Prior distributions for an integrated population model.

Prior distribution and hyperparameters for a Bayesian integrated population model of white-tailed deer in Tennessee using harvest data. Mean and standard deviation (SD) are specified on the complementary log-log (cloglog) scale for natural survival, hunting survival, and reporting rates, and on the log scale for recruitment rates. Age-specific differences in survival and reporting rates were modeled using log-hazard ratio (LHR) offsets, which were given weakly informative normal priors. Standard deviations for random effects were modeled as normal with mean 0 and SD estimated from Gamma-distributed priors. Prior-posterior overlap (for SD parameter the order is female; male) was used to evaluate priors, and when overlap was > 35% we calculated data-agreement criterion (DAC).