Scale-sensitivity in the measurement and interpretation of environmental niches

Muyang Lu; Walter Jetz

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2023.01.003

Scale-sensitivity in the measurement and interpretation of environmental niches

Trends Ecol Evol. 2023 Jun;38(6):554-567. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.01.003. Epub 2023 Feb 15.

Authors

Muyang Lu¹, Walter Jetz²

Affiliations

¹ Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Center for Biodiversity and Global Change, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA. Electronic address: muyang.lu@yale.edu.
² Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Center for Biodiversity and Global Change, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA. Electronic address: walter.jetz@yale.edu.

PMID: 36803985
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.01.003

Abstract

Species environmental niches are central to ecology, evolution, and global change research, but their characterization and interpretation depend on the spatial scale (specifically, the spatial grain) of their measurement. We find that the spatial grain of niche measurement is usually uninformed by ecological processes and varies by orders of magnitude. We illustrate the consequences of this variation for the volume, position, and shape of niche estimates, and discuss how it interacts with geographic range size, habitat specialization, and environmental heterogeneity. Spatial grain significantly affects the study of niche breadth, environmental suitability, niche evolution, niche tracking, and climate change effects. These and other fields will benefit from a more mechanism-informed choice of spatial grain and cross-grain evaluations that integrate different data sources.

Keywords: climate change; hypervolume; niche evolution; niche tracking; scaling; species distribution models.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Climate Change*
Ecosystem*