Inferring space from time: On the relationship between demography and environmental suitability in the desert plant O. rastrera.

ABSTRACT: Demographic analyses and ecological niche modeling (ENM) are two popular tools that address species persistence in relation to environmental conditions. Classic demography provides detailed information about the mechanisms that allow a population to grow or remain stable at a local scale, while ENM infers distributions from conditions suitable for species persistence at geographic scales by relating species' occurrences with environmental variables. By integrating these two tools, we may better understand population processes that determine species persistence at a geographic scale. To test this idea, we developed a model that relates climate to demography of the cactus Opuntia rastrera using 15 years of data from one locality. Using this model we determined the geographic area where popul

SUBMITTER: Ureta C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6084933 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature