ABI Innovation: Wallace: a flexible platform for reproducible modeling of species niches and distributions built for community expansion

该项目将制作的软件旨在提供分析，估计物种的环境要求(栖息地)和地理分布(范围)。科学进步要求软件具备几种很少能同时具备的品质。理想情况下，科学软件：1)开源(提供底层代码)；2)提供概念和方法指导(指导用户并帮助他们做出决策)；3)灵活(允许许多选项)；4)交互(显示分析的每个阶段的完成时的结果)；5)可以轻松快速地扩展/更新；6)提供分析运行的明确文档(使其易于再现结果)。这个项目中将要生产的软件直接响应了这些需求。这将是一种创新方式的例子，使新的科学方法可供广大研究人员使用，远远超出特定子领域的专家。它的目标是生物学家和自然资源管理人员的大量用户基础，也将引起程序员、教育工作者和学生的兴趣。这一软件应该会更好地估计物种范围，这对保护生物学、研究入侵物种以及昆虫和野生动物传染给人类的疾病等各种兴趣都很重要。该项目将对研究生和本科生进行计算机编码方面的培训。除了软件本身，研究人员还将制作科学出版物和在线网络研讨会，记录并解释其用途。具体地说，该项目将极大地扩展软件Wallace，用于新兴的利基/分布建模及相关领域。这样的模型估计了一个物种的环境适宜性，表明了它们在各种科学研究中的潜在地理分布。目前，研究人员正在努力跟上进步，实现对新思想和新技术的灵活吸收。为了改善这种情况，华莱士软件提供了一个模块化平台，可通过图形用户界面(GUI)提供可定制的工作流程。利用华莱士的模块化性质，研究人员将与许多外部合作伙伴协调，添加多样化的尖端功能。该项目将：1)基于记录物种存在的发生数据，产生一个全面的建模框架；2)包括利用重复采样的技术；3)允许用户无缝上传/下载，并通过在线和本地实施实现可定制的工作流程；4)扩大用户社区。最终，这种方法可能会扩大规模，为数千个物种提供高质量的建模。华莱士还将为其他学科的科学软件开发树立榜样。该项目的结果将在以下网址公布：https://wallaceecomod.github.io/

The software to be produced in this project aims to provide analyses that estimate a species' environmental requirements (habitat) and geographic distribution (range). Scientific progress calls for software with several qualities rarely found together. Ideally, scientific software: 1) is open-source (providing the underlying code); 2) gives conceptual and methodological guidance (orienting the user and helping them make decisions); 3) is flexible (allowing many options); 4) is interactive (showing the results of each stage of the analysis as it is completed); 5) can be expanded/updated easily and quickly; and 6) provides explicit documentation of the analyses run (making it easy to reproduce the results). The software to be produced in this project responds directly to these needs. It will be an example of an innovative way to make new scientific methods accessible to a broad audience of researchers, far beyond the specialists of a particular subfield. It targets a large user base of biologists and natural resource managers, and also will be of interest to programmers, educators, and students. This software should lead to better estimates of species ranges, important to interests as diverse as conservation biology, the study of invasive species and diseases passed to humans from insects and wildlife. The project will train graduate and undergraduate students in computer coding. In addition to the software itself, the researchers will produce scientific publications and online webinars that document and explain its use.Specifically, the project will greatly expand the software Wallace for the burgeoning field of niche/distributional modeling and related fields. Such models estimate environmental suitability for a species, indicating their potential geographic distribution for a wide variety of scientific studies. Currently, researchers struggle to follow advances and achieve a nimble uptake of new ideas and techniques. To improve this situation, the Wallace software provides a modular platform offering customizable workflows through a Graphical User Interface (GUI). Taking advantage of the modular nature of Wallace, the researchers will coordinate with many external partners to add diverse cutting-edge functionalities. The project will: 1) produce a comprehensive framework for modeling based on occurrence data that document the presence of a species; 2) include techniques that take advantage of repeated sampling; 3) allow seamless user up/download and customizable workflows via online and local implementations; and 4) grow the user community. Eventually, this approach could be scaled-up, allowing high-quality modeling for thousands of species. Wallace also will serve as an example for the development of scientific software in other disciplines. The results of the project will be made available at: https://wallaceecomod.github.io/