Zero-Inflated Beta Distribution Regression Modeling

A frequent challenge encountered with ecological data is how to interpret, analyze, or model data having a high proportion of zeros. Much attention has been given to zero-inflated count data, whereas models for non-negative continuous data with an abundance of 0s are much fewer. We consider zero-inflated data on the unit interval and provide modeling to capture two types of 0s in the context of a Beta regression model. We model 0s due to missing by chance through left-censoring of a latent regression and 0s due to unsuitability using an independent Bernoulli specification. We extend the model by introducing spatial random effects. We specify models hierarchically, employing latent variables, and fit them within a Bayesian framework. Our motivating dataset consists of percent cover abundance of two plant families at a collection of sites in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. We find that environmental features enable learning about both types of 0s as well as positive percent cover. We also show that the spatial random effects model improves predictive performance. The proposed modeling enables ecologists to extract a better understanding of an organism’s absence due to unsuitability vs. missingness by chance, as well as abundance behavior when present.