Modeling the Effect of Climate Change on the Distribution of Oak and Pine Species of Mexico

Abstract:  We examined the vulnerability of 34 species of oaks ( Quercus ) and pines ( Pinus ) to the effects of global climate change in Mexico. We regionalized the HadCM2 model of climate change with local climatic data (mean annual temperature and rainfall) and downscaled the model with the inverse distance-weighted method. Databases of herbaria specimens, genetic algorithms (GARP), and digital covers of biophysical variables that affect oaks and pines were used to project geographic distributions of the species under a severe and conservative scenario of climate change for the year 2050. Starting with the current average temperature of 20.2 °C and average precipitation of 793 mm, under the severe warming scenario mean temperature and precipitation changed to 22.7 °C and 660 mm, respectively, in 2050. For the conservative warming scenario, these variables shifted to 21.8 °C and 721 mm. Responses to the different scenarios of climate change were predicted to be species-specific and related to each species climate affinity. The current geographic distribution of oaks and pines decreased 7–48% and 0.2–64%, respectively. The more vulnerable pines were Pinus rudis , P. chihuahuana , P. oocarpa , and P. culminicola , and the most vulnerable oaks were Quercus crispipilis , Q. peduncularis , Q. acutifolia , and Q. sideroxyla . In addition to habitat conservation, we think sensitive pine and oak species should be looked at more closely to define ex situ strategies (i.e., seed preservation in germplasm banks) for their long-term conservation. Modeling climatic-change scenarios is important to the development of conservation strategies.     

外来入侵假臭草在中国分布区的预测

假臭草原产南美洲,上世纪80年代首次记载传入中国,是潜在的恶性杂草.为提供其在中国分布区的预测资料,采用397个采集数据和已有的146个分布点数据,利用生态位模型(GARP)和Domain模型对分布区进行预测分析,并通过AUC与MaxKappa进行模型评价.结果显示:近十年,假臭草入侵记录增多,入侵扩散加剧;太阳辐射、水汽压、极端高温、霜日频率和水流方向对假臭草的分布限制较小,雨日频率、坡向、坡度、海拔、年降水、年均温、地形指数和极端低温等8个环境因子对其分布影响显著;入侵的主要植被类型是农田、灌木或草类覆盖嵌合区,常绿、落叶灌木地带,栽培植被及相关联地带等.模型评价表明两种模型预测能力为较好及以上,预测结果显示:假臭草在西藏(除东南小块区域)、新疆、青海、内蒙古、宁夏,陕西和山西北部地区,黑龙江、吉林、辽宁(除辽东半岛小块区域)是不宜生长区;最易入侵广东、广西、海南等地区,其中华中部分省份、华北平原为适生区,还未见有假臭草入侵的报道,相关部门应引起重视,严防入侵.