What Are "Bayesian Belief
Network Models?"
Bruce G. Marcot
24 April 2005
In short, a Bayesian belief network (BBN) is simply a way of showing how things interact and cause specific outcomes.
One facet of modeling wildlife-habitat relations and species-environment relations may pertain to depicting the ecological roles played by organisms. I have termed these "key ecological functions" or KEFs.
For my colleagues in wildlife biology and ecology ...
The Ecology Plexus
For my colleagues concerned with the
nature of knowledge and their apostolic science ...
The Knowledge Plexus
And for friends who ponder the nature of nature ...
The Arts Plexus
A new Species-Environment Relations (SER) modeling approach depicts key ecological functions (KEFs) and key environmental correlates (KECs) of terrestrial plant and animal species, as part of a regional assessment of the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project. Assessing KEFs of species is one facet of understanding management effects and ecological integrity of ecosystems. A relational database was developed that ties species' KEFs with their key habitats, KECs, and distribution maps. In this way, potential management activities can be evaluated for how they influence: habitats and environmental correlates; associated plant, invertebrate, and vertebrate species; the array of ecological functions associated with those species; geographic functional ecology; and potential effects on ecosystem productivity, diversity, and sustainability.