Climate change, Distribution modelling, Geographical distribution, Prediction, Weed distribution
Biological invasion pose serious threat on the natural ecosystem, human health and the economy. It has become important part of today’s global ecological change and major threat to native biodiversity, ecosystem stability and its services and give rise to numerous management and control issues. Furthermore, climate change has the potential to enhance the detrimental effect of these species on the natural ecosystem and agriculture globally. Climate change is expected to affect the distribution and occurrence of the weeds in future. It will have a profound effect on crop protection, including the effects on pests, diseases and weeds. Therefore, assessing the impact of climate change on the geographical distribution of the species under future climatic scenarios is of great importance. This information helps in understanding the impact of the species and in making informed decisions on the matter related to biodiversity, public health, agriculture and the economy. Apart from this, it also helps in early detection of the hot spots of the species enabling prompt actions in order to reduce management cost after its introduction in new places. Hence, in the present article, we reviewed the work studying the distributional patterns of different weeds under future climate scenarios. It is concluded that species distribution modelling is a powerful tool to evaluate the expansion risk of invasive alien weeds into non-native regions based on the information on their climatic niche. However, it is essential to consider limitations of the models and uncertainties behind the use of future climate change scenarios.