Dynamic Community Occupancy Model with Interactions

[Philip Gould]

Hello,

I am currently working with a 2-species, dynamic occupancy dataset that we would like to model as a joint-species model, in an effort to capture residual correlation. We have no a priori assumption that the community fits in the existing "dominant-subordinate" modeling framework. The alternative, that we could employ would be a dynamic multi-state model (w/ or w/o interactions; Fidino et al. 2018) but for compatibility with larger species datasets, we are seeking other options too.

I am most interested in whether there are existing examples of the Tobler et al. 2019 latent-variable approach, or similar, applied to a model that includes the random-effects DCM design of AHM volume 2, Chapter 5. 

I am less well-versed with Latent-Variable models, so I don't wish to misuse them, but envisioned estimating independent LVs and LV coefficients for: 

1. Initial Occupancy - site-level (as in Tobler et al. 2019)

2. Colonization Probability - site-year-level

3. Persistence Probability - site-year-level

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Philip Gould