Species Distribution Modeling with H3 Grids

Provides tools for species distribution modeling using H3 hexagonal grids (Uber Technologies Inc., 2022, < https://h3geo.org>). Facilitates retrieval of species occurrence records, generation of H3 grids, computation of landscape metrics, and preparation of spatial data for modern species distribution models workflows. Designed for biodiversity and landscape ecology research.

h3sdm

h3sdm: Machine learning–based spatial species distribution modeling and habitat/landscape analysis using H3 spatial index grids.

Overview

h3sdm is an R package for species distribution modeling (SDM) and habitat analysis using hexagonal spatial index grids based on H3.

It provides a consistent spatial framework to combine species occurrence data with environmental predictors and landscape metrics, enabling both ecological modeling and habitat characterization. The modeling framework is built on tidymodels, offering flexibility to use different approaches (e.g., logistic regression, GAMs, Random Forest, XGBoost).

Key features include:

• Conversion of point occurrence data into H3-based spatial grids
• Extraction of environmental and landscape predictors at different resolutions
• Support for multiple modeling approaches through tidymodels
• Tools for visualizing model predictions and habitat structure

By leveraging H3 grids and the tidymodels ecosystem, h3sdm makes it easy to bridge species distribution modeling and landscape ecology in a scalable way.

Installation

You can install the development version of h3sdm from GitHub using one of the following methods:

# install.packages("pak")
pak::pak("ManuelSpinola/h3sdm")

# install.packages("remotes")
remotes::install_github("ManuelSpinola/h3sdm")

# install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("ManuelSpinola/h3sdm")

Get Started

Explore h3sdm through the Get Started section of the website, which provides a quick introduction to the package and its core workflows.
For more practical examples, visit the Articles section, where each vignette demonstrates different aspects of species distribution and habitat analysis using H3 grids.