مدیریت و حفاظت از تنوع زیستی

Today, with the entry of Persian squirrel species by humans into the foothills of Alborz mountain range, especially Qazvin and Alborz provinces, it has caused damage to the environment and local communities. The aim of this study was to provide a structural model of attitudes of gardeners damaged by the infestation of Persian Squirrels in Qazvin and Alborz provinces for efficient management and control of squirrel invasion in the region.

The present study is applied in terms of purpose and in terms of data collection, it is of survey type. In this study, a questionnaire was used in Alborz and Qazvin provinces. Validity of the questionnaire from three methods; Convergent validity, Factor Analysis and Divergent validity was used; And for the reliability of the questionnaire in two methods; Cronbach's alpha and sequential theta were used and the questionnaire was reviewed and validated; The statistical population of gardeners is damaged; Its size was estimated based on the Cochran's formula of 392 people. Then the structural equation model with partial least squares method was used to estimate the Unknown parameters of the model used.

Research findings showed, the degree of agreement with control strategies, Knowledge about squirrels and ethical considerations are the most important determinants of a reliable level 99% P≤0.01 Respectively with effect coefficients 0.330, 0.256, -0.258 has a Meaningful effect on attitudes damaged gardeners. our other findings showed that the damage factor as an independent external factor added to the model had the most significant effect on the 99% confidence level of P P≤0.01 on the attitude of ethical considerations, beliefs, squirrel control feasibility and agreement with control strategies; There is with effect coefficients -0.236, -0.172, -0.175, 0.244.

The results of the study indicate that increasing knowledge and awareness about the effects and harms of squirrel invasion in the region is the main factor in increasing public support for control management or eradication of invasive squirrels.

Persian squirrel recently in the southern slopes of the Alborz Mountains of Iran, Especially the provinces of Qazvin and Alborz are seen abundantly; the influx of Persian squirrels has caused economic and ecological damage to the region and has become a major public concern. The present study was conducted to model the future distribution of squirrels in the region and to protect desirable areas where invading squirrels have not yet entered. In this study, in order to model the distribution of squirrel infestation in the region, MaxEnt software was used, which uses the maximum entropy model for modeling. Dependent variables included the presence points of the invading Persian squirrel species in the region and the independent variable includes 14 environmental variables consisting of habitat and climatic variables affecting the habitat suitability of Persian squirrel species. The results of the model show that the variables; land use (Regional garden floors, urban and agricultural areas), mean diurnal range (Bio 2) and vegetation (irrigated farming floors and orchards and tree canopy) are the most important variables affecting the habitat suitability of squirrel species. The model output results showed, Regional gardens, urban areas, agriculture and ecologically sensitive areas such as conservation areas (Central Alborz, Bashgol, Alamut, and Taleghan no-hunting area that the invading squirrel has not attacked it is a habitat suitability for this invasive species and has been exposed to the future invasion of this species. Therefore, there is a need for preventive measures to prevent irreparable economic and ecological damage to native species.