Spatial relationship between environmental factors and scorpion distribution in Morocco

Abstract

The present study aimed firstly, to determine current distribution of sixteen species belonging to three genera (Androctonus, Buthus and Hottentota) in Morocco and their ecological features. Secondly, the significance of the predominant species at any bioclimatic floors, altitude range and soil texture, was discussed. A georeferenced presence-only dataset, comprising 263 point locality records was analyzed with a Geographic Information System (GIS). Study results showed that about 60% of species were present between 0 and 800m. For soil texture, scorpion species were mainly collected in sand-loam-clay (40%) as well as loam soil (30%), with less extent in the sandy soil. While they were scare or absent in Clay-clay-loam texture. According to bioclimate, high mountain climate, humid and sub-humid climate seemed to be less frequented by inventoried species (