Dating chicks: Calibration and discrimination in a nonlinear multivariate hierarchical growth model

The motivation for this work was to investigate the possibility of accurately determining the age of a tern chick using easily obtained body measurements. We describe the construction of a nonlinear multivariate hierarchical model for chick growth and show how it can be estimated using Markov chain...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of agricultural, biological, and environmental statistics Vol. 10; no. 3; pp. 306 - 320
Main Authors:	Jones, G, Keedwell, R.J, Noble, A.D.L, Hedderley, D.I
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Washington, DC American Statistical Association and the International Biometric Society 01-09-2005 American Statistical Association International Biometric Society Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Age Age determination Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions Animal wings Biological and medical sciences Biometrics Biometrics, statistics, experimental designs, modeling, agricultural computer applications Body measurements Braiding Calibration Chickens Chronology Dating Estimation methods Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Generalities. Biometrics, experimentation. Remote sensing Growth curves Growth models Juveniles Markov chains Modeling Monte Carlo method Motivation Multilevel models Multivariate analysis Parametric models population ecology Population growth wild birds Within-subjects design Longitudinal Repeated measures Growth Regression Multiresponse model Young animal Markov chain Discrimination Inverse regression Markov chain Monte Carlo Multilevel Mixed effects Models
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	The motivation for this work was to investigate the possibility of accurately determining the age of a tern chick using easily obtained body measurements. We describe the construction of a nonlinear multivariate hierarchical model for chick growth and show how it can be estimated using Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques. A simple extension of the analysis allows for estimation of the ages of unknown chicks. Posterior distributions of the unknown ages are derived, so that the accuracy of age determination can be examined. We further extend our model and analysis to include the possibility that chicks fall into distinct groups with different growth characteristics. The technique is illustrated using data on the weight and wing length of black-fronted terns from the Ohau River, New Zealand. It is found that dating to within one day is possible, but only in some areas of the data space. The concept of "braiding" of multivariate growth curves is introduced to explain the varying accuracy of age determination.
ISSN:	1085-7117 1537-2693
DOI:	10.1198/108571105X59035