Using Bayesian Hierarchical Models to Study the Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Mammals in Serengeti National Park

In this thesis, I work with camera trap data from the Snapshot Serengeti project in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania Africa. This data consists of the time and location where species were observed during the year 2012. Occupancy models are used to analyze this type of data, but they require discretization of time. Thus, we have to choose the width of time intervals to be analyzed. The goal of this research is to develop methodology to compare results based on different time interval widths. We have created occupancy models to predict the presence of species based on environmental variables while accounting for spatial and temporal dependence. We develop a join statistic to measure the spatial dependence of data. Then we create a metric that compares the spatial clustering that exists when the data is compared at different time intervals. This shows how much the spatial dependence changes based on the time window that is chosen. We begin by studying the change in spatial clustering for a single species depending on the time interval, then we extend our work to study the dependence between two species.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Harris, Richard Trafford

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/90679

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/90679