Habitat suitability modelling and niche theory

1 The concept of the ecological niche relates a set of environmental variables to the fitness of species, while habitat suitability models (HSMs) relate environmental variables to the likelihood of occurrence of the species. In spite of this relationship, the concepts are weakly linked in the literature, and there is a strong need for better integration. 2 We selectively reviewed the literature for habitat suitability studies that directly addressed four common facets of niche theory: niche characteristics, niche interactions, community-wide processes and niche evolution. 3 We found that HSMs have mostly contributed to the study of niche characteristics, but the three other themes are gaining impetus. We…

• MF
  MAVA Foundation
• RS
  Russian Science Foundation