Present and future distribution of Faidherbia albida in Cabo Verde as revealed by climatic modelling and LULC analysis

• Published in: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
• Main Authors: Varela, Danilson, Romeiras, Maria M., Silva, Luís
• Other Authors: NOVA School of Business and Economics (NOVA SBE)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Cabo Verde; climate change; habitat suitability; native tree species; species distribution models; tropical dry islands; West Africa; Ecology; Evolution; Behavior and Systematics; SDG 13 - Climate Action; SDG 15 - Life on Land; Duarte; Silvia; Varela; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/160191; https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1057852

Funding Information: Special thanks to Silvia Catarino and Lara Dutra Silva for all their support in modelling. The authors thank the herbarium curator (Maria Cristina Duarte, FCUL) of the LISC Herbarium (IICT/ULisboa). We thank to Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) under the project CVAgrobiodiversity. Also to the research unit UID/AGR/04129/2020 (LEAF) and CIBIO-Açores funded by Portuguese National Funds through FCT, Portugal. Funding Information: Special thanks to Silvia Catarino and Lara Dutra Silva for all their support in modelling. The authors thank the herbarium curator (Maria Cristina Duarte, FCUL) of the LISC Herbarium (IICT/ULisboa). We thank to Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) under the project CVAgrobiodiversity. Also to the research unit UID/AGR/04129/2020 (LEAF) and CIBIO-Açores funded by Portuguese National Funds through FCT, Portugal. Funding Information: This research was funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) through the project CVAgrobiodiversity/333111699. DV was supported by FCT grant (SFRH/BD/135354/2017). Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2023 Varela, Romeiras and Silva. Climate change poses one of the most significant challenges to conserve biodiversity, especially in tropical dry islands, as is the case of Cabo Verde (northeast Atlantic Ocean). This archipelago has a low percentage of forest cover and hosts only seven native tree species, among them, Faidherbia albida (Delile) A.Chev. (Fabaceae). Therefore, protective afforestation is extremely important in Cabo Verde, one of the most vulnerable West African countries to climate change. With this work, we aimed to estimate the current distribution and potential shifts in suitable areas for F. albida under climate change, using species distribution models (i.e., random forest, generalized linear and additive models), covering its distribution range in Cabo Verde and mainland Africa. ...