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. 2017. Model application niche analysis: assessing the transferability and generalizability of ecological models. Ecosphere 8(10):e01974. 10. 1002/ecs2.1974 Abstract. The use of models by ecologists and environmental managers, to inform environmental management and decision-making, has grown exponentially in the past 50 yr. Due to logistical, economical, and theoretical benefits, model users frequently transfer preexisting models to new sites where data are scarce. Modelers have made significant progress in understanding how to improve model generalizability during model development. However, models are always imperfect representations of systems and are constrained by the contextual frameworks used during their development. Thus, model users need better ways to evaluate the possibility of unintentional misapplication when transferring models to new sites. We propose a method of describing a model's application niche for use during the model selection process. Using this method, model users synthesize information from databases, past studies, and/or past model transfers to create model performance curves and heat maps. We demonstrated this method using an empirical model developed to predict the ecological condition of plant communities in riverine wetlands of the Appalachian Highland physiographic region, USA. We assessed this model's transferability and generalizability across (1) riverine wetlands in the contiguous United States, (2) wetland types in the Appalachian Highland physiographic region, and (3) wetland types in the contiguous United States. With this methodology and a discussion of its critical steps, we set the stage for further inquiries into the development of consistent and transparent practices for model selection when transferring a model.

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Monitoring and assessment (M&A) have long been considered critical components of any resource management program where there is a need to evaluate progress and performance over time. Understanding the origins of current monitoring and assessment strategies and techniques for wetlands in the U.S. provides useful perspectives on how wetlands are both similar and different from other waters and allows us to take advantage of the lessons learned across all aquatic resources. We highlight several knowledge threads that significantly influenced how we approach M&A today, including legal mandates, tools developed to improve the management of resources, and scientific evidence of the utility of M&A information. We describe the role of regional forums in the evolution and development of these tools and in the building of support for their programmatic integration in the Mid-Atlantic Region (MAR). We then tell the story of their use and application at a variety of spatial scales, including site-level mitigation applications in Pennsylvania, watershed application in the Upper Juniata Watershed, regional application in the MAR, and, finally, national application in the National Wetland Condition Assessment. We document the lessons learned, and present an example of promising future use of M&A data in the construction of Tiered Aquatic Life Use Standards for wetlands.