Including biotic interactions in species distribution models improves the understanding of species niche: a case of study with the brown bear in Europe
Year: 2023
Type: preprint
Abstract: ABSTRACT Biotic interactions are expected to influence species’ responses to climate change, but they are usually not included when predicting future range shifts. We assessed the importance of biotic interactions to understand future consequences of climate and land use change for biodiversity using as a model system the brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) in Europe. By including biotic interactions using the spatial variation of energy contribution and habitat models of each food species, we showed that the use of biotic factors considerably improves our understanding of the distribution of brown bears. Predicted future range shifts, which included changes in the distribution of food species, varied greatly when considering various scenarios of change in biotic factors, warning about future indirect climate change effects. Our study confirmed that advancing our understanding of ecological networks of species interactions will improve future scenarios of biodiversity change, which is key for conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Authors: Pablo M. Lucas, Wilfried Thuiller, Matthew V. Talluto, Ester Polaina, Jörg Albrecht, Nuria Selva, Marta De Barba, Luigi Maiorano, Vincenzo Penteriani, Maya Guéguen, Niko Balkenhol, Trishna Dutta, Ancuta Fedorca, Shane C. Frank, Andreas Zedrosser, Ivan Afonso-Jordana, Hüseyin Ambarlı, Fernando Ballesteros, Andriy-Taras Bashta, Cemal Can Bilgin, Neda Bogdanović, Edgars Bojārs, Katarzyna Bojarska, Natalia Bragalanti, Henrik Brøseth, Mark W. Chynoweth, Duško Ćirović, Paolo Ciucci, Andrea Corradini, Daniele De Angelis, Miguel de Gabriel Hernando, Csaba Domokos, Aleksander Dutsov, Alper Ertürk, Stefano Filacorda, Lorenzo Frangini, Claudio Groff, Samuli Heikkinen, Bledi Hoxha, Djuro Huber, Otso Huitu, Georgeta Ionescu, Ovidiu Ionescu, Klemen Jerina, Ramon Jurj, Alexandros A. Karamanlidis, Jonas Kindberg, Ilpo Kojola, José Vicente López-Bao, Peep Männil, Dime Melovski, Yorgos Mertzanis, Paolo Molinari, Anja Molinari-Jobin, Andrea Mustoni, Javier Naves, Sergey Ogurtsov, Deniz Özüt, Santiago Palazón, Luca Pedrotti, Aleksandar Perović, Vladimir N. Piminov, Ioan-Mihai Pop, Marius Popa, Maria Psaralexi, Pierre-Yves Quenette, Georg Rauer, Slaven Reljic, Eloy Revilla, Urmas Saarma, Alexander P. Saveljev, Ali Onur Sayar, Cagan H. Şekercioğlu, Agnieszka Sergiel, George Sîrbu, Tomaž Skrbinšek, Michaela Skuban, Anil Soyumert, Aleksandar Stojanov, Egle Tammeleht, Konstantin Tirronen, Aleksandër Trajçe, Igor Trbojević, Tijana Trbojević, Filip Zięba, Diana Zlatanova, Tomasz Zwijacz-Kozica, Laura J. Pollock
Institutions: Institute of Nature Conservation, Sapienza University of Rome, Polish Academy of Sciences, National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry "Marin Drăcea", Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire d'Écologie Alpine, Tatra National Park, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, European Forest Institute, University of Göttingen, Transilvania University of Brașov, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Institute of Ecology of the Carpathians, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Kastamonu University, WWF Österreich, Universidad de Huelva, BOKU University, Russian Academy of Sciences, University of Bucharest, Estación Biológica de Doñana, Macedonian Ecological Society, University of Tartu, University of Zagreb, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales
Language: English
Subfield: Ecological Modeling
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDGs: Life on land, Climate action
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, Biodiversa+, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, LOEWE Zentrum AdRIA, Norges Forskningsråd, Autoritatea Natională pentru Cercetare Stiintifică, Unitatea Executiva pentru Finantarea Invatamantului Superior, a Cercetarii, Dezvoltarii si Inovarii, EuroNatur Stiftung, European Regional Development Fund, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Colegiul Consultativ pentru Cercetare-Dezvoltare şi Inovare
Awards: G1175115578, G1495698476, G2262748287, G300979063, G3244912099, G34346518, G3480869486, G3491010950, G410571670, G425668148, G451917667, G5080475149, G5913751047, G5967599077, Functional connectivity and ecological sustainability of European ecological networks - a case study with the brown bear, G8315242804, G929308097
OpenAlex ID: W4323975796