Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Amirmohammad Habibi ¹
• bonyad ahmadi ¹
• Mehdi Gholamalifard ²
• Seyed Mahmoud Ghasempouri ¹
• Ali Ghoraei ³

¹ Department of Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Noor, Iran

² Noor

³ Department of Environment, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran

Abstract

The Shirahmad Wildlife Refuge, located in Razavi Khorasan Province in northeastern Iran, is one of the key habitats for the Goitered Gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa), which is currently facing environmental and anthropogenic pressures. This study employed a multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) approach to assess habitat suitability and to identify the key factors influencing the distribution of Goitered Gazelles within the refuge. The criteria used in the model included distance from ranger stations, watering points, streams, rivers, core protection zones, forests, grasslands, roads, agricultural lands, dirt roads, salt flats, and slope. The results indicated that areas located near water sources—specifically watering points (weight: 0.1753) and rivers (weight: 0.1432)—as well as ranger stations (weight: 0.1975), demonstrated higher habitat suitability. Model accuracy, evaluated using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, yielded a value of 0.82, confirming the high reliability of the final habitat suitability map. Sensitivity analysis identified distance from rivers and slope as the most influential criteria. The accuracy assessment of the sensitivity-adjusted outputs revealed that increasing the level of sensitivity analysis also enhanced habitat suitability scores. The Mann-Kendall and Theil-Sen trend analyses indicated an upward trend, with higher habitat suitability observed in the northern and western parts of the refuge compared to the southern and eastern regions. The results underscored the importance of water availability, vegetation cover, and security as major factors influencing the spatial distribution of Goitered Gazelles in the area. Accordingly, it is recommended to construct artificial watering points in the central and western parts of the refuge and to establish ranger stations near the villages of Yahyaabad and Jolein. Moreover, analysis of changes in criterion weights demonstrated the sensitivity of habitat suitability maps to such variations. These findings contribute to improving the accuracy of habitat evaluations and support the development of more effective strategies for the conservation and restoration of Goitered Gazelle populations.

Keywords

• Goitered Gazelle
• Habitat Suitability
• Sensitivity Analysis
• Shirahmad Wildlife Refuge