Learning from monitoring networks: using statistics to aid multi-scale ecological analysis

In order to learn about broad scale ecological patterns, data from large-scale surveys must allow us to either estimate the correlations between the environment and an outcome and/or accurately predict ecological patterns. An important part of data collection is the sampling effort used to collect observations. Through simulations and an application using Forest Inventory Analysis data, we will see if and how sampling effort affects statistical inference and predictions under simple modeling assumptions. 

Presented by Becky Tang, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics