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  • Open Access
  • © 2019

Sensitivity Analysis: Matrix Methods in Demography and Ecology

Authors:

  • This open access book provides a comprehensive presentation of sensitivity analysis for demographic models
  • Applicable to populations of humans, other animals, and plants
  • Develops mathematical theory and shows examples of application
  • Considers all types of population models (linear and nonlinear, deterministic and stochastic, age-classified and stage-classified)

Part of the book series: Demographic Research Monographs (DEMOGRAPHIC)

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Hardcover Book USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xviii
  2. Introductory and Methodological

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Matrix Calculus and Notation

      • Hal Caswell
      Pages 13-28Open Access
  3. Linear Models

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 29-29
    2. Individual Stochasticity and Implicit Age Dependence

      • Hal Caswell
      Pages 67-113Open Access
    3. Age × Stage-Classified Models

      • Hal Caswell
      Pages 115-138Open Access
  4. Time-Varying and Stochastic Models

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 139-139
    2. Transient Population Dynamics

      • Hal Caswell
      Pages 141-158Open Access
    3. Periodic Models

      • Hal Caswell
      Pages 159-178Open Access
    4. LTRE Decomposition of the Stochastic Growth Rate

      • Hal Caswell
      Pages 179-195Open Access
  5. Nonlinear Models

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 197-197
    2. Sensitivity Analysis of Nonlinear Demographic Models

      • Hal Caswell
      Pages 199-252Open Access
  6. Markov Chains

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 253-253
    2. Sensitivity Analysis of Discrete Markov Chains

      • Hal Caswell
      Pages 255-280Open Access
    3. Sensitivity Analysis of Continuous Markov Chains

      • Hal Caswell
      Pages 281-299Open Access

About this book

This open access book shows how to use sensitivity analysis in demography. It presents new methods for individuals, cohorts, and populations, with applications to humans, other animals, and plants. The analyses are based on matrix formulations of age-classified, stage-classified, and multistate population models. Methods are presented for linear and nonlinear, deterministic and stochastic, and time-invariant and time-varying cases.  Readers will discover results on the sensitivity of statistics of longevity, life disparity, occupancy times, the net reproductive rate, and statistics of Markov chain models in demography. They will also see applications of sensitivity analysis to population growth rates, stable population structures, reproductive value, equilibria under immigration and nonlinearity, and population cycles. Individual stochasticity is a theme throughout, with a focus that goes beyond expected values to include variances in demographic outcomes.

The calculations are easily and accurately  implemented in matrix-oriented programming languages such as Matlab or R. Sensitivity analysis will help readers create models to predict the effect of future changes, to evaluate policy effects, and to identify possible evolutionary responses to the environment.

Complete with many examples of the application, the book will be of interest to researchers and graduate students in human demography and population biology. The material will also appeal to those in mathematical biology and applied mathematics.

 

Authors and Affiliations

  • Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Hal Caswell

About the author

Hal Caswell is a mathematical demographer and ecologist specializing in matrix models for populations. He has a long association with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, and is now Professor of Mathematical Demography and Ecology at the University of Amsterdam. 


His research interests include the theory of matrix population models and their applications to evolutionary demography, conservation and the effects of climate change, health demography, lifetime reproductive output and fertility, and the interaction of stochasticity and heterogeneity in populations. In addition to his work on humans, he has studied the demography of polar bears, penguins, nematodes, and terrestrial plants. Much of this work involves sensitivity analysis, the topic of this volume.


Caswell has been recognized by numerous international awards and fellowships in both human demography and ecology. He is the author of Matrix Population Models (2nd edition, Sinauer Associates, 2001) and co-author with the late Nathan Keyfitz of Applied Mathematical Demography (3rd edition, Springer-Verlag).


Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

Hardcover Book USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access