Bioclimatic modeling of Crossidium squamiferum (Viv.) Jur. (Pottiaceae, Bryophyta) distribution

The main purpose of the work was to test the applicability of bioclimatic modeling methods to mosses. Due to tiny size bryophyta are confined to micro-habitats, which can transmute the influence of climatic factors. Crossidium squamiferum was taken as test object. Potentially suitable climatic area of the species in the world was simulated using maximum entropy (MaxEnt) modeling on base of four datasets different in volume (from 24 to 267 points). All the models are characterized by valid AUC values (from AUC=0.72 to AUC=0.96). According to the calculations, the most important variables determining the distribution of C. squamiferum are BIO4 (Temperature seasonality) and BIO8 (mean temperature of the wettest quarter). Habitats of the species in southern Siberia mark the Northern climatic boundary of the species area in Eurasia.