Opening the climate modelling envelope
Jeanine Baker and Mary Bomford, Bureau of Rural Sciences, GPO Box 858, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
Summary
Climate matching identifies geographical ranges that could be colonized by a potential invasive species on the basis of similarity to climates found in the species’ native range. In invasive species management, climate matching is used primarily for two purposes: to assess overall invasion risk and prioritize destination-specific management actions. Species-specific factors are not included in climate matching models; however climate matching has been validated as a strong indicator of establishment success. Once distribution records for potentially invasive species have been carefully validated, climate matching is a proven tool to communicate scales of potential distribution within the risk assessment policy framework.
Keywords: climate match, modelling, range limits, risk assessment.
Plant Protection Quarterly (2009) 24 (3) 88-91.