Issue 4.4 is now online! This month we have included articles model fitting, mantel tests, measuring decay, measuring diversity, growth curves and mortality rates. The issue includes the free application article “geomorph: an r package for the collection and analysis of geometric morphometric shape data“, and an open access paper entitled “Fitting complex ecological point process models with integrated nested Laplace approximation“.
About the cover: Whilst volunteer data collection programs provide an opportunity to address the challenge of studying biodiversity across large spatial scales, issues regarding the quality of the data collected in this manner must be addressed. Volunteer survey protocols are typically less standardised than their professional equivalents and in “Comparing diversity data collected using a protocol designed for volunteers with results from a professional alternative” Holt et al. consider the implications of this for marine fish diversity studies. The image of a SCUBA diver was taken at Hin Muang pinnacle in South Andaman Sea.
Photo © jimcatlinphotography.com.
Methods Blog 