Machine Learning Methods for Ecological Applications

Fielding, Alan H.

ISBN 10: 0412841908 / ISBN 13: 9780412841903

Published by Springer US, 1999

About this Item

Dieser Artikel ist ein Print on Demand Artikel und wird nach Ihrer Bestellung fuer Sie gedruckt. This is the first text aimed at introducing machine learning methods to a readership of professional ecologists. All but one of the chapters have been written by ecologists and biologists who highlight the application of a particular method to a particul.

Seller Inventory # 5915340

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Machine Learning Methods for Ecological Applications
• Publisher: Springer US
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0412841908
• ISBN 13: 9780412841903
• Binding: Gebunden
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

It is difficult to become an ecologist withou,t acquiring some breadth~ For example, we are expected to be competent statisticians and taxonomists who appreciate the importance of spatial and temporal processes, whilst recognising the potential offered by techniques such as RAPD. It is, therefore, with some trepidation that we offer a collection of potentially useful methods that will be unfamiliar, and possibly alien, to most ecologists. I don't feel old, but when I was undertaking my postgraduate research our lab calculator was mechanical. There was great excitement in my fmal year when we obtained an unbelievably expensive electronic calculator. Later I progressed to running ~obs' on a PRIME minicomputer via a collection of punched cards. Those who complain about the problems with current computers don't know how lucky they are! In 1984 I wrote a book entitled 'Computing for Biologists'. Although it was mainly concerned with writing short programs it did also look at wider aspects of the role of computers in the biological sciences. Machine learning was not mentioned in that book, probably because of ignorance but also because the methods were relatively unknown outside of the relatively small number of workers in the broad field that is now known as machine learning. During 1985 I spent a sabbatical year at York University, following their Biological Computation masters programme. This course was a unique blend of computer science, mathematics and statistics.

Review

`I believe this book is a very useful contribution and an excellent starting point for ecologists who are interested in applying machine learning methods to ecological problems.'
Uygar Özesmi in Ecology, 81:9 (2000)