E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation partners at the Yale Center for Biodiversity and Global Change have released two new studies on species distribution models (SDMs), driving forward both innovation in the modeling process and accuracy in predictions that come from the models. The new studies show how to better integrate ecological and evolutionary processes in SDMs and demonstrate the value of high-resolution outputs for predicting biodiversity patterns.
Fine-Grain Predictions Are Key to Accurately Represent Continental-Scale Biodiversity Patterns, published in Global Ecology and Biogeography, discusses how “1 km models more accurately predicted species presence, absence and richness at local sites [than models fit at coarser resolutions]”. Coarser models underpredict species range sizes, with especially high under-predictions in summer and for range-restricted or habitat-specialist species, possibly missing important habitat for a given species at the range edges. More accurate predictions of species ranges are key for management decisions and protected-area placement as we move towards 30×30 and other targets under the Global Biodiversity Framework. The study was partially supported by the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation in support of Half-Earth Project and co-authored by Jeremy M. Cohen, from Yale University and the Lead PI of the Foundation’s Half-Earth Project Map, Walter Jetz, Jack and Laura Dangermond Scientific Chair of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation.
Environmental niches are critical concepts in ecology, as they inform where species occur and why, and are “the central concept behind species distribution models”. The paper Measuring the Evolution of n-dimensional Environmental Niches, published in Ecography, explores how to better integrate evolutionary history into SDMs better using niche concepts. The paper’s approach “has the potential to…improve understanding of how the processes of niche formation and evolution interact.” The insight this approach can provide will be particularly relevant moving forward, as species adapt to changing environmental conditions. The study was partially supported by the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation in support of Half-Earth Project and co-authored by Shubhi Sharma, Kevin Winner, and Jussi Mäkinen, from Yale University and the Lead PI of the Foundation’s Half-Earth Project Map, Walter Jetz, Jack and Laura Dangermond Scientific Chair of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation.
The Foundation congratulates the authors of these studies for their contributions to the advancement of global species and biodiversity protection and management.
About the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation
The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation’s mission is to reimagine the way we care for our planet. The Foundation’s major initiative, the Half-Earth Project, is working to inspire informed collective action to save the biosphere. Visit www.eowilsonfoundation.orgto learn more.
Media Contacts:
E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation
Niquole Esters
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nesters@eowilsonfoundation.org
(510) 631-7571
