Transferability of trait-based species distribution models

The need for reliable prediction of species distributions dependent upon traits has been hindered by a lack of model transferability testing. We tested the predictive capacity of trait-SDMs by fitting hierarchical generalised linear models with three trait and four environmental predictors for 20 eucalypt taxa in a reference region. We used these models to predict occurrence for a much larger set of taxa and target areas (82 taxa across 18 target regions) in south-eastern Australia. Median predictive performance for new species in target regions was 0.65 (area under receiver operating curve) and 1.24 times random (area under precision recall curve). Prediction in target regions did not worsen with increasing geographic, environmental or community compositional distance from the reference region, and was improved with reliable trait-environment relationships. Transfer testing also identified trait-environment relationships that did not transfer. These results give confidence that traits and transfer testing can assist in the hard problem of predicting environmental responses for new species, environmental conditions and regions.

Automated summary

The study examined the predictive capacity of trait-species distribution models by fitting models in a reference region and applying them to a larger set of target areas, finding median predictive performance and the impact of model reliability on predictions. Transfer testing identified trait-environment relationships that did not transfer, highlighting the potential usefulness of traits and transfer testing in predicting environmental responses.