9  Calibrate

Calibrate model fit, i.e., model selection

The process of refining the model to only the most relevant environmental predictor terms is commonly called “Model Selection.” One of the most cited scientific paper of all time (Akaike 1974) is based on taking a most parsimonious approach to this process – the so called Akaike Information Criteria (AIC).

It is important to avoid using environmental predictors that are correlated with each other, since the effect of a predictor on the response could be the ecologically inverse, the result of explaining variance on the residuals of the other correlated predictor.

Akaike, H. 1974. “A New Look at the Statistical Model Identification.” IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control 19 (6): 716723.