scholarly journals Modelling Spatial Distribution of the Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) in Azilal Province, Morocco

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Said LAHSSINI ◽  
Said HAJIB ◽  
Hicham Lahlaoi ◽  
Hicham MHARZI ALAOUI ◽  
Abdellatif Khattabi

Factors determining forest species distribution include, in addition to external factors such as human interference and environmental management strategies, also soil and hydrological characteristics and climate conditions in any given areas. Modelling<strong> </strong>distribution has practical application in forest conservation and management, and help decision makers to develop strategies aimed at forest restoration, development of mountainous areas and the continuous and sustainable provision of forest-related services. Species distribution modelling (SDM) can be used for predicting species distribution based on tree presence records and on a number of environmental predictors. In this study we used MaxEnt for niche modelling in predicting carob (<em>Ceratonia siliqua </em>L.) trees spatial distribution in the Province of Azilal in Morocco. The results obtained show that a large area of the mountain regions is suitable for the expansion of <em>Ceratonia siliqua</em> stands. These findings will help decision makers in forest planning to better identify suitable sites for carob tree plantations and assess the potential of the exiting populations.

Climate ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Hannah ◽  
Glenn Aguilar ◽  
Dan Blanchon

The invasive species Erigeron karvinskianus or Mexican daisy is considered a significant weed that impacts native forest restoration efforts in New Zealand. Mapping the potential distribution of this species under current and future predicted climatic conditions provides managers with relevant information for developing appropriate management strategies. Using occurrences available from global and local databases, spatial distribution characteristics were analyzed using geostatistical tools in ArcMap to characterize current distribution. Species distribution modeling (SDM) using Maxent was conducted to determine the potential spatial distribution of E. karvinskianus worldwide and in New Zealand with projections into future climate conditions. Potential habitat suitability under future climatic conditions were simulated using greenhouse gas emission trajectories under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) models RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0 and RCP8.5 for years 2050 and 2070. Occurrence data were processed to minimize redundancy and spatial autocorrelation; non-correlated environmental variables were determined to minimize bias and ensure robust models. Kernel density, hotspot and cluster analysis of outliers show that populated areas of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch have significantly greater concentrations of E. karvinskianus. Species distribution modeling results find an increase in the expansion of range with higher RCP values, and plots of centroids show a southward movement of predicted range for the species.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Thaísa Araújo ◽  
Helena Machado ◽  
Dimila Mothé ◽  
Leonardo dos Santos Avilla

Abstract Climatic and environmental changes, as well as human action, have been cited as potential causes for the extinction of megafauna in South America at the end of the Pleistocene. Among megamammals lineages with Holarctic origin, only horses and proboscideans went extinct in South America during this period. This study aims to understand how the spatial extent of habitats suitable for Equus neogeus and Notiomastodon platensis changed between the last glacial maximum (LGM) and the middle Holocene in order to determine the impact that climatic and environmental changes had on these taxa. We used species distribution modeling to estimate their potential extent on the continent and found that both species occupied arid and semiarid open lands during the LGM, mainly in the Pampean region of Argentina, southern and northeastern Brazil, and parts of the Andes. However, when climate conditions changed from dry and cold during the LGM to humid and warm during the middle Holocene, the areas suitable for these taxa were reduced dramatically. These results support the hypothesis that climatic changes were a driving cause of extinction of these megamammals in South America, although we cannot rule out the impact of human actions or other potential causes for their extinction.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 368
Author(s):  
Cristina Alegria ◽  
Natália Roque ◽  
Teresa Albuquerque ◽  
Paulo Fernandez ◽  
Maria Margarida Ribeiro

