Climate change effects on desert date Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Delile in Benin: Implications for conservation and domestication

Effectiveness of Balanites aegyptiaca conservation and sustainable exploitation requires a better knowledge of the intrinsic environmental factors linked with its current and future geographic distribution. This study aimed to map suitable areas for the conservation and domestication of B. aegyptiaca under present‐day and future climate conditions in Benin. A total of 424 occurrence records of B. aegyptiaca were combined with the environmental variables of two climatic scenarios (optimistic RCP 4.5 and pessimistic RCP 8.5) following the biodiversity modeling approach (biomod2). Findings were that under current and future climate conditions (RCP 4.5 and 8.5), almost one‐third of the country's area (protected and non‐protected areas), mainly located in the semiarid zone, presents a high probability of suitable areas for the conservation and domestication of B. aegyptiaca by 2055 time horizon. Exceptionally, a fine portion of medium suitable area for its distribution was found in the coastal area. Whatever the future climatic scenarios, a probable potential extension of the suitable areas (2.52% for RCP 4.5 and 0.43% for RCP 8.5) will be noted, thus emphasizing a positive impact of climate changes on the species. These findings are timely and could be used for setting appropriate management policies targeting the species in Benin.