Effects of Ecological Conditions and Physical Variables of the Dinvarab River in the Kermanshah Province on the Habitat Suitability Index of Alburnus sellal Heckel (1843)

This study aimed to investigate effects of ecological conditions, physical and hydrological parameters of a river, and to examine the appropriate method to determine Alburnus mossulensis fish habitat desirability in the Dinvarab River in the Kermanshah province. Ecological factors including physical and hydrological variables of the habitat (water flow velocity, depth, river width, water temperature, the percentage of bedrock, average diameter of rocks, vegetation type of substrate, total soluble solids, electrical conductors and pH) were measured from the downstream to the upstream across the 1 km range and 854 specimens were caught from all stations. Habitat Suitability Index of each station was calculated using the software of R using four arithmetic average, geometric mean, minimum and maximum. The results showed that the average arithmetic model was the best method for calculating the habitat suitability index in this study. The station 2, with a habitat suitability index of 0.8 was the most desirable habitat for A. sellal. By calculating the optimal habitat area, it was found that 406.801 m2 of the River is suitable habitat for A. sellal. Assessment of the habitat conditions of this native fish can be useful in managing the Dinvarab River ecosystem to protect the habitat of the fish in environmental studies of water resources.