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Modelling current and future potential distribution of medicinal orchids in Darjeeling eastern Himalaya

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Abstract

Species distribution modelling remains a valuable tool for managing conservation practices for medicinal plants. As climate change threatens the planet’s biodiversity, it has become imperative to investigate its impact on our important bioresources. We studied the distribution of two medicinally essential orchid taxa, Crepidium acuminatum and Satyrium nepalense, in the Darjeeling Himalayan region using MaxEnt modelling. AUC (Area Under the Curve) and the TSS (True Skill Statistic) value for the models was calculated to gauge model performance. The models generated via MaxEnt performed excellently with > 0.9 AUC value and 0.6 to > 0.85 TSS value. The most influential factor affecting the distribution of C. acuminatum seems to be precipitation, whilst the factor affecting S. nepalense is altitude. The current potential habitat of C. acuminatum and S. nepalense was 385.25 km2 (12.51%) and 245.25 km2 (7.96%), respectively. Of the total current potential habitat, only 108.75 km2 (3.53%) and 61.5 km2 (2.0%) were of good habitat suitability for C. acuminatum and S. nepalense, respectively. Similarly, only 100.5 km2 (3.26%) and 43.5 km2 (1.41%) were of excellent habitat suitability for C. acuminatum and S. nepalense, respectively. Hence, Maxent identified highly suitable regions for the conservation of both species. The model predicts that for C. acuminatum, the total suitable habitat may decrease by as much as 113.25 km2. In contrast, for S. nepalense, the total suitable habitat may increase by as much as 230.25 km2 in future scenarios. However, when suitable habitat increases in certain regions for both species, the habitat is usually of poor suitability. This reflects the strong effect of climate change on the future of medicinal plants, particularly orchids. Hence, this indicates the need for better monitoring and holistic conservation strategies.

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The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The first author is thankful to University of Calcutta for necessary support. The authors sincerely acknowledge the help received from Mr. Wangchuk Wangyal Bhutia during field study and to the Department of Forests, Government of West Bengal, India, for all the necessary permissions.

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The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. The authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Saurav Moktan.

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Communicated by Sumanta Bagchi.

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Boral, D., Moktan, S. Modelling current and future potential distribution of medicinal orchids in Darjeeling eastern Himalaya. Plant Ecol 225, 213–226 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-023-01392-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-023-01392-4

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