R: Data tutorials vol. 3 - species distribution modelling with R

WHAT ARE SDMS?

Species Distribution Models (SDM) are useful tools that help to study the relationship between environment and the known distribution of a given species. SDM interpolation provides distribution probabilities for the species in space and/or time and are nowadays widely applied in ecology and for conservation purposes.

HOW TO GET STARTED WITH SDM?

Charlène Guillaumot and collaborators have written a R package called “SDMPlay” that let’s you easily dive into species distribution models. It includes occurrence data of sea urchins from around the Kerguelen Islands and also comes with the necessary environmental data. It’s a great opportunity to familiarize yourself with SDMs and already create some nice looking graphs.

Echinoid occurence on the Kerguelen Plateau.

3D visualization of the interaction between environmental variables.

WHERE CAN I FIND THE FULL TUTORIAL?

Follow the more extensive tutorial provided by Charlène for the SDMPlay R package to generate your first models here. Further details on the package can be found here.