf population in the 20 years following recolonization. Specifically, we analysed the effects of environmental, ecological, and individual characteristics on i) the survival probability of the population; ii) annual survival rates of age classes; iii) reproduction probability; and iv) reproductive output, measured as the number of detected pups/juveniles. Using the Cox proportional hazards model, we estimated a median survival time of circa 3 years for wolves. Annual survival probabilities were found to be 0.75 for juveniles, 0.75 for subadults, and 0.88 for adults. Survival was lower for juveniles in winter and for subadult males in summer, probably associated with dispersal events. Low habitat suitability was clearly associated with lower survival in juveniles and subadults, but not in adults. Local territory density was related to increased survival. Rep..., Wolf individual and territory data for survival and reproduction analyses were provided by the Federal Documentation and Consultation Centre on Wolves (DBBW, www.dbb-wolf.de) and by the Senckenberg Centre for Wildlife Genetics. Information about individuals and territories was grouped into monitoring years (from the 1st of May to the 30th of April next year), starting in 2000 until 2020 (April 2021). 
Individuals were identified genetically and for the survival analysis, the original dataset was filtered to retain only reliable information on the lifespan of the animals. Thus, individuals with NA (\"not available\") in the variables 'sex' or 'date of birth' as well as individuals born or died outside the German border were removed, as the environmental data included in the demographic analyses were only available for Germany. Consequently, the status of the individuals (dead, alive) was assessed until April 2021. The age classes were defined as juveniles including pups (0-12 months), suba..., , # Habitat and density effects on the demography of an expanding wolf population in Central Europe

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dncjsxm5m](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dncjsxm5m)

Tables containing the data used in the demographic analyses of the German wolf population.

## Description of the data and file structure

**Two tables** are provided:

* *data_wolf_survival_table.csv.* This table contains individual information used in the survival analyses: information on the number of weeks an individual was alive *(weeks_date*) until confirmed death (*status* = 1) or went missing (censored, *status* = 0), sex, the month of the year that the individual was last detected *(death_month),* the season of the last detection, habitat suitability of the natal (*hs_8km_natal*) and final territories (*hs_8km_final*), the information to calculate the territory density in the 50 km buffer in the natal (*_first*) and final (*_last*) territories (*nterr_buffer50* = the number of territories in buffer...