Mapping multiscale breeding bird species distributions across the United States and evaluating their conservation applications

Species distribution models are vital to management decisions that require understanding habitat use patterns, particularly for species of conservation concern. However, the production of distribution maps for individual species is often hampered by data scarcity, and existing species maps are rarely spatially validated due to limited occurrence data. Furthermore, community-level maps based on stacked species distribution models lack important community assemblage information (e.g., competitive exclusion) relevant to conservation. Thus, multispecies, guild, or community models are often used in conservation practice instead. To address these limitations, we aimed to generate fine-scale, spatially-continuous, nationwide maps for species represented in the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) between 1992-2019. We generated ensemble models for each species at three spatial resolutions – 0.5, 2.5, and 5 km – across the conterminous United States. We also compared species richness patt...