Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Communities Using VEGAN (VGNR10) – Applications for Evolutionary Biology 2–6 November 2026 | 35 hours | £485 | Live Online https://prstats.org/course/multivariate-analysis-of-ecological-communities-using-vegan-vgnr10/ Learn how to analyse complex ecological and evolutionary datasets using R and the VEGAN package, with practical training in multivariate statistical methods, ordination, clustering, diversity analysis and the relationships between biological assemblages and environmental conditions. For evolutionary biologists, multivariate approaches provide powerful tools for investigating community differentiation, evolutionary ecology, niche differentiation, species assemblages and variation in biological communities across environmental and evolutionary gradients. This comprehensive five-day course combines statistical theory with hands-on analysis of empirical datasets, providing researchers with the skills needed to identify multivariate patterns, compare biological assemblages and investigate how species composition varies across habitats, environments and evolutionary contexts. The course uses datasets from terrestrial ecology, wetland ecology, microbial ecology, natural resource management, evolution and palaeoecology. Participants are strongly encouraged to bring their own datasets and will receive guidance on selecting appropriate analytical approaches, interpreting results and presenting their findings. What you'll gain Understand the principles of multivariate analysis of ecological and biological communities Prepare, structure and transform multivariate datasets in R Calculate and interpret diversity indices and community metrics Understand ecological distance and dissimilarity measures Select appropriate transformations and distance measures for community data Apply clustering and classification techniques to investigate differences among biological assemblages Understand and perform unconstrained ordination analyses Apply Principal Component Analysis (PCA) Use Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) to visualise multivariate patterns Understand and apply constrained ordination methods Perform Redundancy Analysis (RDA) Apply Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) Investigate relationships between community composition and environmental predictors Test hypotheses using canonical ordination methods Analyse variation in species assemblages across environmental, ecological and evolutionary gradients Work with continuous and categorical explanatory variables Interpret and visualise multivariate results Develop reproducible analytical workflows using R and VEGAN Apply multivariate methods to your own ecological and evolutionary research questions Course format Dates: 2–6 November 2026 Duration: 5 days, 7 hours per day – 35 hours total Format: Live online Combination of theoretical lectures and hands-on practical exercises Practical analysis using R and the VEGAN package Empirical datasets covering ecology, evolution and palaeoecology Participants are encouraged to bring their own datasets Individual guidance on choosing appropriate methods and interpreting results All sessions recorded, with recordings normally available the same day 30 days' access to recordings Course fee: £485 Who is this course for? This course will be particularly relevant to researchers and postgraduate students working in: Evolutionary biology Evolutionary ecology Community ecology and community assembly Niche differentiation Biodiversity and diversification research Comparative community ecology Microbial evolution and microbial ecology Palaeoecology Biogeography Species coexistence Environmental adaptation Conservation and evolutionary ecology Quantitative evolutionary biology Ecological and evolutionary responses to environmental change It is particularly valuable for researchers interested in comparing biological assemblages, investigating community differentiation and understanding how species composition varies across environmental and evolutionary contexts. The course is designed for participants with an intermediate understanding of R, including familiarity with basic data manipulation and statistical analysis. Why take this course? Evolutionary processes influence the composition and diversity of biological communities, while ecological interactions and environmental conditions can shape the distribution and persistence of species across habitats and evolutionary timescales. Understanding these relationships often requires analysing multiple species and environmental variables simultaneously, rather than examining individual species or responses independently. Multivariate methods provide powerful approaches for investigating patterns of community differentiation, niche differentiation, species coexistence and biological diversity across ecological and evolutionary gradients. For evolutionary biologists, these methods can be particularly valuable when comparing communities across environments, investigating differences in species assemblages, exploring patterns associated with environmental adaptation or examining changes in community composition through time. The VEGAN package in R provides a comprehensive collection of methods for community-level analysis, including ecological dissimilarity measures, diversity analysis, clustering, ordination and statistical hypothesis testing. VGNR10 provides practical training in these approaches, including PCA, NMDS, RDA and CCA, with an emphasis on understanding when each method is appropriate, how to interpret the results and how to avoid common analytical pitfalls. A particular strength of the course is its emphasis on applying these methods to participants' own research. Attendees are encouraged to bring their datasets and can receive guidance on preparing data, selecting appropriate transformations and analyses, and interpreting and presenting their findings. By the end of the course, participants will have developed the skills needed to move from complex ecological and evolutionary community datasets to robust multivariate analysis, meaningful biological interpretation and reproducible scientific reporting. Please feel free to share this course with colleagues, friends, research groups, labs, and others within your institute, organisation, or wider research network. Learn more & enrol Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Communities Using VEGAN (VGNR10) https://prstats.org/course/multivariate-analysis-of-ecological-communities-using-vegan-vgnr10/ Questions? Email: oliver@prstats.org Best wishes, Oliver Hooker PR Stats (to manage your EvolDir subscription: https://evoldir.net/django/subscriptions/manage/)