Table 5

Model ranking for models estimating age-specific survival and recapture probability as a function of population density

Model
ΔQAICc
wQAICc
k

High density (1951–1964)



ϕ(age-density/t) p(t)
0.000
0.894
14
ϕ(age-t/t) p(t)
4.270
0.106
18
ϕ(t) p(t)
14.860
0.001
13
ϕ(age-dlag/t) p(t)
16.960
<0.001
16
ϕ(age-density/density) p(t)
21.410
<0.001
14




Low density (1993–1999)



ϕ(age-density/t) p(t)
0.000
0.399
10
ϕ(age-t/t) p(t)
0.720
0.278
13
ϕ(age-dlag/t) p(t)
0.960
0.246
10
ϕ(age-density/density) p(t)
3.310
0.076
10
ϕ(age-dlag/dlag) p(t)
17.940
<0.001
10

Effects of age (age-juvenile/adult), time (t), density of breeding females (density), and density of breeding females lagged by one year (dlag) on the probability of survival (ϕ) in southern elephant seals during the high- (1951–1964) and low-density (1993–1999) eras. Models are ranked according to their Akaike weights (wQAICc), the relative change in AICc score (ΔQAICc), and number of parameters (k), based on an inflation factor (ĉ) of 1.7122.

de Little et al. BMC Ecology 2007 7:3   doi:10.1186/1472-6785-7-3