April 2015

The front page of this special issue of software notes, detailing tools for better reproducibility in ecological science, shows the workflow processes of the sdm R package. sdm provides a reproducible workflow for applying a suite of species distribution models to species data. By encompassing the entire analytical process, from data preprocessing over the actual modeling to post-processing of results, this package makes it easy to document all analytical decisions made from the process of data acquisition to the final published result. The computational workflow involves the generation and passing of data objects, setting objects and model objects, all of which can be saved individually and exhanged among researchers collaborating on the same project. This ensures that analyses are standardized, documented and reproducible, while retaining the full analytical freedom of researchers. Such highly documentable workflows represent one key approach taken by current state-of-the-art ecological software to ensure that we build a robust and reproducible ecology for the future.

Whole issue free to read!

Download high resolution file: ecog_issue_information.pdf