Prediction of the Suitable Area of the Chinese White Pines (Pinus subsect. Strobus) under Climate Changes and Implications for Their Conservation

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

General view

The paper of Lin et al. offers an interesting continental-scale spatial analysis of an important group of coniferous trees from Eurasia, and especially China.

The authors used a huge amount of data and managed to find the potential distribution of 12 species of white pines in China. Using MaxEnt – the most popular SDM tool, they predicted the distribution under a variety of climate scenarios at current, paleo- and future times.

Comments

The authors mentioned the resolution of the WorldClim database rasters. But what is the resolution of the other rasters (of IPCC, UW, gIUV, and FAO databases) used in MaxEnt modeling? I think it should be mentioned.

Regarding the resolution, what is the work resolution in MaxEnt (the common resolution of the rasters loaded in MaxEnt)? I believe is 4,6km*4,6km, as this is the output resolution of occurrence probability maps. Please, mention.

Conclusion

The paper has two main outputs. The first one is about the explanation behind the current range of trees following paleoclimatic scenarios. The second and most important output consists of updating the potential distribution of an important group of Eurasian trees with especially focusing on the future range and the possible outcome in conservation efforts, especially of the endangered species.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Generally a good read, reasonably novel, and interesting.  There are some spelling errors the most glaring is on line 105 where what appears to be an expletive is in dire need of an "f".

I enjoyed reading it, thank you.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

INTRODUCTION

The introduction section is well-constructed, clear, and it guides the reader toward the goal that is clearly stated in lines 120-123.

In figure 1 the colors are not well distinguished on the map. It is recommended to use symbols or frames.

Table 1 is not very relevant in the introduction. Please, consider its inclusion as supplementary material.

(lines 102-104) It can be indicated that the use of Maxent is not only restricted to plant species, but also other terrestrial and marine organisms and even the prediction of natural and anthropogenic disturbances origin and their potential effects on different species. Thus it can be cited examples such as:

Chen, F., Du, Y., Niu, S., & Zhao, J. (2015). Modeling forest lightning fire occurrence in the Daxinganling Mountains of Northeastern China with MAXENT. Forests, 6(5), 1422-1438.

Nachtsheim, D. A., Jerosch, K., Hagen, W., Plötz, J., & Bornemann, H. (2017). Habitat modelling of crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophaga) in the Weddell Sea using the multivariate approach Maxent. Polar Biology, 40(5), 961-976.

Ortiz-Urbina, E., Diaz-Balteiro, L., & Iglesias-Merchan, C. (2020). Influence of Anthropogenic Noise for Predicting Cinereous Vulture Nest Distribution. Sustainability, 12(2), 503.

Yiwen, Z.;Wei, L.B.; Yeo, D.C.J. Novel methods to select environmental variables in MaxEnt: A case study using invasive crayfish. Ecol. Model. 2016, 341, 5–13.

The language should be checked carefully, there is a bad sounding word in English in line 105.

METHODS

In general, the methods section offers a detailed description of the steps followed and tools used by the authors.

In paragraph 147-151 it is recommended to detail how records were collected for niche modeling for those species that are not endemic to China (in a similar way than authors explained how the proceeded with the 12 natural species of white pins in China).

Data source of each environmental variable could be added in table 12.

RESULTS

Changes that the authors find between the analyzed periods are described in an unclear way.

It is recommended to add an explanation of why representation of P. mastersiana and P. morrisonicola is different to the rest of species in figure 3.

DISCUSSION

A large part of the discussion section sounds quite speculative and it includes few citations. It would be convenient to link ideas exposed in the discussion section to previous research works.

CONCLUSIONS

The conclusions sections include references and it is not very appropriate.

This section should summarize main findings which has been stated in the previous sections.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Most of my suggestions have been attended by the authors.

Author Response

We appreciate the reviewer very much for the insightful and valuable comments, which greatly improved the quality of this manuscript.