@article{ author = {Ruholamininejad, H. and Morovati, M and Karami, P.}, title = {Investigating the Habitat Patches of the Baluchistan Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus gedrosianus), Using Landscape Metrics (Case Study: Bahr Asman and Zaryab Areas, Kerman Province)}, abstract ={Habitat analysis using landscape metrics can be efficient in better management of habitat. As a critically endangered subspecies, the Baluchistan black bear is scattered in the Bahr Asman and Zaryab areas in Kerman province. The purpose of this study was to model the distribution of the sub-species and evaluate the quality of its habitat patches, using landscape metrics. Distribution modeling was conducted using an ensemble approach, resulting from the combination of presence-only and presence/pseudo-absence data in ModEco software. True Skill Statistic (TSS) threshold was applied to the ensemble model and the habitat patches were analyzed, using landscape metrics. The results showed that the distribution rage is beyond the border of the studied protected areas and the variables related to humidity had the greatest effect on the presence of the species. Based on the metrics analysis, habitat patches in the Zaryab wildlife refugee have higher connectivity and less margin than Bahr Asman protected area. In Bahr Asman protected area, the number of habitat patches is greater than the Zaryab wildlife refugee and the lack of continuity among the patches has led to the edge formation. The results of this study can be used for the habitat management of this critically endangered subspecies  }, Keywords = {Black bear, Ensemble model, Habitat patches, Landscape, Kerman province}, volume = {11}, Number = {2}, pages = {1-17}, publisher = {}, doi = {10.47176/ijae.11.2.10803}, url = {http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-1118-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-1118-en.pdf}, journal = {Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology}, issn = {2476-3128}, eissn = {2476-3217}, year = {2022} } @article{ author = {Sayedzadeh, F. and Soltani, S. and Modarres, R.}, title = {Prediction of Net Primary Production Changes in Different Phytogeographical Regions of Iran from 2000 to 2016, Using Time Series Models}, abstract ={Vegetation cover is an important component of terrestrial ecosystems that changes seasonally. Accurate parameterization of vegetation cover dynamics through developing indicators of periodic patterns can assist our understanding of vegetation-climate interactions. The current study was conducted to investigate and model vegetation changes in some phytogeographical regions of Iran including, Khazari, Baluchi, semi-desert, temperate steppe, warm semi-steppe and arid forest and to compare their stochastic behavior. To study the vegetation changes the net primary production (NPP) was used, based on the products of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor (MOD17A2 series). Seasonal Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) time series model was used for modeling NPP. The Autocorrelation Function (ACF) and Partial Autocorrelation Function (PACF) of time series showed that these areas were static with seasonality in 12-month periods. It also showed that the vegetation in Khazari region was more stable, which indicates a stable environmental condition with the least deviation in water, light and nutrients. We also found that most of the vegetative regions of Iran can be modeled with SARIMA and its changes can be reliably predicted. Estimated models for Khazari (Root-Mean-Square Error, (RMSE) = 0.12, R2 = 0.87, Mean Relative Absolute Error (MARE) = 0.083) and semi-desert (RMSE = 0.12, R2 = 0.95, MARE = 0.048) were more suitable models than other regions.  }, Keywords = {The autocorrelation function, Partial autocorrelation function, Box-Jenkins model, Seasonality, Seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA)}, volume = {11}, Number = {2}, pages = {19-35}, publisher = {}, doi = {10.47176/ijae.11.2.4332}, url = {http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-1119-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-1119-en.pdf}, journal = {Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology}, issn = {2476-3128}, eissn = {2476-3217}, year = {2022} } @article{ author = {Ahmadi, M. and Hemami, M. R. and Kaboli, M. and Malekian, M.}, title = {Ecological Niche Modeling of Mountain Vipers from the Raddei Clade in Iran, Caucasus and Eastern Turkey}, abstract ={Mountain vipers of the genus Montivipera, generally, and the species of the Raddei clade, specifically, are interesting examples of species neo-endemism in Iran, Anatolia, and the Caucasus. Given the critical conservation status of these species, it is necessary to identify their suitable habitats for prioritizing conservation measures. We modeled ecological niche of each species based on four species distribution models, including generalized linear models, generalized boosting models, random forest, and maximum entropy and combined them in an ensemble model. Also, using a new principal component analysis (PCA-env), the ecological niche divergence of the species was investigated. Results indicated that all models with AUC and TSS > 0.9 had excellent predictive performance. The species of the Raddei clade showed different patterns of ecological niche occupation and the greatest differentiation was seen in the gradient of temperature seasonality, annual precipitation, and topographical ruggedness. M. latifii and M. kuhrangica, despite the great geographical distance, revealed the highest degree of niche overlap and niche similarity. Due to the restricted distribution and limited evolutionary adaptability of mountain vipers in the mountainous regions of Alborz and Zagros, it is imperative to plan conservation measures to reduce the factors that threaten the long-term survival of these species.  }, Keywords = {Habitat suitability modeling, Niche conservatism, Evolutionary flexibility, Conservation planning}, volume = {11}, Number = {2}, pages = {37-49}, publisher = {}, doi = {10.47176/ijae.11.2.8531}, url = {http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-1126-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-1126-en.pdf}, journal = {Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology}, issn = {2476-3128}, eissn = {2476-3217}, year = {2022} } @article{ author = {Khosravi, R. and Pourghasemi, H. R. and Moveseghi, Y.}, title = {Assessing Land Use Changes in Areas with High Risk of Human-Brown Bear Conflict in Fars Province}, abstract ={Assessing habitat changes is an important step in the spatial prioritization of management efforts, aimed at reducing conflicts. We assessed landuse/cover change in areas with high risk of human-bear conflict in Fars province. In the first step, we predicted the conflict hotspots, using bear damage incidents, a suit of predictors, and the Ensembles of Small Models (ESMs) approach. In the second step, we assessed the trend of landuse/cove changes in a 30-years period in the areas with medium to high risk of conflict, using remote sensing techniques. Results of conflict risk modeling showed that proportion of suitable habitats, distance to village, density of forest patches, and corridor bottlenecks were the main predictors, contributing to bear damaging risk. A total of 3.75 and 6.91% of the landscape were identified as the areas with high and medium risk, respectively. Assessment of landuse/cove changes showed that in a period of 30 years, the extent of croplands and orchards has increased from 12,167 to 52,662 hectares. Such a substanitial landuse/cover changes can increase the risk of bear damages. The obtained results emphasize that inter-organizational planning is an emergency effort in mitigating human-bear conflicts.}, Keywords = {Human-brown bear conflict, Landuse changes, Risk modeling, Conflict hotspots}, volume = {11}, Number = {2}, pages = {51-64}, publisher = {}, doi = {10.47176/ijae.11.2.833}, url = {http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-1137-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-1137-en.pdf}, journal = {Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology}, issn = {2476-3128}, eissn = {2476-3217}, year = {2022} } @article{ author = {Hemmatzadeh, A. and EsmaliOuri, A. and Mostafazadeh, R. and Golshan, M. and Hazbavi, Z. and Alaei, N.}, title = {Spatio-Temporal Changes of Natural Vegetation Disturbance in the Ahle Iman Watershed, Ardabil Province}, abstract ={The present study aimed to assess the spatio-temporal changes in the natural vegetation cover of Ahl Iman watershed, Ardabil province. For this purpose, land use maps of the three years (2000, 2010, and 2020) were extracted from Landsat satellite images. Then, seven landscape metrics (patch density, edge density, patch richness, splitting index, contagion index, Euclidean nearest neighbor distance, and mean perimeter–area ratio), Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI), and road density were calculated. Finally, the Disturbance Index (DI) was calculated by the sum of the values of the criteria multiplied by their weight in the 11 sub-watersheds. The disturbance index (DI) was classified into very low (0-87), low (88-163), medium (164-239), high (240-315), and very high (>316) categories. Results showed DI of 177.77, 95.17, and 135.07 for the three studied years (2000, 2010, and 2020), representing a moderate, low, and low disturbance respectively. There was no significant difference between the three years in terms of disturbance. Further, the eastern and northern parts had higher disturbance indices compared to the southern and central parts of the watershed.}, Keywords = {Ecological degradation, Index-based approach, Land management, Landscape integrity}, volume = {11}, Number = {2}, pages = {65-82}, publisher = {}, doi = {10.47176/ijae.11.2.13801}, url = {http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-1106-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-1106-en.pdf}, journal = {Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology}, issn = {2476-3128}, eissn = {2476-3217}, year = {2022} } @article{ author = {GhorbanzadehZafarani, Gh. and HosseiniTayefeh, F. and AhmadiGivi, A. and Tollab, M. A. and Saber, A.}, title = {Ecological Health Assessment of the Surface Sediments of the Coral Reefs of Khark and Kharko Islands (Persian Gulf, Iran)}, abstract ={To assess the ecological risk of the coral reef habitats of Khark and Kharko islands in the Persian Gulf, (Bushehr province), the surface sediment samples were collected from seven stations, in September 2019. The islands have a great ecological value due to the presence of coral reefs. The amounts of potentially toxic elements, sediment texture, total organic matter, total phosphorus and total nitrogen in the sediments were measured by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry, sieve analysis, furnace burning method, spectrophotometer, and Kjeldahl, respectively. The mean concentrations of Al, Fe (%) and Ni, Pb, Zn, V, TP and TN (mg/kg) in the sediments were recorded 0.76±0.53, 0.55±0.35, 35±19, 2.1±1.5, 22±10, 40±25, 0.7±0.3 and 14.7±6.2, respectively. Based on the amount of Ni and Zn enrichment factors (moderate to very sever, respectively), their source around Khark Island could be related to human activities, such as oil industries. Pollution load index (0.06-0.25) showed all stations without pollution. The amount of Ni in stations 1 and 7 were higher than the "range of moderate effect" and "level of possible effects", which indicates the possible biological effects of this element on the benthic organisms. In general, the ecological quality of surface sediments around Kharko was better than Khark Island.  }, Keywords = {Sediment, Khark and Kharko Isalnds, Potentially toxic elements, Total phosphorus, Total nitrogen}, volume = {11}, Number = {2}, pages = {83-101}, publisher = {}, doi = {10.47176/ijae.11.2.14221}, url = {http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-1141-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-1141-en.pdf}, journal = {Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology}, issn = {2476-3128}, eissn = {2476-3217}, year = {2022} }