embarcadero: Species distribution modelling with Bayesian additive regression trees inr

embarcaderois anrpackage of convenience tools for species distribution modelling (SDM) with Bayesian additive regression trees (BART), a powerful machine learning approach that has been rarely applied to ecological problems. Like other classification and regression tree methods, BART estimates the probability of a binary outcome based on a set of decision trees. Unlike other methods, BART iteratively generates sets of trees based on a set of priors about tree structure and nodes, and builds a posterior distribution of estimated classification probabilities. So far, BARTs have yet to be applied to SDM. embarcaderois a workflow wrapper for BART species distribution models, and includes functionality for easy spartial prediction, an automated variable selection procedure, several types of partial dependence visualization and other tools for ecological application. Theembarcaderopackage is an open source and available on Github. To show howembarcaderocan be used by ecologists, I illustrate a BART workflow for a virtual species distribution model. The supplement includes a more advanced vignette showing how BART can be used for mapping disease transmission risk, using the example of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in Africa.