Oliver Hooker
Managing Partner
Advanced Training for Researchers in the Life Sciences
Joint Species Distribution Modelling (JSDM) using HMSC: A Hierarchical Modelling Approach (JSDM01) – Applications for Marine Mammal Research
https://prstats.org/course/joint-species-distribution-modelling-jsdm01/
Delivered by Dr. Bastien Parisy, a community ecologist at the University of Helsinki whose research focuses on plant–soil interactions, community ecology, and environmental change. His work combines field ecology with advanced statistical methods, including Joint Species Distribution Models (JSDMs), Hierarchical Modelling of Species Communities (HMSC), and ecological network analysis.
Learn how to analyse complex marine communities using Joint Species Distribution Models (JSDMs) and Hierarchical Modelling of Species Communities (HMSC) in R, with methods that are highly applicable to marine mammal research.
Marine mammals exist within complex ecological communities influenced by oceanographic conditions, prey distributions, habitat characteristics, and interactions with other marine species. Traditional species distribution models analyse each species independently, often overlooking the ecological relationships that shape marine ecosystems. Joint Species Distribution Models provide a powerful hierarchical framework for modelling multiple species simultaneously, enabling researchers to investigate environmental responses, species co-occurrence, functional traits, spatial structure, and community dynamics. This course provides comprehensive, hands-on training in HMSC, one of the leading frameworks for analysing complex marine communities.
Marine mammal conservation increasingly depends on understanding ecosystem-level processes rather than focusing solely on individual species. JSDMs enable researchers to investigate how oceanographic conditions, prey communities, habitat characteristics, and broader marine biodiversity jointly influence marine mammal distributions and ecological interactions. These models are becoming increasingly valuable for ecosystem-based management, biodiversity monitoring, habitat suitability assessments, and evaluating the impacts of climate change and human activities on marine ecosystems.
This course equips you with the practical skills needed to construct, fit, interpret, and validate Joint Species Distribution Models using HMSC in R. Whether you're studying prey–predator relationships, marine biodiversity, habitat suitability, ecosystem responses to climate change, species co-occurrence, or conservation planning, you'll gain the analytical toolkit needed to confidently analyse complex marine communities using state-of-the-art hierarchical models.
PR Stats course page for Joint Species Distribution Modelling (JSDM) using HMSC: A Hierarchical Modelling Approach (JSDM01)
https://prstats.org/course/joint-species-distribution-modelling-jsdm01/
Email: oliver@prstats.org