Distribution modeling and habitat cores connections of Muscat mouse-tailed bat, Rhinopoma muscatellum Thomas, 1903 (Chiroptera: Rhinopomatidae) in Iran

Bats as indicators of environmental changes have provided important ecosystem services such as pollination, seed dispersion, and insect population control that reflect their role and status of them in the ecosystem. Therefore, knowledge of the distribution range, habitat requirements and connections is necessary for the management of bat species. The objective of this study is distribution modeling and identification of the connecting network, including corridors and habitat cores of the small mouse tailed bat in Iran. For habitat modelling, species presence points (74 locality) and bioclimatic, topographic and human variables, as well as soil organic carbon, were used. Modelling was performed using the MaxEnt method, and suitable/unsuitable habitat for the species was determined using the TSS threshold. Habitat cores with an emphasis on continuity and then the pairwise connection paths using the least cost path (LCP) analysis identified. To analysis the connectivity, the density metrics and suitability of the corridor in the landscape were used. According to the results of the modelling, there are numerous potential habitats as patches for the species in the country. Most of the habitat cores with an area of over 250 hectares are in the southern and southeastern regions of the country. The length of the set of paths that connect the habitat cores with the lowest cost was estimated 140,399 km, which the highest amount of connection related to the habitat cores is in the southern and southeastern parts.