Environmental niche models (ENMs) have gained enormous popularity as tools to investigate potential changes in species distributions resulting from climate change and species introductions. Despite recognition that species interactions can influence the dynamics of invasion spread, most implementations of ENMs focus on abiotic factors as the sole predictors of potential range limits. Implicit i...

An important final step in development of an acute biotic ligand model for silver is to validate predictive capabilities of the biotic ligand model developed for fish and invertebrates. To accomplish this, eight natural waters, collected from across North America, were characterized with respect to ionic composition, pH, dissolved organic carbon, and sulfide. Tests were conducted with the clado...

Nonnative invasive species are one of the main global threats to biodiversity. The understanding of the traits characterizing successful invaders and invasion-prone ecosystems is increasing, but our predictive ability is still limited. Quantitative information on biotic homogenization and particularly its temporal dynamics is even scarcer. We used freshwater fish distribution data in the Iberia...

Many species are expanding their distributions to higher latitudes due to global warming. Understanding the mechanisms underlying these distribution shifts is critical for better understanding the impacts of climate changes. The climate envelope approach is widely used to model and predict species distribution shifts with changing climates. Biotic interactions between species, however, may also...

The classical environmental control model assumes that species diversity is primarily determined by environmental conditions (e.g., microclimate and soil) on the local scale. This assumption has been challenged by the neutral theory that assumes that the maintenance of biodiversity mainly depends on the ecological drift and dispersal limitation. Understanding the mechanisms that maintain biodiv...