Nowadays, in addition to the destruction and fragmentation of the world's habitats, invasive species, and damage caused by them, are one of the most important factors in the destruction of ecosystems. The raccoon (Procyon lotor) is a medium-sized mammal that is placed in mid-levels of the food web and can affect a wide range of species. Considering the damage done to local ecosystems by this invasive species, habitat assessment and determining the factors affecting its habitat suitability would be a key step in managing this species. In this study, using the MaxEnt model and examining 12 environmental parameters (elevation, slope, aspect, geological units, soil type, vegetation, land use, distance to villages, distance to main roads, distance to waterways, average temperature, and rainfall) in the west of Guilan Province, habitat suitability of this alien species was determined, and the most important factors affecting this suitability were investigated. Results showed that the validity value of the model (AUC) was estimated to be 0.852 and parameters such as distance to village (34.5%), elevation (24.2%), and land use (15.9%) are among the most important and effective factors. Also, the results showed that 0.60% of the study area has high suitability, 6.14% moderate, 24.87% low, and 68.36% unsuitable areas for raccoons. The overall result shows that despite the lack of vast favorable areas for this invasive species, an increase in the number and expansion of this species is very likely because of its omnivorous diet, high adaptability to different environments and conditions, as well as extensive niche. All of these factors cause raccoons to spread further in the region and consequently increase the risks and damages to the native ecosystem.

The spatial shifts and vulnerability assessments of ecological niches for trees will offer fresh perspectives for sustainable development and preservation of forests, particularly within the framework of rapid climate change. Betula luminifera is a fast-growing native timber plantation species in China, but the natural resources have been severely damaged. Here, a comprehensive habitat suitability model (including ten niche-based GIS modeling algorithms) was developed that integrates three types of environmental factors, namely, climatic, soil, and ultraviolet variables, to assess the species contemporary and future distribution of suitable habitats across China. Our results suggest that the habitats of B. luminifera generally occur in subtropical areas (about 1.52 x 10(6) km(2)). However, the growth of B. luminifera is profoundly shaped by the nuances of its local environment, the most reasonable niche spaces are only 1.15 x 10(6) km(2) when limiting ecological factors (soil and ultraviolet) are considered, generally considered as the core production region. Furthermore, it is anticipated that species-suitable habitats will decrease by 10 and 8% with climate change in the 2050s and 2070s, respectively. Our study provided a clear understanding of species-suitable habitat distribution and identified the reasons why other niche spaces are unsuitable in the future, which can warn against artificial cultivation and conservation planning.

Bryophytes play important roles in high altitude-latitude ecosystem owing to their extensive geographical coverage. Particularly, the insulating effect prevent permafrost degradation with the rapidly climate warming on the QTP. However, few studies investigated how Bryophytes will react to environmental change at the global scale. In this study, a maximum entropy (Maxent) model was utilized to predict the potential impact of climate change on the distribution of Bryophytes on the QTP. Predictions were based on the under historical (years of 1970-2000) and future climate scenarios (years of 2041-2060 and 2081-2100) using the average climate data of nine global climate models (GCMs) for shared socio-economic pathways (SSP2-4.5) of CMIP6 and other environmental variables. In addition, the key environmental factors affecting the habitat distribution and range shifts of Bryophytes were examined. The results revealed that Bryophytes occupied an area of approximately 179.97 (+/- 0.87) x 10(4 )km(2), 77 (+/- 0.44)% of the total areal extent of QTP in the past. Niche suitability of the Bryophytes was dominated by soil moisture, ultraviolet-B radiation seasonality, temperature seasonality and precipitation of the coldest quarter. Under future climate scenarios, the occupied area increased continuously towards the relatively higher elevation regions. Moreover, permafrost regions would become the buffer zone for the range shifts of niches and covers of Bryophytes on the QTP. This paper will improve our understanding of vegetable potential impact on the permafrost climate feedback.