Abstract
Societal Impact StatementAfrican sandalwood (Osyris lanceolata) leaves, roots, barks, fruits, and woods are used for multiple purposes throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe. The species is threatened in several eastern African countries. To improve the species' management and conservation, a habitat suitability study was undertaken in its at‐risk region in eastern Africa and extended to southern and horn of Africa due to its continuous distribution. African sandalwood continues to face intense human pressure and needs to be prioritized in terms of sustainable management practices. The plant's significant human importance necessitates inclusive conservation measures in all three habitat regions in Africa to safeguard it.Summary African sandalwood (Osyris lanceolata) is a versatile plant with significant economic and societal importance. It is threatened in several countries in Africa due to overexploitation. The lack of knowledge about the plant's ecology and environmental requirements complicates the species' long‐term management. We sought to address this issue by providing a novel understanding of the environmental factors that influence the occurrence of African sandalwood and its potential distribution. Using publicly available occurrence records from 1950 to 2021 and field data, we examined the species' habitat requirements in eastern, southern, and horn of Africa regions. We applied the Generalized Additive Models to link the plant's occurrence data to 12 environmental variables reflecting climatic, physiographic, and edaphic characteristics, while controlling for the biases that arise from publicly gathered occurrence records. Our findings revealed that the plant's habitat requirements vary among the three regions investigated. While climatic factors are essential in all three regions, physiographic aspects are mainly important for the eastern and southern populations, while edaphic variables were pertinent exclusively in southern region. Areas suitable and optimal for the plant were estimated to comprise 674,700 km2 (17.3% of total land area) in eastern Africa, 267,750 km2 (25.6%) in the horn of Africa, and 716,300 km2 (13.9%) in southern Africa. More than two‐thirds of these areas are located on unprotected lands, highlighting the importance of community involvement for a sustainable management of the species. Our results on the potential geographical distribution of African sandalwood are crucial to guide more targeted conservation and recovery efforts.
Published Version
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