An academic publishing model in which journals do not charge fees to either authors or readers.

Average time for first decision (excluding desk-rejections): 5 weeks

Animal Biodiversity and Conservation. Volume 39.1 (2016) Pages: 99-114

Testing the efficacy of downscaling in species distribution modelling: a comparison between MaxEnt and Favourability Function models

Olivero, J., Toxopeus, A. G., Skidmore, A. K., Real, R.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2016.39.0099

Download

PDF

Abstract

Statistical downscaling is used to improve the knowledge of spatial distributions from broad–scale to fine–scale maps with higher potential for conservation planning. We assessed the effectiveness of downscaling in two commonly used species distribution models: Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) and the Favourability Function (FF). We used atlas data (10 x 10 km) of the fire salamander Salamandra salamandra distribution in southern Spain to derive models at a 1 x 1 km resolution. Downscaled models were assessed using an independent dataset of the species’ distribution at 1 x 1 km. The Favourability model showed better downscaling performance than the MaxEnt model, and the models that were based on linear combinations of environmental variables performed better than models allowing higher flexibility. The Favourability model minimized model overfitting compared to the MaxEnt model.

Keywords

Atlas distribution data, Model transferability, Favourability model, Maximum entropy, Overfitting, Salamandra salamandra

Cite

Olivero, J., Toxopeus, A. G., Skidmore, A. K., Real, R., 2016. Testing the efficacy of downscaling in species distribution modelling: a comparison between MaxEnt and Favourability Function models. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 39: 99-114, DOI: https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2016.39.0099

Reception date:

10/09/2015

Acceptation date:

24/11/2015

Publication date:

16/03/2016

Share

Visits

2094

Downloads

699

Content appears on: