How to make more out of community data? A conceptual framework and its implementation as models and software
University of Helsinki · Norwegian University of Science and Technology · +4 more institutions
Abstract
Community ecology aims to understand what factors determine the assembly and dynamics of species assemblages at different spatiotemporal scales. To facilitate the integration between conceptual and statistical approaches in community ecology, we propose Hierarchical Modelling of Species Communities (HMSC) as a general, flexible framework for modern analysis of community data. While non-manipulative data allow for only correlative and not causal inference, this framework facilitates the formulation of data-driven hypotheses regarding the processes that structure communities. We model environmental filtering by variation and covariation in the responses of individual species to the characteristics of their…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 96.51
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 100
Authors
8Topics & keywords
- Ecology
- Computer science
- Inference
- Correlative
- Community
- Conceptual framework
- Community structure
- Data science
- Life in Land