Mapping Seriphium plumosum encroachment and interaction with wildfire and environmental factors in a protected...

Accurate information on the distribution of invasive native species could provide important and effective procedures for managing savannah environment, especially in sensitive mountainous grasslands. The study detected and mapped Seriphium plumosum within a mountainous landscape and linked the georeferenced occurrence data with the corresponding site-specific environmental factors to predict the locations of unknown populations using a MaxEnt niche model. We also explored the relative contribution in terms of species interaction with its surrounding biophysical environment. The AUC value of 0.876 estimated for the species distribution is an indication of a good model fit. Our findings indicated that Seriphium plumosum preferred areas with higher temperature associated with recurrence fire events and limited soil moisture. It was concluded that the projected conditions of increasing temperature and fire events could promote widespread gain of niche space for Seriphium plumosum while at the same time altering community structure and composition, hydrological properties, and other vital ecosystem services in the study area.