The challenge posed by newly discovered cryptic species: disentangling the environmental niches o... more The challenge posed by newly discovered cryptic species: disentangling the environmental niches of long-eared bats
Background: Anthropogenic activities release high concentrations of heavy metals into the aquatic... more Background: Anthropogenic activities release high concentrations of heavy metals into the aquatic ecosystems, which can be absorbed by the aquatic organisms. In this study, the accumulation of cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) was compared in liver, gill and muscle tissues of toothed carp (Aphanius sophiae) in fresh and salt water. Methods: A total of 175 fish samples were collected from the Shoor River, Iran during the spring and summer of 2011. Samples were divided into two groups for salt and freshwater experiments. The individuals of each group were also divided into seven groups, a control group and the other six exposed to the concentrations of 5, 10 and 20 mg/L of arsenic and 5, 10 and 20 mg/L of cadmium. The liver, gills and muscle tissues of the specimens were dissected. The tissues were wet digested in acid and the concentrations of metals were measured using an ICP-OES instrument. Results: The concentrations of both metals were significantly different in various organs in bot...
Bat fauna of Iran has been well-studied and documented. Up to now, 50 species of bats belonging t... more Bat fauna of Iran has been well-studied and documented. Up to now, 50 species of bats belonging to 16 genus have been reported from Iran. Here we report collection of two desert long-eared bat, Otonycteris leucophaea specimens from the Parvand Protected Area in the north-east of Iran as a new locality for this rare bat species, showing its range extension toward the central part of Iran.
Identifying suitable habitats of species is essential knowledge to conserve them successfully. Hu... more Identifying suitable habitats of species is essential knowledge to conserve them successfully. Human activities causes the reduction of population size and habitat suitability of many species. Red-backed Shrike is a widespread in western Palearctic. However, the population of this specie has declined in its geographical range due to the loss of suitable habitats. Therefore, it is necessary to identify its suitable habitats and factors affecting species habitat suitability and to protect its reduction population size. The aim of the present study was to identify the suitable habitat of the Red-backed Shrike and determine the most important predictors of its suitable habitat in Irano-Anatolian biodiversity hotspot. To achieve this goal, species presence points were first collected and seven environmental variables related to climate, topography and anthropogenic activities, were used to construct the species habitat suitable model. Models were built using five distribution modeling me...
Spatial gradients of species richness can be shaped by the interplay between historical and ecolo... more Spatial gradients of species richness can be shaped by the interplay between historical and ecological factors. They might interact in particularly complex ways in heterogeneous mountainous landscapes with strong climatic and geological contrasts. We mapped the distribution of 171 lizard species to investigate species richness patterns for all species (171), diurnal species (101), and nocturnal species (70) separately. We related species richness with the historical (past climate change, mountain uplifting) and ecological variables (climate, topography and vegetation). We found that assemblages in the Western Zagros Mountains, north eastern and north western parts of Central Iranian Plateau have the highest number of lizard species. Among the investigated variables, annual mean temperature explained the largest variance for all species (10%) and nocturnal species (31%). For diurnal species, temperature change velocity shows strongest explained variance in observed richness pattern (...
Abstract Ecological studies have been focused on large, rare or endangered species but species wh... more Abstract Ecological studies have been focused on large, rare or endangered species but species which are adapted to traditional agroecosystems or rural environments received less attention. For example, Little owl is a typical inhabitant of agricultural lands and its population had greatly reduced due to the mechanized agriculture. In this paper, we built the first country level habitat suitability map for the little owl and identified the most influential environmental predictor of its distribution in Iran. We used species presence data (177 distribution points) and eight uncorrelated environmental variables to model the species suitable habitats using the maximum entropy approach (Maxent). Results showed that suitable habitats for this species are located in the northwest, parts of north east and southwest of Iran. Distance to forests, distance to human settlements and distance to agricultural lands are the most important determinants of the little owl distribution in Iran. Human migrations from rural areas to the cities and availability of many vacant human settlements surrounded by traditional and semi-modern agricultural landscapes produce suitable habitats for little owl in Iran.
