Impact of Climate Change on the Distribution ofEuscaphis japonica(Staphyleaceae) Trees

Analyzing the effects of climate change on forest ecosystems and individual species is of great significance for incorporating management responses to conservation policy development.Euscaphis japonica(Staphyleaceae), a small tree or deciduous shrub, is distributed among the open forests or mountainous valleys of Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and southern China. Meanwhile, it is also used as a medicinal and ornamental plant. Nonetheless, the extents ofE. japonicaforest have gradually shrunk as a result of deforestation, together with the regional influence of climate change. The present study employed two methods for modeling species distribution, Maxent and Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Prediction (GARP), to model the potential distribution of this species and the effects of climate change on it. Our results suggest that both models performed favorably, but GARP outperformed Maxent for all performance metrics. The temperate and subtropical regions of eastern China where the species had been recorded was very suitable forE. japonicagrowth. Temperature and precipitation were two primary environmental factors affecting the distribution ofE. japonica. Under climate change scenarios, the range of suitable habitats forE. japonicawill expand geographically toward the north. Our findings may be used in several ways such as identifying currently undocumented locations ofE. japonica, sites where it may occur in the future, or potential locations where the species could be introduced and so contribute to the conservation and management of this species.