Modeling the climate change impact on the habitat suitability and potential distribution of an economically important hill stream fish, Neolissochilus hexagonolepis, in the Ganges–Brahmaputra basin of Eastern Himalayas

Abstract

Species distribution modeling has been an expedient tool. The optimization of species distribution models for Eastern Himalayan hill stream fishes remains a substantial challenge. This study has constructed a potentially informative species distribution model for an economically important and Near Threatened hill stream fish, Neolissochilus hexagonolepis. The wild habitats of this species along the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin of the Eastern Himalayas are under enormous threat. Initially, 21 predictor variables were selected based on their ecological relevance to stream fish distribution. The maximum entropy (MaxEnt) algorithm was employed to predict the habitat suitability in current and ensemble two future scenarios considering different global circulation models of climate change. Our results suggested that seasonality in annual temperature, precipitation, terrain wetness index, and eco-regional attributes had a higher contribution to the model. The fish species seems to be distributed in freshwater rivers, streams, and headwaters of lower (elevation < 500 m) to medium (elevation < 1000 m) elevation in north-eastern states of India along with other countries of Eastern Himalayas. A potential loss of current-suitable habitats is predicted in future scenarios along the lower altitudes (500 m < elevation < 1000 m). Country-wide shifts appear significant in the analysis of variance. The maximum habitat loss is projected in the sub-Himalayan belt of India and Bangladesh. The results also indicate that this species would tend to disperse towards higher altitudes and northward. Overall, this study emphasizes preserving dispersal connectivity and identifying crucial corridors for this commercially essential cold-water fish species. The stakes of becoming climate change winners for such fish species are low, considering successful colonization to upstream habitats tracking their habitat suitability.

Living on the sea-coast: ranging and habitat distribution of Asiatic lions

“…MaxEnt (version 3.4.1) stand-alone software 38 was applied for fine-scaled lion distribution modelling 39 , 40 . The logistic output format was set for the MaxEnt output.…”

Potential Distribution of Pilocarpus microphyllus in the Amazonia/Cerrado Biomes under Near-Future Climate Change Scenarios

“…Concerning the impact analysis of future climate change on the distribution of P. microphyllus over a 20-year period (2021-2040), we used simulations of Global Circulation Models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6; 33,88). Three GCMs were used: CanESM5, MRI-ESM2-0, and MIROC6, which reproduce the spatial pattern of precipitation for South America best, according to Rivera and Arnould [69] and Almazrou et al [70].…”

“…The impact of human activities on endangered species is even more serious, as they are more sensitive to climate change, because their habitat is directly influenced by regional climate patterns represented by surface air temperature and precipitation regimes [9,29,30]. The distribution of species around the world depends on a set of abiotic and biotic aspects, including the vegetation types where the species grows; however, in Brazilian tropical biomes, climatic conditions play a relevant role, such that climate change can directly affect the availability of suitable habitats in the future [8,[31][32][33].…”

Bionomics, length-weight relationship and condition factor of Chocolate mahseer, Neolissochilus hexagonolepis from Dikhu River, Nagaland

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