ABSTRACT This study evaluates and compares habitat preferences and spatial niche breadth and over... more ABSTRACT This study evaluates and compares habitat preferences and spatial niche breadth and overlap between two sympatrically occurring species, the sand cat (Felis margarita) and Rüppell's fox (Vulpes rueppellii), in a desert landscape of central Iran. A field survey from 2014 to 2016 was conducted to collect occurrence points for the two species as well as to identify their structural characteristics of used habitats in the occurrences points. Jacobs' index as a measure of habitat preference, Shannon and Levins' indices as measures of niche breadth, MacArthur, Levins and Pianka's indices as measures of niche overlap were calculated and interpreted. The results of this study showed that the sand cats are specifically restricted to sand dune and sabulous habitat type, whereas Rüppell's foxes have wider ecological amplitude. Sand cats only prefers sand dunes while Rüppell's foxes were found to prefer foothills, badlands, and sand dunes. Rüppell's foxes therefore had a wider niche breadth compared to the sand cats. The asymmetric MacArthur and Levins indices yielded a higher value of niche overlap for the sand cats compared to Rüppell's foxes, while the symmetric Pianka's measure of niche overlap was relatively high for both species. Such habitat preference and niche segregation between the two species may be a result of their feeding habits or the physical protective structure of their habitats attributes.
Climate change has been identified as one of the most important and immediate threats to biodiver... more Climate change has been identified as one of the most important and immediate threats to biodiversity. In this study, we reviewed published papers about the impacts of climate change on Iran’s biodiversity since 2014. We found that among the 37 studied species, 30 species will lose at least some parts of their distribution ranges. However, the distribution of seven species will increase. Climate change will have negative impacts on 81 percent of the studied species thus, it is a major problem for biodiversity conservation in Iran. We suggest that determining the effectiveness of Iran’s protected areas for conservation of biodiversity, and ensuring their connectivity under current and future climatic conditions should be prioritized for future research in Iran.
Efficiency of the existing protected areas network in conservation of biodiversity is one of the ... more Efficiency of the existing protected areas network in conservation of biodiversity is one of the most important challenges of protected areas custodians. Despite there are numerous articles on evaluating the efficiency of the protected areas for conserving the habitat and species on national and international scales, however, in Iran this subject has not been studied yet. The aim of the present study is to investigate the efficiency of Iran's protected areas in country's biome protection. The results showed large differences in country's biomes coverage by protected areas categories. Given that each category of protected area has different goals and existence of all categories is essential to achieve the goal of biodiversity conservation, it is recommended that in the future development of protected areas in country, the appropriate coverage of each biome should be considered. This means that the map of country's biomes is suggested being the basis for selection of n...
The challenge posed by newly discovered cryptic species: disentangling the environmental niches o... more The challenge posed by newly discovered cryptic species: disentangling the environmental niches of long-eared bats
Background: Anthropogenic activities release high concentrations of heavy metals into the aquatic... more Background: Anthropogenic activities release high concentrations of heavy metals into the aquatic ecosystems, which can be absorbed by the aquatic organisms. In this study, the accumulation of cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) was compared in liver, gill and muscle tissues of toothed carp (Aphanius sophiae) in fresh and salt water. Methods: A total of 175 fish samples were collected from the Shoor River, Iran during the spring and summer of 2011. Samples were divided into two groups for salt and freshwater experiments. The individuals of each group were also divided into seven groups, a control group and the other six exposed to the concentrations of 5, 10 and 20 mg/L of arsenic and 5, 10 and 20 mg/L of cadmium. The liver, gills and muscle tissues of the specimens were dissected. The tissues were wet digested in acid and the concentrations of metals were measured using an ICP-OES instrument. Results: The concentrations of both metals were significantly different in various organs in bot...
Bat fauna of Iran has been well-studied and documented. Up to now, 50 species of bats belonging t... more Bat fauna of Iran has been well-studied and documented. Up to now, 50 species of bats belonging to 16 genus have been reported from Iran. Here we report collection of two desert long-eared bat, Otonycteris leucophaea specimens from the Parvand Protected Area in the north-east of Iran as a new locality for this rare bat species, showing its range extension toward the central part of Iran.
Identifying suitable habitats of species is essential knowledge to conserve them successfully. Hu... more Identifying suitable habitats of species is essential knowledge to conserve them successfully. Human activities causes the reduction of population size and habitat suitability of many species. Red-backed Shrike is a widespread in western Palearctic. However, the population of this specie has declined in its geographical range due to the loss of suitable habitats. Therefore, it is necessary to identify its suitable habitats and factors affecting species habitat suitability and to protect its reduction population size. The aim of the present study was to identify the suitable habitat of the Red-backed Shrike and determine the most important predictors of its suitable habitat in Irano-Anatolian biodiversity hotspot. To achieve this goal, species presence points were first collected and seven environmental variables related to climate, topography and anthropogenic activities, were used to construct the species habitat suitable model. Models were built using five distribution modeling me...
