A practical guide to MaxEnt for modeling species' distributions: what it does, and why inputs and settings matter

Merow, Cory; Smith, Matthew J.; Silander, John A.

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0587.2013.07872.x

Cited by 2,838 publications

(2,973 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…the 'relative occurrence rate', ROR) [34]. To facilitate comparison across species, we rescaled ROR values within species to range from 0 to 1 across the study extent.…”

Section: (C) Ecological Niche Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do community-weighted mean functional traits reflect optimal strategies?

2016

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The notion that relationships between community-weighted mean (CWM) traits (i.e. plot-level trait values weighted by species abundances) and environmental conditions reflect selection towards locally optimal phenotypes is challenged by the large amount of interspecific trait variation typically found within ecological communities. Reconciling these contrasting patterns is a key to advancing predictive theories of functional community ecology. We combined data on geographical distributions and three traits (wood density, leaf mass per area and maximum height) of 173 tree species in Puerto Rico. We tested the hypothesis that species are more likely to occur where their trait values are more similar to the local CWM trait values (the 'CWM-optimality' hypothesis) by comparing species occurrence patterns (as a proxy for fitness) with the functional composition of forest plots across a precipitation gradient. While 70% of the species supported CWM-optimality for at least one trait, nearly 25% significantly opposed it for at least one trait, thereby contributing to local functional diversity. The majority (85%) of species that opposed CWMoptimality did so only for one trait and few species opposed CWM-optimality in multivariate trait space. Our study suggests that constraints to local functional variation act more strongly on multivariate phenotypes than on univariate traits.

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“…the 'relative occurrence rate', ROR) [34]. To facilitate comparison across species, we rescaled ROR values within species to range from 0 to 1 across the study extent.…”

Section: (C) Ecological Niche Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do community-weighted mean functional traits reflect optimal strategies?

2016

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“…The models for the overall distribution of leopards and jaguars and the spatial distribution of melanism were generated using the maximum entropy algorithm implemented in the software Maxent [34] along with associated statistical tools [35][36][37][38]. The total set of location records divided by each phenotype for both species, 70% of which were used for training and 30% for testing the models, was employed.…”

Section: Modeling Procedures and Statistical Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecology and Evolution of Melanism in Big Cats: Case Study with Black Leopards and Jaguars

Silva¹

2017

Big Cats

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Variations in animal coloration have intrigued evolutionary biologists for a long time. Among the observed pigmentation polymorphisms, melanism has been reported in multiple organisms (influencing several biological factors), and classical hypothesis has suggested that such variant can present adaptive advantages under certain ecological conditions. In leopards (Panthera pardus) and jaguars (Panthera onca), melanism is caused by recessive and dominant mutations in the ASIP and MC1R genes, respectively. This chapter is focused on melanism in these two species, aiming to analyze its geographic pattern. About 623 leopard and 980 jaguar records that were used as baseline for modeling and statistical analyses were obtained. The frequency of melanism was 10% for both species. In leopards, melanism was present in five subspecies and strongly associated with moist forests, especially in Southeast Asia. In jaguars, melanism was totally absent from open and periodically flooded landscapes; in contrast, forests displayed a frequency that was similar to the expectations. The analyses of the environmental predictors suggest a relevant role for factors such as moisture and temperature. These observations support the hypothesis that melanism in big cats is not a neutral polymorphism (influenced by natural selection), leading to a nonrandom geographic distribution of this coloration phenotype.

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“…The algorithm used by MaxEnt is one of the most robust models of species distribution (MSD) in terms of successfully estimating the area from only a few records of presence (Hernández et al 2006), as occurs with most tropical epiphytes. MaxEnt has been widely tested for species idoneity in both present and future conditions (Merow et al 2013, Phillips 2008, Reina-Rodríguez et al 2016 and has been used with actual species from more than ten locations (Ramírez-Villegas et al 2014, Wiz et al 2008. In this study, to avoid over-fitting (Barbet-Massin et al 2012), 2120 pseudo-absences were included, with ten for each presence obtained from our database (herbaria data and fieldwork) in TDF-delimited areas.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Orchids distribution and bioclimatic niches as a strategy to climate change in areas of tropical dry forest in Colombia

Reina-Rodriguez

Mejía²,

Llanos³

et al. 2017

Lankesteriana

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AbstrACt. Climate change projections in Colombia predict an average increase in temperature of 2.6°C and in precipitation of 20% by the end of the century. These changes would directly affect the tropical dry forest (TDF) and its biodiversity. Epiphytic orchids, more exposed to the atmosphere than the terrestrial biota, remain dependent on climatic variables, making them particularly susceptible to climate change. We studied the spatial and temporal changes of a focal group of 12 orchid species typical of the TDF in Colombia, and the future conservation areas to this ecosystem. The algorithm used by MaxEnt was employed for modelling. A total of 439 records: direct observations (276); herbaria collections (159) Other variables analysed, such as distance thresholds of pollinators (Euglossini), availability of phorophytes, and distances to TDF cover and protected areas, all suggest an improving connectivity between the lowland and mid-mountain areas. Consequently, bioclimatic niches (BN) are proposed as a new landscape management unit. Throughout the country, 69 of these BN were located as an adaptation-conservation strategy against climate change in the TDF in Colombia.resumen. Las proyecciones del cambio climático en Colombia, indican en promedio un incremento en 2.6°C de temperatura y 20% de la precipitación para el fin del siglo. Estos cambios afectarán directamente al bosque seco tropical (Bs-T) y su biodiversidad. Las orquídeas epífitas, más expuestas a la atmósfera que la biota terrestre mantienen dependencia de variables ligadas al clima. Esta condición las hace particularmente susceptibles al cambio climático. Nosotros estudiamos los cambios espacio-temporales de un grupo focal de 12 especies de orquídeas típicas del Bs-T en Colombia y las futuras áreas de conservación de este ecosistema. El algoritmo usado por MaxEnt fue empleado para el modelamiento. Un total de 439 registros: observaciones directas (276); registros de herbario (159) y fuentes bibliográficas (4), colectadas desde septiembre de 2009 hasta abril 2015 fueron consideradas para entrenar el modelo. El nicho potencial actual fue comparado con el escenario de emisiones de cambio climático SRES 8.5 para dos periodos: 2020-2049 (2030) y 2040-2069 (2050). Los resultados indican un desplazamiento altitudinal respecto al presente, condicionado por variables como: temperatura, accesibilidad, y precipitación. Las áreas de montaña media (1300-1700 m) incrementarán su idoneidad en los modelos de nicho potencial futuro (2030 y 2050) en detrimento de las tierras bajas (0-1000 m). Otras variables analizadas como umbrales de distancia en polinizadores (Euglossini), disponibilidad de forófitos, distancias a coberturas de Bs-T y áreas protegidas, sugieren mejorar la conectividad entre tierras bajas y áreas de montaña media. En consecuencia, los nichos bioclimáticos (BN) son propuestos como nueva unidad 18 LANKESTERIANA de manejo del paisaje. En todo el país, 69 de ellos fueron localizados como estrategia de adaptación-conservación frente al cambio climático ...

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A practical guide to MaxEnt for modeling species' distributions: what it does, and why inputs and settings matter

Cited by 2,838 publications

References 58 publications

Do community-weighted mean functional traits reflect optimal strategies?

Do community-weighted mean functional traits reflect optimal strategies?

Ecology and Evolution of Melanism in Big Cats: Case Study with Black Leopards and Jaguars

Orchids distribution and bioclimatic niches as a strategy to climate change in areas of tropical dry forest in Colombia

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