Abstract
Simple SummaryInvasive plant species are one of the major threats to biodiversity and cause the loss of natural habitats. Invasive Mesquite plant was continuing to spread all over the world and invaded most of the forest-shrubland biomes. We aimed to evaluate the contribution of soil and huaman-influence factors and climatic factors to the distribution dynamics and expansion of Mesquite invasive plant. Also, it aimed at ranking the threatened areas in each global biome. Our findings revealed that the invasion risk increases with temperature, soil alkalinity, and clay fractions. This study would provide great insights into prioritization and management guidelines to monitor the expansion and invasion risk of Mesquite plant in the whole world.Prosopis juliflora is one of the most problematic invasive trees in tropical and subtropical regions. Understanding driving forces affecting the potential global distribution would help in managing its current and future spread. The role of climate on the global spatial distribution of P. juliflora has been well studied, but little is known about the role of soil and human impacts as potential drivers. Here, we used maximum entropy (MaxEnt) for species distribution modelling to understand the role of climate (C), soil (S) and human impacts (H), C+S, and C+S+H in controlling the potential invasion range of P. juliflora, and to project its global potential invasive risk. We defined the top threatened global biomes, as predicted by the best-selected model. The incorporation of the edaphic factors improved the model performance and enhanced the accuracy of the outcome. Our findings revealed that the potential invasion risk increases with increases in mean temperature of the driest quarter (Bio9), soil alkalinity and clay fractions. Arid and semi-arid lands are at the highest risk of invasion than other moist biomes.
Highlights
The increase in human travel and trade has accidentally or intentionally increased the spread of many species from their native ranges [1]
We represented the output of the climate and soil model (C+S) due to the higher relevant contribution and relative importance of the soil variables (Table 2) in the prediction of the species distribution
Our results indicate a high-risk chance for the invasion of P. juliflora in the Mediterranean region, especially North African countries and South Europe, such as Spain (Figure 2B)
Summary
The increase in human travel and trade has accidentally or intentionally increased the spread of many species from their native ranges [1]. The increasing numbers of introduced invasive species and their potential to change the social-ecological systems have been considered a major global change component [2,3,4]. Invasive exotic plants have become among the major challenges facing social-ecological systems, especially rangelands and livestock [4]. Prosopis juliflora is the hardiest and most resilient xerophytic tree of the genus, originated from North America (Mexico) or Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama). It is naturalized and invaded several tropical and sub-tropical regions worldwide at an alarming rate [1,9]. The IUCN has considered P. juliflora as one of the worst 100 invasive alien species globally [17,18]
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