QFASAR: Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis with R
September 11, 2017
- Knowledge of predator diets provides essential insights into their ecology, yet diet estimation is challenging and remains an active area of research.
- Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) is a popular method of estimating diet composition that continues to be investigated and extended. However, software to implement QFASA has only recently become publicly available.
- I summarize a new R package, qfasar, for diet estimation using QFASA methods. The package also provides functionality to evaluate and potentially improve the performance of a library of prey signature data, compute goodness-of-fit diagnostics, and support simulation-based research. Several procedures in the package have not previously been published.
- qfasar makes traditional and recently published QFASA diet estimation methods accessible to ecologists for the first time. Use of the package is illustrated with signature data from Chukchi Sea polar bears and potential prey species.
Citation Information
| Publication Year | 2017 |
|---|---|
| Title | QFASAR: Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis with R |
| DOI | 10.1111/2041-210X.12740 |
| Authors | Jeffrey F. Bromaghin |
| Publication Type | Article |
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Series Title | Methods in Ecology and Evolution |
| Index ID | 70190614 |
| Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
| USGS Organization | Alaska Science Center Biology MFEB |
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qfasar: Quantitative Fatty Acid Signature Analysis in R
Knowledge of predator diets provides numerous insights into their ecology. Diet estimation therefore remains an active area of research in quantitative ecology. Quantitative Fatty Acid Signature Analysis (QFASA) is a method of estimating the diet composition of predators.
The fundamental unit of information in QFASA is a fatty acid signature (signature), which is a vector of proportions describing
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qfasar: Quantitative Fatty Acid Signature Analysis in R
Knowledge of predator diets provides numerous insights into their ecology. Diet estimation therefore remains an active area of research in quantitative ecology. Quantitative Fatty Acid Signature Analysis (QFASA) is a method of estimating the diet composition of predators. The fundamental unit of information in QFASA is a fatty acid signature (signature), which is a vector of proportions describing - Connect