scholarly journals Evaluation of urban road trees in terms of ecosystem services according to climate change scenarios and species distribution model: The case of Robinia pseudoacacia L.

Author(s):  
E. Seda Arslan
PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Riquelme ◽  
Sergio A. Estay ◽  
Rodrigo López ◽  
Hernán Pastore ◽  
Mauricio Soto-Gamboa ◽  
...  

BackgroundClimate change is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity, pushing species to shift their distribution ranges and making existing protected areas inadequate. Estimating species distribution and potential modifications under climate change are then necessary for adjusting conservation and management plans; this is especially true for endangered species. An example of this issue is the huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), an endemic endangered deer from the southern Andes Range, with less than 2,000 individuals. It is distributed in fragmented populations along a 2,000 km latitudinal gradient, in Chile and Argentina. Several threats have reduced its distribution to <50% of its former range.MethodsTo estimate its potential distribution and protected areas effectiveness, we constructed a species distribution model using 2,813 huemul presence points throughout its whole distribution range, together with 19 bioclimatic layers and altitude information from Worldclim. Its current distribution was projected for years 2050 and 2070 using five different Global Climate Models estimated for scenarios representing two carbon Representative Concentration Routes (RCP)—RCP4.5 and RCP6.0.ResultsBased on current huemul habitat variables, we estimated 91,617 km2of suitable habitat. In future scenarios of climate change, there was a loss of suitable habitat due to altitudinal and latitudinal variation. Future projections showed a decrease of 59.86–60.26% for the year 2050 and 58.57–64.34% for the year 2070 according to RCP4.5 and RCP6.0, respectively. Protected areas only covered only 36.18% of the present distribution, 38.57–34.94% for the year 2050 and 30.79–31.94% for 2070 under climate change scenarios.DiscussionModeling current and future huemul distributions should allow the establishment of priority conservation areas in which to focus efforts and funds, especially areas without official protection. In this way, we can improve management in areas heavily affected by climate change to help ensure the persistence of this deer and other species under similar circumstances worldwide.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Falk ◽  
Nils Hempelmann

Climate is the main environmental driver determining the spatial distribution of most tree species at the continental scale. We investigated the distribution change of European beech and Norway spruce due to climate change. We applied a species distribution model (SDM), driven by an ensemble of 21 regional climate models in order to study the shift of the favourability distribution of these species. SDMs were parameterized for 1971–2000, as well as 2021–2050 and 2071–2100 using the SRES scenario A1B and three physiological meaningful climate variables. Growing degree sum and precipitation sum were calculated for the growing season on a basis of daily data. Results show a general north-eastern and altitudinal shift in climatological favourability for both species, although the shift is more marked for spruce. The gain of new favourable sites in the north or in the Alps is stronger for beech compared to spruce. Uncertainty is expressed as the variance of the averaged maps and with a density function. Uncertainty in species distribution increases over time. This study demonstrates the importance of data ensembles and shows how to deal with different outcomes in order to improve impact studies by showing uncertainty of the resulting maps.


Author(s):  
Xinyu Liu ◽  
Xiaolu Han ◽  
Zhiqiang Han

Species have shown their habital variations in responding to climate change, especially during the spring and summer spawning seasons. The species distribution model (SDM) is considered the most favorable tool to study the potential effects of climate change on species distribution. Therefore, we developed the ensemble SDM to predict the changes in species distribution of Portunus trituberculatus among different seasons in 2050 and 2100 under the climate scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The results of SDM indicate that the distribution of this species will move northward and have obviouse seasonal variations. Meanwhile, the suitable habitat for the species will be significantly reduced in summer, with loses rates ranging from 45.23% (RCP4.5) to 88.26% (RCP.8.5) by 2100s. Habitat reduction will mainly occur in the East China Sea and southern part of the Yellow Sea, while there will be a small increase in the northern Bohai Sea. These findings will be important to manage the ecosystem and fishery, provide an information forecast of this species in the future, and maintain species diversity if the seawater temperature rises.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Dutra Silva ◽  
Eduardo Brito de Azevedo ◽  
Francisco Vieira Reis ◽  
Rui Bento Elias ◽  
Luís Silva

Climate change is gaining attention as a major threat to biodiversity. It is expected to further expand the risk of plant invasion through ecosystem disturbance. Particularly, island ecosystems are under pressure, and climate change may threaten forest-dependent species. However, scientific and societal unknowns make it difficult to predict how climate change and biological invasions will affect species interactions and ecosystem processes. The purpose of this study was to identify possible limitations when making species distribution model projections based on predicted climate change. We aimed to know if climatic variables alone were good predictors of habitat suitability, ensuring reliable projections. In particular, we compared the performance of generalized linear models, generalized additive models, and a selection of machine learning techniques (BIOMOD 2) when modelling the distribution of forest species in the Azores, according to the climatic changes predicted to 2100. Some limitations seem to exist when modelling the effect of climate change on species distributions, since the best models also included topographic variables, making modelling based on climate alone less reliable, with model fit varying among modelling approaches, and random forest often providing the best results. Our results emphasize the adoption of a careful study design and algorithm selection process. The uncertainties associated with climate change effect on plant communities as a whole, including their indigenous and invasive components, highlight a pressing need for integrated modelling, monitoring, and experimental work to better realize the consequences of climate change, in order to ensure the resilience of forest ecosystems in a changing world.


Author(s):  
Camille Poulet ◽  
Betsy L. Barber-O'Malley ◽  
Géraldine Lassalle ◽  
Patrick Lambert

Diadromous species act as nutrient vectors between their marine and freshwater habitats. Few valuations of this regulating service exist and none at the scale of species distribution ranges. This large-scale approach seems particularly relevant for species moving and exchanging individuals across borders and territories as these populations may strongly depend upon each other in terms of population viability and provision of ecosystem services. The development of a new nutrient routine within an existing mechanistic species distribution model provided estimates of the 'maximum potential' of the anadromous allis shad (Alosa alosa) to provide nitrogen and phosphorous subsidies throughout Western Europe. During their seasonal reproductive migration, shad provided low amounts of nutrient subsidies when compared to North-American anadromous species and annual riverine nutrient loads. However, these subsidies are delivered as pulses concentrated in space and time, suggesting that more work is needed to figure out the significance of these shad-derived nutrients in terms of riverine ecosystem functioning. The evidence of a substantial flow of strayers delivering nutrient subsidies in several rivers confirmed the need for large-scale management of migratory species to ensure a sustainable provision of ecosystem services.


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