Models of tree-level hollow incidence in Victorian State forests

Abstract

This paper details predictive models of tree-level hollow incidence for State forests in central and eastern Victoria. Models are based on the hollows component of the Statewide Forest Resource Inventory (SFRI), the most comprehensive database of hollow incidence in Australia. A two-stage methodology was used at the individual tree-level that in its first-stage generated a statement of the probability of hollows presence, and in its second-stage estimated the size of hollows. The hierarchical nature of SFRI data prompted the search for statistical methodology capable of explicitly modelling a complicated error structure. Subsequently, generalised linear mixed models (GLMMs) were used to esti..