Modelaje de la Distribución geográfica de Pinus pseudostrobus y P. leiophylla

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The objective of the proposal is to model the geographic distribution of Pinus psedostrobus and P. leiophylla, by predicting the distribution of their suitable habitat from climate variables. Both species are very important on their ecological role as components of the pine-oak and coniferous forest in México. Pinus psedostrobus is one of the most economically important species in the Neovolcanic Axis (named also Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt) for its good wood quality, relatively fast growth rate and straight stem. P. leiophylla is usually heavily tapped for resin production and its distribution reaches southern USA, making it a subject for bi-national interest due to its potential to colonize USA grassland-forest transition areas under climatic change scenarios. We will use presence/absence data from (a previously screened for errors) Mexican National Forest Inventory and climatic variables estimated by a spline climate model. Presence or absence in the contemporary climate will be predicted from climate variables obtained for each observation from spline climate surfaces available for Mexico and the rest of North America. A climate profile for each species will be constructed by selecting 5 to 8 of the most relevant climatic variables from 36 climatic variables using the Random Forests algorithm in R. Relevant climate variables are selected according to importance values calculated by the statistical software and according to the errors of prediction of the classification tree. The best fitting models will be used to predict the suitability of the climate for the species on maps gridded at 1 km2 , and distribution maps will be constructed with ArcMap. As an extra product, we will predict the distribution of their suitable habitat for the years 2030, 2060 and 2090, using combinations of three General Circulation Models and two emission scenarios (low and elevated emissions). We considered that management plans for both biological conservation and commercial use must consider actions to accommodate the climatic change, such as assisted migration or assisted colonization.

Reino: 1 Filo: 1 Clase: 1 Orden: 1 Familia: 1 Género: 1 Especie: 2

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