Advances in species distribution modelling in ecology

Abstract:

Species distribution modelling (SDM), where one models the likelihood of occurrence of a species as a function of a suite of environmental variables, has received a lot of recent attention in ecology.  In fact, ISI Essential Science Indicators lists SDM as the fastest moving research front in the environmental sciences. This talk will review some recent contributions to the SDM literature from the UNSW Eco-Stats group: using point process models for presence-only data; relations to maximum entropy approaches; a model-based approach to account for observer bias; using the LASSO to "borrow strength" across species; incorporating traits into models to explain differing environmental response across species. Future directions for research will also be outlined. This is joint work with Alex Brown, Ian Renner, Leah Shepherd and Luke Wilson.