Background. Because of illegal logging, habitat fragmentation, and high value timber Andean montane forest Cedrela species (such as Cedrela angustifolia), is endangered in Central and South America. Studying the effects of climate change and tree cover loss on the distribution of C. angustifolia will help us to understand the climatic and ecological sensitivity of this species and suggest conservation and restoration strategies. Methods. Using ecological niche modeling with two algorithms (maximum entropy (MaxEnt) and Random Forest) under the ecological niche conservatism approach, we generated 16,920 models with different combinations of variables and parameters. We identified suitable areas for C. angustifolia trees under present and future climate scenarios (2040, 2070, and 2100 with SSP 3-7.0 and SSP 5-8.5), tree cover loss, and variables linked to soil and topography. Results. Our r...

Polylepis (Rosaceae) is the dominant tree genus in High-Andean forest ecosystems. These ecosystems are severely threatened, but litle is known about their structure and functioning. We provide the first reports of the dasometric structure and spatial distribution of eight forests of Polylepis canoi, P. flavipila and P. rodolfo-vasquezii in the Central Peruvian Andes as fundamental information for management and conservation policies. We sampled all individuals ≥1 cm of diameter at ground level (DGL) in 20 plots of 10x10 m in each forest, and measured total height (TH) and DGL. Also, we mapped the spatial distribution of the individuals in two plots of 30x30 m (X and Y axes). We found differences in the dasometric structure between forests of the same species, which, in some cases, were associated with climate, soil or elevation variables. However, no well-defined pattern was found. The...