KV, Pownitha and Bhat, Poorna H.N and Charles, Bipin and Ramesh, Vasudeva and NA, Aravind and Gudasalamani, Ravikanth (2022) Ecological niche modelling to identify suitable sites for cultivation of two important medicinal lianas of the Western Ghats, India. Tropical Ecology, 63 (3). pp. 423-432. ISSN 0564-3295

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Abstract

Due to unsustainable harvesting and land use changes, two medicinally valuable, endangered liana species Coscinium fenestratum and Embelia ribes face severe threat in the wild. Climate change could also have profound impact on the distribution of these species which could result in contraction and/or expansion in geographical range of these species. Coscinium fenestratum and E. ribes are medicinally important species used for treating multiple ailments in humans. While the domestic demands for these species are on the rise, the resource availability has been shrinking. For long term sustenance of these
species, it is imperative that these species are brought under cultivation. In this study, we used maximum entropy approach
to identify suitable areas of cultivation of these species under both current and future scenarios viz., RCP’s 2.6 and 8.5 by
2070. Our study suggests that due to climate change there is a very small gain in the suitable area in future which could help
sustain the populations of both the species in the wild. In addition, we provide spatially explicit maps for different suitability
areas which can be effectively used for prioritizing the cultivation sites for each species. For both the species, areas adjoining
tropical broadleaved forest patches in the Western Ghats offer potential habitats at higher levels of probability for cultivation
of species. We recommend that due consideration should be given for the sustainability of these two species by promoting
cultivation outside the wild habitats and provide adequate protection of the two studied species in the wild. These results
should also be useful for conservation planning and for prioritizing areas for protection as well as for large-scale commercial cultivation of these two species.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Copyright of this article belongs to the Springer
Uncontrolled Keywords: Climate change · Conservation · Coscinium fenestratum · Cultivation sites · Domestication · Embelia ribes
Subjects: A ATREE Publications > G Journal Papers
Divisions: SM Sehgal Foundation Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation > Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Planning
Depositing User: ATREE Bangalore
Date Deposited: 16 Jul 2025 06:59
Last Modified: 16 Jul 2025 06:59
URI: http://archives.atree.org/id/eprint/608

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