Evaluating the role of landforms in habitat suitability and connectivity of Moringa peregrina (Forssk.) in southeastern Iran

Karami, Peyman; Sahragard, Hossein Piri; Shahriari, Alireza

doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2023.02.032

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 83 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…peregrina habitats, landforms were classified based on a digital elevation model (DEM) and the topographical position index in QGIS 3.16 [ 61 ]. Landform classes were calculated using a smaller neighborhood (5×5 cells) and a larger neighborhood (11×11 cells) [ 45 ]. Landforms were classified into 10 classes, including: 1 = canyons, 2 = midslope drainages, 3 = upland drainages, 4 = u-shaped valleys, 5 = plains, 6 = open slopes, 7 = upper slopes, 8 = local ridges, 9 = midslope ridges, and 10 = mountain tops.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Landforms, such as plains and mountains at large scales, and valleys and hills at smaller scales [ 43 ], are crucial environmental features that influence ecosystem development and material and energy flows [ 44 ]. These topographic structures, by affecting key parameters such as elevation and humidity, can impact habitat suitability and dispersal for species with limited mobility [ 45 ]. In other words, spatial heterogeneity in environmental conditions, resulting from topographic features and climatic factors, plays a significant role in constraining the distribution ranges of species [ 46 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Iran, M . peregrina has been introduced as a drought-resistant plant, but it is now endangered due to climate change, heavy livestock grazing, eradication, over-exploitation, and mismanagement [ 45 ]. Despite the significant daily and seasonal variations in soil temperature and their impacts on physical processes such as soil changes and mineralization [ 50 ], as well as the influence of vegetation diversity, density, and microclimate changes [ 51 ], few studies have utilized LST to monitor the habitat status of this species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Spatiotemporal analysis of seasonal trends in land surface temperature within the distribution range of Moringa peregrina (Forssk.) in Southern and Southeastern Iran

Piri Sahragard,

Karami

2024

PLoS ONE

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Temperature fluctuations and related factors are among the main causes of climate change. Understanding the temporal and spatial variations in temperature can shed light on how species respond to climate change. Plants generally persist in suitable microclimates in response to environmental change; however, examining long-term temperature variations within a species’ range can be challenging using field observations. Thermal remote sensing, on the other hand, provides multi-scale time-series data with good coverage and regularity to overcome the challenges associated with field observations in environmental monitoring. Although changes in land surface temperature (LST) affect climate, hydrological processes, land-atmosphere interactions, and ecological activities, this metric has not received much research attention. This study aimed to analyze changes in habitat suitability and microclimatic conditions for Moringa peregrina. Seasonal changes in LST within the distribution range of the species were also investigated. To this aim, mean seasonal LST was computed in Google Earth Engine using the daily MODIS/006/MYD13A2 product from 2003 to 2023. Subsequently, a binary habitat suitability map was created based on the true skill statistic (TSS). The Mann-Kendall test was used to analyze seasonal LST trends. Major trends in LST were quantified based on the z-score, and compatibility with habitat suitability was evaluated via GAP analysis and the Kappa index. Seasonal temperature trends were evaluated by comparing each season with the following season using binary comparison. Landforms at presence points were regarded as microclimates and the sensitivity of microclimates to LST was evaluated using two methods: Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to quantify seasonal LST heterogeneity and the random forest (RF) approach was used to evaluate the effect of environmental parameters on habitat suitability within microclimates. The Kappa index revealed a weak overlapping between suitable / unsuitable habitat and the surfaces affected by the trend of changes. Moreover, the suitable habitat of Moringa peregrina in spring, autumn and winter is spatially overlapped by areas that have shown an increasing LST trend, and the presence points have not experienced an increasing temperature trend only in the summer. The findings show that the analysis of seasonal trends in LST provides insights into the effect of LST on habitat suitability and the condition of vegetation. The current study clearly shows that seasonal changes have had a significant impact on the distribution and habitat suitability of M. peregrina, particularly during summer and winter. Improved habitat suitability and range expansion were observed throughout the year. The study also highlights the role of landforms in regulating temperature. Landforms such as local ridges with minimal temperature fluctuations and regions near the Oman Sea were identified as potential future habitats due to favorable humidity conditions.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%