Bayesian species distribution models integrate presence-only and presence-absence data to predict deer distribution and relative abundance

Using geospatial data of wildlife presence to predict a species distribution across a geographic area is among the most common tools in management and conservation. The collection of high-quality presence-absence data through structured surveys is, however, expensive, and managers usually have access to larger amounts of low-quality presence-only data collected by citizen scientists, opportunistic observations, and culling returns for game species. Integrated Species Distribution Models (ISDMs) have been developed to make the most of the data available by combining the higher-quality, but usually scarcer and more spatially restricted presence-absence data, with the lower quality, unstructured, but usually more extensive presence-only datasets. Joint-likelihood ISDMs can be run in a Bayesian context using INLA (Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation) methods that allow the addition of a spatially structured random effect to account for data spatial autocorrelation. Here, we apply this i...