Application of Species Distribution Modeling for Conservation and Restoration of Forest Ecosystems

Abstract

Climate change and habitat fragmentation are responsible for creating unstable and isolated populations of various rare, endangered, and threatened plant species in their natural habitats. Such species face unprecedented extinction risks due to changing climatic conditions, anomalous population growth, and their high dependency on natural forests. The use of species distribution models (SDMs) for forest restoration and conservation has gained a growing trend due to its significant contribution to improving the success rates of forest restoration projects. A critical aspect of the planning and conservation of forests is the selection of suitable management strategies that match the needs of the RET plant species in both the present and future climates. SDMs can help the development of integrated conservation strategy through (1) concentrating future survey and research efforts on areas with a high likelihood of occurrence, (2) assisting in the selection of areas for conservation and restoration, and (3) designing future research questions, such as those required to forecast climate change reactions. The present chapter emphasizes the use of SDMs for the conservation and restoration of natural forests from further degradation and to fulfill the growing demands of forest goods and services for the sustainable economic development of forest-dependent communities and the nation.