Publication Date
2016
Placement
First Prize
Class Year
2016
Department
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Advisor
Walter Jetz
Abstract
Species distribution modeling, which uses species-environment relationships to predict species’ geographic ranges, is a powerful technique for biogeographical and ecological analysis as well as for conservation planning. However, it has typically been underutilized for invertebrates and for freshwater species, as modeling these groups can pose unique challenges. Here I present methods for modeling odonate distributions and demonstrate these methods for four North American species. I show that incorporating expert-derived range maps as spatial priors can significantly improve model performance as compared to MaxEnt models. I also introduce a new distance to freshwater layer as an environmental variable, and show that this is an important predictor of presence for all tested species. The methods and example cases presented here contribute to a greater understanding of this ecologically important but understudied taxonomic group.
Recommended Citation
Beilinson, Rebecca, "Species Distribution Modeling of North American Odonates" (2016). Library Map Prize. 5.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/library_map_prize/5
Included in
Biodiversity Commons, Biology Commons, Entomology Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons