Code and data for Bayesian joint species distribution model selection for community-level prediction

Code and data for reproducing the analysis in the manuscript “Bayesian joint species distribution model selection for community-level prediction.”  Provided data include percent cover observations for 39 modeled vascular plant species within boreal forest understory communities and environmental model covariates. R code is provided to generate model inputs, apply alternative models, generate out-of-sample predictions, and calculate associated community and species log scores and alternative model evaluation metrics. Further, R source code is provided to implement the multinomial joint species distribution model defined in the manuscript. Details on the data, its processing, and the alternative model definitions and structure can be found in the main text of the manuscript.  Provided data are currently being used in ongoing analyses and coordination with authors may be warranted to avoid duplicate publication. Potential users are encouraged to consider collaboration with authors when useful and appropriate. Misinterpretation of data may occur if used outside the context of the original analysis. All data are made available in their current state. While significant efforts have been made to ensure data accuracy, complete accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Data may be updated periodically. It is the responsibility of the data user to check for updated versions of the data.

Methods
Data include percent cover observations of 39 vascular plant species across 1,700 unique vegetation survey sites sampled in 1985-1986, 1995, and 2006 in conjunction with the 8th Finnish National Forest Inventory.  Values report the mean percent cover of vascular plants across four 2 m^2 quadrats located 5 m apart within each vegetation survey site. Environmental variables characterizing the conditions for each site-year combination are also provided. These are the same variables used to predict species relative abundances at each site within the associated manuscript.