Identification of connections between habitat spots and modeling the habitat suitability of Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) in Yazd province

The Persian panther(Panthera pardus saxicolor)is the largest species feline family in Iran with the widest distribution among large feline cats that is distributed in most habitats of the country.The aim of this study was to identify habitat spots and connection pathways between known spots for Persian panthers.In order to model the species presence points and 11 habitat variables were used including topographic moisture, altitude,altitude roughness, distance from main roads,distance from residential areas, peak density,vegetation density index, vegetation density roughness, Normal water difference index, sky visibility coefficient and valley depth along with presence and quasi-absence methods of classification and regression tree(CART),random forest(RF),TreeNET and MARS. All possible models were combined by the AUC method, and from the inverse of that map,the cost map was obtained, and the threshold maps were collected together,and in the algebraic sum,4different dimensions of home area of the habitat spots were determined.Corridors between habitat spots were identified using the least cost analysis(LCP)method.Connection the protected areas of the province to each other was also done from the theory electrical circuit. According to the agreement between the results of Kalmand and Bafgh protected areas,Shirkuh no-hunting area has the largest area, Siahkuh protected areas and national park the lowest area of the species habitat, respectively.In combination with the results of the analysis of the lowest cost based on habitat spots,it should be noted that the connection of habitat spots in the Bafgh Protected Area to the Kalmand Protected Area can guarantee the spread of the species in Shirkuh and Marvar areas