TY  - JOUR
A1  - Zurell, Damaris
A1  - Berger, Uta
A1  - Cabral, Juliano Sarmento
A1  - Jeltsch, Florian
A1  - Meynard, Christine N.
A1  - Muenkemueller, Tamara
A1  - Nehrbass, Nana
A1  - Pagel, Jörn
A1  - Reineking, Bjoern
A1  - Schroeder, Boris
A1  - Grimm, Volker
T1  - The virtual ecologist approach : simulating data and observers
N2  - Ecologists carry a well-stocked toolbox with a great variety of sampling methods, statistical analyses and modelling tools, and new methods are constantly appearing. Evaluation and optimisation of these methods is crucial to guide methodological choices. Simulating error-free data or taking high-quality data to qualify methods is common practice. Here, we emphasise the methodology of the 'virtual ecologist' (VE) approach where simulated data and observer models are used to mimic real species and how they are 'virtually' observed. This virtual data is then subjected to statistical analyses and modelling, and the results are evaluated against the 'true' simulated data. The VE approach is an intuitive and powerful evaluation framework that allows a quality assessment of sampling protocols, analyses and modelling tools. It works under controlled conditions as well as under consideration of confounding factors such as animal movement and biased observer behaviour. In this review, we promote the approach as a rigorous research tool, and demonstrate its capabilities and practical relevance. We explore past uses of VE in different ecological research fields, where it mainly has been used to test and improve sampling regimes as well as for testing and comparing models, for example species distribution models. We discuss its benefits as well as potential limitations, and provide some practical considerations for designing VE studies. Finally, research fields are identified for which the approach could be useful in the future. We conclude that VE could foster the integration of theoretical and empirical work and stimulate work that goes far beyond sampling methods, leading to new questions, theories, and better mechanistic understanding of ecological systems.
Y1  - 2010
UR  - http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/issn?DESCRIPTOR=PRINTISSN&VALUE=0030-1299
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.18284.x
SN  - 0030-1299
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Thuiller, Wilfried
A1  - Muenkemueller, Tamara
A1  - Schiffers, Katja H.
A1  - Georges, Damien
A1  - Dullinger, Stefan
A1  - Eckhart, Vincent M.
A1  - Edwards, Thomas C.
A1  - Gravel, Dominique
A1  - Kunstler, Georges
A1  - Merow, Cory
A1  - Moore, Kara
A1  - Piedallu, Christian
A1  - Vissault, Steve
A1  - Zimmermann, Niklaus E.
A1  - Zurell, Damaris
A1  - Schurr, Frank Martin
T1  - Does probability of occurrence relate to population dynamics?
JF  - Ecography : pattern and diversity in ecology ; research papers forum
N2  - Interestingly, relationships between demographic parameters and occurrence probability did not vary substantially across degrees of shade tolerance and regions. Although they were influenced by the uncertainty in the estimation of the demographic parameters, we found that r was generally negatively correlated with P-occ, while N, and for most regions K, was generally positively correlated with P-occ. Thus, in temperate forest trees the regions of highest occurrence probability are those with high densities but slow intrinsic population growth rates. The uncertain relationships between demography and occurrence probability suggests caution when linking species distribution and demographic models.
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.00836
SN  - 0906-7590
SN  - 1600-0587
VL  - 37
IS  - 12
SP  - 1155
EP  - 1166
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Svenning, Jens-Christian
A1  - Gravel, Dominique
A1  - Holt, Robert D.
A1  - Schurr, Frank Martin
A1  - Thuiller, Wilfried
A1  - Muenkemueller, Tamara
A1  - Schiffers, Katja H.
A1  - Dullinger, Stefan
A1  - Edwards, Thomas C.
A1  - Hickler, Thomas
A1  - Higgins, Steven I.
A1  - Nabel, Julia E. M. S.
A1  - Pagel, Jörn
A1  - Normand, Signe
T1  - The influence of interspecific interactions on species range expansion rates
JF  - Ecography : pattern and diversity in ecology ; research papers forum
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2013.00574.x
SN  - 0906-7590
SN  - 1600-0587
VL  - 37
IS  - 12
SP  - 1198
EP  - 1209
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -