Antarctic Moss Species Response Curve Models with Example Data

R code and models for fitting penalised splines to species response curves and estimating ecological niche parameters. The resource includes two R2OpenBugs models, R execution scripts, and three example data files on Antarctic mosses. It was created by the Australian Antarctic Data Centre and published in 2016.

Use Cases

• Estimate the optimum, peak, and niche breadth from a species response curve using the Bayesian model's output parameters.
• Compare two response curves and calculate the probability that one curve has a greater optimum than the other using the model's comparison function.
• Analyze presence-absence data by applying the logit-transformed model to the provided Antarctic moss example data.
• Fit penalised splines to untransformed ecological data using the included R2OpenBugs model and R scripts.

Strengths

• Includes two distinct Bayesian models (logit-transformed and untransformed) for different data types.
• Provides three example data files specifically for Antarctic mosses for model validation.
• Peer-reviewed methodology published in Ecological Informatics (2016).

Limitations

• Example data scope is limited to Antarctic mosses, reducing generalizability to other species or regions.
• Model and code last updated in 2017, potentially using outdated software dependencies like R2OpenBugs.
• Unknown sample size and specific variables in the example data files.

Provenance

Source

Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AU_AADC), accessed via NASA EarthData.

Collection Method

Statistical model code and example data provided for ecological analysis.

Freshness

Last updated in June 2017.

Geography

Antarctic region (inferred from example data on Antarctic mosses).