Modeling impacts of climate change on the distribution of invasive Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. in Ethiopia: Implications on biodiversity conservation

Hussein, Abdulbasit; Estifanos, Solomon

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14927

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…India and Jordan; Acharya et al, 2019; Louhaichi et al, 2015) or from the perspective of identifying biodiversity regions under threat from advancing invasives (e.g. Hussein & Estifanos, 2023; Masocha & Dube, 2018). But a view on the opportunity at a continent scale across Africa, both under current and end‐century climatic conditions, is lacking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drought‐tolerant succulent plants as an alternative crop under future global warming scenarios in sub‐Saharan Africa

Buckland,

Thomas,

Jägermeyr

et al. 2023

GCB Bioenergy

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Globally, we are facing an emerging climate crisis, with impacts to be notably felt in semiarid regions across the world. Cultivation of drought‐adapted succulent plants has been suggested as a nature‐based solution that could: (i) reduce land degradation, (ii) increase agricultural diversification and provide both economic and environmentally sustainable income through derived bioproducts and bioenergy, (iii) help mitigate atmospheric CO2 emissions and (iv) increase soil sequestration of CO2. Identifying where succulents can grow and thrive is an important prerequisite for the advent of a sustainable alternative ‘bioeconomy’. Here, we first explore the viability of succulent cultivation in Africa under future climate projections to 2100 using species distribution modelling to identify climatic parameters of greatest importance and regions of environmental suitability. Minimum temperatures and temperature variability are shown to be key controls in defining the theoretical distribution of three succulent species explored, and under both current and future SSP5 8.5 projections, the conditions required for the growth of at least one of the species are met in most parts of sub‐Saharan Africa. These results are supplemented with an analysis of potentially available land for alternative succulent crop cultivation. In total, up to 1.5 billion ha could be considered ecophysiologically suitable and available for succulent cultivation due to projected declines in rangeland biomass and yields of traditional crops. These findings may serve to highlight new opportunities for farmers, governments and key stakeholders in the agriculture and energy sectors to invest in sustainable bioeconomic alternatives that deliver on environmental, social and economic goals.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drought‐tolerant succulent plants as an alternative crop under future global warming scenarios in sub‐Saharan Africa

Buckland,

Thomas,

Jägermeyr

et al. 2023

GCB Bioenergy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Deer are invasive species worldwide, except in Japan. The optimal control of invasive species is a key concern in conservation management [ 24 ]. Consequently, there is a significant volume of scientific and practitioner literature on the prevention of damage, eradication (where possible), and adaptive management for attaining effective control of the species [ 25 , 26 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat utilization distribution of sika deer (Cervus nippon)

Dhakal,

Jang,

Kim

et al. 2023

Heliyon

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“…The spiny nature of O. ficus-indica impedes browsing and grazing, and in heavily infested areas, livestock struggle to access grazing areas. This negatively impacts cattle ranching, reducing livestock numbers and harming the local economy 30,31 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An inferior competitor is a successful invader due to its stress tolerance and productivity

Tesfay,

Blaschke,

Kreyling

2023

Preprint

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The invasion of ecosystems by non-native species is recognized as one of the most significant global challenges, particularly in semiarid regions where native biodiversity is already under stress from drought and land degradation. The implicit assumption is that invaders are strong competitors, but a greenhouse pairwise experiment conducted to examine intraspecific and interspecific competition effects of Opuntia ficus-indica, a widespread invader in semiarid ecosystems, with two species native to the highlands of Eritrea, Ricinus communis and Solanum marginatum, revealed that O. ficus-indica is a weak competitor. The unique ability of O. ficus-indica's fallen cladodes to undergo vegetative growth becomes a fundamental trait contributing to its spread. This growth strategy allows O. ficus-indica to outgrow native species and establish a significant presence. In direct interaction, the competition in aboveground productivity measured by the logarithmic response ratio for O. ficus-indica was 3.4-fold and 5.9-fold higher than for R. communis and S. marginatum, respectively. Belowground, the native R. communis was facilitated (-1.00±0.69) by O. ficus-indica which itself suffered from high competition. This pattern became even more evident under water shortage, where aboveground competition for S. marginatum decreased 5.7-fold, and for O. ficus-indica, it increased 1.4-fold. Despite being a poor competitor, O. ficus-indica outperformed R. communis and S. marginatum in both aboveground (4.3 and 3.8 times more) and belowground (27 and 2.8 times more) biomass production, respectively. The findings of this study challenge the common interpretation that invasive species are strong competitors and highlight the importance of considering other factors, such as productivity and tolerance limits when assessing the potential impacts of invasive species on semiarid ecosystems.

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Modeling impacts of climate change on the distribution of invasive Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. in Ethiopia: Implications on biodiversity conservation

Cited by 9 publications

References 45 publications

Drought‐tolerant succulent plants as an alternative crop under future global warming scenarios in sub‐Saharan Africa

Drought‐tolerant succulent plants as an alternative crop under future global warming scenarios in sub‐Saharan Africa

Habitat utilization distribution of sika deer (Cervus nippon)

An inferior competitor is a successful invader due to its stress tolerance and productivity

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