Performance of Statistical and Machine Learning-Based Methods for Predicting Biogeographical Patterns of Fungal Productivity in Forest Ecosystems

Abstract

Background

The prediction of biogeographical patterns from a large number of driving factors with complex interactions, correlations and non-linear dependences require advanced analytical methods and modelling tools. This study compares different statistical and machine learning models for predicting fungal productivity biogeographical patterns as a case study for the thorough assessment of the performance of alternative modelling approaches to provide accurate and ecologically-consistent predictions.

Methods

We evaluated and compared the performance of two statistical modelling techniques, namely, generalized linear mixed models and geographically weighted regression, and four machine learning models, namely, random forest, extreme gradient boosting, support vector machine and deep learning to predict fungal productivity. We used a systematic methodology based on substitution, random, spatial and climatic blocking combined with principal component analysis, together with an evaluation of the ecological consistency of spatially-explicit model predictions.

Results

Fungal productivity predictions were sensitive to the modelling approach and complexity. Moreover, the importance assigned to different predictors varied between machine learning modelling approaches. Decision tree-based models increased prediction accuracy by ~7% compared to other machine learning approaches and by more than 25% compared to statistical ones, and resulted in higher ecological consistence at the landscape level.

Conclusions

Whereas a large number of predictors are often used in machine learning algorithms, in this study we show that proper variable selection is crucial to create robust models for extrapolation in biophysically differentiated areas. When dealing with spatial-temporal data in the analysis of biogeographical patterns, climatic blocking is postulated as a highly informative technique to be used in cross-validation to assess the prediction error over larger scales. Random forest was the best approach for prediction both in sampling-like environments as well as in extrapolation beyond the spatial and climatic range of the modelling data.