Habitat Suitability Modelling of Persian Gazelle Using Maxent Model in Hormod Protected Area, Fars Province, Iran
This study employed the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) model to assess the habitat suitability of the Persian gazelle (Gazella bennettii) within the Hormood Protected Area. Habitat modeling was conducted using 45 occurrence points of the species and a range of environmental variables, including topographi...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | fas |
| Published: |
Iranian Scientific Association of Desert Management and Control (ISADMC)
2024-11-01
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| Series: | مدیریت بیابان |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.jdmal.ir/article_715251_3405670decd1f02f539e87761527f06e.pdf |
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| Summary: | This study employed the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) model to assess the habitat suitability of the Persian gazelle (Gazella bennettii) within the Hormood Protected Area. Habitat modeling was conducted using 45 occurrence points of the species and a range of environmental variables, including topographic, climatic, vegetation cover, and anthropogenic factors. All environmental datasets and species occurrence points were prepared in a standardized ASCII format and inputinto the MaxEnt software. The model was executed with 10,000 background points and a maximum of 15 iterations. Model performance was evaluated using the Area Under the Curve (AUC) of the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC), while the Jackknife test was applied to identify the relative importance of environmental variables in predicting habitat suitability. Results from the Jackknife test highlighted that the most influential variables were distance from villages (41.1%), vegetation cover (16.6%), slope (13.7%), and mean daily temperature (10.3%). The study estimated that 17.6% of the total area constitutes suitable habitat for the Persian gazelle, while 82.4% was categorized as unsuitable. The model's accuracy, reflected by an AUC value of 0.87, indicates its robust ability to differentiate between suitable and unsuitable habitats. Given the significant role of anthropogenic factors, particularly proximity to villages, in influencing habitat suitability, the study recommends implementing targeted management strategies. These should prioritize environmental education and raising conservation awareness among local communities residing within and around the study area to mitigate human-induced pressures on gazelle habitats. |
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| ISSN: | 2476-3985 2476-3721 |