Disentangling the effects of temperature and rainfall on the population dynamics of Kalahari meerkats

In arid habitats, recent increases in summer temperatures associated with global warming are adversely affecting many animal populations. However, annual rainfall also varies widely in many of these areas, and we do not yet fully understand the relative impact of variation in temperature and rainfall on the demography of arid-zone species. Here, we examine the effects of temperature and rainfall variation on the demography of meerkats (Suricata suricatta) in the southern Kalahari over the last 25 years. During this period, average maximum monthly air temperatures at our study site increased by around 1.5ºC to 3.2ºC, while annual rainfall fluctuated without a consistent trend. We show that annual changes in female fecundity and recruitment were more closely correlated with variation in rainfall. Increasing air temperatures were associated with reductions in the recruitment of pups and the survival of some age classes but, in most cases, the demographic consequences of high temperatures w..., The data was collected as part of a long-term study of meerkats in the southern Kalahari Desert. All methods of data collection are outlined in the paper and are also summarised in Clutton-Brock and Manser (2016). The project's data is stored on a centralised SQL database and was processed for analyses by the lead author using R.  
Clutton-Brock, T.H., & Manser, M.B. (2016) Meerkat: cooperative breeding in the Kalahari. In Cooperative breeding in vertebrates. (eds, W.D. Koenig, & J.L. Dickinson), pp. 294-317. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107338357.018, , # **Disentangling the effects of temperature and rainfall on the population dynamics of Kalahari meerkats**

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.brv15dvj5](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.brv15dvj5)

The R code and data sets in the repository can be used to replicate the analyses in our paper \"**Disentangling the effects of temperature and rainfall on the population dynamics of Kalahari meerkats**\" ([https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.10988](https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.10988))

The aim of the study was to explore the relative impact of variation in rainfall and temperature on the demography and population dynamics of meerkats, a cooperatively breeding mongoose that lives in the semi-arid regions of southern Africa.

#### The analyses are contained within four distinct R scripts.

**(1) Analysis 1 - Climate and vegetation productivity trends and relationships.R**

**(2)** **Analysis 2 - Trends in demographic parameters and adult body mass.R**

**(3) Analysis 3 - Effects of climate on demographic param...