Does plot size affect the performance of GIS-based species distribution models?

Species distribution models are used extensively in predicting the distribution of vegetation across a landscape. Accuracy of the species distribution maps produced by these models deserves attention, since low accuracy maps may lead to erroneous conservation decisions. While plot size is known to influence measures of species richness, its effect on our ability to predict species distribution ranges has not been tested. Our aim is to test whether the accuracy of the distribution maps produced depend on the size of the plot (quadrat) used to collect biological data in Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10109-010-0106-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. S. N. Pandit J. de Leeuw ITC, International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, P. O. Box 6, 7500AA Enschede, The Netherlands S. N. Pandit J. Kolasa Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St West, Hamilton, ON L8S4K1, Canada A. Hayward Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, 1350 Oxford St, Halifax, NS B3H 4J1, Canada Present Address: A. Hayward Department of Biology, University of Florida, P. O. Box 118525, Gainesville, FL, USA Present Address: J. de Leeuw International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), P. O. Box 30709, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya Present Address: S. N. Pandit (&) Department of Biological Sciences, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Ave, Windsor, ON N9B 3P4, Canada e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] 123 J Geogr Syst (2010) 12:389–407 DOI 10.1007/s10109-010-0106-8