Modelling environmental suitability of sorghum, wheat and maize in Europe under climate change (Code & data)

Wheat and maize play an important role as crops for human consumption and animal feed in Europe. To guarantee food security and the stability of the agricultural sector in Europe, it is crucial to determine how climate change will impact the environmental suitability and thus the potential geographic distribution of these crops. Sorghum, a crop that originates in Africa, has seen a recent increase in cultivation in Europe. Due to its tolerance to more extreme climate conditions and its versatility of use, it might inherit a high potential as an alternative crop.

Occurrence data of sorghum, wheat and maize as well as several environmental variables were used as input data for an ensemble modelling approach that averages machine learning models for species distribution modelling (SDM). CHELSA served as a source for present bioclimatic conditions and future climate scenarios, namely SSP126 and SSP370 for the period 2041-2070, and HSWD supplied soil variables, since both climate and soil influence crop development. A set of models was evaluated to select the best performing models for the ensemble modelling. The ensemble models were extrapolated to the future scenarios to predict geographic shifts of suitable cultivation areas due to climate change and analyze sorghum’s potential as an alternative crop.

Under the climate scenarios, the three crops saw a shift of suitability in Europe with losses in Southern Europe and expansions of suitable environmental conditions in the northeast of Europe. Sorghum was the crop with the highest potential to replace maize and wheat in Southern Europe in areas where they lose suitability under climate change. Therefore, sorghum confirmed its function as an alternative crop. It also was the crop that benefits consistently from climate change, growing its total suitable area in Europe under both climate scenarios. Maize loses total suitable area in Europe in both climate scenarios but kept the highest amount of total suitable area in Europe in all projected time periods.

The outcome of this study is of high importance for European farmers and policy makers as it enables them to apply effective adaptation and mitigation strategies that will support crop production under future climate conditions.