regarding Variations of Species Distribution in the Indian Ocean under Climate Change

Abstract

Species distribution modelling (SDM) plays an important role in the biodiversity conservation and provides better knowledge about the species habitats. Marine habitats have been effected by the growing climate change in the last few years and there is the potential that the situation can get worse. In this thesis twenty fish species from different parts of the Indian ocean are examined for the present and future (2040-2050) scenarios under the climate change by using maximum entropy modelling (Maxent) technique. Different environmental variables are used for building the present and future distribution models of the fish species. Further these models are interpreted to understand which variable influence their distribution more. The results don’t show much of the difference between the present and future scenarios but it is important to store the data for a better far future, which is already under the threat of climate change. This research concludes that species distribution modelling (SDM) plays a vital role in understanding the relationship between the species habitats and their environment.