Ecological niche modelling of a critically endangered species Commiphora wightii (Arn.) Bhandari using bioclimatic and non-bioclimatic variables

Ecological Processes

Table 3 Percentage contribution (or variable importance percentage) of various non-bioclimatic variables

Variables	PC	Variables	PC
Soil qualities		Land use
Excess salt	75.3	GRS	86.5
Rooting conditions	20.3	Forest cover	7.2
Nutrient availability	3.4	NVG	5.6
Oxygen availability to root	1	Habitat heterogeneity variables
Terrain slope and aspect variables		Range	39.5
Slope 6	23.7	Coefficient of variation	19.2
Slope 1	19.2	Maximum	18.4
Slope 7	18.7	Uniformity	11.4
Slope 2	17.9	Shannon diversity	6.1
East aspect	5.1	Standard deviation	3
Slope 4	4.8	Evenness	2.5
Slope 5	3.7
North aspect	2.3
South, West aspect, Slope 3	1.1

Variables with higher VIP values were then used as predictors alongside highly contributed bioclimatic variables to establish a link between species distribution and their environment
PC: percent contribution; GRS (percent share of grass/scrub/woodland); NVG (barren/very sparsely vegetated land)