A maximum likelihood approach to non-linear ordination (original) (raw)
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Summary
A non-linear method of ordinating vegetation samples based on the fitting of bell-shaped response curves is lescribed. For each species two Gaussian curves were itted, one to quantitative values, where the species was present, the other to probabilities of absence. A maximum likelihood approach was then used to obtain a ‘best’ approximation of the positions of the samples along a one-dimensional gradient. By an iterative process successively better approximations were obtained.
The method was successful in recovering gradients based on hypothetical data. With two sets of real data the gradient produced was more ecologically satisfying and far less distorted than that revealed by principal component analysis.
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Authors and Affiliations
- Queensland Herbarium, 4068, Indooroopilly, Qld., Australia
Robert W. Johnson - CSIRO Division of Land Resources Management, 6014, Wembley, W.A., Australia
David W. Goodall
Authors
- Robert W. Johnson
- David W. Goodall
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Johnson, R.W., Goodall, D.W. A maximum likelihood approach to non-linear ordination.Vegetatio 41, 133–142 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00052442
- Accepted: 15 February 1979
- Issue date: July 1980
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00052442