Abstract:
Biological invasions are increasingly recognized as one of the major threats to biodiversity.
The Japanese raisin tree (Hovenia dulcis) is native to
East Asia, however, in southeastern South America
this species has become one of the most pervasive
invaders. Hovenia dulcis has many biological characteristics that favor the process of invasion and few
studies have indicated changes in the structure and
composition of native plant communities where this
species has become invader. Given the invasiveness
shown in southeastern South America, our main goal
was to identify the potentially suitable habitats for
this invasive species at a global scale. In this sense,
we modeled the potential distribution of H. dulcis along the terrestrial areas worldwide using an ensemble forecasting approach. Additionally, the percentage of overlapping biodiversity hotspot areas with
the currently suitable areas for this species was calculated. Our results revealed that the current potential
H. dulcis range is equivalent to 7.88% (12,719,365
km2
) of the terrestrial area worldwide. For the future
scenarios of climate change, the potential distribution
area tends to have a small reduction. However, significant suitable areas were identifed for H. dulcis range
in the northern limits of the boreal distribution. Currently, around 17% of biodiversity hotspot areas overlap with the suitable areas for H. dulcis occurrence.
In summary, given that the prevention is well-recognized as a more efective management action against
invasive alien species, it is essential to implement
policies to prevent H. dulcis introduction in suitable
areas worldwide, as well as local population control,
especially in biodiversity hotspots.
