Improving area of occupancy estimates for parapatric species using distribution models and support vector machines.

ABSTRACT: As geographic range estimates for the IUCN Red List guide conservation actions, accuracy and ecological realism are crucial. IUCN's extent of occurrence (EOO) is the general region including the species' range, while area of occupancy (AOO) is the subset of EOO occupied by the species. Data-poor species with incomplete sampling present particular difficulties, but species distribution models (SDMs) can be used to predict suitable areas. Nevertheless, SDMs typically employ abiotic variables (i.e., climate) and do not explicitly account for biotic interactions that can impose range constraints. We sought to improve range estimates for data-poor, parapatric species by masking out areas under inferred competitive exclusion. We did so for two South American spiny pocket mice: Heteromys australi

SUBMITTER: Kass JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7816235 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature