Get started with Species Distribution Modelling in Maxent $99

Get started with Species Distribution Modelling in Maxent $99

Learn the basics of species distribution modeling with presence-only data using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt)


Course Description

Looking to take the next step into your ecological analysis?
Species distribution models provide insight to the relationships between species distribution and the physical/anthropogenic environment. As an ecologist today, you should start looking towards analyzing spatial relationships between species and their environment, and develop your GIS skills. The world of GIS has made ecological research even more interesting, as it expresses results and relationships in visual form.
We cannot overemphasize the importance of GIS in ecology. In this course, we focus on one of the most powerful predictive models in spatial ecology today...Maxent. The Maximum Entropy Algorithm has been borrowed from other natural sciences and adapted in a really clever way to predict suitable environmental conditions for species across large landscapes. The opinion of researchers puts this algorithm as one of the leaders in terms of predictive accuracy. It is based on Machine Learning, and capable of handling multiple species in one model run.
In this course, we dive into the basic steps required to calibrate a model in Maxent.
You will learn the following:
  • Species Data Preparation: How to prepare your Species distribution data in excel spreadsheets. More usually than not, we receive species distribution data collected with a GPS device in spreadsheet format. Here you will learn how to prepare this data in the format required by Maxent.
  • Predictor variable Data Preparation: How to prepare environmental or predictor variables in the format required by Maxent. Maxent supports only specific formats of data, and we will walk through the process of preparing the data for use in the software.
  • Download Maxent: How download and install Maxent and increase the memory usable by the software. Sometimes, your data may be so heavy that Maxent runs out of memory. This course teaches you how to increase the memory available to Maxent.
  • Setting Maxent for a model run: How to set up Maxent, and customize the settings to change your model results.
  • Results Interpretation and Presentation: How to interpret the results generated by Maxent, and presenting the results in visual form using a GIS environment.
You will get tips on how to reduce spatial bias in models, and manipulating some of the settings that act behind the scenes to change Maxent's output.
So what are you waiting for? Sign up and get the ball rolling with Species distribution modeling using Maxent.

What are the requirements?

  • Working knowledge of GIS file formats
  • Some Statistics background, with understanding of terminology such as Model convergence, iteration and machine learning

What am I going to get from this course?

  • Over 27 lectures and 1.5 hours of content!
  • Format species distribution data into a format acceptable by Maxent
  • Format environmental layers in a GIS software to a format acceptable by Maxent
  • Download, install and Manage the memory available to Maxent
  • Manipulate Maxent's settings to customize model results
  • Interprete results generated by Maxent
  • Display Maxent's results in a GIS environment and maps

What is the target audience?

  • This Species distribution model using Maxent is meant for people new to working with Maxent, It will come in handy to those who want to get introduced to Maxent and want to explore what the software does. Spatial ecologists with some statistics background and understanding of Species Distribution Modeling in general will find this useful and interesting.

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