Applications of the InVEST Habitat Quality model: A literature review of methodological trends and model integration, with implications for human-wildlife interactions

The Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs Habitat Quality (InVEST HQ) model offers a spatially explicit approach for assessing habitat quality utilizing relatively simple, readily available data and an intuitive interface. In this paper, we provide a literature review of the InVEST HQ application based on 61 scientific papers, which have been systematized, analysed, and interpreted using a detailed and structured original template. We identify the main trends and gaps in the model’s applications, as well as its readiness for integration into studies on human-wildlife interactions (HWI). The first trend concerns the application of the model for assessing habitat quality to address spatial discrepancies between nature conservation and other human activities. The second one shows that, although InVEST HQ is often considered more suitable for assessing biodiversity in general, our review identifies a parallel trend of using the model in species-specific studies. The third trend reveals the application of the model in combination with other models and methods, which can provide more robust and ecologically meaningful results, compensating for its reliance on expert-based parameters. We further examine the extent to which InVEST HQ applications relate to HWI, showing that although the applicability is currently limited and mostly indirect, the model’s core strengths make it a promising tool for future HWI-oriented research. These results highlight the increasing popularity of the model as a spatially explicit tool for assessing habitat quality under a wide range of contexts, and point to its widespread integration with complementary tools as a core spatial framework that requires additional modelling layers to capture ecological complexity. This is in line with current trends in integrated ecosystem services modelling, which is necessary due to the multiple trade-offs among different services and the associated challenges that ecosystem assessments aim to resolve.