Data Analysis (conbio-data-analysis)
Conservation Biology reviewers are methodologically sophisticated, and the journal expects a
data-availability statement with data and code deposited at acceptance (see
conbio-reporting-and-data-policy). Analyze as if your code will be re-run — because it may be. This
skill covers execution and reporting norms; design decisions live in conbio-study-design.
When to trigger
- Running main and supporting analyses; building the results section
- A reviewer asked for robustness, alternative models, or uncertainty
- Reconciling exploratory vs. confirmatory analyses
- Making the analysis reproducible before deposit
Analysis norms Conservation Biology expects
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Report uncertainty honestly. Confidence/credible intervals, not just stars or p-values; report
the magnitude and conservation meaning of the estimate, not only significance.
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Use the right model for the data. Hierarchical/mixed models for nested data; occupancy and
N-mixture for detection; capture-recapture for survival/abundance; GLMs/GAMs for nonlinearity;
account for spatial autocorrelation and zero-inflation where present.
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Robustness that probes, not decorates. Show specifications that could break the result
(alternative predictors, samples, priors, estimators), and say what you learn.
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Right inference. Cluster/group at the correct level; avoid pseudoreplication in the analysis;
correct for multiple comparisons when testing many implications.
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Confirmatory vs. exploratory. Separate preregistered/confirmatory tests from exploratory ones;
do not mine for a significant interaction and theorize it post hoc.
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Model checking. Report convergence, residual diagnostics, validation/out-of-sample performance
for predictive models; show the result is not an artifact of one modeling choice.
Conservation-specific reporting
- Translate estimates into decision-relevant quantities (extinction risk, population trend,
effect of a management action, area needed) with uncertainty.
- For projections (PVA, SDM, climate), state the assumptions and the range of plausible outcomes —
not a single point forecast.
Reproducibility while you work (not at the end)
- One master script regenerates every table and figure from the (raw or constructed) data.
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Set and report seeds for bootstrap, MCMC, simulation, and any stochastic step.
- Pin software/package versions (
renv.lock, requirements.txt, recorded installs).
- Keep table/figure numbers matched to script outputs.
Anti-patterns
- Stars/p-values with no effect sizes or intervals
- Raw counts analyzed as abundance with detection ignored
- "Robustness" that only reruns near-identical specs to manufacture stability
- p-hacking / HARKing exploratory results into confirmatory claims
- A single point projection presented as certain
- A results section whose numbers the code cannot reproduce
Evidence pass for Conservation Biology
Use this as a second-pass capability check. First lock the species/system threat, conservation decision, and uncertainty relevant to action; then test whether the manuscript addresses conservation-science reviewers who ask whether evidence changes biodiversity, management, or policy action.
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Primary move: Audit unit, comparison, uncertainty, missingness, sensitivity, and reproducibility before making any prose or submission recommendation.
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Decision ledger: return
claim / evidence / blocker / next edit rows so the next pass can patch the manuscript directly.
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Neighbor test: compare against Biological Conservation for applied conservation breadth, Global Change Biology for climate/ecosystem process, Ecology Letters for theory-forward ecology; if the neighboring outlet has the stronger audience claim, recommend re-routing before polishing.
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Submission-ready gate: before final advice, re-open
resources/official-source-map.md for upload-week rules and name the one live-check item that could change the recommendation.
Output format
【Main estimate】magnitude + interval + conservation meaning
【Model】why this model fits the data (detection / hierarchy / spatial)
【Robustness】specs that could break it → what held
【Confirmatory vs exploratory】clearly separated?
【Uncertainty in projections】range stated, not a point?
【Reproducible】master script + seeds + pinned versions? [Y/N]
【Next】conbio-figures-and-tables
Supplementary resources
