Maximum entropy modeling of species geographic distributions

This paper introduced the MaxEnt method, a maximum-entropy approach for modeling species distributions from presence-only data, which became one of the most widely used tools in the field. Because much wildlife occurrence data, including for elusive cats, consists of presence records without reliable absences, MaxEnt's ability to estimate habitat suitability from such data made it especially valuable. The method underlies a large share of felid habitat and climate-projection studies, from snow leopards to jaguars. It matters as the methodological workhorse behind countless maps of where cats live now and where suitable climate space may lie in the future, making it essential context for interpreting felid distribution and climate-change research.