Favorabilidad ecogeográfica para el corzo: distribución y abundancia

Abstract

Species distribution models (SDM) are widely used in ecology, biogeography and conservation. Here, we modelled the distribution of roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ) in mainland Spain in order to i) determine its macro-ecological requirements, ii) assess the favourability for this species and iii) explore the model usefulness as an index of the species relative abundance. Our results showed that roe deer distribution can be explained by predictors related with topography, climate, lithology, geography and human activity. Climate was the more relevant factor, followed by human activity, topography, spatial location and lithology. The model accurately predicted the species probability of occurrence and also, but weakly, the species’ relative abundance.