Global Invasion Risk Assessment of Prosopis juliflora at Biome Level: Does Soil Matter?

Abstract

Prosopis juliflora 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 P. juliflora 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 P. juliflora, 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.

Changes in the Invasion Rate of Prosopis juliflora and Its Impact on Depletion of Groundwater in the Northern Part of the United Arab Emirates

“…In the year 2010, the Prosopis distribution was observed to be 5.31 km 2 . Dakhil et al [ 18 ] expected a global high invasion rate of P. juliflora with increasing temperature and soil alkalinity. The UAE climate is hot to very hot most of the year, and the soil pH is alkaline [ 27 , 32 , 54 ].…”

“…Prosopis juliflora is a native tree to North America (Mexico) or Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama) [ 13 , 18 ]. It has been introduced to several counties in hot tropical and arid regions for several purposes, including dune stabilization, afforestation, providing fodder, fuelwood, and shade [ 13 ].…”

Dynamics of Household and Regional Economy in Banni Grasslands, India: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…However, most of these recommendations were either never executed or were executed without an ecological approach. Therefore, rejuvenation and restoration of Banni into a sustainable productive ecosystem requires a holistic ecological approach [5] and timely spatial assessment and monitoring of P. juliflora invasion in such extreme environments [38]. Past grassland development or restoration efforts by the government in the 1990s collapsed shortly after implementation due to the lack of ownership as the communities were never involved during the planning stages [8].…”

Clay and climatic variability explain the global potential distribution of Juniperus phoenicea toward restoration planning

“…The multicollinearity analysis resulted in 15 variables, including altitude, human influence, seven climatic variables, and six soil variables (Table 1 ). The resolution of 2.5 arc min was used to accept more flexibility of the interactive geographical relationship between the species and its environment 37 .…”