Research Highlights: Modelling species’ distribution and productivity is key to support integrated landscape planning, species’ afforestation, and sustainable forest management. Background and Objectives: Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton) forests in Portugal were lately affected by wildfires and measures to overcome this situation are needed. The aims of this study were: (1) to model species’ spatial distribution and productivity using a machine learning (ML) regression approach to produce current species’ distribution and productivity maps; (2) to model the species’ spatial productivity using a stochastic sequential simulation approach to produce the species’ current productivity map; (3) to produce the species’ potential distribution map, by using a ML classification approach to define species’ ecological envelope thresholds; and (4) to identify present and future key factors for the species’ afforestation and management. Materials and Methods: Spatial land cover/land use data, inventory, and environmental data (climate, topography, and soil) were used in a coupled ML regression and stochastic sequential simulation approaches to model species’ current and potential distributions and productivity. Results: Maritime pine spatial distribution modelling by the ML approach provided 69% fitting efficiency, while species productivity modelling achieved only 43%. The species’ potential area covered 60% of the country’s area, where 78% of the species’ forest inventory plots (1995) were found. The change in the Maritime pine stands’ age structure observed in the last decades is causing the species’ recovery by natural regeneration to be at risk. Conclusions: The maps produced allow for best site identification for species afforestation, wood production regulation support, landscape planning considering species’ diversity, and fire hazard mitigation. These maps were obtained by modelling using environmental covariates, such as climate attributes, so their projection in future climate change scenarios can be performed.


Biologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabaz R. Khwarahm ◽  
Korsh Ararat ◽  
Barham A. HamadAmin ◽  
Peshawa M. Najmaddin ◽  
Azad Rasul ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 721-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luísa Custódio ◽  
Eliana Fernandes ◽  
Ana Luisa Escapa ◽  
Sandra López-Avilés ◽  
Alba Fajardo ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. e46610817158
Author(s):  
Luise Andrade Amaral ◽  
Robério Anastácio Ferreira ◽  
Renata Silva Mann

O objetivo deste trabalho foi realizar uma revisão sistemática da produção científica do uso da modelagem de distribuição de espécies para restauração florestal. As buscas de artigos científicos nas bases de dados Scopus e Web of Science para os últimos 15 anos foram realizadas no mês de dezembro de 2020 utilizando os termos: “ecological modeling” OR “biodiversity modeling” OR “predictive models” OR “niche modeling" OR "habitat models" AND “species distribution” OR "geographic distribution" OR “potential distribution” AND “forest restoration” OR “restoration ecology”. Para as análises estatísticas e gráficos dos dados brutos foi utilizado o pacote Bibliometrix do software R. Os dados brutos foram refinados por meio da seleção dos estudos que atenderam aos seguintes critérios: (i) estudos publicados em revistas científicas com fator de impacto igual ou superior a 2,0; (ii) estudos em que o título ou resumo mencionasse as palavras restauração florestal ou restauração ecológica; (iii) estudos que avaliaram o uso de modelagem de distribuição de espécies como auxílio aos projetos e programas de restauração florestal ou restauração ecológica. Foram encontrados 44 documentos publicados em 30 periódicos científicos com média de 3,91 publicações por ano; 18,55 citações por documento; 197 autores, sendo 3 documentos com autoria única. Assim pode-se concluir que o uso de modelagem de distribuição de espécies para restauração florestal no mundo é muito recente, e no Brasil é incipiente com baixos números de artigos publicados, mas apresenta tendência de crescimento por conta da sua significativa contribuição para melhorar as taxas de sucesso dos projetos de restauração.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 4353-4381
Author(s):  
M. Bügelmayer ◽  
D. M. Roche ◽  
H. Renssen

Abstract. Recent modelling studies have indicated that icebergs alter the ocean's state, the thickness of sea ice and the prevailing atmospheric conditions, in short play an active role in the climate system. The icebergs' impact is due to their slowly released melt water which freshens and cools the ocean. The spatial distribution of the icebergs and thus their melt water depends on the forces (atmospheric and oceanic) acting on them as well as on the icebergs' size. The studies conducted so far have in common that the icebergs were moved by reconstructed or modelled forcing fields and that the initial size distribution of the icebergs was prescribed according to present day observations. To address these shortcomings, we used the climate model iLOVECLIM that includes actively coupled ice-sheet and iceberg modules, to conduct 15 sensitivity experiments to analyse (1) the impact of the forcing fields (atmospheric vs. oceanic) on the icebergs' distribution and melt flux, and (2) the effect of the used initial iceberg size on the resulting Northern Hemisphere climate and ice sheet under different climate conditions (pre-industrial, strong/weak radiative forcing). Our results show that, under equilibrated pre-industrial conditions, the oceanic currents cause the bergs to stay close to the Greenland and North American coast, whereas the atmospheric forcing quickly distributes them further away from their calving site. These different characteristics strongly affect the lifetime of icebergs, since the wind-driven icebergs melt up to two years faster as they are quickly distributed into the relatively warm North Atlantic waters. Moreover, we find that local variations in the spatial distribution due to different iceberg sizes do not result in different climate states and Greenland ice sheet volume, independent of the prevailing climate conditions (pre-industrial, warming or cooling climate). Therefore, we conclude that local differences in the distribution of their melt flux do not alter the prevailing Northern Hemisphere climate and ice sheet under equilibrated conditions und constant supply of icebergs. Furthermore, our results suggest that the applied radiative forcing scenarios have a stronger impact on climate than the used initial size distribution of the icebergs.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thainá Cortez ◽  
Rafael Viana Amaral ◽  
Thadeu Sobral-Souza ◽  
Sonia Andrade

Abstract Background: An important goal of population genetics studies in marine ecosystems is understanding how connectivity patterns, both spatial and temporal, are influenced by historical and evolutionary factors. When it comes to dispersion and connectivity in marine ecosystems, the role of historical and evolutionary factors over population dynamics andstructure still remains enigmatic. We evaluated the demographic history and population structure of Littoraria flava, a highly dispersive and widely distributed marine gastropod on the Brazilian intertidal zone, to predict the effects of such factors on intrapopulation divergence. To test the hypotheses that (1) the species has historically high levels of geneflow on a macrogeographic spatial scale and (2) the species distribution in rocky shores consists of subpopulations due to high degrees of environmental heterogeneity, we collected specimens along the Brazilian coastline and combined different sets of genetic markers (mitochondrial DNA, nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2, and single nucleotide polymorphisms) with niche-based modeling to predict species paleodistribution.Results: Low genetic structure was observed along the coastline, and all clustering and migration analyses supported the high gene flow over long distances hypothesis (> 3,000 km). Three genetic clusters were identified by the assignment test, each mostly composed of individuals from the three sampled regions. No fine-scale variation was observed for any location. The neutrality tests and the haplotype networks suggest that L. flava had experienced population bottleneck followed by population expansion. Both paleodistribution and coalescent simulations highlight that expansion events occurred in the Southeastern coastline during the Pleistocene interglacial cycles (21 kya).Conclusions: This is the first study on the South American coast that highlights the demographic history on a marine gastropod based on genomic markers associated with niche modelling. We found that climatic changes since the interglacial periods are potentially relevant drivers for the species distribution in the past. Our findings could enhance the understanding of the population dynamics under an evolutionary view for widely distributed non-model marine organisms.


Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 197
Author(s):  
Mariem Khalfaoui ◽  
Hamed Daly-Hassen ◽  
Boutheina Stiti ◽  
Sihem Jebari

Forest ecosystems are an important anthropogenic pillar to human wellbeing, providing a multitude of ecosystem services. In Mediterranean countries, where climate change effects are exponentially increasing, the value of the forest ecosystem services is even higher and their preservation is more crucial. However, the biophysical and economic value of such services is usually not observable due to their non-marketable characteristics, leading to their underestimation by decision-makers. This paper aims to guide decision-making through a set of new management scenarios based on ecosystem services’ values and their spatial distribution. It is a cumulative multidisciplinary study based on biophysical models results, economically valued and implemented using the geographic information system (GIS) to analyze spatial data. The investigation was based on a biophysical and economic valuation of cork, grazing, carbon sequestration and sediment retention as a selection of ecosystem services provided by cork oak forest (Ain Snoussi, Tunisia). The valuation was made for the actual situation and two management scenarios (density decrease and afforestation of the shrub land), with emphasis on their spatial distribution as a basis to new management. The total economic value (TEV) of the investigated services provided by Ain Snoussi forest (3787 ha) was €0.55 million/year corresponding to €194/ha/year. The assessment of two different scenarios based on the land cover changes showed that the afforestation scenario provided the highest TEV with €0.68 million/year and an average of €217/ha, while the density decrease scenario provided €0.54 million/year and an average of €191/ha. Such results may orient decision-makers about the impact new management may have, however they should be applied with caution and wariness due to the importance of the spatial dimension in this study.


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