Owen Jones

About

I am an Associate Professor at the University of Southern Denmark, where my research focuses on the diversity of life histories, demographic behaviours, and phenological patterns across the tree of life. My work addresses some of the most fundamental questions in life history research: why do some species live long lives while others have shorter lifespans, and how do organisms time their life cycle events in response to environmental changes? Demography lies at the core of my research, which I approach across three hierarchical levels: * Single Population Level: I explore demographic processes within individual populations using advanced tools such as Bayesian Survival Trajectory Analysis. * Species Level: I adopt a 'macrodemographic' perspective, studying multiple spatially separated populations of the same species to uncover broader patterns and trends. * Comparative Level: I conduct cross-species analyses of demographic traits to understand better the evolution of life history strategies, including ageing mechanisms and patterns. In addition to my demographic work, I have a growing line of research on phenology, investigating the timing of life cycle events such as reproduction, migration, and flowering and how these are influenced by environmental variation and climate change. This new focus integrates ecological, evolutionary, and demographic perspectives to explore how timing shifts affect population dynamics and species interactions. This research requires developing and applying sophisticated analytical techniques to integrate demographic, phylogenetic, and phenological data. Alongside addressing key questions in the evolution of life histories and phenology, I contribute to advancing statistical methods and building demographic databases to support broader ecological and evolutionary research.

Work

University of Southern Denmark
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Associate Professor

Denmark

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University of Southern Denmark
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Assistant Professor

Denmark

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Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
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Research Scientist

Germany

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Zoological Society of London - Institute of Zoology

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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Imperial College London
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Post-doctoral Research Associate

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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Imperial College London
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Post-doctoral Research Associate

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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Education

University of Aberdeen
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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MSc Ecology

Imperial College London
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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PhD Biology

University of York
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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BSc Biology

Publications

The compadre Plant Matrix Database: an open online repository for plant demography

Published by

Journal of Ecology

Summary

journal-article

Grazing ecology, parasitism and performance of Soay sheep on St. Kilda

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journal-article

Plant demographic knowledge is biased towards short-term studies of temperate-region herbaceous perennials

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Oikos

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journal-article

Plant demographic knowledge is biased towards short‐term studies of temperate‐region herbaceous perennials

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Oikos

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journal-article

High-resolution data are necessary to understand the effects of climate on plant population dynamics of a forest herb

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Ecology

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journal-article

Plant demographic knowledge is biased towards short‐term studies of temperate‐region herbaceous perennials

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Oikos

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journal-article

Uncertainty propagation in matrix population models

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Methods in Ecology and Evolution

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journal-article

Uncertainty propagation in matrix population models: Gaps, importance and guidelines

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Methods in Ecology and Evolution

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journal-article

High‐resolution data are necessary to understand the effects of climate on plant population dynamics of a forest herb

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Ecology

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journal-article

Sensitive aerial hearing within a noisy nesting soundscape in a deep-diving seabird, the common murre Uria aalge

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Marine Ecology Progress Series

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journal-article

Anyone Can Get Old—All You Have to Do Is Live Long Enough: Understanding Mortality and Life Expectancy in European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus)

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Animals

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journal-article

Anyone Can Get Old—All You Have to Do Is Live Long Enough: Understanding Mortality and Life Expectancy in European Hedgehogs (<i>Erinaceus europaeus</i>)

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Animals

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journal-article

Anyone Can Get Old—All You Have to Do Is Live Long Enough

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Animals

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journal-article

Beyond the Fast-Slow Continuum of Life Histories

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other

A standard protocol to report discrete stage-structured demographic information

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Methods in Ecology and Evolution

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journal-article

Uncertainty propagation in matrix population models: gaps, importance, and guidelines

Summary

preprint

Life-history predicts global population responses to the weather in terrestrial mammals

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eLife

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journal-article

The effect of climate on age specific survival and senescence in a Hazel Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) population in Lithuania, across 1997-2021

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ARPHA Conference Abstracts

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conference-abstract

Rcompadre and Rage—Two R packages to facilitate the use of the COMPADRE and COMADRE databases and calculation of life‐history traits from matrix population models

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Methods in Ecology and Evolution

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journal-article

Mechanisms and Pathways Contributing to the Diversity of Aging Across the Tree of Life

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Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology

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other

The myriad of complex demographic responses of terrestrial mammals to climate change and gaps of knowledge

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Journal of Animal Ecology

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journal-article

The dynamics of vegetation grazed by a food‐limited population of Soay sheep on St Kilda

