Impact of climate change on the Miombo Eco-region of Sub-Saharan Africa

Author

Masamba, Tafadzwa. H.

Title

Impact of climate change on the Miombo Eco-region of Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Climate change has become a global environmental issue altering the distribution and assemblage of species worldwide. The prediction of the distribution of different species using climate change models has become an important tool for guiding biodiversity conservation.. The maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) algorithm in R software was used to model the distribution of the miombo eco-region in sub Saharan Africa. A total of about 4500 occurrence records and 19 bioclimatic variables were used in modelling the species’ distribution. Distributions were forecasted to the years 2050 and 2070 under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), i.e. RCP_8.5 and RCP_2.6. Present projections showed a range decrease of the miombo eco-region and the probability of occurrence outside the area of current occurrence. The future ecological niche models for the miombo eco-region of the 2 climatic scenarios, predicted significant changes in the current suitability. All scenarios showed extensive range decrease, proving that climate change has a major impact on miombo eco-region.

Date

June 2023

Publisher

BUSE

Keywords

Sub Saharan Africa

Climate Change

Supervisor

Prof. L. Jimu,