Habitat suitability modelling of marbled teal (Marmaronetta anguistirostris) based on MaxEnt method

Recognizing the habitat requirements of wildlife species, especially endangered species, is of vital part of wildlife management. The purpose of this study was to habitat suitability modeling for vulnerable species of marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris) in the northern part of Shadegan International Wetland. The presence of species was achieved by conducting field studies and reports from local communities and DOE experts. Environmental factors used as effective variables on presence include water depth, water temperature, electrical conductivity, acidity, soluble oxygen content, vegetation type, vegetation density index (NDVI) and distance from the village. Then, the variables needed for modeling were prepared using the GIS and finally, a Maximum Entropy Model (MaxEnt) was used to prepare the habitat suitability map. The results showed that the MaxEnt based on AUC had a good operation in this study (AUC = 0.981). Also EC, DO, Distance to village, vegetation type and depth was as important environmental variables respectively