Suitable Forest Habitats for Protection of Iranian Squirrel (Sciurus anomalus pallescens) in West Kermanshah Province

The 40 percent of the country's forests are allocated to Zagros area with five million hectare forest. Indiscriminate use of Zagros forests during last decades, has led to convert this valuable forests to sensitive and fragile ecosystems. Iranian Squirrel is an indicator mammal of the Zagros oak forests that unfortunately greatly reduced due to the destruction of habitat as a result of human activities. The aim of this study was to select the suitable remaining patches for conservation of this species. We used species distribution modeling Geographic Information System (GIS) to develop habitat suitability model for Iranian Squirrel in Zagros forests. The results showed that the major suitable patches for this species are located in the West of the city. As well as elevation, distance from roads and vegetation cover variables are most important variables for distribution of this species. The results of this study suggest that forest areas with dense cover and upland forest areas were most favorable habitat for Iranian squirrel species in the Salas-e Babajani County.