Helen Sofaer, PhD
Helen Sofaer is a Research Ecologist at the Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center in Hawai‘i.
Science and Products
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Human-associated species dominate passerine communities across the United States Human-associated species dominate passerine communities across the United States
Aim Human development and agriculture can have transformative and homogenizing effects on natural systems, shifting the composition of ecological communities towards non-native and native species that tolerate or thrive under human-dominated conditions. These impacts cannot be fully captured by summarizing species presence, as they include dramatic changes to patterns of species...
Authors
Helen Sofaer, Curtis H. Flather, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Kristin P. Davis, Liba Pejchar
Co-occurrence and occupancy dynamics of mourning doves and Eurasian collared-doves Co-occurrence and occupancy dynamics of mourning doves and Eurasian collared-doves
Understanding how land cover and potential competition with invasive species shape patterns of occupancy, extirpation, and colonization of native species across a landscape can help target management for declining native populations. Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) populations have declined throughout the United States from 1965–2015. The expansion of the Eurasian collared‐dove...
Authors
Adam W. Green, Helen Sofaer, David L Otis, Nicholas J. Van Lanen
The development and delivery of species distribution models to inform decision-making The development and delivery of species distribution models to inform decision-making
Information on where species occur is central to conservation and management decisions, but knowledge of distributions can be coarse or incomplete. Species distribution models provide a tool for mapping suitable habitat, and can produce credible, defensible, and repeatable predictive information with which to inform decisions. However, these models are sensitive to data inputs and...
Authors
Helen Sofaer, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Ian S. Pearse, Regan L Smyth, Stephanie Auer, Cook Gericke L, Thomas C. Edwards, Gerald F. Guala, Timothy G Howard, Jeffrey T. Morisette, Healy Hamilton
Non-native plants have greater impacts because of differing per-capita effects and non-linear abundance-impact curves Non-native plants have greater impacts because of differing per-capita effects and non-linear abundance-impact curves
Invasive, non-native species can have tremendous impacts on biotic communities, where they reduce the abundance and diversity of local species. However, it remains unclear whether impacts of non-native species arise from their high abundance or whether each non-native individual has a disproportionate impact – i.e., a higher per-capita effect – on co-occurring species compared to impacts...
Authors
Ian S. Pearse, Helen Sofaer, David N. Zaya, Greg Spyreas
Clustering and ensembling approaches to support surrogate-based species management Clustering and ensembling approaches to support surrogate-based species management
Aim Surrogate species can provide an efficient mechanism for biodiversity conservation if they encompass the needs or indicate the status of a broader set of species. When species that are the focus of ongoing management efforts act as effective surrogates for other species, these incidental surrogacy benefits lead to additional efficiency. Assessing surrogate relationships often relies...
Authors
Helen Sofaer, Curtis H. Flather, Susan K. Skagen, Valerie Steen, Barry R. Noon
The area under the precision‐recall curve as a performance metric for rare binary events The area under the precision‐recall curve as a performance metric for rare binary events
Species distribution models are used to study biogeographic patterns and guide decision‐making. The variable quality of these models makes it critical to assess whether a model's outputs are suitable for the intended use, but commonly used evaluation approaches are inappropriate for many ecological contexts. In particular, unrealistically high performance assessments have been associated...
Authors
Helen Sofaer, Jennifer A. Hoeting, Catherine S. Jarnevich
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 25
No Result Found
Filter Total Items: 44
Human-associated species dominate passerine communities across the United States Human-associated species dominate passerine communities across the United States
Aim Human development and agriculture can have transformative and homogenizing effects on natural systems, shifting the composition of ecological communities towards non-native and native species that tolerate or thrive under human-dominated conditions. These impacts cannot be fully captured by summarizing species presence, as they include dramatic changes to patterns of species...
Authors
Helen Sofaer, Curtis H. Flather, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Kristin P. Davis, Liba Pejchar
Co-occurrence and occupancy dynamics of mourning doves and Eurasian collared-doves Co-occurrence and occupancy dynamics of mourning doves and Eurasian collared-doves
Understanding how land cover and potential competition with invasive species shape patterns of occupancy, extirpation, and colonization of native species across a landscape can help target management for declining native populations. Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) populations have declined throughout the United States from 1965–2015. The expansion of the Eurasian collared‐dove...
Authors
Adam W. Green, Helen Sofaer, David L Otis, Nicholas J. Van Lanen
The development and delivery of species distribution models to inform decision-making The development and delivery of species distribution models to inform decision-making
Information on where species occur is central to conservation and management decisions, but knowledge of distributions can be coarse or incomplete. Species distribution models provide a tool for mapping suitable habitat, and can produce credible, defensible, and repeatable predictive information with which to inform decisions. However, these models are sensitive to data inputs and...
Authors
Helen Sofaer, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Ian S. Pearse, Regan L Smyth, Stephanie Auer, Cook Gericke L, Thomas C. Edwards, Gerald F. Guala, Timothy G Howard, Jeffrey T. Morisette, Healy Hamilton
Non-native plants have greater impacts because of differing per-capita effects and non-linear abundance-impact curves Non-native plants have greater impacts because of differing per-capita effects and non-linear abundance-impact curves
Invasive, non-native species can have tremendous impacts on biotic communities, where they reduce the abundance and diversity of local species. However, it remains unclear whether impacts of non-native species arise from their high abundance or whether each non-native individual has a disproportionate impact – i.e., a higher per-capita effect – on co-occurring species compared to impacts...
Authors
Ian S. Pearse, Helen Sofaer, David N. Zaya, Greg Spyreas
Clustering and ensembling approaches to support surrogate-based species management Clustering and ensembling approaches to support surrogate-based species management
Aim Surrogate species can provide an efficient mechanism for biodiversity conservation if they encompass the needs or indicate the status of a broader set of species. When species that are the focus of ongoing management efforts act as effective surrogates for other species, these incidental surrogacy benefits lead to additional efficiency. Assessing surrogate relationships often relies...
Authors
Helen Sofaer, Curtis H. Flather, Susan K. Skagen, Valerie Steen, Barry R. Noon
The area under the precision‐recall curve as a performance metric for rare binary events The area under the precision‐recall curve as a performance metric for rare binary events
Species distribution models are used to study biogeographic patterns and guide decision‐making. The variable quality of these models makes it critical to assess whether a model's outputs are suitable for the intended use, but commonly used evaluation approaches are inappropriate for many ecological contexts. In particular, unrealistically high performance assessments have been associated...
Authors
Helen Sofaer, Jennifer A. Hoeting, Catherine S. Jarnevich