Investigation of Brown Bear (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758) Distribution In the Sephid-Koh protected area of Lorestan Province

Document Type : Ecology

Authors

Department of Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran

Abstract

Brown Bear is the country's largest species in carnivorous which is distributed in a wide range of Alborz and Zagros mountains. Its distribution range in the western part of the country reaches Lorestan province. Sephid-Koh protected area with its vegetation, its breadth and ecological condition has created a good habitat for this species. In order to identify the range of distribution and favorable habitat of this species in the mentioned area, the presence points of species were collected in spring and summer seasons of 1396. 14 effective variables in the distribution of the species were identified. After performing the multicollinearity analysis, 4 variables were omitted due to variance inflation index (VIF) more than 10 and modelling was performed by using 10 habitat variables, 10000 randomized background points and 500 iterations in MaxEnt software. The significance of variables in modeling was done using jackknife analysis. In order to obtain habitat binary map, threshold of the LPT (Lowest Presence Threshold) was used the results of the model validation showed that the model was successful in the average run (AUC = 0.85); and the habitat variables of distance from human settlements, sub roads and altitudes had the most effect on species distribution. Based on the findings, 65% of the Sephid-Koh area is suitable for the brown bear. Regarding the distribution of species in the region, this species can be considered as a health index and a key species of the Sephid-Koh region.

Keywords


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