Textured species range maps enhance interdisciplinary science capacity across scales

Background/Question/Methods

Range maps are critical in understanding and conserving biodiversity. Current range maps omit important context, negating the dynamism and variation of populations, environmental conditions, and ecological attributes to functionally oversimplify biogeography theory. Further, the gross underrepresentation of spatial heterogeneity throughout a species’ distribution limits the utility of range maps for decision-making and community engagement, diminishing applications to disciplines outside of the natural sciences. Here, I present an expansion of “flat” range maps by adding “texture”. Building these textured maps is a rather simple geospatial analysis resulting from the overlay of additional information (i.e., the attribute of interest for texture) in a layer to intersect an existing layer containing a species range at any scale (e.g., global, regional, local, watershed, etc.). In the actual demonstration of textured range maps, I focus primarily on species in the order Carnivora as an exemplar; although, will discuss relevance and provide examples from other species across taxa and biomes. I chose mammalian carnivores for case studies, given their wide range of life history traits, social and economic relevance, cascading impacts on other species, and conservation status.

Results/Conclusions

Texture can represent a myriad of conditions that are spatially-explicit across a species range and I present three themetic areas of application. A textured range map of the human footprint index for near threatened species provides new opportunities to test the effects of human pressure on behavior, which inherently affect resource availability and dispersion, a common driver of sociality in carnivore species. Canid species often co-occur with multiple carnivore species. I show how a textured map can inform the variation in their trophic position and niche characteristics depending upon the community of sympatric competitors across an individual’s species range. Lastly, because people induce much spatial heterogeneity across species’ range with our decisions, development, and behavior, texture in the form of social dimension attributes can facilitate greater science capacity. I use the distribution of indigenous lands across carnivore species ranges to demonstrate acknowledgement of their sovereignty and opportunities to engage with traditional knowledge. As climate change and other anthropogenic factors outpace our understanding of their impacts, robust and informative species range maps will be critical in anticipating how environmental changes affect coupled socio-evo-ecological processes. Ultimately, ‘textured’ range maps have implications for improved science across socio-ecological domains that allow for broader questions and promote enhanced capacity for interdisciplinary research communities.