Assessment of the level of desirability of habitat Gazella subgutturosa with MCE model (Case study: Kalmand Bahadoran protected area in Yazd province)

This study was done with the aim of evaluating the Iranian Gazella’s habitat in Kalmand Bahadoran protected area with multi-criteria evaluation model (MCE). The habitat variables used in the modeling were including: slope, geographic orientation, height, density and flora, water resources, agricultural fields and human habitats. At the first, the variables was prepared for modeling in the IDRISI software 17 version. Then the limitation layers for the Iranian Gazella habitat include slope of more than 10%, height greater than 1600 m, a 100-meter privacy of Human habitats, 500 meters from main roads, 5 kilometers from agricultural fields, 10 kilometers from water resources, achieved with the Bolin algorithm in IDRISI software. Also to determine the weight of each variables, the hierarchical method was used in Idrisi software (IDRISI). The results of variables ranking showed that among used variables, the road variable had the highest weight and the height variable had the lowest. The results of the desirability level assessment in the Kalmand and Bahadoran region showed that the highest level of the region (56.01%), for Iranian Gazella, has moderate utility. Therefore, it can be stated that the Calmand Bahador region is a Gazella area and is relatively good habitat for this species which can improve the desirability level of habitat in the region by managing and planning. The results of this study can be used in implementing conservation and management measures to increase the desirable habitats in Yazd province.