Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) habitat suitability modelling in the Alborz Mountains

Abstract

Brown bear is the largest carnivore in Iran and is distributed the throughout the mountainous area of the country. The largest population of species inhabit the northern slopes of Alborz Mountains and the Hyrcanian mountainous forests part are the main species distribution area . Therefore, identifying the effective Biogeographical factors and selection of the suitable habitat by the species plays an important role in the describing species distribution. We collected the brown bear presence points in the three Northern Provinces of Iran Guilan, Mazandaran and Golestan. After testing the correlation of the parameters, the species habitat suitability map was prepared by using the Maximum Entropy Method. The results indicated that the model performed well in predicting suitable areas. The results of Jackknife analysis showed that the slope and after that vegetation index variables have the most effects on the suitability of the species habitat. Most parts of the study area are suitable for brown bear.