Spatial gradients of species richness can be shaped by the interplay between historical and ecolo... more Spatial gradients of species richness can be shaped by the interplay between historical and ecological factors. They might interact in particularly complex ways in heterogeneous mountainous landscapes with strong climatic and geological contrasts. We mapped the distribution of 171 lizard species to investigate species richness patterns for all species (171), diurnal species (101), and nocturnal species (70) separately. We related species richness with the historical (past climate change, mountain uplifting) and ecological variables (climate, topography and vegetation). We found that assemblages in the Western Zagros Mountains, north eastern and north western parts of Central Iranian Plateau have the highest number of lizard species. Among the investigated variables, annual mean temperature explained the largest variance for all species (10%) and nocturnal species (31%). For diurnal species, temperature change velocity shows strongest explained variance in observed richness pattern (...
Abstract Ecological studies have been focused on large, rare or endangered species but species wh... more Abstract Ecological studies have been focused on large, rare or endangered species but species which are adapted to traditional agroecosystems or rural environments received less attention. For example, Little owl is a typical inhabitant of agricultural lands and its population had greatly reduced due to the mechanized agriculture. In this paper, we built the first country level habitat suitability map for the little owl and identified the most influential environmental predictor of its distribution in Iran. We used species presence data (177 distribution points) and eight uncorrelated environmental variables to model the species suitable habitats using the maximum entropy approach (Maxent). Results showed that suitable habitats for this species are located in the northwest, parts of north east and southwest of Iran. Distance to forests, distance to human settlements and distance to agricultural lands are the most important determinants of the little owl distribution in Iran. Human migrations from rural areas to the cities and availability of many vacant human settlements surrounded by traditional and semi-modern agricultural landscapes produce suitable habitats for little owl in Iran.
ABSTRACT This study evaluates and compares habitat preferences and spatial niche breadth and over... more ABSTRACT This study evaluates and compares habitat preferences and spatial niche breadth and overlap between two sympatrically occurring species, the sand cat (Felis margarita) and Rüppell's fox (Vulpes rueppellii), in a desert landscape of central Iran. A field survey from 2014 to 2016 was conducted to collect occurrence points for the two species as well as to identify their structural characteristics of used habitats in the occurrences points. Jacobs' index as a measure of habitat preference, Shannon and Levins' indices as measures of niche breadth, MacArthur, Levins and Pianka's indices as measures of niche overlap were calculated and interpreted. The results of this study showed that the sand cats are specifically restricted to sand dune and sabulous habitat type, whereas Rüppell's foxes have wider ecological amplitude. Sand cats only prefers sand dunes while Rüppell's foxes were found to prefer foothills, badlands, and sand dunes. Rüppell's foxes therefore had a wider niche breadth compared to the sand cats. The asymmetric MacArthur and Levins indices yielded a higher value of niche overlap for the sand cats compared to Rüppell's foxes, while the symmetric Pianka's measure of niche overlap was relatively high for both species. Such habitat preference and niche segregation between the two species may be a result of their feeding habits or the physical protective structure of their habitats attributes.
Climate change has been identified as one of the most important and immediate threats to biodiver... more Climate change has been identified as one of the most important and immediate threats to biodiversity. In this study, we reviewed published papers about the impacts of climate change on Iran’s biodiversity since 2014. We found that among the 37 studied species, 30 species will lose at least some parts of their distribution ranges. However, the distribution of seven species will increase. Climate change will have negative impacts on 81 percent of the studied species thus, it is a major problem for biodiversity conservation in Iran. We suggest that determining the effectiveness of Iran’s protected areas for conservation of biodiversity, and ensuring their connectivity under current and future climatic conditions should be prioritized for future research in Iran.
Efficiency of the existing protected areas network in conservation of biodiversity is one of the ... more Efficiency of the existing protected areas network in conservation of biodiversity is one of the most important challenges of protected areas custodians. Despite there are numerous articles on evaluating the efficiency of the protected areas for conserving the habitat and species on national and international scales, however, in Iran this subject has not been studied yet. The aim of the present study is to investigate the efficiency of Iran's protected areas in country's biome protection. The results showed large differences in country's biomes coverage by protected areas categories. Given that each category of protected area has different goals and existence of all categories is essential to achieve the goal of biodiversity conservation, it is recommended that in the future development of protected areas in country, the appropriate coverage of each biome should be considered. This means that the map of country's biomes is suggested being the basis for selection of n...
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Papers by sohrab Ashrafi