Biotic Interactions in Species Distribution Modeling

In species distribution models (SDMs), the inclusion of biotic interactions has emerged as a critical advance beyond the traditional focus on abiotic drivers such as climate. Biotic interactions encompass predator–prey dynamics, mutualisms, competition and host specificity, all of which can constrain or facilitate species’ realised distributions at local and macroecological scales. Recent methodological innovations have incorporated distributional data for interacting species or trophic resources as predictor layers, yielding more realistic patterns of habitat suitability. At broad extents, proxies for trophic resource richness or host plant presence can refine range estimates and reduce overestimation of suitable areas. At finer extents, temporal dynamics such as flowering phenology or migration overlap have improved the ecological realism of predictions. Such integrative approaches are fundamental for robust assessments of range shifts under environmental change and for informing conservation strategies that account for both climatic and biotic determinants of species persistence.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have demonstrated the effect of host specificity in refining predictions of host‐dependent species. Analyses of tropical wood‐boring beetles have integrated host plant distribution to reveal finer partitioning of dietary breadth and niche conservatism, improving the spatial delineation of beetle diversity in tropical versus subtropical forests. Similarly, the distribution of an epiphytic orchid has been more accurately estimated by incorporating the range of its principal host tree, leading to more precise projections under scenarios of habitat loss and climate change. Together, these advances highlight the value of explicit host distribution data for enhancing the accuracy of species distribution and conservation assessments.

Biotic Interactions in Species Distribution Modeling publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in biotic interactions in species distribution modeling across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Species Distribution Model (SDM): A statistical or machine-learning framework used to predict the geographical distribution of species based on environmental variables.

Abiotic factors: Non-living environmental variables such as temperature, precipitation and soil characteristics that influence species distributions.

Biotic interactions: Ecological relationships among organisms, including predation, competition, mutualism and host specificity, that affect species’ occurrence.

Ecological niche: The range of environmental conditions and resources within which a species can survive and reproduce.

Trophic interaction: A feeding relationship between species, such as predator–prey or host–parasite, that influences distribution through resource dependence.

References

1. Attributes of host-specificity better explain the diversified wood-boring longhorn beetles in tropical SW China than plant species diversity. Scientific Reports (2023).
2. Distribution and conservation of species is misestimated if biotic interactions are ignored: the case of the orchid Laelia speciosa. Scientific Reports (2020).
3. Prey resources are equally important as climatic conditions for predicting the distribution of a broad‐ranged apex predator. Diversity and Distributions (2023).
4. Using species distribution models only may underestimate climate change impacts on future marine biodiversity. Ecological Modelling (2022).
5. Biotic predictors with phenological information improve range estimates for migrating monarch butterflies in Mexico. Ecography (2019).
6. Not only climate: The importance of biotic interactions in shaping species distributions at macro scales. Ecology and Evolution (2023).