Welcome to the RMark workshop! This workshop introduces participants to fundamental models used in fish and wildlife population analysis. Although examples focus on avian systems, models covered in this workshop can be applied across animal taxa. Course content includes the parameterization of models used to estimate ecological state variables (occupancy, abundance) and population vital rates (survival, recruitment, dispersal) of both marked and unmarked populations, accounting for imperfect capture/detection probability. The workshop covers closed population models, Cormack-Jolly-Seber models, multistate models, reverse-time Pradel models, and Robust Design models with capture-mark-recapture data, site-occupancy models with detection-nondetection data, known-fate models with bio-telemetry data, and nest survival models with data from nest checks. Models are fitted using the ‘RMark’ package in Program R. Each mini lesson will begin with an introduction to the subject material through a brief lecture followed by the application of the concepts through exercises in R (e.g., formatting data, fitting and selecting models, visualizing predicted relationships) using simulated or real datasets.
For instructions on how to download individual folders from a GitHub repository, please search for the video under 'Video Lessons' below. Also, please see the 'To complete before coming to the workshop' section below on downloading/installing the software and packages required to execute the R scripts that accompany each mini-lesson.
Gabriel Barrile (Please email gbarrile@uwyo.edu with any questions, comments, or requests.)
Downloading Individual Folders from GitHub
Download and install the following programs for your platform:
R and RStudio Desktop
Once you have R and RStudio set up on your device, install the following packages via pasting these commands into your prompt (i.e., copy and paste the code into the "Console" of RStudio and hit enter):
install.packages("tidyverse")
install.packages("ggplot2")
install.packages("RMark") # you first will need Program MARK installed on your computerSimply click the Code dropdown button at the top-right of this page (scroll up to see it). Then hit Download ZIP in the dropdown menu. If you're not sure where to save it, just download and unzip to your Desktop.
This workshop at the University of Wyoming was made possible by the Wyoming Bird Initiative for Resilience and Diversity (WYOBIRD). A special thank you Dr. Corey Tarwater for assisting with logistics, support, and conceptualization.