ConservationBytes.com

Yes, yes. I know. Another R Shiny app.

However, this time I’ve strayed from my recent bibliometric musings and developed something that’s more compatible with the core of my main research and interests.

Welcome to LeslieMatrixShiny!

Over the years I’ve taught many students the basics of population modelling, with the cohort-based approaches dominating the curriculum. Of these, the simpler ‘Leslie’ (age-classified) matrix models are both the easiest to understand and for which data can often be obtained without too many dramas.

But unless you’re willing to sit down and learn the code, they can be daunting to the novice.

Sure, there are plenty of software alternatives out there, such as Bob Lacy‘s Vortex (a free individual-based model available for PCs only), Resit Akçakaya & co’s RAMAS Metapop ($; PC only), Stéphane Legendre‘s Unified Life Models (ULM; open-source; all platforms), and Charles Todd‘s Essential (open-source; PC only) to name a few. If you’re already an avid R user and already into population modelling, you might be familiar with the population-modelling packages popdemo, OptiPopd, or sPop. I’m sure there are still other good resources out there of which I’m not aware.

But, even to install the relevant software or invoke particular packages in R takes a bit of time and learning. It’s probably safe to assume that many people find the prospect daunting.

It’s for this reason that I turned my newly acquired R Shiny skills to matrix population models so that even complete coding novices can run their own stochastic population models.

I call the app LeslieMatrixShiny.