Mangrove Species Dominance Map of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia as Modeled by a Random Forest (RF) Model

Mangrove species dominance on Pohnpei island, Federated States of Micronesia was modeled with two geospatial model types: k-nearest neighbor (KNN) and random forest (RF) and a common set of predictors. Dominant mangroves were defined as species comprising the largest basal area per field plot. The RF model predicted species dominance for each species separately, resulting in 8 maps (one for each species). The maps of Rhizophora stylosa and R. mucronata dominance were combined because these species were difficult to tell apart in field identification (resulting in the 7 maps presented here). The KNN model produced one map, which shows all species' dominance locations in one raster layer. The KNN model results were the best based on field data and in field knowledge of the area but the RF results are still shared here.