Impacts of human activities and environmental factors on potential distribution of Swertia przewalskii Pissjauk., an endemic plant in Qing-Tibetan Plateau, using MaxEnt

In this paper, the distribution of potentially suitable habitat of Swertia przewalskii Pissjauk., an endemic and endangered plant in the Qing-Tibetan Plateau, was studied to provide a scientific basis for effective conservation. This study was based on 18 occurrence records and eight environmental variables, including human activity, bioclimate, and altitude. We used the maximum entropy model and ArcGIS spatial analysis to construct a suitable habitat prediction model for S. przewalskii under the influence of modern climate scenarios and human activities and analyzed the influences of human activities and natural environmental factors, respectively. Results showed that the AUC of the test set under human activity interference was lower than that under no human activity interference. Human activities exerted negative impact on the potential distribution of S. przewalskii. Altitude, isothermality, human footprint index, and mean diurnal range were the main environmental factors influencing the distribution of S. przewalskii. At present, the most suitable habitat included 36.6% of the Qilianshan National Park area (Qinghai), which should benefit species conservation. However, the potential habitat in the utilization zones of the Qilian and Menyuan counties may be disturbed by human activities. We suggest policy makers focus greater attention on these utilization zones and increase conservation efforts.