Confronting species distribution model predictions with species functional traits

Species distribution models are valuable tools in studies of biogeography, ecol-ogy, and climate change and have been used to inform conservation andecosystem management. However, species distribution models typically incorpo-rate only climatic variables and species presence data. Model development orvalidation rarely considers functional components of species traits or othertypes of biological data. We implemented a species distribution model (Max-ent) to predict global climate habitat suitability for Grass Carp (Ctenopharyn-godon idella). We then tested the relationship between the degree of climatehabitat suitability predicted by Maxent and the individual growth rates of bothwild (N = 17) and stocked (N = 51) Grass Carp populations using correlationanalysis. The Grass Carp Maxent model accurately reflected the global occur-rence data (AUC = 0.904). Observations of Grass Carp growth rate covered sixcontinents and ranged from 0.19 to 20.1 g day1. Species distribution modelpredictions