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Arid Land Geography ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (9): 1578-1588.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2024.657

• Plant Ecology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Predicting the potential distribution of Artemisia songarica in Xinjiang under climate change based on the MaxEnt model

LI Wenhua1,2,3,4(), LI Shengyu1,2,3,4(), XU Xinwen1,2,3,4, MIAO Jiamin1,2,3,4, LYU Zhentao1,2,3,4   

  1. 1. National Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, National Engineering Technology Research Center for Desert-0asis Ecological Construction, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    2. Mosuowan Desert Research Station, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shihezi 832000, Xinjiang, China
    3. Taklimakan Desert Research Station, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Korla 841000, Xinjiang, China
    4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2024-10-26 Revised:2024-12-12 Online:2025-09-25 Published:2025-09-17
  • Contact: LI Shengyu E-mail:liwenhua22@mails.ucas.ac.cn;oasis@ms.xjb.ac.cn

Abstract:

Artemisia songarica is a crucial species in desert and semi-desert ecosystems, significantly contributing to the maintaince of ecological balance in Xinjiang of China. Using the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model, this study predicts the potential suitable habitat distribution of A. songarica under current and future climate scenarios (2041—2060 and 2081—2100) and analyzes the main environmental factors driving its distribution pattern. The key findings are as follow: (1) Under current climatic conditions, the potential suitable habitats of A. songarica are primarily located in northern Xinjiang and along the oasis margins of the dessert in southern Xinjiang, covering approximately 57.95×104 km2. The main environmental determinants include the human footprint index (hfp), precipitation seasonality (bio15), precipitation of the driest month (bio14), isothermality (bio3), and the mean diurnal temperature range (bio2). (2) Excluding human influence factors, a significant expansion of the species’ potential distribution, with an increase in habitat suitability and more consistent habitat connectivity is observed. This suggests that human activities have a detrimental impact on survival and development. (3) Under future climatic scenarios, the potential distribution of suitable habitats largely overlaps with the current distributions. In low radiative forcing scenarios (SSP126) and moderately stable scenarios (SSP245), suitable habitats initially expand and then experience slight contraction. Expansion primarily occurs along the northern edge of Hami City and the southern borders of Hotan and Kashgar Prefectures, while contraction areas are concentrated in the Junggar Basin and southern oasis margins. Under a high radiative forcing scenario (SSP585), suitable habitats expand eastward along the current distribution boundary. Additionally, the centroid of potential suitable habitat is projected to shift toward lower latitudes, with migration distance positively correlated with the intensity of radiative forcing.

Key words: Artemisia songarica, MaxEnt model, human footprint, potential suitable habitat, climate change