Research Article

Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneity Creates a “Brown Tide” in Root Phenology and Nutrition

Table 4

Hypothesized candidate models, model structure, Akaike Information Criterion with small sample size correction (AICc), difference in AICc score from highest ranked candidate model (ΔAICc), and Akaike weight ( 𝑤 𝑖 ) of the top 10 candidate models used to predict crude protein content of alpine sweetvetch (Hedysarum alpinum) in west-central Alberta, Canada. The final model (in bold) was selected based on the highest Akaike weight ( 𝑤 𝑖 ) and ΔAICc > 2.

Candidate models (hypotheses)Model structureAICcΔAICc 𝑤 𝑖

T emporal + Soil * Temperature * TemporalJDAY + JDAY2 + CTI * GDD * JDAY529.1700.71
Temporal + Soil * Temperature * Temporal + YearJDAY + JDAY2 + CTI * GDD * JDAY + YEAR532.323.150.15
Temporal + SoilJDAY + JDAY2 + CTI535.286.110.03
Temporal + Soil + GeologyJDAY + JDAY2 + CTI + GEO536.227.050.02
Temporal + Soil + Soil * TemporalJDAY + JDAY2 + CTI + CTI * JDAY536.607.430.02
Temporal + Soil + TemperatureJDAY + JDAY2 + CTI + GDD536.957.780.01
Temporal + Soil * Geology * TemporalJDAY + JDAY2 + CTI * GEO * JDAY537.758.580.01
Temporal + Soil + Temperature * TemporalJDAY + JDAY2 + CTI + GDD * JDAY537.888.710.01
Temporal + Soil + Geology + CompetitionJDAY + JDAY2 + CTI + GEO + LANCOV538.439.260.01
Temporal + Soil + Geology + TemperatureJDAY + JDAY2 + CTI + GEO + GDD538.439.260.01