dirk nemitz dirknatureconde hello currently evaluating different ways analyse specific multiple species monitoring system one idea identify important covariates random forest however points problems get head around 1 observations grid 25 systematic plots well 5 random plots within grid analyze observations single species rf pool 30 plots together invalidly mixing random systematic plots 2 systematic plots 100 apart distance data observation distance sampling another tool used truncate data 50 get truly independent data plot apart 5 random plots advantage way plausible use untruncated data observations 3 said multiple species difference running rf analysis data single species presenceabsence versus pooling species one analysis separating results 4 birds aural visual detections big influence detectability keep analysis distance apart assume pool together rf use auralvisual covariate right comments greatly appreciated best regards dirk nemitz dirk nemitz zeppelinstr 11a 37083 gttingen germany tel 49 0551 492 32 51 mobil 49 0175 709 31 92 alternative html version deleted wed 06 aug 2008 210531 0200 r random forest data splitting covariates