Addressing Wallacean shortfalls for understudied taxa with species distribution models
There is now a wealth of open data on species distributions, but taxonomic biases in favor of charismatic species persist, leaving big gaps for distributional information in the tree of life. Known as Wallacean shortfalls, these gaps make it difficult to ascertain even broad biodiversity patterns for taxa responsible for key ecosystem functions and services. Species distribution models (SDMs) can take what little data we have and make useful and testable predictions of individual range extents for understudied taxa. They can also help estimate and map aggregate biodiversity metrics for overlooked groups that can identify areas of priority for species conservation and resource management. In this talk, I will discuss applications of SDMs to improve our biogeographical knowledge of understudied taxa, overview some promising new data types and methods that can accelerate this advancement of knowledge, and end with some thoughts on using these models to predict and map ecosystem service potential.
Jamie M. Kass is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Life Sciences at Tohoku University in Japan, where he runs the Macroecology Lab. His group uses species distribution models and other analytical tools to investigate how global change affects biodiversity patterns over space and time across biogeographic realms (terrestrial and marine) and a variety of taxa. Current research themes in his lab are biodiversity monitoring with cameras and sound recorders, mapping functional diversity for pollinators, employing eDNA data for biodiversity modeling, and assessing nature restoration activities using integrated modeling approaches.
