SPATIAL ECOLOGICAL NICHES MODELLING FOR REINTRODUCTION OF IRIS PONTICA ZAPAŁ. (MAGNOLIOPHYTA) IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

Olga CRIVOVA,Ghenadii SÎRODOEV,Tatiana IZVERSCAIA,Veaceslav GHENDOV,Moldova State University

Аннотация

This paper presents the results of a study on spatial ecological niche modeling of a rare spontaneous vascular plant species from the Iridaceae family – Iris pontica Zapał. The species is protected by law and is included in the Red Book of the Republic of Moldova (2nd and 3rd editions). The aim of the study was to identify suitable habitats for subsequent reintroduction using current data on the species’ distribution and stationary occurrence in the Republic of Moldova. A model generated by the MaxEnt program was used. Six final bioclimatic indexes had been used to generate the probabilistic map of spatial ecological niches for Iris Pontica. Several zones with a high probability of the presence of these ecological niches were identified. The species were reintroduced in a steppe habitat based on spatial ecological niche modeling. Keywords: spatial modeling, Iris pontica, Republic of Moldova, bioclimatic indexes, spatial distribution models, maximum entropy model, receiver operating characteristic, training sensitivity plus specificity. DOI: https://doi.org/10.59295/sum1(191)2026_28