Scaling down distribution maps from atlas data: a test of different approaches with virtual species

Location We used environmental data from a real landscape, southern Africa, and simulated species distributions within this landscape.

Aim Conservation managers are increasingly looking for modelled projections of species distributions to inform management strategies; however, the coarse resolution of available data usually compromises their helpfulness. The aim of this paper is to delineate and test different approaches for converting coarse-grain occurrence data into high-resolution predictions, and to clarify the conceptual circumstances affecting the accuracy of downscaled models.