Toward ecologically realistic predictions of species distributions: A cross-time example from tropical montane cloud forests
Por:
Guevara, Lazaro, Gerstner, Beth E., Kass, Jamie M., Anderson, Robert P.
Publicada:
1 abr 2018
Resumen:
There is an urgent need for more ecologically realistic models for better predicting the effects of climate change on species’ potential geographic distributions. Here we build ecological niche models using MAXENT and test whether selecting predictor variables based on biological knowledge and selecting ecologically realistic response curves can improve cross-time distributional predictions. We also evaluate how the method chosen for extrapolation into nonanalog conditions affects the prediction. We do so by estimating the potential distribution of a montane shrew (Mammalia, Soricidae, Cryptotis mexicanus) at present and the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Because it is tightly associated with cloud forests (with climatically determined upper and lower limits) whose distributional shifts are well characterized, this species provides clear expectations of plausible vs. implausible results. Response curves for the MAXENT model made using variables selected via biological justification were ecologically more realistic compared with those of the model made using many potential predictors. This strategy also led to much more plausible geographic predictions for upper and lower elevational limits of the species both for the present and during the LGM. By inspecting the modeled response curves, we also determined the most appropriate way to extrapolate into nonanalog environments, a previously overlooked factor in studies involving model transfer. This study provides intuitive context for recommendations that should promote more realistic ecological niche models for transfer across space and time. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Filiaciones:
Guevara, Lazaro:
CUNY City Coll, Dept Biol, 138Th St & Convent Ave, New York, NY 10031 USA
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Fac Ciencias, Dept Biol Evolut, Mexico City, DF, Mexico
Gerstner, Beth E.:
CUNY City Coll, Dept Biol, 138Th St & Convent Ave, New York, NY 10031 USA
Michigan State Univ, Dept Fisheries & Wildlife, E Lansing, MI 48824 USA
Kass, Jamie M.:
CUNY City Coll, Dept Biol, 138Th St & Convent Ave, New York, NY 10031 USA
CUNY, Grad Ctr, Program Biol, New York, NY USA
Anderson, Robert P.:
CUNY City Coll, Dept Biol, 138Th St & Convent Ave, New York, NY 10031 USA
CUNY, Grad Ctr, Program Biol, New York, NY USA
Amer Museum Nat Hist, Div Vertebrate Zool Mammal, New York, NY 10024 USA
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