Habitat and spatial thinning improve the Maxent models performed with incomplete data

Abstract

Species distribution models need adequate sets of data, particularly in the case of range‐restricted species. The problem faced in the modeling of rare species is twofold: a small sample size and the occurrence of sampling biases. The present analysis combines spatial‐ and habitat‐thinning approaches to improve maximum entropy models based on geographically incomplete data of relict and subendemic Festuca amethystina L. grass on Polish territory. The results show that models based on strongly incomplete historic data did not predict the occurrence of all important areas where the species was found in the following decades. However, the introduction of species‐specific thinning allows for more precise prediction of the species range, i.e., the detection of suitable areas on a more local scale. The introduction of habitat thinning caused the diversity of important predictors in model to increase, but spatial thinning decreased the number of significant predictors and made interpretation easier. Additionally, a combination of thinning techniques allowed significant improvements to be made to the model predictions after the experimental addition of a lower number of localities to regions which had previously been poorly recognized. It can be concluded that in the case of incomplete data, the above corrections allow the true range of the species to be predicted after the discovery of a lower number and relatively dispersed new localities.

Spatial modeling could not differentiate early SARS-CoV-2 cases from the distribution of humans on the basis of climate in the United States

“…An updated draft of the original paper ( Araújo & Naimi, 2020 ) addressed some of these issues, and produced reasonable arguments to some others. While we agree with many arguments from the rebuttal, we believe SDMs have the potential to be useful for modeling in a number of instances, if done carefully, and have been effective when used for other diseases ( Pigott et al, 2014b , 2015 ; Carlson, Dougherty & Getz, 2016 ) and other instances when data are limited or incomplete ( Galante et al, 2018 ; Barbet-Massin et al, 2018 ; Katz & Zellmer, 2018 ; Pearson et al, 2006 ; Fois et al, 2018 ; Hernandez et al, 2006 ; Kiedrzyński et al, 2017 ).…”

Morphometric traits in the fine-leaved fescues depend on ploidy level: the case of Festuca amethystina L.

“…However, since the subspecies description made by Markgraf-Dannenberg (1980) , some crucial localities have been discovered beyond the range known at that time. For example, the subspecies ritschlii was known in Poland, almost exclusively, from one region ( Kiedrzyński et al, 2017 ), as well as discovery of the new populations in Romania ( Indreica, 2007 ), which was mentioned above. It is possible that the limited knowledge about the intraspecific variation influenced the choice of diagnostic features by Markgraf-Dannenberg (1980) .…”

“…In our research, we dealt with one of the species belonging to the mentioned genus: Festuca amethystina L. (amethyst fescue). It is a mountain grass that occurs in the area between the Western Alps, Dinarides and Eastern Carpathians ( Meusel, Jäger & Weinert, 1965 ; Jakubowska-Gabara, 1994 ; Kiedrzyński et al, 2015 ; Kiedrzyński et al, 2017 ). The species includes two cytotypes: diploid (2×) with 14 chromosomes and tetraploid (4×) with 28 chromosomes ( Inda et al, 2008 ; Šmarda, 2008 ).…”

The transferability of microsatellite loci from a homoploid to a polyploid hybrid complex: an example from fine-leavedFestucaspecies (Poaceae)

“…Studied species display significant differences in geographical range: F. tatrae is endemic to the Western Carpathians (Turis et al, 2014;Chadburn & Romand-Monnier, 2014;Mráz et al, 2016)) whereas F. amethystina is widely distributed in Central and South-Eastern Europe. Both species occur in mountain habitats such as subalpine grasslands and relict pine forests on limestones; however, F. amethystina has also been confirmed from highland and lowland oak woods (e.g., Jakubowska-Gabara, 1994;Indreica, 2007;Roleček, 2007;Kiedrzyński et al, 2015;Kiedrzyński et al, 2017).…”