Data from: A hierarchical population model for the estimation of latent prey abundance and demographic rates of a nomadic predator

Linking the demographic parameters underlying population change to
environmental conditions is a central goal of population demography.
However, multicollinearity among processes in ecological studies can
complicate parameter estimation and inference. We sought to demonstrate
the use of structural equation modelling, a technique for estimating
hypothesized causal pathways among collinear observed and unobserved
variables, in the context of integrated population models. We monitored a
population of Tengmalm's owls (Aegolius funereus) breeding in the
Jura Mountains of northwestern Switzerland and eastern France for 31 years
(1990-2020) and collected data on captured prey items. We use concepts
central to structural equation models (i.e., latent variables) and
integrated population models to estimate the effects of latent prey
abundance on Tengmalm's owl demographic parameters. We observed
strong positive effects of latent prey abundance during time t on clutch
size, fledging probability, and immigration rates into the breeding
population, and strong effects of positive changes in latent prey
abundance from time t to t+1 on first-year and adult survival. We also
observed long-term declines in immigration into the study area. Our work
provides a straightforward example of incorporating concepts central to
structural equation models (e.g., latent variables) to model environmental
processes underlying demographic rates in integrated population models,
and has interesting implications for metapopulation ecology of
Tengmalm's owl populations in Europe.