Combining Electrical Circuit Model and Maximum Entropy for designing Protected Corridors between Isfahan and Markazi Provinces

Identifying the migration routes of species between different habitats is essential for development of conservation strategies at landscape scale. Maintaining connectivity in the short to medium-term provides possibility of dispersal, access to suitable habitats, seasonal migration and dynamics of the meta populations, and in the long-term, ensure connectivity between appropriate habitat patches to support movements in response to climate change. In this study, we identified and evaluated migration corridors for vulnerable ungulate species, wild sheep (Ovis orientalis isphahanica) between Haftad Gholleh protected area in Markazi Province, and Mooteh Wildlife Refuge in Isfahan Province in central Iran. To identify migration corridors, two models were used, Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt), and Circuit Theory. Using MaxEnt, species distribution modeling was done in two steps with and without presence data in the unprotected study area. Then, Outputs of MaxEnt model was used to identify connectivity with electrical circuit model. The results shows that maximum connectivity (lowest resistance) is most pronounced only in one rout, however near Haftad ghole protected area, there are several high current paths with the highest habitat suitability. We conclude that protecting and incorporating the remaining suitable migration corridors into the existing protected areas network of Iran seems crucial.