ASDMPR

Advanced Species Distribution Modelling (SDM’s) and Ecological Niche Modelling (ENM’s)

Name: Advanced Species Distribution Modelling (SDM’s) and Ecological Niche Modelling (ENM’s)
Start: 2035-09-30T00:00:00+01:00
End: 2035-10-04T23:59:59+01:00
Location: Recorded

Learn advanced SDM and ENM techniques in R. Includes Maxent tuning, MESS and null models, and building mechanistic models and virtual species.

Duration: 35 hours
Format: Recorded ‘on-demand’ Format

TIME ZONE

Portugal (GMT+1) local time - All sessions will be recorded and made available to ensure accessibility for attendees across different time zones.

^£480Registration Fee

Overview
Instructors
Schedule

Course Description

Have you built an Ecological Niche Model? If yes, you have already encountered challenges on data preparation, or have struggled with issues in models fitting and accuracy. This 40 hour course will teach you how to overcome these challenges and improve the accuracy of your ecological niche models. By the end of 5-day practical course, you will have the capacity to filter records and select your variables with variance inflation factor; to test effect of Maxent regularization parameter in models performance; to validate models performance and accuracy; to perform MESS analysis, null models, and mechanistic models, as well as to build your “virtual species”.

Ecological niche, species distribution, habitat distribution, or climatic envelope models are different names for mechanistic and correlative models, which are empirical or mathematical approaches to the ecological niche of a species. These methods relate different types of ecogeographical variables (environmental, topographical, human) to species physiological data or geographical locations, in order to identify the factors limiting and defining the species' niche. ENMs have become popular because of their efficiency in the design and implementation of conservation management.

What You’ll Learn

During the course will cover the following:

Filter records and select your variables with variance inflation factor.
Test the effect of Maxent regularization parameter in models performance.
Validate models performance and accuracy.
perform MESS analysis, null models, and mechanistic models, as well as to build your “virtual species”.

Attendees will learn to use functions implemented in the packages “usdm”; “dismo”; “ENMEval”; “SDMvspecies”; “spThin”; and “NicheMapper” among others.

Course Format

Flexible Learning Structure

Learn through a carefully structured mix of lecture recordings and guided exercises that you can pause, revisit, and complete at your own pace—ideal for busy professionals or those balancing multiple commitments.

Access Anytime, Anywhere

All course content is available on-demand, making it accessible across all time zones without the need to attend live sessions or adjust your schedule.

Independent Exploration with Support

Engage deeply with course topics through self-directed study, with the option to reach out to instructors via email for clarification or deeper discussion.

Comprehensive Learning Resources

Gain full access to the same high-quality materials provided in live sessions, including code, datasets, and presentation slides—all available to download and keep. Please note recordings can only be streamed.

Work With Your Own Data, On Your Terms

Apply what you learn directly to your own data projects as you go, allowing for a personalized and immediately practical learning experience.

Continued Guidance and Resource Access

Receive 30 days of post-enrolment email support and unrestricted access to all session recordings during that time, so you can review and reinforce your learning as needed.

Who Should Attend / Intended Audiences

This course is designed for PhD and MSc students, as well as other students and researchers in biogeography, spatial ecology, or related fields, who have solid experience with ecological niche models, a strong background in biogeography, and proficiency in both Geographical Information Systems and the R statistical package; as the course focuses exclusively on advanced methods, prior knowledge of running ecological niche models is assumed—those seeking an introduction are encouraged to attend our basic course at PRStatistics.

Equipment and Software requirements

A laptop or desktop computer with a functioning installation of R and RStudio is required. Both R and RStudio are free, open-source programs compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux systems.

A working webcam is recommended to support interactive elements of the course. We encourage participants to keep their cameras on during live Zoom sessions to foster a more engaging and collaborative environment.

While not essential, using a large monitor—or ideally a dual-monitor setup—can significantly enhance your learning experience by allowing you to view course materials and work in R simultaneously.

All necessary R packages will be introduced and installed during the workshop. A comprehensive list of required packages will also be shared with participants ahead of the course to allow for optional pre-installation.

Download R Download RStudio Download Zoom

Dr. Neftalí Sillero

Neftalí is a spatial ecologist specialising in the analysis and identification of biodiversity patterns at multiple scales, from individual organisms to species and populations. His work leverages Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing, Ecological Niche Modelling, and Spatial Statistics to explore how space influences biodiversity dynamics.

