LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY
SREM 3011
LECTURE 4
Dr Brendan Mackey
Department of Geography
The Australian National University
Niche theory
niche = n-dimensional hyper-volume
which defines the set of environmental
conditions within which a species can
(a) exist/survive,(b) complete its life-
cycle
potential niche
realised niche
physiological niche
ecological niche
Modelling plant/animal
distributions
full niche specification
difficult/impossible?
potential environmental domain =
response to primary environmental
regimes
meso-scale climate response =>
potential bioclimatic domain
potential climatic distribution
Climate surfaces
Bioclim
Bioclim-grid Bioclim-sites
gridded Bioclim
parameters
Biomap
*,bio
*,pro
DEM Species data(x y z) +
file of matching grid cells
GIS raster file
Flowchart for Climate Interpolation
Input climate
data files runSPLIN
knot file
runSELNOT
START
SPLIN
log file
SHOW-
SPLIN
SPLIN
surface
files
run
ESOCLIM
GRASS
environment
GRASS
environment <r.in.ESOCLIM> various GIS analyses eg,display,overlay
DEM
Flowchart for Bioclim Analysis
Species
location
files
runBIOCLIM
*.pro file
*.bio file SHOWBIOCLIM
START
runBIOCLIMGRID *.bio file
runBIOMAP GRASSenvironment <s.in.BIOMAP>
various GIS
analysis
eg,raster
conversion,
display
Climate
surfaces
Mean Annual Temperature
Distribution of the 3635 FEC plots across Ontario
Cumulative frequency plots of Bioclim parameters for Jack Pine and budworm infested sites
SCALE 1,12062335
Predicted probability
Range 5-95 % 10-90 % (core)
Bioclim/Biomap Issues:
1,Error associated with climate surfaces
2,Error associated with DEM resolution
3,Relevance of Bioclim parameters
4,Accuracy of geocoding species locations
5,Adequacy with which survey data sample species
distribution
a) too few data
b) geographic bias
c) over-sampling (redundancy)
Issues (cont’d)
‘presence-only’ data versus
‘presence/absence’ data (Jack Pine
example)
Issues (cont’)
are we approximating potential niche?
realized niche? physiological niche?
ecological niche?
can species be modelled independently
of biotic/community relations?
(Thursday discussion
SREM 3011
LECTURE 4
Dr Brendan Mackey
Department of Geography
The Australian National University
Niche theory
niche = n-dimensional hyper-volume
which defines the set of environmental
conditions within which a species can
(a) exist/survive,(b) complete its life-
cycle
potential niche
realised niche
physiological niche
ecological niche
Modelling plant/animal
distributions
full niche specification
difficult/impossible?
potential environmental domain =
response to primary environmental
regimes
meso-scale climate response =>
potential bioclimatic domain
potential climatic distribution
Climate surfaces
Bioclim
Bioclim-grid Bioclim-sites
gridded Bioclim
parameters
Biomap
*,bio
*,pro
DEM Species data(x y z) +
file of matching grid cells
GIS raster file
Flowchart for Climate Interpolation
Input climate
data files runSPLIN
knot file
runSELNOT
START
SPLIN
log file
SHOW-
SPLIN
SPLIN
surface
files
run
ESOCLIM
GRASS
environment
GRASS
environment <r.in.ESOCLIM> various GIS analyses eg,display,overlay
DEM
Flowchart for Bioclim Analysis
Species
location
files
runBIOCLIM
*.pro file
*.bio file SHOWBIOCLIM
START
runBIOCLIMGRID *.bio file
runBIOMAP GRASSenvironment <s.in.BIOMAP>
various GIS
analysis
eg,raster
conversion,
display
Climate
surfaces
Mean Annual Temperature
Distribution of the 3635 FEC plots across Ontario
Cumulative frequency plots of Bioclim parameters for Jack Pine and budworm infested sites
SCALE 1,12062335
Predicted probability
Range 5-95 % 10-90 % (core)
Bioclim/Biomap Issues:
1,Error associated with climate surfaces
2,Error associated with DEM resolution
3,Relevance of Bioclim parameters
4,Accuracy of geocoding species locations
5,Adequacy with which survey data sample species
distribution
a) too few data
b) geographic bias
c) over-sampling (redundancy)
Issues (cont’d)
‘presence-only’ data versus
‘presence/absence’ data (Jack Pine
example)
Issues (cont’)
are we approximating potential niche?
realized niche? physiological niche?
ecological niche?
can species be modelled independently
of biotic/community relations?
(Thursday discussion
