R Package for Hierarchical Bayesian species distribution models now available

Submitted by Adam M. Wilson on Thu, 12/06/2012 - 10:05

 

hSDM: hierarchical Bayesian species distribution models

Ghislain Vieilledent, Andrew M. Latimer, Alan E. Gelfand, Cory Merow, Adam M. Wilson, Frederic Mortier and John A. Silander Jr
hSDM is an R package for estimating parameters of hierarchical Bayesian species distribution models. Such models allow interpreting the observations (occurrence and abundance of a species) as a result of several hierarchical processes including ecological processes (habitat suitability, spatial dependence and anthropogenic disturbance) and observation processes (species detectability). Hierarchical species distribution models are essential for accurately characterizing the environmental response of species, predicting their probability of occurrence, and assessing uncertainty in the model results.
http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/hSDM/index.html

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Adam M. Wilson's picture

Adam M. Wilson - Mon, 12/10/2012 - 08:31
<p>For those that want to fit the particular models offered in hSDM, it will almost certainly be easier to use hSDM than code them in BUGS. &nbsp;It should also be much faster, as the back-end for hSDM is all written in C. &nbsp;So you get the ease of R with the speed of C. &nbsp;A disadvantage is it&#39;s not trivial to make changes to the model. &nbsp;So if you want to do something that&#39;s not built-in, it will take much more effort (though the code is all open source and available). &nbsp;</p>

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