His core research interests include species distribution modelling, biogeographical region identification, chorotype analysis, mapping road-kill hotspots, and spatial analysis of animal home ranges. Neftalí has more than a decade of experience in ecological niche modelling and has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles. He also leads large-scale biodiversity mapping initiatives in Europe.

Since 2007, he has served as Chair of the Mapping Committee of the Societas Herpetologica Europaea, where he leads the NA2RE project (New Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles of Europe).

Education & Career

10 years of experience in spatial ecology and ecological niche modelling
Chair of the Mapping Committee, Societas Herpetologica Europaea (since 2007)
Principal Investigator of the NA2RE Project – New Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles of Europe

Research Focus

Neftalí’s research investigates how spatial processes shape biodiversity patterns. He specialises in integrating environmental data, spatial analysis tools, and modelling frameworks to map and predict species distributions and ecological risk zones, such as road-kill hotspots.

Current Projects

NA2RE – New Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles of Europe
Spatial analysis of road mortality hotspots in European amphibians and reptiles
Identification of biogeographical regions and species chorotypes using advanced modelling techniques

Professional Consultancy

Neftalí advises international conservation initiatives and biodiversity mapping efforts, contributing methodological expertise in GIS, remote sensing, and spatial statistics.

Teaching & Skills

Specialist in GIS, remote sensing, niche modelling, and spatial statistics
Experienced in teaching spatial ecology and biodiversity modelling
Active in promoting spatial tools for conservation planning and policy

Links

Dr. Salvador Arenas-Castro

Salvador is a broad-spectrum ecologist whose work integrates fundamental ecology, macroecology, and biogeography with applied fields such as climate adaptation and land-use management. His interdisciplinary approach also spans agroecology, forestry, spatial ecology, and ecoinformatics. A key feature of his research is the explicit incorporation of spatial processes using spatially explicit modelling, GIS, and remote sensing techniques.

Salvador’s work seeks to bridge ecological theory with real-world applications, often through advanced spatial analysis and modelling tools. He is particularly interested in how large-scale ecological patterns respond to climate and landscape change, and how this understanding can inform more sustainable environmental management.

Education & Career

Broad-spectrum ecologist with interests in ecology, macroecology, biogeography, and land-use
Active researcher in agroecology, forestry, and spatial modelling
Developer of spatially explicit models using GIS and remote sensing
Research affiliations and academic output available via personal and professional pages

Research Focus

Salvador’s research addresses spatial dynamics of ecological systems, using integrative frameworks to study biodiversity, landscape structure, and environmental change. His work applies spatial modelling to understand and manage ecological complexity across scales.

Current Projects

Spatial modelling of biodiversity responses to climate and land-use changes
Applications of remote sensing in agroecology and forestry
Ecoinformatics and GIS-based analysis of landscape-level ecological processes

Professional Consultancy

Salvador contributes expertise in spatial ecology and modelling to multi-disciplinary projects on sustainable land use and biodiversity management.

Teaching & Skills

Specialises in GIS, remote sensing, spatial ecology, and modelling techniques
Experienced in interdisciplinary approaches linking ecological research to practical land management
Promotes integrative and spatially aware ecological analysis

Links

Session 1– 01:30:00 – ENM guide: how to model

Session 2 – 01:30:00 – ENM R packages.

Session 3 – 01:30:00 – Sources of environmental variables using geodata package.

Session 4 – 01:30:00 – Getting species records with geodata package.

Session 5 – 01:30:00 – Variable selection with variance inflation factor (VIF) and usdm packages.

Session 6 – 01:30:00 – Choosing the correct study area.

Session 7 – 01:30:00 – Filtering records using usdm/spThin packages.

Session 8 – 01:30:00 – Choosing pseudo-absences with Biomod2 package.

Session 9 – 02:00:00 – Split records in training and test with ENMeval package.

Session 10- 02:00:00 – Test effect of Maxent regularization parameter.

Session 11- 02:00:00 – Comparing correlative models with AIC, with ENMeval package.

Session 12- 02:00:00 – MESS practice with Biomod2 package.

Session 13- 02:00:00 – Validate models null models.

Session 14- 02:00:00 – VirtualSpecies virtualspecies packages.

Session 15 – 03:00:00 – Mechanistic model NicheMapper packages I.

Session 16 – 03:00:00 – Mechanistic model NicheMapper packages II.

