Survey Different Scales for Identification of the Habitats’ Parameters (Case Study: Leopard of Golestan National Park)

Today spatial information system provides a powerful tool for wildlife and habitats management. Habitat modeling using spatial information system in addition to prediction of the suitable habitat is an important tool for habitat suitability evaluation of a species. Persian leopard is an endangered species in the Red List of the IUCN. In this research, we used ecological niche factor analysis method and Biomapper satware to determine the most important parameters of habitat, For this, we used changing resolution of ecological and species presence maps using ARC GIS 9.3. The results of this study showed altitude, springs and water sources and road variables are the most effective parameters on leopard dispersion at different scales in Golestan National Park and the best scales are layers with 60×60 and 90×90 resolution. In general, to understand the effect of  processes on distribution and abundance of organisms to achieve the better management of ecosystems, we should consider the effect of environmental variables in different spatial scales.