Modelling Whitebark Pine Distribution in the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem

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dc.contributor.advisorMcDermid, Gregory J.
dc.contributor.authorBlackadder, Shannon
dc.contributor.committeememberJacobson, Dan
dc.contributor.committeememberQuinn, Michael S.
dc.date2019-11
dc.date.accessioned2019-07-10T18:53:01Z
dc.date.available2019-07-10T18:53:01Z
dc.date.issued2019-07-09
dc.description.abstractWhitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis; WBP) is a species facing serious threats throughout its range. To support ongoing WBP conservation efforts in the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem (CCE), this thesis builds a multi-jurisdictional species distribution model (SDM). There are many critical decisions in building SDMs and little consensus on what works best. In this thesis, I consider how parameters of model type, pseudo-absence selection methods, and the number of pseudo-absences affect model performance. To deal with imperfect input data, I first build and test these model parameters on five WBP-like virtual species (VS). The results show that there are many model parameter combinations that perform equally well, but they predicted different spatial patterns of occurrence. Ensemble models (EM) were used to combine the information in these models into a final EM that outperforms any single model. Building a number of simple and ecologically sound models to use in an EM may be more useful than searching for the best single model. Whether VS are suitable proxies for real species is still unknown, but, used with caution, they have the potential to inform modelling parameter choices in circumstances where input data are imperfect. The final model built in this study is suitable for understanding the broad-scale relative probability of WBP across the CCE, and should complement finer scale work.en_US
dc.identifier.citationBlackadder, S. (2019). Modelling Whitebark Pine Distribution in the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36727
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/110612
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArtsen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectSpecies Distribution Modellingen_US
dc.subjectWhitebark Pineen_US
dc.subjectVirtual Speciesen_US
dc.subjectCrown of the Continent Ecosystemen_US
dc.subject.classificationGeographyen_US
dc.titleModelling Whitebark Pine Distribution in the Crown of the Continent Ecosystemen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineGeographyen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (MSc)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrueen_US
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