Statistical Interpretation of Species Composition
Top Cited Papers
- 1 December 2001
- journal article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of the American Statistical Association
- Vol. 96 (456) , 1205-1214
- https://doi.org/10.1198/016214501753381850
Abstract
The relative abundance of different species characterizes the structure of a biological community. We analyze an experiment addressing the relationship between omnivorous feeding linkages and community stability. Our goal is to determine whether communities with different predator compositions respond similarly to environmental disturbance. To evaluate these data, we develop a hierarchical statistical model that combines Aitchison's logistic normal distribution with a conditional multinomial observation distribution. In addition, we present an algebra for compositions that includes addition, scalar multiplication, and a metric for differences in compositions. The algebra aids interpretation of treatment effects, treatment interactions, and covariates. Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is used for inference in a Bayesian framework. Our experimental results indicate that a high degree of omnivory can help to stabilize community dynamics and prevent radical shifts in community composition. This result is at od...Keywords
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