On Differences in the Results of Judgement-Based, Cluster, and Regression Analysis in Fauna Assemblage Mapping Using the Example of Mouselike Rodents of the Altai Mountains

This article compares assemblage maps of mouselike rodents in the Altai Mountain region, created according to the results of mousetrap capture data based on the judgement-based speculative method and using cluster and regression analysis. The map legends are shown to have significant differences, and the approximation of community similarity is clearly overall unsatisfactory. The lists of identified structure-forming factors are similar in both cases, but their combinations (natural-anthropogenic regimes) that explain the heterogeneity of the communities are significantly different. The judgement-based explanation relies only on data on the heterogeneity of vegetation and relief. Formalized analysis establishes an additional correlation with provinciality and the composition of forest-forming species. The information value of the classification is almost the same for both judgement-based and formalized analysis (7.51 and 8.16%) when performed on source data; when averaged by sections of the geobotanical map (for a rank larger than habitats), it increases 1.6-fold for judgement-based analysis and 2.6-fold for formalized analysis; i.e., in this case, formalized analysis is 1.6 times more effective.