Potential niche for Pinus halepensis Mill. invasion in South America: a modelling approach

RAUBER, R.B; MARTINI, J.P.; CENDOYA, MA; BOGINO, S.

PHYTOCOENOLOGIA

GEBRUDER BORNTRAEGER

Año: 2023

0340-269X

Biological invasions are a widely known problem throughout the world, because of the damage they cause tothe environment and biotic communities. In Argentina, many exotic woody species have been introduced byhumans for ornamental or economic purposes, among them Pinus halepensis. This species has a high invasivepotential, given its physiological plasticity and stress tolerance. Aims of this study were to determine the environmentalvariables that favored invasion of P. halepensis, and to assess the habitat suitability for the speciesthroughout South America. For this, we used the maximum entropy algorithm (Maxent) and twenty one climaticvariables from the WorldClim website. The significant predictive variables were the mean temperature ofcoldest quarter, annual precipitation, isothermality, precipitation of driest month, mean diurnal range, and themean temperature of wettest quarter. The most suitable areas would correspond to the central-eastern region ofArgentina, Uruguay and Central Chile. According to results, the high plasticity of the species, and consideringthe current discussion on climate change, which predicts an increase in severe droughts and extreme temperatureevents, an even more favorable environment for the invasion ofP. halepensis is to be expected.