What we use is not what we know: environmental predictors in plant distribution models

• Published in: Journal of vegetation science Vol. 27; no. 6; pp. 1308 - 1322
• Main Authors: Mod, Heidi K., Scherrer, Daniel, Luoto, Miska, Guisan, Antoine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2016; John Wiley & Sons Ltd
• Subjects: biocenosis; Covariate; Environment; environmental factors; Habitat suitability; Independent variable; Niche; nutrients; Plant; population distribution; Predictor; soil nutrients; soil pH; soil water; Species distribution; SYNTHESIS; systematic review; temperature

Aims: The choice of environmental predictor variables in correlative models of plant species distributions (hereafter SDMs) is crucial to ensure predictive accuracy and model realism, as highlighted in multiple earlier studies. Because variable selection is directly related to a model's capacit...