Phenotypic, Geological, and Climatic Spatio-Temporal Analyses of an Exotic Grevillea robusta in the Northwestern Himalayas

Aman Dabral, Rajeev Shankhwar, Marco Antonio Caçador Martins-Ferreira, Shailesh Pandey, Rama Kant, Rajendra K. Meena, Girish Chandra, Harish S. Ginwal, Pawan Kumar Thakur, Maneesh S. Bhandari (), Netrananda Sahu and Sridhara Nayak ()
Additional contact information
Aman Dabral: Division of Genetics & Tree Improvement, ICFRE-Forest Research Institute, Dehradun 248195, India
Rajeev Shankhwar: Division of Genetics & Tree Improvement, ICFRE-Forest Research Institute, Dehradun 248195, India
Marco Antonio Caçador Martins-Ferreira: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Rua Mucuri, Aparecida de Goiania 74968755, Brazil
Shailesh Pandey: Forest Pathology Discipline, Division of Forest Protection, ICFRE-Forest Research Institute, Dehradun 248006, India
Rama Kant: Division of Genetics & Tree Improvement, ICFRE-Forest Research Institute, Dehradun 248195, India
Rajendra K. Meena: Division of Genetics & Tree Improvement, ICFRE-Forest Research Institute, Dehradun 248195, India
Girish Chandra: Department of Statistics, University of Allahabad, Prayagraj 211002, India
Harish S. Ginwal: Division of Genetics & Tree Improvement, ICFRE-Forest Research Institute, Dehradun 248195, India
Pawan Kumar Thakur: Forest Ecology and Climate Change Division, ICFRE-Himalayan Forest Research Institute, Shimla 171013, India
Maneesh S. Bhandari: Division of Genetics & Tree Improvement, ICFRE-Forest Research Institute, Dehradun 248195, India
Netrananda Sahu: Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India
Sridhara Nayak: Research and Development Center, Japan Meteorological Corporation, Osaka 5300011, Japan

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 16, 1-22

Abstract: The last five decades (since 1980) have witnessed the introduction of exotic trees as a popular practice in India to fulfill the demand of forest-based products for utilization in afforestation programmes. This study examines the distribution and habitat suitability of exotic Grevillea robusta trees in the northwestern Himalayas (state: Uttarakhand), focusing on the interaction between G. robusta and abiotic factors, such as climate, soil, and habitat suitability. This multipurpose agroforestry species is mainly grown by farmers as a boundary tree, windbreak, or shelterbelt and among intercrops on small farms in agroforestry systems worldwide. The results indicate that phenotypic plasticity is determined by tree height and diameter, indicating a higher frequency of young and adult trees. The study also highlights spatio-temporal modeling coupled with geological analysis to address the current distribution pattern and future habitat suitability range through MaxEnt modeling. The AUC ranged from 0.793 ± 3.6 (RCP 6.0_70) to 0.836 ± 0.008 (current) with statistical measures, such as K (0.216), NMI (0.240), and TSS (0.686), revealing the high accuracy of the model output. The variables, which include the minimum temperature of the coldest month (Bio 6), the slope (Slo), the mean temperature of the driest quarter (Bio 9), and the precipitation of the driest quarter (Bio 17), contribute significantly to the prediction of the distribution of the species in the Himalayan state. The model predicts a significant habitat suitability range for G. robusta based on bio-climatic variables, covering an area of approximately ~1641 km 2 with maximal occurrence in Pauri (~321 km 2 ) and Almora (~317 km 2 ). Notably, the future prediction scenario corroborates with the regions of Tons (Upper Yamuna, Uttarkashi), Kalsi (Mussoorie, Dehradun), the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, and the Badrinath Forest Division for the potentially suitable areas. The climate was found to have a strong influence on the species’ distribution, as evidenced by its correlation with the Köppen–Geiger climate classification (KGCC) map. While the species demonstrated adaptability, its occurrence showed a high correlation with bedrocks containing an elevated iron content. Furthermore, the study also provides the first trees outside forests (TOF) map of G. robusta in the region, as well as insight into its future habitat suitability.

Keywords: trees outside forests; species distribution modeling; adaptability: MaxEnt model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/16/12292/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/16/12292/ (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:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:16:p:12292-:d:1215638

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

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