Multivariate analysis of ecological communities in R with the VEGAN package 
(VGNR01)

https://www.prstatistics.com/course/introduction-to-marxan-mrxn01/

Instructors:
Jenniffer McGowan

When:
5th - 9th March 2018

Where:
Margam discovery centre, Loch Lomond

Intended Audience:
Students, academics and primary investigators in spatial ecology and 
management and environmental professionals in government and industry.

Course Overview:
Marxan (Ian Ball and Hugh Possingham, 2000) is a software program used to 
support the design of marine and terrestrial reserves.  Marxan is now used 
by over 6000 people in 150 countries, making it the most the most widely 
used conservation planning tool in the world. In simple terms, Marxan 
analyzes scientific and geographic data to help users allocate space in 
ways that maximize values such as biodiversity, land value, cultural 
significance, and economic productivity whilst minimizing cost. This hands-
on course will provide participants with the basic knowledge and skills 
necessary to use Marxan in a conservation planning exercise. The following 
topics will be covered in the course:
1) Key concepts in systematic conservation planning
2) Problem definition
3) Creation of planning units and using geospatial data
4) Creating the essential Marxan input files
5) Parameter setting in Marxan
6) Understanding and interpreting Marxan results
7) Post-hoc evaluation and performance metrics
8) Advanced topics: Introduction to Marxan with Zones, Marxan with 
Connectivity, and Marxan with Probability

Course syllabus:
Monday 5th – Classes from 09:00 to 17:00
Participant Introductions
Introduction to systematic conservation planning and decision support tools
Activity: Planning a reserve system by hand
Introduction to Marxan and the case study Activity: Input file creation 
using GIS

Tuesday 6th – Classes from 09:00 to 17:00
Case study application (finish creating input files)
Introduction to Zonae Cogito
Activity: Parameter calibration and generating outputs
Data chat: common issues
Real world examples

Wednesday 7th – Classes from 09:00 to 17:00
Finalise case study and Discussion
Introduction to Advanced Marxan Topics
Activity: Post Hoc Evaluation; Protection Equality and Percentage Gap
Data chat: Costs

Thursday 8th – Classes from 09:00 to 17:00
Activity: Marxan with Zones and Marxan with Connectivity toy problems 
(pending)
Beyond Marxan- other tools used in Decision Science for Conservation 
Participant’s present their projects or ideas for a Marxan problem
Discussion

Friday 9th – Classes from 09:00 to 16:00
Continue with participant presentations (if needed)
Final discussions
The future of Marxan and its relatives

If you have any questions please feel free to email 
[email protected] or visit www.prstatistics.com

Upcoming courses for 2017/2018 below

ECOLOGICAL NICHE MODELLING USING R #ENMR
16th – 20th October 2017, Scotland, Dr. Neftali Sillero
http://www.prstatistics.com/course/ecological-niche-modelling-using-r-
enmr01/

2.      REPRODUCIBLE DATA SCIENCE FOR POPULATION GENETICS #RDPG
23rd – 27th October 2017, Wales, Dr. Thibaut Jombart, Zhian Kavar
https://www.prstatistics.com/course/reproducible-data-science-for-
population-genetics-rdpg01/

3.      STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELLING FOR ECOLOGISTS AND EVOLUTIONARY 
BIOLOGISTS USING R #SEMR
23rd – 27th October 2017, Wales, Prof Jarrett Byrnes, Dr. Jon Lefcheck
http://www.prstatistics.com/course/structural-equation-modelling-for-
ecologists-and-evolutionary-biologists-semr01/

4.      LANDSCAPE (POPULATION) GENETIC DATA ANALYSIS USING R #LNDG
6th – 10th November 2017, Wales, Prof. Rodney Dyer
http://www.prstatistics.com/course/landscape-genetic-data-analysis-using-r-
lndg02/

5.      APPLIED BAYESIAN MODELLING FOR ECOLOGISTS AND EPIDEMIOLOGISTS #ABME
20th - 25th November 2017, Scotland, Dr. Matt Denwood
http://www.prstatistics.com/course/applied-bayesian-modelling-ecologists-
epidemiologists-abme03/

6.      ADVANCING IN STATISTICAL MODELLING USING R #ADVR
11th – 15th December 2017, Wales, Dr. Luc Bussiere, Dr. Tom Houslay, Dr. 
Ane Timenes Laugen,
http://www.prstatistics.com/course/advancing-statistical-modelling-using-r-
advr07/

