Quantifying Potentially Suitable Geographical Habitat Changes in Chinese Caterpillar Fungus with Enhanced MaxEnt Model
Chinese Caterpillar Fungus (CCF) is a fungal–insect complex formed by the underground larvae of certain species in the family Hepialidae parasitized by <i>Ophiocordyceps sinensis</i> (Berk.) (G.H.Sung, J.M.Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora). It is a precious Chinese herbal medicine with...
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MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| author | Yaqin Peng Danping Xu Habib Ali Zhiqian Liu Zhihang Zhuo |
| author_facet | Yaqin Peng Danping Xu Habib Ali Zhiqian Liu Zhihang Zhuo |
| author_sort | Yaqin Peng |
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| description | Chinese Caterpillar Fungus (CCF) is a fungal–insect complex formed by the underground larvae of certain species in the family Hepialidae parasitized by <i>Ophiocordyceps sinensis</i> (Berk.) (G.H.Sung, J.M.Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora). It is a precious Chinese herbal medicine with significant medicinal value. This study aimed to identify the key environmental factors influencing the distribution of CCFs using the MaxEnt model. First, in the MaxEnt model optimized using the ENMeval package, the most suitable combinations of feature classes and regularization parameters were selected. Second, 22 environmental variables were used to construct distribution models for <i>O. sinensis</i>, host insects, and CCFs. Then, the distribution areas of <i>O. sinensis</i> and host insects were overlapped to identify highly suitable habitats where both coexist. Finally, these highly suitable habitats were compared to analyze the differences in the distribution areas of <i>O. sinensis</i> and host insects and their contributions to the formation of the CCF distribution area. The results showed that elevation, bio18, and bio09 were the primary environmental factors influencing the distributions of <i>O. sinensis</i>, host insects, and CCFs. Considering the present, 2050s, and 2070s, the highly suitable areas for all three entities overlapped to a large extent. When we superimposed the high-suitability zones of <i>O. sinensis</i> and host insects, the overlapping area was found to be 56.87 × 10<sup>4</sup> km<sup>2</sup>, which accounted for 5.92% of China’s total land area. The high-suitability area for CCFs was 64.06 × 10<sup>4</sup> km<sup>2</sup>, accounting for 6.67% of China’s total land area. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the mechanisms behind the combination of <i>O. sinensis</i> and host insects in forming CCFs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2e5ccbf24ea94f2cb70de43e057d616d |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2075-4450 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Insects |
| spelling | doaj-art-2e5ccbf24ea94f2cb70de43e057d616d2025-08-20T02:42:31ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502025-03-0116326210.3390/insects16030262Quantifying Potentially Suitable Geographical Habitat Changes in Chinese Caterpillar Fungus with Enhanced MaxEnt ModelYaqin Peng0Danping Xu1Habib Ali2Zhiqian Liu3Zhihang Zhuo4College of Life Science, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637002, ChinaCollege of Life Science, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637002, ChinaDepartment of Agricultural Engineering, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan 64200, PakistanCollege of Life Science, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637002, ChinaCollege of Life Science, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637002, ChinaChinese Caterpillar Fungus (CCF) is a fungal–insect complex formed by the underground larvae of certain species in the family Hepialidae parasitized by <i>Ophiocordyceps sinensis</i> (Berk.) (G.H.Sung, J.M.Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora). It is a precious Chinese herbal medicine with significant medicinal value. This study aimed to identify the key environmental factors influencing the distribution of CCFs using the MaxEnt model. First, in the MaxEnt model optimized using the ENMeval package, the most suitable combinations of feature classes and regularization parameters were selected. Second, 22 environmental variables were used to construct distribution models for <i>O. sinensis</i>, host insects, and CCFs. Then, the distribution areas of <i>O. sinensis</i> and host insects were overlapped to identify highly suitable habitats where both coexist. Finally, these highly suitable habitats were compared to analyze the differences in the distribution areas of <i>O. sinensis</i> and host insects and their contributions to the formation of the CCF distribution area. The results showed that elevation, bio18, and bio09 were the primary environmental factors influencing the distributions of <i>O. sinensis</i>, host insects, and CCFs. Considering the present, 2050s, and 2070s, the highly suitable areas for all three entities overlapped to a large extent. When we superimposed the high-suitability zones of <i>O. sinensis</i> and host insects, the overlapping area was found to be 56.87 × 10<sup>4</sup> km<sup>2</sup>, which accounted for 5.92% of China’s total land area. The high-suitability area for CCFs was 64.06 × 10<sup>4</sup> km<sup>2</sup>, accounting for 6.67% of China’s total land area. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the mechanisms behind the combination of <i>O. sinensis</i> and host insects in forming CCFs.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/16/3/262<i>Ophiocordyceps sinensis</i>host insectsChinese caterpillar fungusMaxEntclimate changesuitable habitat |
| spellingShingle | Yaqin Peng Danping Xu Habib Ali Zhiqian Liu Zhihang Zhuo Quantifying Potentially Suitable Geographical Habitat Changes in Chinese Caterpillar Fungus with Enhanced MaxEnt Model Insects <i>Ophiocordyceps sinensis</i> host insects Chinese caterpillar fungus MaxEnt climate change suitable habitat |
| title | Quantifying Potentially Suitable Geographical Habitat Changes in Chinese Caterpillar Fungus with Enhanced MaxEnt Model |
| title_full | Quantifying Potentially Suitable Geographical Habitat Changes in Chinese Caterpillar Fungus with Enhanced MaxEnt Model |
| title_fullStr | Quantifying Potentially Suitable Geographical Habitat Changes in Chinese Caterpillar Fungus with Enhanced MaxEnt Model |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantifying Potentially Suitable Geographical Habitat Changes in Chinese Caterpillar Fungus with Enhanced MaxEnt Model |
| title_short | Quantifying Potentially Suitable Geographical Habitat Changes in Chinese Caterpillar Fungus with Enhanced MaxEnt Model |
| title_sort | quantifying potentially suitable geographical habitat changes in chinese caterpillar fungus with enhanced maxent model |
| topic | <i>Ophiocordyceps sinensis</i> host insects Chinese caterpillar fungus MaxEnt climate change suitable habitat |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/16/3/262 |
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