Abstract
We provide an overview of the use of species distribution modeling to address research questions related to parrot ecology and conservation at a global scale. We conducted a literature search and applied filters to select the 82 most relevant studies to discuss. The study of parrot species distribution has increased steadily in the past 30 years, with methods and computing development maturing and facilitating their application for a wide range of research and applied questions. Conservation topics was the most popular topic (37%), followed by ecology (34%) and invasion ecology (20%). The role of abiotic factors explaining parrot distribution is the most frequent ecological application. The high prevalence of studies supporting on-ground conservation problems is a remarkable example of reduction in the research–action gap. Prediction of invasion risk and assessment of invasion effect were more prevalent than examples evaluating the environmental or economic impact of these invasions. The integration of species distribution models with other tools in the decision-making process and other data (e.g., landscape metrics, genetic, behavior) could even further expand the range of applications and provide a more nuanced understanding of how parrot species are responding to their even more changing landscape and threats.
Highlights
We conducted a literature search on the database Web of Science (WoS) using terms in English related with the focal taxonomic group (Psittaci*, parrot*, macaw*, parakeet*, amazon*, cockato*) in the themes section
For the remaining 82 documents that did apply some methods of species distribution modeling, we summarized information on geographical location, target taxa, topics of research and general application (Table 1)
Parrots are a very attractive and interesting taxonomic group for ecological studies, and our review revealed a large variety of studies related to modeling of species distribution
Summary
The order Psittaciformes (including parakeets, macaws, cockatoos, and allies, hereafter parrots) is a diverse order of birds with a wide range of morphological variations and foraging behaviors (~420 spp) [1]. The key assumption of spatial analysis of wildlife populations is that spatial and temporal patterns in population state variables (i.e., occurrence, abundance or density, richness) represent the response of the species to underlying heterogeneity in external factors such as environment conditions and resource availability [12]. Interpretation of these patterns is scale dependent: at large spatial scales they reflect the overall constraints and conditions influencing species distribution, at intermediate scales they are related to population responses (including meta- and sub-populations), and at small spatial scales they can reflect individual behavioral responses [12].
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