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eISSN: 2083-5906
ISSN: 1230-1485
ISSN: 1230-1485
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Analysis of Interrelationship between Shrubs
and Herbs Using Maximum Entropy
1
College of Desert Control Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University,
Hohhot 010018, People’s Republic of China
2
Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, People’s Republic of China
Submission date: 2025-08-27
Final revision date: 2025-11-26
Acceptance date: 2025-12-08
Online publication date: 2026-05-14
Corresponding author
Chengfu Zhang
College of Desert Control Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, People’s Republic of China
College of Desert Control Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, People’s Republic of China
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
A scientifically robust classification of biogeographical regions, along with research on their
interdependencies, is essential for enhancing our understanding of biodiversity dynamics, ecological
conservation, and natural resource management. In this study, we partitioned the biogeographic
regions of Inner Mongolia’s desert-steppe ecotone using the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) model.
The results indicated that the study area could be divided into shrub and herb regions. The model
effectively simulated the potential distributions, yielding an area under the curve >0.8. The contribution
of biological interactions to the shrub and herb regions was relatively high, reaching 34.8% for both
shrubs and herbs. The two regions primarily compete for precipitation during the wettest month,
with optimal precipitation ranges of 10.12-65.01 mm for shrubs and 26.90-86.90 mm for herbs.
When biological effects were incorporated into the model, the distribution areas of both regions
decreased, although their average suitability remained stable. This study quantitatively validates
the significance of biological factors through modeling and provides a data-driven foundation for
the development of regional conservation strategies.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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| eISSN: | 2083-5906 |
| ISSN: | 1230-1485 |
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