Spatial mapping of ecosystem patterns
To visualize ecosystem patterns, we used GDM transformed predictors to
map dissimilarities among modelled combinations of ecosystem properties.
Following procedures in Mokany et al. (2022), we used fitted spline
functions from our ecosystem model to transform each predictor.
Transformed predictors were then used to predict dissimilarity between
grid cell pairs, resulting in a multi-dimensional representation of
ecological space. To reveal patterns in this space, a principal
components analysis was employed to reduce dimensionality. Subsequently,
values from the first three principal components were assigned to an RGB
palette and plotted simultaneously. The resulting composite map reveals
predicted patterns of ecosystem heterogeneity.