In collaboration with Payame Noor University and Iranian Society of Physiology and Pharmacology

Document Type : Article

Authors

1 M.A. of Land Use Planning, Collage of Environment, ‎Department of the Environment, Karaj, Iran

2 Associat Professor, Department of Natural ‎Environment and Biodiversity, College of ‎Environment, Karaj, Iran

Abstract

Wild Sheep is one of the ungulate, which lives in mountainous and hilly areas. This species is one of the main preys of cheetah in the Central Plateau of Iran, after a sharp decline in Gazelle and Jebeer population in Iran. Hence, in this study, the identification of the suitable habitats for Wild sheep in the central Iranian plateau was studied as the selected areas for the conservation of Asiatic cheetah. The species desirability habitat modeling was performed by using nine models in the Biomod2 package. The results showed that in all models, distance from water resources, distance from village, mines, fields, and slopes were the most important variables and country that elevation and road as the least important variables. Half of the species desirable area located outside of the protected areas boundaries. Due to high overlap of Wild Sheep presence and Asiatic Cheetah presence in the central of the country, its habitat management has a direct positive effect on the cheetah conservation.

Keywords

Ahmadi, M.; Heidari, H.R. (2014). Identification and prioritization of habitat patches, evaluation of the performance of conservation network and studying the corridors of Asiatic cheetah in Central Iranian Plateau. Project Report. Conservation of Asiatic cheetah Project.
Ahmadi, M.; Nezami, B.; Jowkar, H.; Hemami, M.R.; Fadakar, D.; Malakouti‐Khah, S. (2017). Combining landscape suitability and habitat connectivity to conserve the last surviving population of cheetah in Asia. Diversity and Distributions; 23(6): 592-603.
Ahmadpour, M.; Varasteh Moradi, H.; Akbari, H.; Imani Harsini, J. (2015). Habitat suitability modeling of Urial (Ovis orientalis arkal) on the area around Dareh Anjir Wildlife Refuge, Yazd province. Journal of Animal Environment; 7(2): 11-18. (in Persian)
Allouche, O.; Tsoar, A.; Kadmon, R. (2006). Assessing the accuracy of species distribution models: prevalence, kappa and the true skill statistic (TSS). Journal of Applied Ecology; 43(6): 1223-1232.
Araujo, M.B.; Williams, P.H. (2000). Selecting areas for species persistence using occurrence data. Biol. Conservation; 96: 331-345.
Bahraminejad, M.; Nezami, B.; Haghani, A. (2017). Habitat suitability patches for Urial Wild ship (Ovis vignei) conservation in Darmian Protected Area. Journal of Animal environment; 8(4): 9-16. (in Persian)
Bailey, J.A. (1984). Principles of Wildlife Management. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 373 p: illus, maps, diagrams. Bibliography. Includes index.
Bashari, H.; Hemami, M.R. (2013). A predictive diagnostic model for Wild sheep (Ovis orientalis) habitat suitability in Iran. Journal for Nature Conservation; 21(5): 319-325.
Bartoszewicz, M.; Okarma, H.; Zalewski, A.; Szczesna, J. (2008). Ecology of the raccoon (Procyon lotor) from western Poland. In Annales Zoologici Fennici Finnish Zoological and Botanical Publishing Board; 45(4): 291-298.
Cabeza, M.; Araújo, M.B.; Wilson, R.J.; Thomas, C.D.; Cowley, M.J.R.; Moilanen, A. (2004). Combining probabilities of occurrence with spatial reserve design. Journal of Applied Ecology; 41(2): 252-262.
Cardenas, A.S.; Cardenas, I.G.; Dmaz, S.; Tessaro, P.G.; Gallina, V. (2001). The variables of physical habitat selection by the desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis weemsi) in the Sierra del Mechudo, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Journal of Arid Environments; 49(2): 357-374.
Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational Psychological Measurement; 20(1): 37-46.
Ebrahimi, M.; Hoseini-Zavarei, F.; Rajabizade, M.; Ghafari, H.; Ghelichpoor, M.; Mozafari, O.; Nezami, B. (2011). Iranian Wildlife Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). Talaii Press.
Efati, N.; Mansoori, J.; Dehdar Dargahi, M.; Shams-Esfandabad, B. (2012). Fall and winter Habitat Suitability Modeling of Urial Wild sheep in Salook National Park by using ENFA method. The first Congress of conservation and environmental programing, Hamehan, Iran. (in Persian)
