Predictive mapping of two endemic oak tree species under climate change scenarios in a semiarid region: Range overlap and implications for conservation

Abstract

Quercus infectoria and Quercus libani are two important species distributed across most of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq's mountain ranges (KRI). They have significant ecological, medicinal, and socioeconomic values. Recent studies have documented how plant distributions have been impacted by climate change. This study's goal is to establish the existing distributions of both species, measure the consequences of prospective environmental conditions on their distributions, predict possible habitat distributions, map the overlapped habitat ranges for the species in the KRI, and identify the key factors influencing their distributions. For these aims, distribution data points of the species, different environmental factors, including the existing climate, three emission predictions for the 2050s, 2070s, and 2090s of two general circulation models (GCMs), a machine learning approach, and geospatial techniques were used. Modeling revealed that the total magnitude of the habitat increase for the species would be less than the overall magnitude of the habitat contraction. The yearly mean temperature, yearly precipitation, and minimum temperature during the coldest period mostly alter the target species' geographic dispersion. Across the three emission scenarios of the both models, Q. infectoria habitat would contract by 2760.9–2856.9 km2 (5.36–5.55%), 2856.9–3357.2 km2 (5.55–6.52%) and 2822.1–3400.2 km2 (5.48–6.60%), whereas it would expand by 1153.3–1638.9 km2 (2.24–3.18%), 761.0–1556.8 km2 (1.48–3.02%), and 721.5–1547.1 km2 (1.40–3.00%) for the 2050s, 2070s, and 2090s, respectively. A similar pattern was also noted for Q. libani. The two species' habitat ranges in KRI would be considerably reduced due to climate change. The species' estimated area would extend mostly to the east and southeast of the KRI at high altitudes. The mountain areas, notably those where the species overlap by 1767.2–1807.5 km2 (3.43–3.51%) for the two GCMs, must be the primary objective of conservation efforts. This research presents new baseline data for future research on mountain forest ecosystems and the techniques of biodiversity conservation to reduce climate change's effects in Iraq.