Predicting the suitable habitat of Caspian poplar (Populus caspica Bornm.) and the most influential climatic variables on its potential distribution in the Hyrcanian forests, Iran

Climate change can be a major threat to the endemic species of the Hyrcanian forests. However, there have been almost no studies in terms of determining consequences of climate change on the distribution patterns of Populus caspica Bornm. In this study, ecological niche theory and MAXENT software as well as P. caspica presence data across the Hyrcanian forests of Iran were used to identify the relationships between species data to the climatic predictor variables under current and future (RCP 8.5) (2070) climate conditions. According to analysis of area under the ROC curve, the high value of AUC index (0.993) indicated the efficiency of the model in determining the potential habitat of P. caspica. Precipitation of driest month, temperature annual range, mean annual temperature, and isothermality were the most important bioclimatic variables in the determination of potential habitat for P. caspica. Moreover, our results demonstrated that the habitat suitability area of this species was 88317.3 km2 under current climate condition and 38.75% area was identified as a "good potential" level for the presence of P. caspica. Whereas under projected future climate (RCP 8.5), suitable areas would be decreased by 48.4% compared to the current condition. The results of this study can be applied in approaches management, conservation planning and reforestation by taking into account the effect of climate change on habitat suitability and species response to its changes and conservation strategies will be compiled for this species.