This package creates population projection matrices for use in population ecological analyses. The particular specialty of the package is the construction of historical matrices, which are 2-dimensional matrices comprising 3 time intervals of demographic information. The package is robust and can produce function-based and raw matrices for both standard ahistorical (i.e. 2 time interval) and historical analyses.
The lefko package provides five categories of functions: 1. Data transformation and handling functions 2. Functions determining population characteristics from vertical data 3. Model building and selection 4. Matrix / integral projection model creation functions 5. Population dynamics analysis functions
It also includes example datasets complete with sample code.
Shefferson, R.P., J. Ehrlen, and S. Kurokawa. In press. lefko3: analyzing individual history through size-classified matrix population models. Methods in Ecology and Evolution.