Modeling and potential distribution of tree species relevant to the sociocultural and ecological dynamics in the Sete Cidades National Park, Piauí, Brazil

Abstract

Ecological Niche Modeling is an important tool for establishing predictions of species distribution in geographic space. The Sete Cidades National Park, in Piauí, Brazil, is a Federal Conservation Unit for Integral Protection, with 6,221 hectares. The objective of this work was to determine the geographic distribution and to evaluate the impact of the variables in the prediction of the habitat of current suitability of some tree species. Six species were selected, according to their ecological and sociocultural value: Hymenaea courbaril L; Himatanthus drasticus (Mart.) Plumel; Parkia platycephala Benth .; Magonia pubescens A.St.-Hil .; Caryocar coriaceum Wittm and Handroanthus impetiginosus (Mart. Ex DC.). As a result, 130 tree species were identified, where it was identified that: the potential distribution of Parkia platycephala was concentrated in 26.19 km²; Himatanthus drasticus had the potential niche occupying 18.44 km²; Hymenaea courbaril had an estimated area of ​​16.19 km²; Handroanthus impetiginosus had a potential area estimated in the model at 12.01 km²; Caryocar coriaceum covered 15.06 km²; Magonia pubescens was estimated at 16.66 km². It was observed that in the landscape scale, the topoclimatic and texture variables of the vegetation cover presented a model with good performance and validity to predict the potential distribution.

Keywords:
Cerrado; National Park; Ecology; Ethnobotany