Testimonials

PRStats offers a great lineup of courses on statistical and analytical methods that are super relevant for ecologists and biologists. My lab and I have taken several of their courses—like Bayesian mixing models, time series analysis, and machine/deep learning—and we've found them very informative and directly useful for our work. I often recommend PRStats to my students and colleagues as a great way to brush up on or learn new R-based statistical skills.

Rolando O. Santos

PhD Assistant Professor, Florida International University

Courses attended

SIMM05, IMDL03, ITSA02, GEEE01 and MOVE07

Testimonials

Rolando O. Santos

PhD Assistant Professor, Florida International University

Courses attended

SIMM05, IMDL03, ITSA02, GEEE01 and MOVE07

Testimonials

Rolando O. Santos

PhD Assistant Professor, Florida International University

Courses attended

SIMM05, IMDL03, ITSA02, GEEE01 and MOVE07

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about the product and billing.

When will I receive instructions on how to join?

You’ll receive an email on the Friday before the course begins, with full instructions on how to join via Zoom. Please ensure you have Zoom installed in advance.

Do I need administrator rights on my computer?

Yes — administrator access is recommended, as you may need to install software during the course. If you don’t have admin rights, please contact us before the course begins and we’ll provide a list of software to install manually.

I’m attending the course live — will I also get access to the session recordings?

Yes. All participants will receive access to the recordings for 30 days after the course ends.

I can’t attend every live session — can I join some sessions live and catch up on others later?

Absolutely. You’re welcome to join the live sessions you can and use the recordings for those you miss. We do encourage attending live if possible, as it gives you the chance to ask questions and interact with the instructor. You’re also welcome to send questions by email after the sessions.

I’m in a different time zone and plan to follow the course via recordings. When will these be available?

We aim to upload recordings on the same day, but occasionally they may be available the following day.

I can’t attend live — how can I ask questions?

You can email the instructor with any questions. For more complex topics, we’re happy to arrange a short Zoom call at a time that works for both of you.

Will I receive a certificate?

Yes. All participants receive a digital certificate of attendance, which includes the course title, number of hours, course dates, and the instructor’s name.

When will I receive instructions on how to join?

You’ll receive an email on the Friday before the course begins, with full instructions on how to join via Zoom. Please ensure you have Zoom installed in advance.

Do I need administrator rights on my computer?

I’m attending the course live — will I also get access to the session recordings?

Yes. All participants will receive access to the recordings for 30 days after the course ends.

I can’t attend every live session — can I join some sessions live and catch up on others later?

I’m in a different time zone and plan to follow the course via recordings. When will these be available?

We aim to upload recordings on the same day, but occasionally they may be available the following day.

I can’t attend live — how can I ask questions?

You can email the instructor with any questions. For more complex topics, we’re happy to arrange a short Zoom call at a time that works for both of you.

Will I receive a certificate?

Yes. All participants receive a digital certificate of attendance, which includes the course title, number of hours, course dates, and the instructor’s name.

Still have questions?

Can’t find the answer you’re looking for? Please chat to our friendly team.

Get in touch

£480.00

30th September 2035 - 4th October 2035

Recorded, United Kingdom

Advanced Species Distribution Modelling (SDM’s) and Ecological Niche Modelling (ENM’s)

Course Description

What You’ll Learn

Course Format

Flexible Learning Structure

Access Anytime, Anywhere

Independent Exploration with Support

Comprehensive Learning Resources

Work With Your Own Data, On Your Terms

Continued Guidance and Resource Access

Who Should Attend / Intended Audiences

Equipment and Software requirements

Dr. Neftalí Sillero

Dr. Salvador Arenas-Castro

Testimonials

Testimonials

Testimonials

Frequently asked questions

When will I receive instructions on how to join?

Do I need administrator rights on my computer?

I’m attending the course live — will I also get access to the session recordings?

I can’t attend every live session — can I join some sessions live and catch up on others later?

I’m in a different time zone and plan to follow the course via recordings. When will these be available?

I can’t attend live — how can I ask questions?

Will I receive a certificate?

When will I receive instructions on how to join?

Do I need administrator rights on my computer?

I’m attending the course live — will I also get access to the session recordings?

I can’t attend every live session — can I join some sessions live and catch up on others later?

I’m in a different time zone and plan to follow the course via recordings. When will these be available?

I can’t attend live — how can I ask questions?

Will I receive a certificate?

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