Kalanchoe × houghtonii (Crassulaceae) as an invasive plant: potential distribution by Ecological Niche Modelling (ENM)

• Main Author: Cachón, Pilar
• Other Authors: Vitales, Daniel, Massó, Sergi, López-Pujol, Jordi
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: CSIC - Instituto Botánico de Barcelona (IBB) 2017
• Subjects: Perrier; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/197042

Alien species are currently considered one of the main direct threats to global biodiversity in our planet. Some alien plant species can become invasive and damage ecosystems, leading to negative effects on the local and global economy and society. Here, we have studied Kalanchoe × houghtonii D. B. Ward (Crassulaceae), a hybrid species artificially created by the horticulturist A. D. Houghton with gardening purposes in the 1930s. It is a result of the crossing between K. daigremontiana Raym - Hamet and H. Perrier and K. delagoensis Eckl. and Zeyh., two endemic species from Madagascar. Soon, the hybrid taxon showed large colonizing capacity, escaping outside the cultivation spots and rapidly expanding its distribution area. Now, K. × houghtonii is currently found in all continents except Antarctica. Therefore, considering the well-known background of the species, as well as its strong invading abilities, this plant represents an attractive model to investigate the expansion of alien species. The aims of the present study are evaluating the potential worldwide habitat of K. × houghtonii at different time frames, from present to future, employing various scenarios of climate change. To reach these goals, we first carried out a documentary research, involving the finding of localities where the species is present, through online databases, citizen science web portals, as well as many published academic papers. With the obtained occurrences, and using the maximum entropy algorithm implemented in MaxEnt, we modelled the potential habitat of the species to the present, which was later projected to the future under different scenarios. Results derived from this study would allow us to better understand the invading behavior of species with high colonizing potential such as K. × houghtonii, and, at the same time, inferring possible range contractions or expansions of the species across its whole distribution area under various scenarios of climate change. Peer reviewed