![]() Neoelmis was predicted to be in the mid-region of the study basin in high altitudinal streams with a high degree of meandering. Austrolimnius and Heterelmis were also predicted in the upper parts of the basin but in more widespread elevation ranges, in the Heterelmis case, and even in some areas with a medium level of anthropisation. Austrelmis was predicted to be in the upper parts of the basin, i.e., páramo ecosystems, with an excellent level of conservation of their riparian ecosystems. Macrelmis was predicted in the lower and forested areas, with high precipitation levels, towards the Amazon basin. Moreover, specific ecological niches were spatially predicted for each genus. The highest probability of occurrence for elmids genera was predicted in streams located within well-preserved zones. Environmental variables that explained most of the Elmidae spatial variability were land use (i.e., riparian vegetation alteration and presence/absence of canopy), precipitation, and topography, mainly elevation and slope. Each RF-based model was trained and optimised using cross-validation. ![]() ![]() Species distribution models (SDMs) were established for five elmid genera in the Paute river basin (southern Ecuador) using the Random Forest (RF) algorithm considering environmental variables, i.e., meteorology, land use, hydrology, and topography. Genera and species of Elmidae (riffle beetles) are sensitive to water pollution however, in tropical freshwater ecosystems, their requirements regarding environmental factors need to be investigated.
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