Ecologists seek to understand the processes and factors affecting the distribution and abundance of living organisms and as such could have a critical role in conserving and managing natural ecosystems. However, translating ecological theory and understanding for effective ecosystem management requires quantitative prediction tools including out-of-sample prediction to verify and validate ecological models. This need for more quantitative prediction and forecasting has led to an emerging but diffuse discipline, Predictive Ecology. Predictive ecology places prediction and forecasting at the center of both basic and applied ecology.
Topics: Temporal, Spatial or Phylogenetic Forecasting