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Abundance and the Environmental Niche: Environmental Suitability Estimated from Niche Models Predicts the Upper Limit of Local Abundance
Citation
VanDerWal, J and Shoo, LP and Johnson, CN and Williams, SE, Abundance and the Environmental Niche: Environmental Suitability Estimated from Niche Models Predicts the Upper Limit of Local Abundance , The American Naturalist, 174, (2) pp. 1-10. ISSN 0003-0147 (2009) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2009 by The University of Chicago http://www.press.uchicago.edu
DOI: doi:10.1086/600087
Abstract
Ecologists seek to understand patterns of distribution
and abundance of species. Studies of distribution often use occur-
rence data to build models of the environmental niche of a species.
Environmental suitability (ES) derived from such models may be
used to predict the potential distributions of species. The ability of
such models to predict spatial patterns in abundance is unknown;
we argue that there should be a positive relationship between ES and
local abundance. This will be so if ES reflects how well the species’
physiological and ecological requirements are met at a site and if
those factors also determine local abundance. However, the presence
of other factors may indicate that potential abundance is not attained
at all sites. Therefore, ES should predict the upper limit of abundance,
and the observed relationship with ES should be wedge shaped. We
tested the relationship of ES with local abundance for 69 rain forest
vertebrates in the Australian wet tropics. Ordinary least squares and
quantile regressions revealed a positive relationship between ES and
local abundance for most species (184%). The relationships for these
species were wedge shaped. We conclude that ES modeled from pres-
ence-only data provides useful information on spatial patterns of
abundance, and we discuss implications of this in addressing im-
portant problems in ecology.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
Research Group: | Ecology |
Research Field: | Population ecology |
Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
Objective Group: | Terrestrial systems and management |
Objective Field: | Terrestrial biodiversity |
UTAS Author: | Johnson, CN (Professor Christopher Johnson) |
ID Code: | 72234 |
Year Published: | 2009 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 293 |
Deposited By: | Zoology |
Deposited On: | 2011-08-24 |
Last Modified: | 2014-12-18 |
Downloads: | 13 View Download Statistics |
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