toggle visibility Search & Display Options

Select All    Deselect All
 |   | 
Details
   print
  Record Links
Author (up) Hirn, J.; Sanz, V.; Garcia Navarro, J.E.; Goberna, M.; Montesinos-Navarro, A.; Navarro-Cano, J.A.; Sanchez-Martin, R.; Valiente-Banuet, A.; Verdu, M. doi  openurl
  Title Transfer learning of species co-occurrence patterns between plant communities Type Journal Article
  Year 2024 Publication Ecological Informatics Abbreviated Journal Ecol. Inform.  
  Volume 83 Issue Pages 102826 - 8pp  
  Keywords Generative artificial intelligence; Patchy vegetation; Plant communities; Restoration ecology; Species co-occurrence; Variational autoencoders  
  Abstract Aim: The use of neural networks (NNs) is spreading to all areas of life, and Ecology is no exception. However, the data-hungry nature of NNs can leave out many small, valuable datasets. Here we show how to apply transfer learning to rescue small datasets that can be invaluable in understanding patterns of species co-occurrence. Location: Semiarid plant communities in Spain and Me<acute accent>xico. Time period: 2016-2022. Major taxa studied: Angiosperms. Methods: Based on a large sample of plant species co-occurrence in vegetation patches in a semi-arid area of eastern Spain, we fit a generative artificial intelligence (AI) model that correctly reproduces which species live with which in these patches. Subsequently, we train the same type of model on two communities for which we only have smaller datasets (another semi-arid community in eastern Spain, and a tropical community in Mexico). Results: When we transfer the knowledge learnt from the large dataset directly to the other two, the predictions improve for the community more similar to our reference one. As for the more dissimilar community, improving the accuracy of the transfer requires a further tuning of the model to the local data. In particular, the knowledge transferred relates primarily to species frequency and, to a lesser extent, to their phylogenetic relationships, which are known to be determinants of species interaction patterns. Main conclusions: This AI-based approach can be performed for communities similar or not so similar to the reference community, opening the door to systematic transfer learning for accurate predictions on small datasets. Interestingly, this transfer operates by matching unrelated species between the origin and target datasets, implying that arbitrary datasets can then be transferred to, or even combined in order to augment each other, irrespective of the species involved, potentially allowing such models to be applied to a wide range of plant communities in different climates.  
  Address [Hirn, Johannes; Montesinos-Navarro, Alicia; Sanchez-Martin, Ricardo; Verdu, Miguel] Univ Valencia Generalitat Valenciana, Ctr Invest Desertificac CIDE, CSIC, Valencia, Spain  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Elsevier Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1574-9541 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes WOS:001327519900001 Approved no  
  Is ISI yes International Collaboration yes  
  Call Number IFIC @ pastor @ Serial 6278  
Permanent link to this record
Select All    Deselect All
 |   | 
Details
   print

Save Citations:
Export Records:
ific federMinisterio de Ciencia e InnovaciĆ³nAgencia Estatal de Investigaciongva