Using species distribution models to assess the importance of Egypt’s Protected Areas for the conservation of medicinal plants
Human activities affect the distribution and abundance of plants, with impacts on ecosystem services and human well-being; it is thus vital that a network of Protected Areas is capable of conserving plants that are useful. Using the species distribution (SDM) model algorithm MaxEnt, we tested whethe...
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37321/ |
| _version_ | 1848795434907074560 |
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| author | Kaky, Emad Gilbert, Francis |
| author_facet | Kaky, Emad Gilbert, Francis |
| author_sort | Kaky, Emad |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Human activities affect the distribution and abundance of plants, with impacts on ecosystem services and human well-being; it is thus vital that a network of Protected Areas is capable of conserving plants that are useful. Using the species distribution (SDM) model algorithm MaxEnt, we tested whether Egypt's network of Protected Areas performs well in conserving the region's important medicinal plant species. We constructed individual SDMs for each species, and then combined the models into a single ‘species-richness’ layer, which we then compared to the distribution of the existing Protected Areas. Temperature was the most important of eleven predictor variables used to build the SDMs. Assuming the SDM's prediction of suitable habitat was accurate and corresponded to the occurrence each of the medicinal plant species, then on average species richness was significantly higher within than outside the Protected Areas. Based on our findings, Egypt's Protected Areas are effective at conserving its medicinal plants. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:32:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-37321 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:32:02Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-373212020-05-04T18:10:15Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37321/ Using species distribution models to assess the importance of Egypt’s Protected Areas for the conservation of medicinal plants Kaky, Emad Gilbert, Francis Human activities affect the distribution and abundance of plants, with impacts on ecosystem services and human well-being; it is thus vital that a network of Protected Areas is capable of conserving plants that are useful. Using the species distribution (SDM) model algorithm MaxEnt, we tested whether Egypt's network of Protected Areas performs well in conserving the region's important medicinal plant species. We constructed individual SDMs for each species, and then combined the models into a single ‘species-richness’ layer, which we then compared to the distribution of the existing Protected Areas. Temperature was the most important of eleven predictor variables used to build the SDMs. Assuming the SDM's prediction of suitable habitat was accurate and corresponded to the occurrence each of the medicinal plant species, then on average species richness was significantly higher within than outside the Protected Areas. Based on our findings, Egypt's Protected Areas are effective at conserving its medicinal plants. Elsevier 2016-09-21 Article PeerReviewed Kaky, Emad and Gilbert, Francis (2016) Using species distribution models to assess the importance of Egypt’s Protected Areas for the conservation of medicinal plants. Journal of Arid Environments, 135 . pp. 140-146. ISSN 1095-922X MaxEnt; Egypt; Ecosystem services; Conservation http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140196316301616 doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2016.09.001 doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2016.09.001 |
| spellingShingle | MaxEnt; Egypt; Ecosystem services; Conservation Kaky, Emad Gilbert, Francis Using species distribution models to assess the importance of Egypt’s Protected Areas for the conservation of medicinal plants |
| title | Using species distribution models to assess the importance of Egypt’s Protected Areas for the conservation of medicinal plants |
| title_full | Using species distribution models to assess the importance of Egypt’s Protected Areas for the conservation of medicinal plants |
| title_fullStr | Using species distribution models to assess the importance of Egypt’s Protected Areas for the conservation of medicinal plants |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using species distribution models to assess the importance of Egypt’s Protected Areas for the conservation of medicinal plants |
| title_short | Using species distribution models to assess the importance of Egypt’s Protected Areas for the conservation of medicinal plants |
| title_sort | using species distribution models to assess the importance of egypt’s protected areas for the conservation of medicinal plants |
| topic | MaxEnt; Egypt; Ecosystem services; Conservation |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37321/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37321/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37321/ |