A Comparison of Joint Species Distribution Models for Percent Cover Data

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Korhonen, Pekka, Hui, Francis K. C., Niku, Jenni, Taskinen, Sara, van der Veen, Bert
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Korhonen, Pekka
Hui, Francis K. C.
Niku, Jenni
Taskinen, Sara
van der Veen, Bert
author_facet Korhonen, Pekka
Hui, Francis K. C.
Niku, Jenni
Taskinen, Sara
van der Veen, Bert
contents 1. Joint species distribution models (JSDMs) have gained considerable traction among ecologists over the past decade, due to their capacity to answer a wide range of questions at both the species- and the community-level. The family of generalized linear latent variable models in particular has proven popular for building JSDMs, being able to handle many response types including presence-absence data, biomass, overdispersed and/or zero-inflated counts. 2. We extend latent variable models to handle percent cover data, with vegetation, sessile invertebrate, and macroalgal cover data representing the prime examples of such data arising in community ecology. 3. Sparsity is a commonly encountered challenge with percent cover data. Responses are typically recorded as percentages covered per plot, though some species may be completely absent or present, i.e., have 0% or 100% cover respectively, rendering the use of beta distribution inadequate. 4. We propose two JSDMs suitable for percent cover data, namely a hurdle beta model and an ordered beta model. We compare the two proposed approaches to a beta distribution for shifted responses, transformed presence-absence data, and an ordinal model for percent cover classes. Results demonstrate the hurdle beta JSDM was generally the most accurate at retrieving the latent variables and predicting ecological percent cover data.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_11562
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Comparison of Joint Species Distribution Models for Percent Cover Data
Korhonen, Pekka
Hui, Francis K. C.
Niku, Jenni
Taskinen, Sara
van der Veen, Bert
Methodology
1. Joint species distribution models (JSDMs) have gained considerable traction among ecologists over the past decade, due to their capacity to answer a wide range of questions at both the species- and the community-level. The family of generalized linear latent variable models in particular has proven popular for building JSDMs, being able to handle many response types including presence-absence data, biomass, overdispersed and/or zero-inflated counts. 2. We extend latent variable models to handle percent cover data, with vegetation, sessile invertebrate, and macroalgal cover data representing the prime examples of such data arising in community ecology. 3. Sparsity is a commonly encountered challenge with percent cover data. Responses are typically recorded as percentages covered per plot, though some species may be completely absent or present, i.e., have 0% or 100% cover respectively, rendering the use of beta distribution inadequate. 4. We propose two JSDMs suitable for percent cover data, namely a hurdle beta model and an ordered beta model. We compare the two proposed approaches to a beta distribution for shifted responses, transformed presence-absence data, and an ordinal model for percent cover classes. Results demonstrate the hurdle beta JSDM was generally the most accurate at retrieving the latent variables and predicting ecological percent cover data.
title A Comparison of Joint Species Distribution Models for Percent Cover Data
topic Methodology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.11562