Climate suitability predictions for the cultivation of macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia) in Malawi using climate change scenarios

Climate change is altering suitable areas of crop species worldwide, with cascading effects on people reliant upon those crop species as food sources and for income generation. Macadamia is one of Malawi’s most important and profitable crop species; however, climate change threatens its production....

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Main Authors: Junior Zuza, Emmanuel, Maseyk, Kadmiel, Bhagwat, Shonil A., Sousa, Kauê de, Emmott, Andrew, Rawes, William, Negusse Araya, Yoseph
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Public Library of Science 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115351
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author Junior Zuza, Emmanuel
Maseyk, Kadmiel
Bhagwat, Shonil A.
Sousa, Kauê de
Emmott, Andrew
Rawes, William
Negusse Araya, Yoseph
author_browse Bhagwat, Shonil A.
Emmott, Andrew
Junior Zuza, Emmanuel
Maseyk, Kadmiel
Negusse Araya, Yoseph
Rawes, William
Sousa, Kauê de
author_facet Junior Zuza, Emmanuel
Maseyk, Kadmiel
Bhagwat, Shonil A.
Sousa, Kauê de
Emmott, Andrew
Rawes, William
Negusse Araya, Yoseph
author_sort Junior Zuza, Emmanuel
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Climate change is altering suitable areas of crop species worldwide, with cascading effects on people reliant upon those crop species as food sources and for income generation. Macadamia is one of Malawi’s most important and profitable crop species; however, climate change threatens its production. Thus, this study’s objective is to quantitatively examine the potential impacts of climate change on the climate suitability for macadamia in Malawi. We utilized an ensemble model approach to predict the current and future (2050s) suitability of macadamia under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). We achieved a good model fit in determining suitability classes for macadamia (AUC = 0.9). The climatic variables that strongly influence macadamia’s climatic suitability in Malawi are suggested to be the precipitation of the driest month (29.1%) and isothermality (17.3%). Under current climatic conditions, 57% (53,925 km2) of Malawi is climatically suitable for macadamia. Future projections suggest that climate change will decrease the suitable areas for macadamia by 18% (17,015 km2) and 21.6% (20,414 km2) based on RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, respectively, with the distribution of suitability shifting northwards in the 2050s. The southern and central regions of the country will suffer the greatest losses (≥ 8%), while the northern region will be the least impacted (4%). We conclude that our study provides critical evidence that climate change will reduce the suitable areas for macadamia production in Malawi, depending on climate drivers. Therefore area-specific adaptation strategies are required to build resilience among producers.
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spelling CGSpace1153512025-12-08T09:54:28Z Climate suitability predictions for the cultivation of macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia) in Malawi using climate change scenarios Junior Zuza, Emmanuel Maseyk, Kadmiel Bhagwat, Shonil A. Sousa, Kauê de Emmott, Andrew Rawes, William Negusse Araya, Yoseph climate change adaptation climatic factors crop production macadamia ternifolia food security environmental modelling adaptación al cambio climático factores climáticos producción vegetal Climate change is altering suitable areas of crop species worldwide, with cascading effects on people reliant upon those crop species as food sources and for income generation. Macadamia is one of Malawi’s most important and profitable crop species; however, climate change threatens its production. Thus, this study’s objective is to quantitatively examine the potential impacts of climate change on the climate suitability for macadamia in Malawi. We utilized an ensemble model approach to predict the current and future (2050s) suitability of macadamia under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). We achieved a good model fit in determining suitability classes for macadamia (AUC = 0.9). The climatic variables that strongly influence macadamia’s climatic suitability in Malawi are suggested to be the precipitation of the driest month (29.1%) and isothermality (17.3%). Under current climatic conditions, 57% (53,925 km2) of Malawi is climatically suitable for macadamia. Future projections suggest that climate change will decrease the suitable areas for macadamia by 18% (17,015 km2) and 21.6% (20,414 km2) based on RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, respectively, with the distribution of suitability shifting northwards in the 2050s. The southern and central regions of the country will suffer the greatest losses (≥ 8%), while the northern region will be the least impacted (4%). We conclude that our study provides critical evidence that climate change will reduce the suitable areas for macadamia production in Malawi, depending on climate drivers. Therefore area-specific adaptation strategies are required to build resilience among producers. 2021-09-09 2021-10-08T12:42:00Z 2021-10-08T12:42:00Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115351 en Open Access application/pdf Public Library of Science Junior Zuza, E.l; Maseyk, K.; Bhagwat, S.A.; de Sousa, K.; Emmott, A; Rawes, W.; Negusse Araya, Y. (2021) Climate suitability predictions for the cultivation of macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia) in Malawi using climate change scenarios. PLoS ONE 16(9): e0257007. 10 p. ISSN: 1932-6203
spellingShingle climate change adaptation
climatic factors
crop production
macadamia ternifolia
food security
environmental modelling
adaptación al cambio climático
factores climáticos
producción vegetal
Junior Zuza, Emmanuel
Maseyk, Kadmiel
Bhagwat, Shonil A.
Sousa, Kauê de
Emmott, Andrew
Rawes, William
Negusse Araya, Yoseph
Climate suitability predictions for the cultivation of macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia) in Malawi using climate change scenarios
title Climate suitability predictions for the cultivation of macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia) in Malawi using climate change scenarios
title_full Climate suitability predictions for the cultivation of macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia) in Malawi using climate change scenarios
title_fullStr Climate suitability predictions for the cultivation of macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia) in Malawi using climate change scenarios
title_full_unstemmed Climate suitability predictions for the cultivation of macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia) in Malawi using climate change scenarios
title_short Climate suitability predictions for the cultivation of macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia) in Malawi using climate change scenarios
title_sort climate suitability predictions for the cultivation of macadamia macadamia integrifolia in malawi using climate change scenarios
topic climate change adaptation
climatic factors
crop production
macadamia ternifolia
food security
environmental modelling
adaptación al cambio climático
factores climáticos
producción vegetal
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115351
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