Supplement 1. Script for running GEEs in R and using QIC values to select the best model.

File List SupplementA – R source code SupplementData.txt – Data file of macrobenthic species counts in the western Dutch Wadden Sea in 2005 <i>All files at once</i> Supplement_Kraan_et_al_Report_09-2040.zip Description SupplementA consists of an R-script to run spatial GEEs and use QIC-values to select the minimal adequate model. This file can be directly used in Tinn-R. SupplementData.txt consists of counts of a number of macrobenthic species inhabiting intertidal flats of the Dutch Wadden Sea in 2005. The columns are: <i>x</i>-coordinate, <i>y</i>-coordinate, median grain-size, distance to gully, inundation time, and the set of macrobenthic species used. Note that, in addition to SupplementA, it is necessary to use the R-script provided by Carl and Kühn (2007, Ecological Modelling 207:159–170) to run spatial GEEs.