Open AccessSpecies distribution models for Peruvian plantcutter improve with consideration of biotic interactions
Author(s) -
Atauchi P. Joser,
Peterson A. Townsend,
Flanagan Jeremy
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of avian biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.022
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1600-048X
pISSN - 0908-8857
DOI - 10.1111/jav.01617
Subject(s) - abiotic component , biology , biotic component , akaike information criterion , ecology , range (aeronautics) , species distribution , host (biology) , statistics , habitat , mathematics , materials science , composite material
Biotic interactions have been controversial in distributional ecology, mainly in regards to whether they have effects over broad extents, with the negative view known as the Eltonian noise hypothesis (ENH). In this study, we evaluated the ENH for Phytotoma raimondii, a restricted‐range Peruvian endemic bird species: we developed models based on 1) only abiotic conditions, 2) only host plant distributions, and 3) both abiotic conditions and host plant distributions; models were evaluated with partial receiver operating characteristic test and Akaike information criteria metrics. We rejected the ENH for this case: biotic interactions improved the model. The frequency with which exceptions to the ENH are detected has important implications for distributional ecology and methods for estimating distributions of species.