Predicting the geographical distribution of Impatiens parasitica (Balsaminaceae), an epiphytic species endemic to the Southern Western Ghats, India

Abstract

Impatiens parasitica Bedd. is an epiphytic balsam, endemic to the southern Western Ghats region of India. Maximum entropy distribution modelling (MaxEnt) was used for predicting the potential habitat suitability for this species. The Area Under the receiver operating characteristics Curve (AUC) value for training and test (0.95 and 0.817) is higher than 0.8, hence the model can be accepted. Jackknife test illustrates that temperature seasonality is the most contributed variable and Terrain Ruggedness Index (TRI) is the least contributed variable. The model predicted high suitability in the evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of the southern Western Ghats.