Modeling habitat suitability of Perilla frutescens with MaxEnt in Uttarakhand-A conservation approach

Prediction of suitable cultivation regions through modeling has evolved as a useful tool for the assessment of habitat suitability and resource conservation to protect medicinal plants. The population of Perilla frutescens, one of the therapeutic traditional crop in the Indian Himalayan region has declined over the past few years. This paper reports on potentially suitable cultivation regions for Perilla in Uttarakhand using MaxEnt Modeling. For modeling procedure 35 occurrence records and 14 Worldclim environmental factors as well as aspect, slope, vegetation and elevation data was used. The result showed that precipitation is the key influential factor that affects the distribution of Perilla. The highly suitable cultivation regions of Perilla are Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag and Nainital districts of Uttarakhand, India. The statistically significant AUC (area under curve) value (0.915) of ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curve indicated that MaxEnt could be used to predict the potentially suitable cultivation regions of medicinal plants, and the results could pave way for habitat conservation and resource utilization of rare and endangered medicinal plants.