Elith, J.; Graham, C.H.; Anderson, R.P.; Dudik, M.; Ferrier, S.; Guisan, A. (2006). Novel methods improve prediction of species’ distributions from occurrence data. Ecography; 29(2): 129-151.
Fallah-bagheri, F.; Kaboli, M.; Farashi, A. (2009). Habitat Suitability Modeling of Esphahan Wild sheep in Kolah ghazi National Park by using ENFA method. National Congress of Geomatic, Tehran, Iran. (in Persian)
Farashi, A. (2008). Habitat Suitability Modeling of Esphahan Wild sheep in Kolah ghazi National Park, by using ENFA method. National Congress of Geomatic, Tehrn, Iran. (in Persian)
Ferrier, S. (2002). Mapping spatial pattern in biodiversity for regional conservation planning: where to from here?. Systematic Biology; 51(2): 331-363.
Fielding, A.H.; Bell, J.F. (1997). A review of methods for the assessment of prediction errors in conservation presence/absence models. Environmental Conservation; 24(1): 38-49.
Franklin, J. (2010). Mapping Species Distributions: Spatial Inference and Prediction. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Franklin, J. (2009). Mapping species distributions; spatial inference and prediction. Cambridge University Press.
Ghandali, N.; Alizadeh, A.; Kaboli, M.; Karami, M. (2014). Habitat Suitability Modeling of Wild sheep in Kavir National Park, by using Ecological Niche Factor Analyses method. Journal of Natural Environment; 2: 155-192. (in Persian)
Goljani, R.; Kaboli, M.; Karami, M.; Naeemi, B.; Alizadeh Shabani, A. (2010). Fall Habitat Suitability Modeling of Central Alborz Wild sheep (Ovis gmelini x O. vignei) in Jajrood Protected Complex, Iran. Journal of Natural Environment; 63(2): 173-186. (in Persian)
Guisan, A.; Thuiller, W. (2005). Predicting species distribution: offering more than simple habitat models. Ecology Letters; 8(9): 993-1009.
Guisan, A; Zimmermann, N.E. (2000). Predictive habitat distribution models in ecology. Ecological Modelling; 135: 147-186.
Hayward, M.W.; Karley, G.I.H. (2008). Prey preferences and dietary overlap amongst Africa’s large predators. South African Journal of Wildlife Research; 38(2): 93-108.
Heidarian Aghakhani, M.; Tamartash, R.; Jafarian, Z.; Tarkesh Esfahani, M.; Tatian, M.R. (2017). Predicting the impacts of climate change on Persian oak (Quercus brantii) using Species Distribution Modeling in Central Zagros for conservation planning. Journal of Environmental Studies; 43(3): 497-511. (in Persian)
Hunter, L.; Jowkar, H.; Ziaie, H.; Schaller, G.B.; Balme, G.; Walzer, C. (2007). Conserving the Asiatic Cheetah in Iran: launching the first radio-telemetry study. Cat News; 46: 8-11.
IUCN. (2010). Red List; www.iucn.org (accessed on 2010).
Jafari, A.; Mirzaei, R.; Zamani, R.; Mahmoodi, A. (2016). Species distribution modeling of wild sheep based on improving bias of occurrence records and selecting appropriate environmental predictors using MaxEnt. Journal of Applied Ecology; 5(15): 39-49. (in Persian)
Kermani, F.; Raygani, B.; Nezami, B.; Goshtasb, H.; Khosravi, H.; Heydari, H.R. (2017). Evaluation of environmental index in habitat selection of cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus; Griffith, 1821) using Time series data of remote sensing (Case Study: Touran Management Region). Journal of Animal Environment; 9(1): 1-12. (in Persian)
Keya, Z.Y.; Faryadi, S.; Yavari, A.; Kamali, Y.; Shabani, A.A. (2016). Habitat suitability & connectivity of Alborz Wild Sheep in the east of Tehran, Iran. Open Journal of Ecology; 6(06): 325-342.
Lu, N.; Jia, C.X.; Lloyd, H.; Sun, Y.H. (2012). Species-specific habitat fragmentation assessment, considering the ecological niche requirements and dispersal capability. Biological Conservation; 152: 102-109.
Makhdoom, M.; Darvishsefat, A.; Jafazadeh, H.; Makhdoom, A. (2011). Environmental Assessment and Programing with Geographical Information System (GIS). University of Tehran. (in Persian)
Maleki Najafabadi, S.; Hemami, M.R.; Salman Mahini, A. (2010). Determining habitat suitability of Ovis orientalis isfahanica in Moteh Wildlife Refuge using ENFA. Journal of Natural Environment; 63(3): 279-290. (in Persian)
