Present and future ecological niche modeling of garter snake species from the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.

ABSTRACT: Land use and climate change are affecting the abundance and distribution of species. The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) is a very diverse region due to geological history, geographic position, and climate. It is also one of the most disturbed regions in Mexico. Reptiles are particularly sensitive to environmental changes due to their low dispersal capacity and thermal ecology. In this study, we define the important environmental variables (considering climate, topography, and land use) and potential distribution (present and future) of the five Thamnophis species present in TMVB. To do so, we used the maximum entropy modeling software (MAXENT). First, we modeled to select the most important variables to explain the distribution of each species, then we modeled again using only the most

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez-Fernandez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5903425 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature