ALL VOLUMES SEARCH TIEE
VOLUME 20 TEACHING ISSUES AND EXPERIMENTS IN ECOLOGY
PRACTICE

Niches and species distribution models

Rylee Smith with a smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) caught in the Penobscot River, Maine." Photo credit Rylee Smith

AUTHORS

Rylee Smith

Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469

rylee.smith@maine.edu

THE ISSUE

Species niches play a fundamental role in species diversity, but modeling species distributions can be challenging. Here we use temperature to quantify the niches of freshwater fish and discuss the benefits and limitations of Species Distribution Modeling using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt). MaxEnt is a species distribution modeling approach that predicts the probability of a species distribution in a geographic area based on presence only data and environmental variables. In addition, we will discuss the importance of scale and resolution in SDMs, highlighting how these factors may influence the accuracy and applicability of the models.

FOUR DIMENSIONAL ECOLOGY EDUCATION (4DEE) FRAMEWORK

  • Core Ecological Concepts:
    • Organisms
    • Ecosystems
  • Ecology Practices:
    • Quantitative reasoning and computational thinking
  • Human-Environment Interactions:
    • Human accelerated environmental change
  • Cross-cutting Themes:
    • Spatial & Temporal

STUDENT-ACTIVE APPROACHES

The students will be interpreting maps and graphs, engaging in think-pair-share exercises, and reviewing background material related to the figure sets.

STUDENT ASSESSMENTS

Student understanding can be assessed through their willingness to share responses to the instructor's questions, as well as their answers during think-pair-share exercises and "Test Your Knowledge" questions. Additionally, the instructor can evaluate comprehension through the "Post-Class Assessment." Engagement with the material can also be monitored by observing and listening to the conversations within think-pair-share groups as the instructor circulates around the classroom.

CLASS TIME

The figure set is designed to span one 120 or two 60-minute class period(s).

COURSE CONTEXT

The Figure Set is recommended as part of advanced sciences courses such as ecology and conservation for undergraduate students. Suggested course size is 30 students or fewer for one instructor.

DOWNLOADS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This was developed as part of a PhD comprehensive exam. I thank numerous people at University of Maine and USGS who have supported the creation of this module. Also, I thank the Maine Department of Marine Resources for providing the data.

CITATION

Rylee Smith. August 2024. Niches and species distribution models. Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology, Vol. 20: Practice #4. https://tiee.esa.org/vol/v20/issues/figure_sets/smith/abstract.html

[ TOP ]