Figure 1.

System state processes that can be difficult to observe directly, but can be uncovered from common ecological observation processes using hidden Markov models. The state process (blue) can pertain to any level within the ecological hierarchy (‘Individual’, ‘Population’, ‘Community’ or ‘Ecosystem’) and for convenience is categorised as primarily ‘Existential’, ‘Developmental’ or ‘Spatial’ in nature. The observation process (green) can provide information about state processes at different levels of the hierarchy (green lines) and includes capture–recapture, DNA sampling, animal‐borne telemetry, count surveys, presence–absence surveys and/or abiotic measurements. Observation and state processes from lower levels can be integrated for inferences at higher levels. For example, community‐level biodiversity data could be combined with environmental data to describe ecosystem‐level processes.