SPoRC: Stochastic Population Model Over Regional Components

Overview

SPoRC is a flexible modeling framework for spatially structured population dynamics. It accounts for stochasticity in vital rates and movement among geographically defined components. The framework supports:

• Integration of multiple data sources
  
• Regional structuring
  
• Age- and sex-specific processes

Thus, SPoRC is suitable for both single-region and spatial stock assessment applications.

Installation

SPoRC is implemented in RTMB and optionally relies on additional packages for plotting and diagnostics.

Prerequisites

Ensure the following packages are installed:

install.packages("devtools")       # Development tools
install.packages("TMB")            # Template Model Builder
install.packages("RTMB")           # R interface to TMB
TMB:::install.contrib("https://github.com/vtrijoulet/OSA_multivariate_dists/archive/main.zip") # Optional: multivariate OSA distributions
remotes::install_github("fishfollower/compResidual/compResidual") # Optional OSA residuals

Installing SPoRC

devtools::install_github("chengmatt/SPoRC", dependencies = c("Depends", "Imports"))

Publications

1. Cheng, M.LH., Goethel, D.R., Cunningham, C.J., Hulson, P.F., Ianelli, J.N., Omori, K.L., 2026. The SPoRC Stock Assessment Package: A Generalized Next‐Generation Platform to Assess Spatial, Age and Sex‐Structured Populations. Fish and Fisheries faf.70082. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.70082