Background and Objectives: Invasive species are recognized as one of the major threats to biodiversity in marine ecosystems. Eurythoe complanata is an alien and invasive species in the southern marine ecosystems of Iran, whose distribution and the environmental factors influencing its habitat suitability remain poorly understood. To date, few studies have addressed the global distribution, ecological niche, or the environmental variables shaping the habitat of E. complanata, resulting in gaps in understanding its ecological preferences. Considering the potential impacts of climate change, invasive species, and human activities on marine ecosystems, predicting how these factors may affect the future distribution of this species is crucial.
Methods: The aim of the present study was to apply ecological niche modeling (ENM) to investigate the distribution patterns of Eurythoe complanata and to identify the environmental variables influencing its occurrence at a global scale. For this purpose, occurrence records of the species from all marine ecosystems were collected from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) database, and no field sampling was conducted. In the next step, marine environmental factors potentially affecting the species’ distribution—including sea surface temperature, phytoplankton concentration, salinity, pH, chlorophyll, primary productivity, silicate, and calcite—were extracted. Finally, the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) model was employed to generate a global habitat suitability map for E. complanata
Findings: The results showed that the MaxEnt model performed well in this study, with an Area Under the Curve (AUC) value of 0.929, indicating excellent model performance. Suitable habitats, or potential distribution areas, of this invasive species were identified across the world’s marine ecosystems. A limitation of this modeling approach is the use of presence-only data. According to the Jackknife test results, calcite concentration, sea surface temperature, and primary productivity were identified as the most influential environmental variables contributing to the habitat modeling of this species.
Conclusion: For effective management and mitigation of the negative impacts of invasive species—or their potential eradication—it is essential to model their distribution and identify areas suitable for their establishment. As observed with other invasive species in the country, the spread of Eurythoe complanata in southern marine ecosystems could lead to ecological disturbances. In this study, ecological niche modeling of the invasive polychaete E. complanata was conducted to identify its potential distribution and suitable habitats.. |
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