Methods

We always strive to validate and improve reserach methods. We support collaborative data collection, open science, open data, and reproducible science, which is reflected in the reserach output from the lab. Currently we've started using machine learning to identify individuals and their behaviour from various input sources. 

Chan AHH, Putra P, Schupp H, Köchling J, Straßheim J, Renner B, Schroeder J., Pearse W D, Nakagawa S, Burke T, Griesser M, Meltzer A, Lubrano S, Kano F. 2025. YOLO-Behaviour: A simple, flexible framework to automatically quantify animal behaviours from videos. Method Ecol Evol., 16, (4) 760-774. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.14502 

Gould, E., Schroeder et. al. (300 co-authors). 2025. Same data, different analysts: variation in effect sizes due to analytical decisions in ecology and evolutionary biology. BMC Biology, 23, 35. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-024-02101-x 

Chan A H H, Dunning J, Beck K B, Burke T, Chik H Y J, Dunleavy D, Evans T, Ferreira A, Fourie B, Griffith S C, Hillemann F, Schroeder J. 2025. Animal social networks are robust to changing association definitions. Behav Ecol Sociobiol. 79 (26). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-025-03559-7 

Chan AHH, Liu JQ, Burke T, Pearse W, Schroeder J. (2024) Comparison of manual, machine learning, and hybrid methods for video annotation to extract parental care data. J Avian Biol, 2024 (12), e03167. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.03167. 

Alif VZ, Dunning J, Chik HYJ, Burke T, Schroeder J. What is the best fitness measure in wild populations? A case study on the power of short-term fitness proxies to predict reproductive value. PLOS One. 17(4): e0260905. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260905 

van Lieshout H, Froy H, Schroeder J, Burke T, Simons MJP, Dugdale H. (2020) Slicing: a sustainable approach to structuring samples for analysis in long-term studies. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, MEE313352, https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13352 

Culina A, et al., J Schroeder, et al., M Visser. (2021) Connected data landscape of long-term ecological studies: the SPI-Birds data hub. Journal of Animal Ecology. 90(9):2147–2160. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13388

Vargas-Pellicer P, Watrobska C, Knowles S, Schroeder J, Banks-Leite C (2019) Towards cost-effective storage methods for avian faecal microbiota. Journal for Microbiological Methods, 105689 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mimet.2019.105689 

Sanchez-Tójar, A. Nakagawa, S, Sanchez-Fortun, M, Martin, DC, Ramani S, Girndt A, Bokony V, Kempenaers B, Liker A, Westneat D, Burke T, Schroeder J. 2018. Meta-analysis challenges a textbook example of status signaling evidence for publication bias. eLife, 7, e37385. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.37385 

Sanchéz-Tójar A, Schroeder J, Farine DR. A practical guide for inferring reliable dominance hierarchies and estimating their uncertainty. J. Anim. Ecol. 87:594–6-8. Doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.12776

Girndt A, Cockburn G, Sanchez-Tojar A, Lovelie H, Schroeder J. (2017) Methods matter: experimental evidence for shorter avian sperm in faecal compared to abdominal massage samples. Plos ONE 12(8): e0182853. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182853 

Winney I, Hsu Y-H, Nakagawa S, Burke T, Schroeder J. (2015) Troubleshooting the potential pitfalls of cross-fostering Meth. Ecol. Evol. 6, 584-592. 

Dugdale H, Hinsch M, Schroeder J (2011) Biased sampling: No ‘Homer Simpson Effect’ among high-achievers. Trends Ecol. Evol. 26, 622-623. 

Schroeder J, Hinsch M, Mitesser O (2010) Correlations between sequential timing decisions not necessarily indicate strategic behavior. Am. Nat. 176, 835-837