Abstract
Geographic information systems (GIS) allow researchers to make cost-effective, spatially explicit predictions of species’ distributions across broad geographic areas. However, there has been little research on whether using fine-scale habitat data collected in the field could produce more robust models of species’ distributions. Here we used radio-telemetry data collected on a declining species, the North American wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta), to test whether fine-scale habitat variables were better predictors of occurrence than land-cover and topography variables measured in a GIS. Patterns of male and female occurrence were similar in the spring; however, females used a much wider array of land-cover types and topographic positions in the summer and early fall, making it difficult for GIS-based models to accurately predict female occurrence at this time of year. Males on the other hand consistently selected flat, low-elevation, riparian areas throughout the year, and this consistency in turn led to the development of a strong GIS-based model. These results demonstrate the importance of taking a more sex-specific and temporally dynamic view of the environmental niche.
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Abbreviations
- GIS:
-
Geographic information systems
- SDM:
-
Species distribution model
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the Nova Forest Alliance, Stora ENSO, the Elizabeth Wakeman Foundation, the Nova Scotia Habitat Conservation Fund, the Government of Canada Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk, the Saint Mary’s River Association, the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and an Acadia Graduate Award to RT. K. Krumb, L. Sweet and M. Lupek assisted with the field component of this research. B. Starzomski, D. Shutler, and D. Pike helped revise an earlier version of this manuscript.
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Tingley, R., Herman, T.B., Pulsifer, M.D. et al. Intra-specific niche partitioning obscures the importance of fine-scale habitat data in species distribution models. Biodivers Conserv 19, 2455–2467 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9852-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9852-7