June 10, 2019
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Article

Hierarchical species distribution models in support of vegetation conservation at the landscape scale

Publicated to: JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE. 30 (2): 386-396 - 2019-03-01 30(2), DOI: 10.1111/jvs.12726

Authors:

Mateo, RG; Gastón, A; Aroca-Fernández, MJ; Broennimann, O; Guisan, A; Saura, S; García-Viñas, JI
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Affiliations

European Commiss, JRC, Ispra, Italy - Author
UAM, CIBC, Ctr Invest Biodiversidad & Cambio Global, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Autonoma Madrid, Dept Biol Bot, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Lausanne, Dept Ecol & Evolut, Lausanne, Switzerland - Author
Univ Lausanne, Inst Earth Surface Dynam, Lausanne, Switzerland - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, MONTES ETSI Montes Forestal & Medio Nat, Madrid, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Questions Species distribution models (SDMs) based on habitat suitability and niche quantification are powerful tools in vegetation science. Recent findings suggest that they could be applied at the landscape scale as vegetation conservation tools, but that some environmental dimensions (e.g., climate) need to be considered at larger scales. What is the importance of applying hierarchical SDMs combining information from different scales to ensure consistent local vegetation management decisions? Study Site Mainland Spain and Biosphere Reserve of Sierra del Rincon (central Spain). Methods We generated SDMs for five tree species at the regional scale (mainland Spain) using climatic variables plus presence/absence data from the Spanish National Forest Inventory; and at the landscape scale (Sierra del Rincon Biosphere Reserve) using local environmental variables plus locally gathered vegetation presence/absence data. Predictions of both regional and landscape models were combined at the landscape scale following two different hierarchical approaches. The four resulting predictions were compared with correlation coefficients and independently evaluated with the AUC statistic and data collected in the study area. Results The regional SDMs depict suitable climatic conditions for the tree species, while the landscape SDMs capture important local ecological drivers that influence habitat suitability at finer scales. Expectedly, the regional SDMs predict larger suitable areas than the landscape SDMs. The predictions from the hierarchical approaches are reliable and provide on average better results than non-hierarchical ones. Conclusions SDMs can be valuable tools for local plant conservation programs. We present examples of the applicability of a hierarchical modeling approach and conceptual and methodological solutions related to the use of these tools in local vegetation conservation programs. For example, we show that landscape SDMs could be used to determine the current distribution of endangered plant species, while a hierarchical approach would be better suited to define areas to re-vegetate within a local restoration program.
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Keywords

BiodiversityClimate-changeConservation planEcological driversEnsemble modelingEnvironmental nicheForest managementFrameworkHabitat suitabilityHierarchical species distribution modelsOccurrencesPlantsPredictionRareRestorationSpatial distributionSpecies distribution modelingStrategiesUncertaintyVegetation restoration

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2019, it was in position 7/68, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Forestry. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 2.47. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 2.79 (source consulted: FECYT Mar 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-25, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 53
  • Scopus: 53
  • Google Scholar: 71
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-25:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 116.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 116 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/86790/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 162
  • Downloads: 71
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Belgium; Italy; Switzerland; United States of America.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Mateo, Rubén G.) and Last Author (GARCIA VIÑAS, JUAN IGNACIO).

the authors responsible for correspondence tasks have been Mateo, Rubén G. and GARCIA VIÑAS, JUAN IGNACIO.

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Awards linked to the item

The Comunidad de Madrid and the European Union (Bossanova project, P2013/MAE-2760).
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