Ageratina adenophora and Lantana camara in Kailash Sacred Landscape, India: Current distribution and future climatic scenarios through modeling

The Himalayan region is one of the global biodiversity hotspots. However, its and ecosystems are threatened due to abiotic biotic drivers. One major threats in this rapid spread Invasive Alien Species (IAS). Natural forests grasslands increasingly getting infested by IAS affecting regeneration native species decline availability bio-resources. Assessing current status prediction their future would be vital for evolving specific management interventions. Keeping view, we conducted an in-depth study on two IASs, viz., Ageratina adenophora Lantana camara Indian part Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL), Western Himalaya. Intensive field surveys were collect presence A . ( n = 567) L 120) along altitudinal gradient between 300 3000 m a.s.l. We performed Principal Component Analysis nullify multi-colinearity effects environmental predictors following MaxEnt distribution model climatic scenarios both species. All precision (i.e., Area Under Curve; AUC) was higher than 0.81. It predicted that under rate climate change emission RCP 8.5 pathway), will 45.3% more likely reach up 3029 a.s.l., whereas, 29.8% range 3018 Our results help conservation planning participatory Landscape–India.