Performance evaluation of cetacean species distribution models developed using generalized additive models and boosted regression trees.

ABSTRACT: Species distribution models (SDMs) are important management tools for highly mobile marine species because they provide spatially and temporally explicit information on animal distribution. Two prevalent modeling frameworks used to develop SDMs for marine species are generalized additive models (GAMs) and boosted regression trees (BRTs), but comparative studies have rarely been conducted; most rely on presence-only data; and few have explored how features such as species distribution characteristics affect model performance. Since the majority of marine species BRTs have been used to predict habitat suitability, we first compared BRTs to GAMs that used presence/absence as the response variable. We then compared results from these habitat suitability models to GAMs that predict species dens

SUBMITTER: Becker EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7319248 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature