A standard protocol for describing the evaluation of ecological models

Abstract

Numerical models o ecological systems are increasingly used to address complex environmental and resource management questions. One challenge or scientists, managers, and stakeholders is to appraise how well suited these models are to answer questions o scientifc or societal relevance, that is, to perorm, communicate, or access transparent evaluations o ecological models. While there have been substantial developments to support standardised descriptions o ecological models, less has been done to standardise and to report model evaluation practices. We present here a general protocol designed to guide the reporting o model evaluation. The protocol is organised in three major parts: the objective(s) o the modelling application, the ecological patterns o relevance and the evaluation methodology proper, and is termed the OPE (objectives, patterns, evaluation) protocol. We present the 25 questions o the OPE protocol which address the many aspects o the evaluation process and then apply them to six case studies based on a diversity o ecological models. In addition to standardising and increasing the transparency o the model evaluation process, we fnd that going through the OPE protocol helps modellers to think more deeply about the evaluation o their models. From this last point, we suggest that it would be highly benefcial or modellers to consider the OPE early in the modelling process, in addition to using it as a reporting tool and as a reviewing tool. Standardisation Best practice Ecological patterns Skill assessment Transparency