Modelling and spatial discrimination of small mammal assemblages: an example from western Sichuan (China).

ABSTRACT: We investigate the relationship between landscape heterogeneity and the spatial distribution of small mammals in two areas of Western Sichuan, China. Given a large diversity of species trapped within a large number of habitats, we first classified small mammal assemblages and then modelled the habitat of each in the space of quantitative environmental descriptors. Our original two step "classify then model" procedure is appropriate for the frequently encountered study scenario: trapping data collected in remote areas with sampling guided by expert field knowledge.In the classification step, we defined assemblages by grouping sites of similar species composition and relative densities using an expert-class-merging procedure which reduced redundancy in the habitat factor used within a multin

SUBMITTER: Vaniscotte A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2702787 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature