PointedSDMs -- an R package to help facilitate the construction of integrated species distribution models

Abstract

1O_LIIntegration of disparate datasets is a rapidly growing area in quantitative ecology, and is subsequently becoming a major asset in understanding the shifts and trends in species distributions. C_LIO_LIHowever, the tools and software available to construct statistical models to integrate these disparate datasets into a unified framework is lacking, stagnating the growth of data integration in applications. C_LIO_LIThis paper presents PointedSDMs: an easy to use R package used to construct integrated species distribution models using the integrated nested Laplace Approximation methodology. C_LIO_LIThe package is presented in this paper through an illustrative example for a selection of species found across Pennsylvania state. C_LI