Future Climate Change Increases the Risk of Suitable Habitats for the Invasive Macrophyte <i>Elodea nuttallii</i>
Yuhan Qi,
Yu Zhang,
Jiali Xue,
Zhen Zhang,
Jingjing Cao,
Nianwan Yang,
Fanghao Wan,
Xiaoqing Xian,
Wanxue Liu
Affiliations
Yuhan Qi
State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Yu Zhang
State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Jiali Xue
College of Resources and Environment, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
Zhen Zhang
College of Resources and Environment, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
Jingjing Cao
State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Nianwan Yang
State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Fanghao Wan
State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Xiaoqing Xian
State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Wanxue Liu
State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Elodea nuttallii is an ornamental macrophyte native to North America that has been introduced to Europe and Asia, and having been established, has had detrimental effects on local aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we developed an optimized MaxEnt model to predict the global potential habitat suitability for E. nuttallii under the influence of climate change. The model incorporated 20 relevant impact factors and occurrence record data for E. nuttallii. The results reveal that under current and future climate scenarios, potentially suitable habitats for E. nuttallii can be found on six assessed continents, mainly in Western Europe, western and eastern North America, southeastern Asia, southeastern Oceania, and scattered coastal areas in South America and Africa. Moreover, temperature and precipitation were identified as factors having significant effects on the distribution of E. nuttallii. In the future, the area of habitats potentially suitable for E. nuttallii is predicted to expand, particularly towards higher latitudes.
