Overview

For our Bayesian model selection lab, we will be using some familiar data from this manuscript:

Roberts, C. P., Donovan, V. M., Nodskov, S. M., Keele, E. B., Allen, C. R., Wedin, D. A., & Twidwell, D. (2020). Fire legacies, heterogeneity, and the importance of mixed-severity fire in ponderosa pine savannas. Forest Ecology and Management, 459, 117853.

Tree density 27 years after the 1989 wildfire in Fort Robinson State Park, Nebraska
Tree density 27 years after the 1989 wildfire in Fort Robinson State Park, Nebraska

The goal will be to find the model(s) that best explain mean tree diameter at breast height (DBH). Our hypothesis is that DBH is governed by a combination of fire history (years-since-fire and burn severity), coarse woody debris (a proxy for fire history), and the number of trees. Please download this Rscript and work through the challenges in it.