Mapping climatically suitable areas for tree species across the globe: comparing TreeGOER-based maps with previous maps generated for nine selected eucalypt species

Determining the climatic requirements of tree species is essential for their effective management under climate change. Ideally this requires analysis of both native and introduced occurrences. A 2023 ‘TreeGOER’ paper has estimated the climatic and edaphic requirements of 48 129 tree species. Here we show how the climatically suitable areas for any of these species can be mapped on a global five-minute resolution grid using freely available resources. For nine eucalypt species, widely planted outside Australia, we compare the TreeGOER-based maps with those based on previous ‘climatic mapping’ analyses of climatically suitable areas. The two methods identify some similar climatically suitable areas, but the comparisons also highlight major differences and some limitations of both methods. Care is particularly needed in using ex situ data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Greater availability of results from trials outside species native distributions would improve both TreeGOER and ‘climatic mapping’ analyses. The development of a global tree trial database would facilitate these improvements.