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Journal of Ecology

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journal-article

The dynamics of vegetation grazed by a food-limited population of Soay sheep on St Kilda

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Journal of Ecology

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Bridging gaps in demographic analysis with phylogenetic imputation

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Conservation Biology

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journal-article

Bridging gaps in demographic analysis with phylogenetic imputation

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Conservation Biology

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journal-article

The effect of nest temperature on growth and survival in juvenile Great Tits Parus major

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Ecology and Evolution

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journal-article

Rcompadre and Rage - two R packages to facilitate the use of the COMPADRE and COMADRE databases and calculation of life history traits from matrix population models

Summary

preprint

Life-history predicts global population responses to the weather in the terrestrial mammals

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preprint

Herbaceous perennial plants with short generation time have stronger responses to climate anomalies than those with longer generation time

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Nature Communications

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journal-article

Life tables

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Demographic Methods across the Tree of Life

Summary

book-chapter

Drivers of large‐scale spatial demographic variation in a perennial plant

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Ecosphere

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journal-article

Climate causes shifts in grey seal phenology by modifying age structure

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Proceedings of the Royal Society B

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journal-article

Plant demographic knowledge is biased towards short-term studies of temperate-region herbaceous perennials

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preprint

Short-lived plants have stronger demographic responses to climate

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biorxiv

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preprint

My family and other animals: Human demography under a comparative cross-species lens

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Human Evolutionary Demography

Summary

book-chapter

Drivers of large-scale spatial demographic variation in a perennial plant

Summary

preprint

Genetic structure of the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) in Denmark

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PLOS ONE

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journal-article

Genetic structure of the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) in Denmark

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PLOS ONE

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journal-article

Comments to “Persistent problems in the construction of matrix population models”

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Ecological Modelling

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journal-article

The diel pattern in harbour porpoise clicking behaviour is not a response to prey activity

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Scientific Reports

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journal-article

The diel pattern in harbour porpoise clicking behaviour is not a response to prey activity

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Scientific Reports

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journal-article

Comments to “Persistent problems in the construction of matrix population models”

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Ecological Modelling

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other

Census data aggregation decisions can affect population‐level inference in heterogeneous populations

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Ecology and Evolution

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journal-article

Demographic amplification is a predictor of invasiveness among plants

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Nature Communications

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journal-article

Global analysis reveals complex demographic responses of mammals to climate change

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BioRxiv

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journal-article

The ecology of suburban juvenile European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) in Denmark

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Ecology and Evolution

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journal-article

European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) as a natural reservoir of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus carrying mecC in Denmark

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PLOS ONE

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journal-article

Animal life history is shaped by the pace of life and the distribution of age-specific mortality and reproduction

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Nature Ecology & Evolution

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journal-article

Data gaps and opportunities for comparative and conservation biology

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PNAS

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journal-article

The diversity of population responses to environmental change

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Ecology Letters

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journal-article

The diversity of population responses to environmental change

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Ecology Letters

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journal-article

Towards global data products of Essential Biodiversity Variables on species traits

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Nature Ecology & Evolution

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journal-article

Senescence is not inevitable

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Biogerontology

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journal-article

Individual heterogeneity determines sex differences in mortality in a monogamous bird with reversed sexual dimorphism

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Journal of Animal Ecology

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journal-article

Individual heterogeneity determines sex differences in mortality in a monogamous bird with reversed sexual dimorphism

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Journal of Animal Ecology

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journal-article

Global representation of threatened amphibians ex situ is bolstered by non-traditional institutions, but gaps remain

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Animal Conservation

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journal-article

Introduction: Wilting Leaves and Rotting Branches

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The Evolution of Senescence in the Tree of Life

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book-chapter

Life History Trade-Offs Modulate the Speed of Senescence

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The Evolution of Senescence in the Tree of Life

Summary

book-chapter

Senescence is not inevitable

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Biogerontology

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journal-article

The evolution of senescence in the tree of life

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book

Actuarial senescence in a long-lived orchid challenges our current understanding of ageing

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Proceedings of the Royal Society B

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journal-article

Life History Patterns

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology

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encyclopedia-entry

The emergence of longevous populations

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

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journal-article

The emergence of longevous populations

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PNAS

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journal-article

Age and sex-specific mortality of wild and captive populations of a monogamous pair-bonded primate (Aotus azarae)

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American Journal of Primatology

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journal-article

COMADRE

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Journal of Animal Ecology

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journal-article

Fast-slow continuum and reproductive strategies structure plant life-history variation worldwide

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PNAS

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journal-article

COMADRE: a global database of animal demography

Summary

report

Age and sex-specific mortality of wild and captive populations of a monogamous pair-bonded primate ( Aotus azarae )

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Am. J. Primatol.

