Global Invasion Risk Assessment of <i>Prosopis juliflora</i> at Biome Level: Does Soil Matter?

• Main Authors: Mohammed A. Dakhil, Ali El-Keblawy, Mohamed A. El-Sheikh, Marwa Waseem A. Halmy, Taoufik Ksiksi, Walaa A. Hassan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
• Series: Biology
• Subjects: invasion risk assessment; temperature variability; habitat suitability; global biomes; MaxEnt; conservation priority
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/10/3/203

<i>Prosopis juliflora</i> 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 <i>P. juliflora</i> 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 <i>P. juliflora</i>, 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.