Species distribution models: concepts, tools, and applications

Abstract

The distribution mapping of vegetation diversity is crucial accurate monitoring and management of valuable and key stone species. SDM is needed in ecological restoration, understanding distribution invasive species and their risks, forest and natural resource management, etc. With the advancement in remote sensing and geographic information system techniques, several modeling techniques are now existing in technical literature domain to determine the spatial distributional pattern of any species. This chapter deals with overview of the numerous species distribution modeling techniques through the important environmental variables such as climates, elevation, temperature, terrain, etc. This chapter provides a detailed account of ecological niche models, correlative models, and spatial models to understand the architecture of the models and applications. © 2026 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved..