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Bauhinia vahlii Wight & Arn. is an important multipurpose, woody climber used by the rural communities in India for various economic activities as well as for medicinal purposes. Indiscriminate extraction of the woody climber has led to population decline in its distribution range. Climate change has further led to the amplification leading to drastic decline of the natural populations. Therefore, the present study aimed to map the potential distribution of B. vahlii in India using ecological niche modelling (ENM) tools for the current and future climate change scenarios using RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5. The maximum entropy model was performed using presence-only data of a total of 38 non-overlapping occurrence points obtained from multiple authenticated online portals and through a detailed field investigation. A rise in very high probable zones was observed under both the future climate change scenarios by 0.2% (RCP 2.6) and 0.5% (RCP 8.5) area increase compared to the current climatic scenario. The areas of moderately probable zones pose an increase by 4.5% in RCP 2.6 and a slight decrease by 0.4% in RCP 8.5, while the least probable zones were found to be decreasing in both the cases by 7.3% and 3.6%, respectively. It is predicted that B. vahlii will respond variably under different climate change scenarios based on the species' response to the variations in bioclimatic variables. The predicted impacts of climate change need to be integrated for conservation and management of this economically important, multipurpose woody climber. There is an urgent need for immediate policy intervention and implementation to save this species from the increasing anthropogenic pressure for various economic purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive species are the major cause of native biodiversity loss and species extinction, which have predominantly affected one of the world's 'hottest hotspots' of biodiversity located in the Western Ghats, India with varied intensity. Therefore, in the present study, an investigation has been undertaken to model the potential habitat of dominant invasive plant species (IPSs) viz., Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M.King & H.Rob. and Lantana camara L. in the Western Ghats, in the current and future climate change scenarios by evaluating the influence of the bioclimatic and topographical variables using species distribution modelling (SDM). The study exhibited the large invasion and proliferation of C. odorata (33.01%) and L. camara (30.33%) in the Western Ghats, especially the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR) under the current scenario. The future projections derived using Shared Socioeconomic Pathways of Climate Scenarios datasets (SSPs 126, 245, 370, and 585) demonstrated a significant reduction in the invasion of C. odorata (>5.48% of WG), while a surge in the invasion of L. camara (>5.83% of WG) barring a few exceptions. However, the study highlighted the major future invasion of L. camara (45,262 sq. km; 31.33% under SSP 126 (2021–40)) and C. odorata (33,844 sq. km; 23.43% under SSP 245 (2021–40)) in the Western Ghats, of which large concentrations were observed in the NBR (L. camara: 5711 sq. km; 12.6%; C. odorata: 5090 sq. km; 15.04%) and the southern coasts. The study introduces a comprehensive and novel method leveraging SSPs of climate scenarios to identify the hotspots of major plant invasions in the Indian tropical forests using an ecological niche modelling. These findings hold significant relevance for prompt actions for invasion management in both current major hotspots and the regions susceptible to future invasions. • We assessed habitat of C. odorata and L. camara in Western Ghats. • Major invasion of L. camara (SSP 126) and C. odorata (SSP 245) in 2021–2040. • Nilgiri Biosphere Region is under great risk of invasion. • By 2100, C. odorata will surpass L. camara in SSP 585. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted to predict the current and future potential distribution of a tree species Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb. in Ranchi, Eastern India using ecological niche modeling. Nine environmental variables comprising of isothermality, precipitation of wettest and warmest quarter, annual temperature range, soil type, human influence index, elevation, slope and land use cover were used to model the distribution of the species. Climatic variables governed the predicted distribution of the species as they contributed 56.7% as compared to the other nonclimatic variables (43.3%). Northern parts exhibited the most suitable niche of the species as compared to south‐east and central parts that showed low probability of occurrence due to high disturbances caused by rapid urbanization as well as over exploitation of the species for timber, edible and medicinal uses. The average test area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) (0.921) as well as the partial AUC indicated good model performance. The projected change scenarios of RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP6.0 for the year 2050 reveal that the climatically suitable areas will be drastically reduced in Ranchi. The population of the species is declining due to its exploitation from natural habitats for timber and medicinal uses and is listed as near‐threatened by the current IUCN‐Red lists. The findings of this paper will help to identify the potential habitats for further conservation of this near‐threatened species in the changing climatic conditions and increasing anthropogenic pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]