Mapping National Plant Biodiversity Patterns in South Korea with the MARS Species Distribution Model

PLoS One. 2016 Mar 1;11(3):e0149511. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149511. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Accurate information on the distribution of existing species is crucial to assess regional biodiversity. However, data inventories are insufficient in many areas. We examine the ability of Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) multi-response species distribution model to overcome species' data limitations and portray plant species distribution patterns for 199 South Korean plant species. The study models species with two or more observations, examines their contribution to national patterns of species richness, provides a sensitivity analysis of different range threshold cutoff approaches for modeling species' ranges, and presents considerations for species modeling at fine spatial resolution. We ran MARS models for each species and tested four threshold methods to transform occurrence probabilities into presence or absence range maps. Modeled occurrence probabilities were extracted at each species' presence points, and the mean, median, and one standard deviation (SD) calculated to define data-driven thresholds. A maximum sum of sensitivity and specificity threshold was also calculated, and the range maps from the four cutoffs were tested using independent plant survey data. The single SD values were the best threshold tested for minimizing omission errors and limiting species ranges to areas where the associated occurrence data were correctly classed. Eight individual species range maps for rare plant species were identified that are potentially affected by resampling predictor variables to fine spatial scales. We portray spatial patterns of high species richness by assessing the combined range maps from three classes of species: all species, endangered and endemic species, and range-size rarity of all species, which could be used in conservation planning for South Korea. The MARS model is promising for addressing the common problem of few species occurrence records. However, projected species ranges are highly dependent on the threshold and scale criteria, which should be assessed on a per-project basis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biodiversity*
  • Ecosystem
  • Environment
  • Models, Biological
  • Models, Statistical
  • Plant Dispersal*
  • Probability
  • Republic of Korea

Grants and funding

HC appreciates the UC Davis for the Provost's Dissertation Year Fellowship, and South Korean government for the government scholarship. This work was supported by the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI; http://www.keiti.re.kr/en/index.do) grant funded by the Korean government (ME) (No. 416-111-014) and (No. 2014-001-310010). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.