MaxEnt modeling for predicting potential distribution of wildcat Felis silvestris in Iran

Wildcat Felis silvestris, is one of the 8 members of felids in Iran which is distributed widely across the country and is observed all over the country except forests located in north slopes of Alborz Mountains. As there is little information about the status of the wildcat and its habitat, distribution modelling of the species across the country was performed using maximum entropy algorithm (MaxEnt), which is a modelling method, based on only-presence data. Potential distribution map of wildcat and factors affecting distribution of the species were obtained using 144 occurrence records along with 10 eco-geographical variables. Performance of the model was tested by the area under the curve (ROC). The value of AUC = 0.816 for training data revealed that the model has a good possibility for producing potential habitats of Wild Cat in the country. In addition, results of Jack Knife's analysis, land- use, slope and dem out of 10 variables were identified as important factors affecting wildcat distribution in Iranian plateau. Response curve of wildcat to land-use variation showed farms, arid places and desert limit Wild Cat presence in different landscape in present study furthermore Model indicated northern slopes of Alborz Mountains are potentially suitable for wildcat distribution. Based on results of present study, systematic habitat study in order to finding environmental requirements for Wild Cat, additionally conservation planning for wildcat populations in designated regions by the model particularly protected areas away from human settlements is highly recommended.