Predicting Potential Habitat Distribution of Rauwolfia serpentina an Important Medicinal Plant using Maxent Modeling in Doon Valley, Uttarakhand State, India

Abstract

The growing demand and dependencies of people for herbal care is time need. Among the list of various used herbal plants, Rauwolfia serpentina (Apocynaceae) is an important and due to relief of various central nervous system disorders. The root of this plant has been used in the treatment of hypertension or as a sedative and tranquillizing agent. This plant is variously used in Ayurveda, Unani system of medicine and Homeopathy for various disease ailments. Predicting potential geographic distribution of the species is important from species occurrence and habitat restoration point of view. This paper hearsay the results of a study carried out in the Dehradun valley in India (Dehradun surrounding forest area) on potential distribution modeling for Rauwolfia serpentina using Maxent model. The Worldclim bioclimatic variables, slope, aspect, elevation, and the FSI forest type data and 100 spatially well-dispersed species occurrence points were used to predict the potential distribution of Rauwolfia serpentina in ca. nearly 1277 km² of Doon valley study area. Jackknife test was used to evaluate the importance of the environmental variables for predictive modeling. Maxent model was highly accurate with a statistically significant AUC value of 88.5. The approach could be promising in knowing the eventing the potential distribution of medicinal plant species and thus, can be an effective tool in species restoration and conservation planning.