Species Distribution Modeling using Spatial Point Processes: A Case Study of Sloth Occurrence in Costa Rica

Authors

Paula Moraga, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Date of this Version

12-2020

Document Type

Article

Citation

The R Journal (December 2020) 12(2); Editor: Michael J. Kane

Comments

Copyright 2020, The R Foundation. Open access material. License: CC BY 4.0 International

Abstract

Species distribution models are widely used in ecology for conservation management of species and their environments. This paper demonstrates how to fit a log-Gaussian Cox process model to predict the intensity of sloth occurrence in Costa Rica, and assess the effect of climatic factors on spatial patterns using the R-INLA package. Species occurrence data are retrieved using spocc, and spatial climatic variables are obtained with raster. Spatial data and results are manipulated and visualized by means of several packages such as raster and tmap. This paper provides an accessible illustration of spatial point process modeling that can be used to analyze data that arise in a wide range of fields including ecology, epidemiology and the environment.