Usefulness of habitat suitability models in research of orchid spatial distribution

The subject of this thesis is to summarise information about use of the habitat suitability models with a focus on orchids modelling. Habitat suitability modelling is used to study the relationship between the occurrence of the species and the environmental factors of its habitat. Modelling orchid species is especially useful for modelling of rare and endangered species, it can accurately predict the occurrence of different species under future climatic conditions and in non-native localities. Appearance of mycorrhizal symbiotic fungi is a specific factor affecting distribution of most orchids, but it is very problematic to include it in modelling. Also, there is an uncertainty about an impact of this factor on orchid distribution. Results of different modelling methods are sometimes controversial, this issue is studied, but there are no such studies in orchids modelling. Keywords: Orchids, spatial distribution, models, distribution, predictionPředmětem práce je shrnutí informací o využití modelů vhodnosti stanovišť se zaměřením na specifiku modelování orchidejí. Modelování vhodnosti stanovišť je využíváno k výzkumu vztahů mezi výskytem druhu a environmentálními atributy jeho stanoviště. Modelování výskytu druhů orchideji je užitečné zvláště při modelování vzácných a ohrožených druhů a je schopné přesně předpovídat výskyt druhů i v jiném čase než v současnosti, za jiných klimatických podmínek a na nepůvodních lokalitách pro zájmový druh. Výskyt mykorhizních hub symbiotických pro orchideje je specifickým faktorem pro výskyt většiny orchidejí, avšak jeho zahrnutí do modelování je velmi problematické. Rovněž výsledky výzkumu tohoto faktoru na distribuci orchidejí si někdy navzájem protiřečí. Výsledky různých modelovacích metod se liší, tato problematika se zkoumá, avšak chybí její výzkum na orchidejích. Klíčová slova: Orchideje, prostorová distribuce, modely, rozšíření, předpověďKatedra ekologieDepartment of EcologyFaculty of SciencePřírodovědecká fakult

A review of global land cover maps in terms of their potential use for habitat suitability modelling

Recently, there has been a significant increase in number of land cover maps available to researchers and they are now more commonly used. The broad variety requires some system for determining the differences between maps and for estimating their applicability for specific research purposes. We focused on comparing land cover maps from the point of view of how the land cover categories used characterize potentially suitable habitats for species. This comparison includes only freely available global land cover projects with resolutions from 1 km to 10 m. The criteria chosen were temporal and spatial resolution, number of classes and map precision. To demonstrate the differences, two areas of different sizes were always chosen. Our results reveal that maps can significantly vary in their estimates of different types of land cover, even at the same spatial resolution. Results also revealed that one type of vegetation in this area is poorly recorded in all land cover maps. Copernicus CGLS-LC100 and ESA CCI-LC maps appear to be the most suitable for evaluating potentially suitable habitats

Usefulness of habitat suitability models in research of orchid spatial distribution

The subject of this thesis is to summarise information about use of the habitat suitability models with a focus on orchids modelling. Habitat suitability modelling is used to study the relationship between the occurrence of the species and the environmental factors of its habitat. Modelling orchid species is especially useful for modelling of rare and endangered species, it can accurately predict the occurrence of different species under future climatic conditions and in non-native localities. Appearance of mycorrhizal symbiotic fungi is a specific factor affecting distribution of most orchids, but it is very problematic to include it in modelling. Also, there is an uncertainty about an impact of this factor on orchid distribution. Results of different modelling methods are sometimes controversial, this issue is studied, but there are no such studies in orchids modelling. Keywords: Orchids, spatial distribution, models, distribution, predictio