Better defining habitat patches to improve spatially explicit modelling outputs
Abstract
Simulation modelling is becoming increasingly widespread to evaluate population biological responses to global changes such as habitat loss or habitat fragmentation. To produce reliable results, this approach requires great care in setting up the model. In the case of spatially explicit modelling, this involves all spatial parameters, but particularly habitat patches, the spatial unit at which demographic processes and dispersal occur. We developed a method to delineate habitat patches that are biologically relevant for simulating demographic processes of the species of interest. Based on the Voronoï tessellation principle, this fully automatized method splits contiguous tracts of habitat such that the resulting patches meet the required surface (e.g. average size of one or several home ranges of the study species). We investigated the consequences of patch definition on modelling outputs (population density, habitat occupancy, dispersal success, straightness and distances), comparing predictions when modelling was based on patches as they are currently usually defined (contiguous sets of habitat cells) with our species‐adapted definition. To do so, we used the spatially explicit individual‐based modelling platform, RangeShifter, applied to five study areas in the south of France, taking the European red squirrel as an example. Our results showed that our framework was effective in dividing large contiguous tracts of habitat into smaller, species‐adapted patches. They also showed that simulation outputs strongly depended on habitat patch delimitation, with effects being mostly consistent among the different landscapes we tested. We also show that mean dispersal distances and population densities required species‐adapted patch definition to be as close as possible to empirical data. Finally, in order to be able to use predicted data for conservation or reintroduction purposes, species‐adapted parameters need to be adjusted after having chosen a species‐adapted definition of habitat patches.
Related
- SPLATCHE2: a spatially explicit simulation framework for complex demography, genetic admixture and recombination
- Spatial habitat suitability modelling of Astraeus Hygrometricus using explainable machine learning and GeoAI approaches
- Mapping Habitat Suitability of the Asiatic Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus) in the Kalam Valley, Pakistan: An Ensemble Modelling Approach.
- AMMPER-2: A spatially explicit agent-based model of microbial radiobiology with redox dye simulation
- SEARAM – Seagrass Bed Rapid Assessment Method: A Spatially Explicit Approach to Assessing Seagrass Ecological Condition with Multiple Applications
BibTeX
@article{queru2026better,
title = {{Better defining habitat patches to improve spatially explicit modelling outputs}},
author = {Mailys Queru and Aurélie Coulon and Stephen Palmer and Justin Travis and Cécile Albert},
journal = {Methods in Ecology and Evolution},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1111/2041-210x.70374},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05726617v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Better defining habitat patches to improve spatially explicit modelling outputs
AU - Mailys Queru
AU - Aurélie Coulon
AU - Stephen Palmer
AU - Justin Travis
AU - Cécile Albert
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/27
JO - Methods in Ecology and Evolution
DO - 10.1111/2041-210x.70374
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05726617v1
AB - Simulation modelling is becoming increasingly widespread to evaluate population biological responses to global changes such as habitat loss or habitat fragmentation. To produce reliable results, this approach requires great care in setting up the model. In the case of spatially explicit modelling, this involves all spatial parameters, but particularly habitat patches, the spatial unit at which demographic processes and dispersal occur. We developed a method to delineate habitat patches that are biologically relevant for simulating demographic processes of the species of interest. Based on the Voronoï tessellation principle, this fully automatized method splits contiguous tracts of habitat such that the resulting patches meet the required surface (e.g. average size of one or several home ranges of the study species). We investigated the consequences of patch definition on modelling outputs (population density, habitat occupancy, dispersal success, straightness and distances), comparing predictions when modelling was based on patches as they are currently usually defined (contiguous sets of habitat cells) with our species‐adapted definition. To do so, we used the spatially explicit individual‐based modelling platform, RangeShifter, applied to five study areas in the south of France, taking the European red squirrel as an example. Our results showed that our framework was effective in dividing large contiguous tracts of habitat into smaller, species‐adapted patches. They also showed that simulation outputs strongly depended on habitat patch delimitation, with effects being mostly consistent among the different landscapes we tested. We also show that mean dispersal distances and population densities required species‐adapted patch definition to be as close as possible to empirical data. Finally, in order to be able to use predicted data for conservation or reintroduction purposes, species‐adapted parameters need to be adjusted after having chosen a species‐adapted definition of habitat patches.
SN - 2041-210X
SN - 2041-210X
ER -