Model application niche analysis: Assessing the transferability and generalizability of ecological models.

ABSTRACT: The use of models by ecologists and environmental managers, to inform environmental management and decision-making, has grown exponentially in the past 50 years. Due to logistical, economical, and theoretical benefits, model users frequently transfer preexisting models to new sites where data are scarce. Modelers have made significant progress in understanding how to improve model generalizability during model development. However, models are always imperfect representations of systems and are constrained by the contextual frameworks used during their development. Thus, model users need better ways to evaluate the possibility of unintentional misapplication when transferring models to new sites. We propose a method of describing a model's application niche for use during the model selectio

SUBMITTER: Moon JB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6140329 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature