Hierarchical species distribution models in support of vegetation conservation at the landscape scale

作者：Rubén G. Mateo, Aitor Gastón, María José Aroca‐Fernández, Olivier Broennimann, Antoine Guisan, Santiago Saura, Juan Ignacio García‐Viñás · 发表于：Journal of Vegetation Science · 年份：2019 · DOI：10.1111/jvs.12726 · 被引用次数：64 · 研究领域：Species Distribution and Climate Change、Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

Abstract Questions Species distribution models ( SDM s) based on habitat suitability and niche quantification are powerful tools in vegetation science. Recent findings suggest that they could be applied at the landscape scale as vegetation conservation tools, but that some environmental dimensions (e.g., climate) need to be considered at larger scales. What is the importance of applying hierarchical SDM s combining information from different scales to ensure consistent local vegetation management decisions? Study Site Mainland Spain and Biosphere Reserve of Sierra del Rincón (central Spain). Methods We generated SDM s for five tree species at the regional scale (mainland Spain) using climatic variables plus presence/absence data from the Spanish National Forest Inventory; and at the landscape scale (Sierra del Rincón Biosphere Reserve) using local environmental variables plus locally gathered vegetation presence/absence data. Predictions of both regional and landscape models were combined at the landscape scale following two different hierarchical approaches. The four resulting predictions were compared with correlation coefficients and independently evaluated with the AUC statistic and data collected in the study area. Results The regional SDM s depict suitable climatic conditions for the tree species, while the landscape SDM s capture important local ecological drivers that influence habitat suitability at finer scales. Expectedly, the regional SDM s predict larger suitable...