A
benefit of the community model approach is that it can account for variability
in detection of species. The figure below shows the estimated bird species
richness at site locations, sampled in the Catoctin Mountains (Maryland, USA)
during the 2005 breeding season. The
model demonstrated that the effects of understory foliage and tree basal area
on richness were underestimated when considering only observed species at given
locations.
The
hierarchical community model can be used to make predictions about species
assemblages based on landscape characteristics. The figure below shows the
expected richness of forest-interior bird species based on pertinent
characteristics of forest fragments (in this case, the area and the perimeter
to area ratio of the forest fragment) in upstate New York.
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