Predicting Ailanthus altissima presence across a managed forest landscape in southeast Ohio

Forest Ecosystems

Table 1 Variables used in RF, CART, and Maxent models. NI-Not included. NC-Not Contributing to model. Description and statistics of variables are presented in Additional file 1

Variable	RF rank	CART rank	Maxent Rank	Description
Yrs_since_last_harvest	1	1	NI	years since last harvest
Near_Roads	2	NI	NC	distance from roads
TPI600	3	3	NC	TPI with 600 m buffer
RelSun4pm	4	2	6	relative solar radiation at 4 pm
Near_Hike_Bridle	5	NI	NC	distance from trails
UpCanHt	6	NI	4	height of upper canopy
Harvest_Yrs_cl	7	NI	NI	years since harvest, class
Fire_Int_cl	8	NC	NC	Intensity of fire
TPI300	9	6	2	TPI with 300 m buffer
Elevation	10	NI	1	Elevation (m)
MidCanHt	11	NI	NC	height of mid-canopy
Asp_beer	12	NC	3	Beers aspect
Near_Ridges_vec	13	NI	NC	distance from ridges
Slope_deg	14	4	9	degree slope
TAU_SCA	15	7	7	specific catchment area
TPI50	16	5	NC	TPI with 50 m buffer
IMI	17	NC	10	integrated moisture index
Percent_sun	18	NI	NC	percent sun at plot
TotalSolar	19	NI	NC	total solar radiation
Harvest_Int_cl	20	NI	NI	harvest intensity, class
Hillshade	21	NC	12	hillshade
TPI150	22	NC	NC	TPI with150 m buffer
Curvature	23	NC	13	curvature
LandFm50.300 m	24	NC	14	landforms derived from TPI
Area_Sol_Rad	25	NI	5	annual solar radiation