Combining global climate and regional landscape models to improve prediction of invasion risk

Ruth Kelly, Katie Leach, Alison Cameron, Christine A. Maggs, Neil Reid

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

49 Citations (Scopus)
427 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Aim
It is widely acknowledged that species distributions result from a variety of biotic and abiotic factors operating at different spatial scales. Here, we aimed to (1) determine the extent to which global climate niche models (CNMs) can be improved by the addition of fine-scale regional data; (2) examine climatic and environmental factors influencing the range of 15 invasive aquatic plant species; and (3) provide a case study for the use of such models in invasion management on an island.

Location
Global, with a case study of species invasions in Ireland.

Methods
Climate niche models of global extent (including climate only) and regional environmental niche models (with additional factors such as human influence, land use and soil characteristics) were generated using maxent for 15 invasive aquatic plants. The performance of these models within the invaded range of the study species in Ireland was assessed, and potential hotspots of invasion suitability were determined. Models were projected forward up to 2080 based on two climate scenarios.

Results
While climate variables are important in defining the global range of species, factors related to land use and nutrient level were of greater importance in regional projections. Global climatic models were significantly improved at the island scale by the addition of fine-scale environmental variables (area under the curve values increased by 0.18 and true skill statistic values by 0.36), and projected ranges decreased from an average of 86% to 36% of the island.

Main conclusions
Refining CNMs with regional data on land use, human influence and landscape may have a substantial impact on predictive capacity, providing greater value for prioritization of conservation management at subregional or local scales.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)884–894
Number of pages11
JournalDiversity and Distributions
Volume20
Issue number8
Early online date19 Mar 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2014

Keywords

  • Aquatic
  • Biological Invasions
  • Climate change
  • MaxEnt
  • Macrophyte

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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