Integral projection models: Past, present and future

Roberto Salguero-Gomez, Zoology, Oxford University, Sam C Levin, Biology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany, Aldo Compagnoni, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ, Leipzig, Germany, Sanne Evers, Spatial Interaction Ecology, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity, Leipzig, Germany, Emily Simmonds, NTNU, Norway, Tiffany Knight, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, Dylan Z. Childs, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom and Marlène Gamelon, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway

Background/Question/Methods
Integral Projection Models (IPMs) have become a widely used tool in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology. First introduced in 2000 by Easterling, Ellner, and Dixon, IPMs have attracted the attention of field/lab ecologists, ecological modellers, and theoretical biologists due to the relative simplicity of this demographic method to link vital rates (e.g. survival, reproduction) to continuous traits (e.g. size, height, weight). Indeed, IPMs now exist for over 350 species, ranging from semelparous perennial plants to fungi, ants, corals, and lions. Their ease to explore lower-level perturbations, and link to environmental covariates at the individual and population level positions this tool as an ideal approach to tackle many of the challenges that ecologists are currently facing.
Results/Conclusions
In this talk, we present a historical overview of the usage and limitations of IPMs both from a field-ecology and modelling perspectives. We start by reviewing the assumptions of IPMs and highlighting data needs. Next, by drawing from the PADRINO IPM database (an online resource of published IPM literature), we will provide an overview of current gaps of knowledge in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology that IPMs are particularly well suited to address - but have not yet. Due to their regression-based approach, IPMs represent a unique opportunity to link demographic processes to more fundamental levels of biology (e.g. biochemistry) and explore community-level outcomes more generally. Thus, we also overview the necessary next steps to address this promising avenue of research.