Data and R code for: Linking climate variability to demography in cooperatively breeding meerkats

This dryad repository contains data sets and R scripts for our Ecological
Monographs (2025) paper: Linking climate variability to demography in
cooperatively breeding meerkats. The aim of our study was to develop a
mechanistic understanding of how variation in rainfall and temperature
affect meerkat demography. Specifically, we: Identified the critical
period during which rainfall influences vegetation productivity at the
field site. Investigated how vegetation productivity and temperature
influence meerkat foraging performance. Examined how these climatic
variables impact daily weight fluctuations and overall body condition.
Analyzed conditions under which meerkats fail to accumulate enough mass
during foraging to offset overnight losses. Explored the influence of body
condition on reproduction and survival. Projected future temperature
trends and their implications for meerkat populations up to the mid and
end of the century. To achieve these aims, our study included numerous
data sets and analyses which we detail in the README.  Please
note that the individual, group, and litter identities have been
anonymised for this study. This is to prevent anyone from trying to link
different studies carried out by the Kalahari Meerkat Project, and using
the data to conduct their own analyses without knowledge of how the data
have been processed, or of the system from which they derive. Within our
specific study, the identities are relationally-linked, so that, for
example, Individual "4" is consistent across data sets.