Research Division of Natural Resources, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center (AREEO), Shahrekord, Iran.
Department of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
Sci Rep. 2024 Aug 6;14(1):18196. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-69135-7.
The preservation of the genetic resources of crop wild relatives (CWRs) is crucial for food production systems and is considered a vital measure for global agricultural health and food security. The identification of potential areas where CWRs can thrive is one of the first steps towards their conservation. In this study, we used a maximum entropy model (MaxEnt) to determine the habitat suitability of seven wild relatives of pears (Pyrus L.) for the first time. We aimed to identify high-priority areas for conservation and determine the hotspots for rich biodiversity in Iran. The study showed excellent predictive performance for all species studied (AUC value ≥ 90). The soil depth, solar radiation, minimum temperature of the coldest month (Bio6), and precipitation of the wettest quarter (Bio16) were the main environmental factors that influenced the habitat suitability of all seven species, according to permutation importance. The projected maps revealed that P. elaeagnifolia had the largest suitable habitat area, while P. glabra had the lowest. The results also showed that less than 5% of the suitable habitats for these seven species were in protected areas. This research highlights the need for national preservation policies and the development of cultivation and rehabilitation strategies for these threatened species.
野生近缘作物遗传资源的保护对粮食生产系统至关重要，被认为是全球农业健康和粮食安全的重要措施。确定野生近缘作物可能茁壮成长的潜在地区是保护它们的第一步。在这项研究中，我们首次使用最大熵模型（MaxEnt）来确定 7 种梨属（Pyrus L.）野生近缘种的栖息地适宜性。我们旨在确定伊朗高优先级的保护区域和生物多样性丰富的热点地区。研究表明，所有研究物种的预测性能都非常出色（AUC 值≥90）。根据排列重要性，土壤深度、太阳辐射、最冷月的最低温度（Bio6）和最湿润季度的降水量（Bio16）是影响所有 7 个物种栖息地适宜性的主要环境因素。预测图显示，榅桲（P. elaeagnifolia）具有最大的适宜栖息地面积，而刺梨（P. glabra）的适宜栖息地面积最小。研究结果还表明，这些七种物种适宜栖息地的不到 5%位于保护区内。这项研究强调了需要制定国家保护政策，并制定针对这些受威胁物种的栽培和恢复策略。
