The Relict Ecosystem of Maytenus senegalensis subsp. europaea in an Agricultural Landscape: Past, Present and Future Scenarios

Antonio J. Mendoza-Fernández, Fabián Martínez-Hernández, Esteban Salmerón-Sánchez, Francisco J. Pérez-García, Blas Teruel, María E. Merlo and Juan F. Mota
Additional contact information
Antonio J. Mendoza-Fernández: Departamento de Biología y Geología, CEI·MAR and CECOUAL, Universidad de Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Fabián Martínez-Hernández: Departamento de Biología y Geología, CEI·MAR and CECOUAL, Universidad de Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Esteban Salmerón-Sánchez: Departamento de Biología y Geología, CEI·MAR and CECOUAL, Universidad de Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Francisco J. Pérez-García: Departamento de Biología y Geología, CEI·MAR and CECOUAL, Universidad de Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Blas Teruel: Departamento de Biología y Geología, CEI·MAR and CECOUAL, Universidad de Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
María E. Merlo: Departamento de Biología y Geología, CEI·MAR and CECOUAL, Universidad de Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Juan F. Mota: Departamento de Biología y Geología, CEI·MAR and CECOUAL, Universidad de Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain

Land, 2020, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Maytenus senegalensis subsp. europaea is a shrub belonging to the Celastraceae family, whose only European populations are distributed discontinuously along the south-eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, forming plant communities with great ecological value, unique in Europe. As it is an endangered species that makes up plant communities with great palaeoecological significance, the development of species distribution models is of major interest under different climatic scenarios, past, present and future, based on the fact that the climate could play a relevant role in the distribution of this species, as well as in the conformation of the communities in which it is integrated. Palaeoecological models were generated for the Maximum Interglacial, Last Maximum Glacial and Middle Holocene periods. The results obtained showed that the widest distribution of this species, and the maximum suitability of its habitat, occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum, when the temperatures of the peninsular southeast were not as contrasting as those of the rest of the European continent and were favored by higher rainfall. Under these conditions, large territories could act as shelters during the glacial period, a hypothesis reflected in the model’s results for this period, which exhibit a further expansion of M. europaea ’ s ecological niche. The future projection of models in around 2070, for four Representative Concentration Pathways according to the fifth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, showed that the most favorable areas for this species would be Campo de Dalías (southern portion of Almería province) as it presents the bioclimatic characteristics of greater adjustment to M. europaea ’ s ecological niche model. Currently, some of the largest specimens of the species survive in the agricultural landscapes in the southern Spain. These areas are almost totally destroyed and heavily altered by intensive agriculture greenhouses, also causing a severe fragmentation of the habitat, which implies a prospective extinction scenario in the near future.

Keywords: conservation; ecosystem management; endangered species; extinction; habitat loss; MaxEnt; Mediterranean flora (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/1/1/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/1/1/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2020:i:1:p:1-:d:466153

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().