Abstract
BackgroundPredicting the ecological niche and potential habitat distribution of a given organism is one of the central domains of ecological and biogeographical research. A wide variety of modeling techniques have been developed for this purpose. In order to implement these models, the users must prepare a specific runtime environment for each model, learn how to use multiple model platforms, and prepare data in a different format each time. Additionally, often model results are difficult to interpret, and a standardized method for comparing model results across platforms does not exist. We developed a free and open source online platform, the multi-models web-based (mMWeb) platform, to address each of these problems, providing a novel environment in which the user can implement and compare multiple ecological niche model (ENM) algorithms.MethodologymMWeb combines 18 existing ENMs and their corresponding algorithms and provides a uniform procedure for modeling the potential habitat niche of a species via a common web browser. mMWeb uses Java Native Interface (JNI), Java R Interface to combine the different ENMs and executes multiple tasks in parallel on a super computer. The cross-platform, user-friendly interface of mMWeb simplifies the process of building ENMs, providing an accessible and efficient environment from which to explore and compare different model algorithms.
Highlights
Ecological niche models (ENMs) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8] calculate the environmental conditions suitable to a given species using known occurrence data and environmental variables as an intermediate step to predicting its potential geographic distribution [6,8]
Traditional and new theories, along with technical innovations are used in ecological niche modeling, and a wide variety of ENM platforms have been developed [4,9,10,11,12]
Each ENM has its own requirements in terms of data preparation, system requirements (e.g. Java, MS Windows, MatLab script, and R environment) and requires users to have the necessary skills to implement the ENM [12]
Summary
Ecological niche models (ENMs) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8] calculate the environmental conditions suitable to a given species using known occurrence data and environmental variables as an intermediate step to predicting its potential geographic distribution [6,8]. Even though the internal methods of ENMs are different, ENMs have a similar modeling process that includes inputting species occurrence and environmental data, setting up a group of parameters, and model training and prediction of suitable habitat in a studied area [18]. We developed a free and open source online platform, the multi-models web-based (mMWeb) platform, to address each of these problems, providing a novel environment in which the user can implement and compare multiple ecological niche model (ENM) algorithms
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