Figure 3. A machine learning algorithm, random forest, for testing the association of Taxus chinensis seedling numbers with habitat plot (a,b), perching frequency of dispersers (c), disperser species (d), dispersers’ body size (e), dispersers’ habitat adaptation (f), and surveying year (g) in Tongkeng, east China.

It shows the partial effects of several independent variables on the number of seedlings, based on the random forest model. Bars show means. Disperser species: bulbul, Chestnut bulbul Hypsipetes castanonotus; magpie, Red-billed blue magpie Urocissa erythrorhyncha; thrush, Grey-backed thrush Turdus hortulorum; woodpecker, Grey-faced woodpecker Picus canus.