Integrating niche and occupancy models to infer the distribution of an endemic fossorial snake (Atractus lasallei)

Understanding species distribution and habitat preferences is crucial for effective conservation strategies. However, the lack of information about population responses to environmental change at different scales hinders effective conservation measures.  In this study, we estimate the potential and realized distribution of Atractus lasallei, a semi-fossorial snake endemic to the northwestern region of Colombia. We modelled the potential distribution of A. lasallei based on ecological niche theory (using maxent), and habitat use was characterized while accounting for imperfect detection using a single-season occupancy model. Our results suggest that A. lasallei selects areas characterized by slopes below 10°, with high average annual precipitation (>2500mm/year) and herbaceous and shrubby vegetation. Its potential distribution encompasses the northern Central Cordillera and two smaller centers along the Western Cordillera, but its habitat is heavily fragmented within this potential di..., Ecological Niche Model and Potential Distribution
Presence data were acquired from three sources: 1) specimens from biological collections, obtained from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (accessed 22 March 2022) [35] and most of them revised in situ in the following collections: MHUA-Museo de Herpetología Universidad de Antioquia (Curator: J.M. Daza-Rojas), CSJ-h-Museo de Ciencias Naturales de La Salle (D.Z. Urrego), CBUCES-D-Colecciones Biológicas Universidad CES (J.C. Duque); 2) iNaturalist records obtained directly from them (accessed March-May 2022; we did not use iNaturalist records from GBIF) by searching Atractus records in the northwest of Colombia that included pictures that allowed verification through morphology (coloration patterns, and scale counts when possible), and 3) individuals encountered during the field phase for occupancy models. Identification of individuals was based on the original species description and taxonomic revisions of the genus [28, 33]. Fu..., , # Supporting data: Integrating niche and occupancy models to infer the distribution of an endemic fossorial snake (Atractus lasallei)

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5qfttdzff](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5qfttdzff)

## Description of the data and file structure

The data presented here include all input data to run the niche and occupancy models.

**Niche Modelling**

This includes the training (*A_lasallei_train2.csv*), testing (*A_lasallei_test2.csv*) and joint (*A_lasallei_joint2.csv*) data sets of georeferenced presence records for *Atractus lasallei*. All three files contain three columns each, the first refers to the species name, the second and third to Longitude and Latitude in decimal degrees.

In addition, the two sets of predictor variables in ascii format already masked for the area of accesibility used for modeling (*set_1* and *set_2*).  

**set_1:**

02convergenceFinal_set1.asc: Topographic convergence (unitless)

03ctiFinal_set1.asc: Compound Topographic Index (ln(sq...