Isoscape Computation and Inference of Spatial Origins With Mixed Models Using the R package IsoriX

Abstract The penultimate chapter is chiefly concerned with IsoriX—an open source R-based package designed to model isoscapes and to perform geographic assignments— and demonstrates its use in mapping origins with reference to a case study of migratory bats. The authors explain how this particular software package works by paying attention to the (1) R- environment, its dependencies and internal structure (2) the different aspects of IsoriX workflow (that includes the preparation of the R environment, the modeling of H isoscape, the fitting of an isotope calibration model and the assignment of samples to their location of origin) and finally the (3) future of IsoriX that addresses some of the ways the package can be further improved.