7.      INTRODUCTION TO BAYESIAN HIERARCHICAL MODELLING #IBHM
29th Jan – 2nd Feb 2018, Scotland, Dr. Andrew Parnell
http://www.prstatistics.com/course/introduction-to-bayesian-hierarchical-
modelling-using-r-ibhm02/

8.      PHYLOGENETIC DATA ANALYSIS USING R (TBC) #PHYL
28th Jan – Feb 2nd 2018 Dr. Emmanuel Paradis
https://www.prstatistics.com/course/introduction-to-phylogenetic-analysis-
with-r-phyg-phyl02/

9.      ANIMAL MOVEMENT ECOLOGY #ANME
19th – 23rd February 2018, Wales, Dr Luca Borger, Dr. John Fieberg

10.     GEOMETRIC MORPHOMETRICS USING R #GMMR
19th – 23rd February 2018, Scotland, Prof. Dean Adams, Prof. Michael 
Collyer, Dr. Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou
http://www.prstatistics.com/course/geometric-morphometrics-using-r-gmmr01/

11.     FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY FROM ORGANISM TO ECOSYSTEM: THEORY AND 
COMPUTATION #FEER
5th – 9th March 2018, Scotland, Dr. Francesco de Bello, Dr. Lars 
Götzenberger, Dr. Carlos Carmona
http://www.prstatistics.com/course/functional-ecology-from-organism-to-
ecosystem-theory-and-computation-feer01/

12.     SPATIAL PRIORITIZATION USING MARXAN 
5th - 9th March 2018, Wales, Jennifer McGowan   
https://www.prstatistics.com/course/introduction-to-marxan-mrxn01/

13.     ECOLOGICAL NICHE MODELLING USING R #ENMR
12th - 16th March 2018, Scotland, Dr. Neftali Sillero
http://www.prstatistics.com/course/ecological-niche-modelling-using-r-
enmr02/

14.     MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES USING THE VEGAN 
PACKAGE #VGNR
23rd – 27th April 2018, Scotland, Dr. Peter Solymos, Dr. Guillaume 
Blanchet             
https://www.prstatistics.com/course/multivariate-analysis-of-ecological-
communities-in-r-with-the-vegan-package-vgnr01/

15.     NETWORK ANAYLSIS FOR ECOLOGISTS USING R #NTWA
9th – 13th April 2018, Scotland, Dr. Marco Scotti   
https://www.prstatistics.com/course/network-analysis-ecologists-ntwa02/

16.     QUANTITATIVE GEOGRAPHIC ECOLOGY: MODELING GENOMES, NICHES, AND 
COMMUNITIES
30th April – 4th May 2018, Scotland, Dr. Dan Warren, Dr. Matt Fitzpatrick
  
17.     INTRODUCTION TO MIXED MODELS FOR ECOLOGISTS #IMMR
28th May – 1st June 2018, Canada, Prof Subhash Lele, Dr. Guillaume Blanchet
   
18.     MODEL BASE MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF ABUNDANCE DATA USING R #MBMV0
8th – 12th July 2018, Prof David Warton
https://www.prstatistics.com/course/model-base-multivariate-analysis-of-
abundance-data-using-r-mbmv02/

19.     ADVANCES IN MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF SPATIAL ECOLOGICAL DATA USING 
R #MVSP
Prof. Pierre Legendre, Dr. Olivier Gauthier - Date and location to be 
confirmed

20.     STABLE ISOTOPE MIXING MODELS USING SIAR, SIBER AND MIXSIAR #SIMM
Dr. Andrew Parnell, Dr. Andrew Jackson – Date and location to be confirmed

21.     MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF SPATIAL ECOLOGICAL DATA #MASE
Prof. Subhash Lele, Dr. Peter Solymos - Date and location to be confirmed

22.     TIME SERIES MODELS FOR ECOLOGISTS USING R (JUNE 2017 #TSME
Dr. Andrew Parnell - Date and location to be confirmed

23.     SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF ECOLOGICAL DATA USING R #METR
Prof. Jason Matthiopoulos – Date and location to be confirmed

24.     META-ANALYSIS IN ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES #METR
Prof. Julia Koricheva, Prof. Elena Kulinskaya – Date and location to be c

-- 
Oliver Hooker PhD.
PR statistics

2017 publications - 

Ecosystem size predicts eco-morphological variability in post-glacial 
diversification. Ecology and Evolution. In press.

The physiological costs of prey switching reinforce foraging 
specialization. Journal of animal ecology.

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