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Free keywords:
Habitability; Habitat Suitability Models;Planetary
habitability; Biosignatures; Exoplanets; Astrobiology
Abstract:
Habitability has been generally defined as the capability of an environment to support life. Ecologists have been
using Habitat Suitability Models (HSMs) for more than four decades to study the habitability of Earth from
local to global scales. Astrobiologists have been proposing different habitability models for some time, with little
integration and consistency among them, being different in function to those used by ecologists. Habitability
models are not only used to determine whether environments are habitable, but they also are used to characterize
what key factors are responsible for the gradual transition from low to high habitability states. Here we
review and compare some of the different models used by ecologists and astrobiologists and suggest how they
could be integrated into new habitability standards. Such standards will help improve the comparison and characterization
of potentially habitable environments, prioritize target selections, and study correlations between habitability
and biosignatures. Habitability models are the foundation of planetary habitability science, and the synergy
between ecologists and astrobiologists is necessary to expand our understanding of the habitability of Earth,
the Solar System, and extrasolar planets.