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journal-article

Diversity of ageing across the tree of life

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journal-article

The Pace and Shape of Senescence in Angiosperms

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Journal of Ecology

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journal-article

Zoos through the lens of the IUCN red list: A global metapopulation approach to support conservation breeding programs

Summary

journal-article

Zoos can lead the way with ex situ conservation.

Published by

World Association of Zoos and Aquariums Magazine

Summary

journal-article

Zoos through the lens of the IUCN Red List: a global metapopulation approach to support conservation breeding programs

Published by

PLOS ONE

Summary

journal-article

The pace and shape of senescence in angiosperms

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journal-article

Latitudinal gradients in taxonomic overdescription rate affect macroecological inferences using species list data

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journal-article

Latitudinal gradients in taxonomic overdescription rate affect macroecological inferences using species list data

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Ecography

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journal-article

A comparison of four methods for detecting weak genetic structure from marker data

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journal-article

A comparison of four methods for detecting weak genetic structure from marker data

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Ecology and Evolution

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journal-article

BaSTA: an R package for Bayesian estimation of age-specific survival from incomplete mark-recapture/recovery data with covariates

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Methods in Ecology and Evolution

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journal-article

Childlessness drives the sex difference in the association between income and reproductive success of modern Europeans

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journal-article

Childlessness drives the sex difference in the association between income and reproductive success of modern Europeans

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Evolution and Human Behavior

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journal-article

Differences in spawning date between populations of common frog reveal local adaptation (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2010) 107, (8292-8297) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0913792107)

Summary

journal-article

Correction for Phillimore et al., Differences in spawning date between populations of common frog reveal local adaptation

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PNAS

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journal-article

An emerging role of zoos to conserve biodiversity

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Science Magazine

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journal-article

An emerging role of zoos to conserve biodiversity

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journal-article

Conservation. An emerging role of zoos to conserve biodiversity

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Science

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Zoos and captive breeding: Response

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journal-article

COLONY: A program for parentage and sibship inference from multilocus genotype data

Summary

journal-article

Differences in spawning date between populations of common frog reveal local adaptation

Summary

journal-article

Differences in spawning date between populations of common frog reveal local adaptation

Published by

PNAS

Summary

journal-article

Molecular marker-based pedigrees for animal conservation biologists

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journal-article

Molecular marker-based pedigrees for animal conservation biologists

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Animal Conservation

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journal-article

Assessing the reliability of biodiversity databases: Identifying evenly inventoried island parasitoid faunas (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) worldwide

Summary

journal-article

Are species-area relationships from entire archipelagos congruent with those of their constituent islands?

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journal-article

Using taxonomic revision data to estimate the geographic and taxonomic distribution of undescribed species richness in the Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea)

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Insect Conservation and Diversity

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journal-article

Re-establishment of nematode infra-community and host survivorship in wild Soay sheep following anthelmintic treatment

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journal-article

Using taxonomic revision data to estimate the geographic and taxonomic distribution of undescribed species richness in the Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea)

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journal-article

Senescence rates are determined by ranking on the fast-slow life-history continuum

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journal-article

A web resource for the UK's long-term individual-based time-series (LITS) data

Summary

journal-article

A web resource for the UK's long-term individual-based time-series (LITS) data

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Journal of Animal Ecology

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journal-article

Correcting the problem of false incongruence due to noise imbalance in the incongruence length difference (ILD) test

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journal-article

Parasite-induced anorexia in a free-ranging mammalian herbivore: An experimental test using Soay sheep

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journal-article

Distribution of a naturally fluctuating ungulate population among heterogeneous plant communities

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Journal of Animal Ecology

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journal-article

Distribution of a naturally fluctuating ungulate population among heterogeneous plant communities: Ideal and free?

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journal-article

Predictors of early survival in Soay sheep: Cohort-, maternal- and individual-level variation

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Predictors of early survival in Soay sheep cohort-, maternal- and individual-level variation

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Proceedings of the Royal Society B

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journal-article

Different hunting strategies select for different weights in red deer

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journal-article

Different hunting strategies select for different weights in red deer

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Biology Letters

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journal-article