Marmion, M.; Luoto, M.; Heikkinen, R.K.; Thuiller, W. (2009). The performance of state-of-the-art modelling techniques depends on geographical distribution of species. Ecological Modelling; 220(24): 3512-3520.
Morovati, M.; Karami, M.; Kaboli, M.; Rousta, Z.; Shorakaei, M.J. (2015). Modeling the habitat suitability of Ovis orientalis, the most important prey of cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) using Maximum Entropy method in Dareh-Anjir Wildlife Refuge. Journal of Animal Environment; 6(4): 135-149. (in Persian)
Nazeri, M. (2007). Application of Ecological Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA) on wildlife habitat Assessment by using HIS method: case staudy: Wild Sheep habitat in Touran Biosphere Reserve. Msc thesis. University of Tehran. p. 88. (in Persian)
Nezami, B. (2018). Asiatic Cheetah (Ecology and Status of Asiatic Cheetah in Iran). Tehran: Jahade Daneshgahi Publication. (in Persian)
Pahlavani, A. (2004). The habitat evaluation of wild sheep (Ovis vignei) in Golestan National Park. Journal of Environmental Studies; 30(35): 1-8. (in Persian)
Phillipes, S.J.; Dudík, M. (2008). Modeling of species distributions with MaxEnt: new extensions and a comprehensive evaluation. Ecography; 31: 161-175.
Rezaei, A.; Kaboli, M.; Ashrafi, S.; Akbari, H. (2016). Survey diet of Asiatic Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) by scat analysis method in Bafgh Protected Area, central Iran. Journal of Animal Environment; 8(2): 1-8. (in Persian)
Rotenberry, J.T.; Preston, K.L.; Knick, S.T. (2006). GIS-based niche modeling for mapping species’ habitat. Ecology; 87: 1458-1464.
Sarhangzadeh, J.; Akbari, H.; Mossavi, J.; Poorchitsaz, A. (2013). Modeling of Asiatic Cheetah habitat suitability in Dareh-Anjir Wildlife Refuge in Yazd province. Arid Biome Scientific and Research Journal; 3(2): 40-50. (in Persian)
Sawyer, H.; Nielson, R.; Hicks., M. (2009). Distribution and habitat selection patterns of mountain sheep in the Laramie Range. Western Ecosystems Technology, Inc. Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Shams-Esfandabad, B. (2014). Habitat preference of the Asiatic cheetah in Iran. Conservation of Asiatic cheetah Project.
Shams Esfandabad, B.; Karami, M.; Hemami, M.R.; Riazi, B.; Sadough, M.B. (2010). Habitat associations of wild goat in central Iran: implications for conservation. South African Journal of Wildlife Research; 56(6): 883-894.
Stamps, J.A.; Swaisgood, R.R. (2007). Some place like home: experience, habitat selection and conservation biology. Applied Animal Behavior Science; 102: 392-409.
Thuiller, W.; Lafourcade, B.; Engler, R.; Araújo, M.B. (2009). BIOMOD-a platform for ensemble forecasting of species distributions. Ecography; 32(3): 369-373.
Tsoar, A.; Allouche, O.; Steinitz, O.; Rotem, D.; Kadmon, R. (2007). A comparative evaluation of presence-only methods for modelling species distribution. Diversity and Distribution; 13(4): 397-405.
Wilcox, B.A.; Murphy, D.D. (1985). Conservation strategy: the effects of fragmentation on extinction. The American Naturalist; 125(6): 879-887.
Williams, P.H.; Araujo, M.B. (2000). Using probability of persistence to identify important areas for biodiversity conservation. Proceeding of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences; 267(1456): 1959-1966.
Wittmann, M.E.; Barnes, M.A.; Jerde, C.L.; Jones, L.A; Lodge, D.M (2016). Confronting species distribution model predictions with species functional traits. Ecology and Evolution; 6(4): 873-879.
Zahedian, B.; Nezami, B. (2019). Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) (Felidae: Carnivora) feeding ecology in Central Plateau of Iran and the effects of prey poor management. Journal of Wildlife and Biodiversity; 3(1): 22-30.
Zamani, N.; Ghandali, M.; Zamani, W.; Mousavi, J; Karami, S (2015). Modeling of Iraninan Cheetah habitat using Ecological Niche Factor Analysis (Case Study: Dareh Anjir Wildlife Refuge). Journal of Applied Ecology; 4(14): 1-12. (in Persian)
Zhang, L.; Liu, S.; Sun, P.; Wang, T.; Wang, G.; Zhang, X. (2015). Consensus forecasting of species distributions: The effects of niche model performance and niche properties. PLoS One; 10(3): 0120056.
Ziaie, H. (2008). A field guide to mammals of Iran. 2nd editon. Tehran: Wildlife Center Publication. (in Persian)