Impact of Climate Change on the Extent of Favorable Areas for the Future Distribution of Multipurpose Agro Forestry Species in Niger: The Case of Vitellaria Paradoxa C.F. Gaertn

The combined effects of climate change and increasing anthropogenic activities (deforestation, intensification of agriculture, overgrazing, timber exploitation, urbanization, etc.), threaten the existence of biodiversity on earth. Indeed, several climate projections predict scenarios that foresee the combined adverse effects of these scourges on the existence of habitats favorable to the distribution of several woody agroforestry species (ELA), of socio-economic importance, on earth. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of climate change on the extent of favorable areas for the future distribution of Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn. In Niger. This distribution was modeled using the maximum entropy approach. Environmental data, such as bioclimatic variables, as well as geo-referenced occurrence data of the species were used in MaxEnt 3.3.3k software to produce a distribution model. For future climate projections, two emission scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP)) were used. These are the optimistic scenario (RCP 4.5) and the pessimistic scenario (RCP 8.5) which are the most appropriate for Africa by 2050.These results obtained are essential for future conservation programs for this species in Niger. To this end, any project or program to restore the density of the populations of this species must take into account this result