Survey the habitat suitability of Lacerta media (Reptilia: Sauria) in Iran

Habitat suitability prediction for the animals is one of the ways to achieve the conservation goals for biodiversity. In the present study, habitat suitability of Lacerta media has been evaluated. Based on the maximum entropy result, northwest and western Iran has been predicted as the most suitable for the species presence. Also there are several records of the species presence in Alborz, Markazi, East Azarbaijan and Esfahan provinces that currently situated outside of the suitable predicted region. Precipitation of the coldest quarter with contribution more than 40% was distinguished as the most contributed environmental variable for species presence. Unsuitability prediction of the species presence in central plateau and East Azarbaijan province directly has been influenced by the recent decreasing of winter precipitation. Also, disturbance the habitats of the species along valleys and rivers is the main factors to the decreasing population size of the species. Finally, evaluation the effective factors for species distribution and finding new suitable areas for species presence can help to prevent the species extinction risk in the wild.