S. Dzeroski et al., USING MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MODELS .2. DATA-ANALYSIS WITH RULE INDUCTION, Ecological modelling, 95(1), 1997, pp. 95-111
Artificial intelligence and machine learning methods can be used to au
tomate the acquisition of ecological knowledge, i.e., automate the con
struction of ecological models. This paper describes a particular meth
odology of machine learning, called rule induction, and its applicatio
n to data analysis in several ecological domains. These include the bi
ological classification of British rivers based on bioindicator data,
the analysis of the influence of physical and chemical parameters on s
elected bioindicator organisms in Slovenian rivers and the biological
classification of Slovenian rivers based on physical and chemical para
meters as well as bioindicator data. In all three cases, valuable mode
ls (knowledge) in the form of rules were extracted from data acquired
through environmental monitoring and/or expert interpretation of the a
cquired samples. This provides positive evidence for the utility of ma
chine learning in ecological modelling. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.