mizer: An R package for multispecies, trait-based and community size spectrum ecological modelling

Abstract

Size spectrum ecological models are representations of a community of individuals which grow and change trophic level. A key emergent feature of these models is the size spectrum; the total abundance of all individuals that scales negatively with size. The models we focus on are designed to capture fish community dynamics useful for assessing the community impacts of fishing. We present mizer, an R package for implementing dynamic size spectrum ecological models of an entire aquatic community subject to fishing. Multiple fishing gears can be defined and fishing mortality can change through time making it possible to simulate a range of exploitation strategies and management options. mizer implements three versions of the size spectrum modelling framework: the community model, where individuals are only characterized by their size; the trait-based model, where individuals are further characterized by their asymptotic size; and the multispecies model where additional trait differences are resolved. A range of plot, community indicator and summary methods are available to inspect the results of the simulations.