Habitats with high suitability of Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), a priority for conservation of Hyrcanian forests

The Hyrcanian forests are rich in terms of biological diversity. Besides, they are known to be much valuable due to geographical isolation and having the fauna and flora. However, these forests, because of the wide range of human activities, are among the most endangered ecosystems of Iran. In this study, the Great Spotted Woodpecker has been used as a surrogate for determining patches with high value of preservation. To do this, first, we gathered the habitat points in which the related species exist. Then, the environmental variables effective on the species distribution were prepared for developing a habitat suitability model for the species. The model, finally obtained, showed that the majority of forest habitats to be protected have been located in the eastern half of Golestan Province. Two variables, i.e. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and altitude were known to be the most effective indices in achieving the final habitat suitability model. Referring to the results of the study, the first two altitude classes of Caspian forests, the community of oak trees and the areas with dense canopy were decided to be in priority of conservation. According to what mentioned, it is, therefore, necessary and inevitable to ecologically enrich the forests through forest proper management and make them more sustainable ecologically.