Moore Notes 11 24 10

Group Call

• Niche mapping
  • Error checking
    • Minor code errors (indices off by one, etc) found by Guillaume
    • MICROBIS meta-data file errors found by Tom
  • Comparing 1/2 degree scale remote data with actual observed data at sampling sites
    • How important is this? Is not instantaneous in most biogeographic studies normally, but rather broad patterns.
    • Do we know variability or seasonality for the remote data? Yes - we may be able to use a time-specific data point or the variance itself.
  • Does maxent produce statistics on variance of suitability?
    • No, but could run with variance values (or means at different times of year) in addition to annual means
  • Future project: Could do monthly/seasonal maps by using data from each season separate
    • Dynamic range maps are a different approach from usual
      • Is this due to changes in environment? Probably true for macrobes
      • Do microbes do this at a more rapid pace than macrobes, with their short generation times and great mobility?
    • Furman does see a lot of seasonal variation (2006 PNAS paper)
    • Can include these issues in the discussion
  • Regions with lots of mixing are high diversity
    • Barton et al. (Science 2010) paper looks at variability and finds it as the biggest predictor of diversity gradients (as a measure of the mixing?)
    • Another reason to check if adding variance in temperature (and other variables) changes our maps
  • Plan to summarize results, outline paper next Weds.
  • People are traveling
    • Steve in the field until Dec 10
    • Jessica is away for Dec 1 and Dec 8 calls, needs to talk at a different time on Dec 15