Borhan Yousefi; Ali Asghar Naghipour
Abstract
Striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) is one of the important animal species in Fars province, where there is limited information about the effect of climate change on its habitats. In this research, the effects of climate change on the geographical distribution of striped hyenas in Fars province were investigated ...
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Striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) is one of the important animal species in Fars province, where there is limited information about the effect of climate change on its habitats. In this research, the effects of climate change on the geographical distribution of striped hyenas in Fars province were investigated using the MaxEnt model. Considering the upcoming climate threats, this study has investigated the changes in the distribution of suitable habitats for this species in the current and future time periods (2070) and under the two climate scenarios SSP245 and SSP585 and the general circulation model MRI-ESM2-0. In this research, 4 categories of environmental variables including: climatic variables, human interactions, topography, and land use were used. The results showed that, respectively, the temperature annual range (Bio7), distance to protected areas, precipitation seasonality (Bio15) and land use (in total with 73.4%) have the largest contribution in choosing the optimal habitat for striped hyenas. Also, the results of the evaluation of the level of desirability of striped hyena habitats showed that currently 19.1% of habitats in Fars province are suitable habitats for striped hyenas, of which 21.3% overlap with the network of protected areas. However, projections show that in the future, the level of suitable habitats under the SSP245 and SSP585 scenarios will decrease by 14.27 and 15.56%, respectively. These results emphasize the necessity of developing management plans for the protection of striped hyena habitats in the face of climate change.
animal biosystematic
Mohammad Reza Ashrafzadeh; Ali Asghar Naghipour; Alireza Mohammadi; Maryam Haidarian; Hadi Khoshnamvand
Abstract
Lorestan province, as a predominantly mountainous region, covers important part of critical habitats of Persian leopard (Panthera pardus) in west of Iran. However, there is little information on geographical distribution of the leopard in this province. This study aims to identify suitable habitats of ...
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Lorestan province, as a predominantly mountainous region, covers important part of critical habitats of Persian leopard (Panthera pardus) in west of Iran. However, there is little information on geographical distribution of the leopard in this province. This study aims to identify suitable habitats of the Persian leopard in Lorestan province, using an ensemble model consisting of seven species distribution models. The ensemble model identified 6,185 km2 (21.85%) of the study area as suitable habitat for the Persian leopard. Distance to conservation areas (30%), distance to village (29%), distance to farmlands (11%), annual precipitation (8%) and distance to forest (7%) made the highest contribution to the model performance. About 49% of the identified suitable habitat covered by conservation areas. Establishing more conservation areas in suitable habitats and re-evaluation of the network of conservation areas are crucial strategies to conserve endangered populations of the leopard. Many large carnivores, due to their large home ranges, depend on habitat patches outside protected areas and corridors between them. Thus, conserving the habitat patches and connectivity between them are crucial. Monitoring and surveillance of habitats, using effective conservation strategies, and promoting local community involvement are other important issues.
