Tree Mortality Models Using Ring-Width Data from Three Species

Published tree-ring datasets from Abies alba, Nothofagus dombeyi, and Quercus petraea support the development of logistic mixed-effects mortality models. The data was used to assess methodological decisions in sampling strategy, explanatory growth variables, and time window length. Model performance was reasonably high for all three species, with AUC > 0.7.

Use Cases

• Derive growth–mortality functions using logistic models based on tree-ring data from Abies alba, Nothofagus dombeyi, and Quercus petraea.
• Assess the dependency of growth–mortality relationships on the statistical sampling scheme used for alive and dead tree observations.
• Determine the best length of the time window preceding an observation for calculating explanatory growth variables like growth level or growth-trend.
• Identify which type of explanatory growth variable (level or trend) is the most important predictor of mortality probability for different species.

Strengths

• Data originates from published studies across 13 different sites for Abies alba, providing multi-site validation.
• Model performance is quantified with an area under the curve (AUC) metric exceeding 0.7 for all three species studied.
• The methodology explicitly accounts for key sampling-related biases to determine reliable species-specific relationships.

Limitations

• The specific number of tree observations (rows), columns, and raw data file formats are not provided in the input.
• Geographic coverage is limited, with data for Nothofagus dombeyi and Quercus petraea each from only one site.
• The analysis focuses on methodological comparison, so the underlying raw tree-ring data may not be fully contained or standardized.

Provenance

Source

Published tree-ring datasets from studies on Abies alba, Nothofagus dombeyi, and Quercus petraea.

Collection Method

Data compiled for methodological assessment of logistic mixed-effects regression models for tree mortality.

Freshness

Last updated on 2020-06-24.

Geography

Data from multiple sites, including 13 sites for Abies alba and one site each for Nothofagus dombeyi and Quercus petraea.