Conservation implications of mapping the potential distribution of an Ethiopian endemic versatile medicinal plant, Echinops kebericho Mesfin.

ABSTRACT: Echinops kebericho is a narrow-range multipurpose medicinal plant confined to Ethiopia. Intense land use change and overharvesting for traditional medicine have resulted in narrow distributions of its populations. It is a threatened species with a decreasing population trend. This study aims to map its potential distribution, which is key to guide conservation efforts and sustainable use. We modeled the potential distribution of E. kebercho using the maximum entropy model (MaxEnt) employing 11 less correlated predictor variables by calibrating the model at two complexity levels and replicating each model 10 times using a cross validation technique. We projected the models into the whole of Ethiopia and produced binary presence-absence maps by classifying the average map from

SUBMITTER: Tafesse B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10164648 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature