Wandering the barren deserts of Iran: Illuminating high mobility of the Asiatic cheetah with sparse data

Farhadinia, Mohammad S.; Gholikhani, Navid; Behnoud, Pouyan; Hobeali, Kaveh; Taktehrani, Atieh; Hosseini-Zavarei, Fatemeh; Eslami, Morteza; Hunter, Luke

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2016.06.011

Cited by 19 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…In Africa, studies were located in the Cederberg mountains of Western Cape, South Africa (Martins, ), Ngamiland District of northern Botswana (Rich et al, ), Niokolo Koba National Park of Senegal (Kane, Morin, & Kelly, ) and the Masoala‐Makira protected landscape of Madagascar (Farris et al, ). In Asia, we included studies from the southern Riau landscape of central Sumatra in Indonesia (Sunarto, Kelly, Parakkasi, & Hutajulu, ), the Churia habitat in Chitwan National Park in the south‐central Terai Arc in Nepal (Thapa & Kelly, ) and seven reserves across central Iran (Farhadinia et al, ). Lastly, in Europe, we included a study carried out in four peninsulas along the coast of Finnmark in northern Norway (Hamel, Killengreen, Henden, Yoccoz, & Ims, ; Henden et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing global patterns in mammalian carnivore occupancy and richness by integrating local camera trap surveys

Rich

Davis

Farris

et al. 2017

Global Ecol Biogeogr

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108

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Aim Biodiversity loss is a major driver of ecosystem change, yet the ecological data required to detect and mitigate losses are often lacking. Recently, camera trap surveys have been suggested as a method for sampling local wildlife communities, because these observations can be collated into a global monitoring network. To demonstrate the potential of camera traps for global monitoring, we assembled data from multiple local camera trap surveys to evaluate the interchange between fine‐ and broad‐scale processes impacting mammalian carnivore communities. Location Argentina, Belize, Botswana, Canada, Indonesia, Iran, Madagascar, Nepal, Norway, Senegal, South Africa, and the U.S.A. Methods We gathered camera trap data, totalling > 100,000 trap nights, from across five continents. To analyse local and species‐specific responses to anthropogenic and environmental variables, we fitted multispecies occurrence models to each study area. To analyse global‐level responses, we then fitted a multispecies, multi‐area occurrence model. Results We recorded 4,805 detections of 96 mammalian carnivore species photographed across 1,714 camera stations located in 12 countries. At the global level, our models revealed that carnivore richness and occupancy within study areas was positively associated with prey availability. Occupancy within study areas also tended to increase with greater protection and greater distances to roads. The strength of these relationships, however, differed among countries. Main conclusions We developed a research framework for leveraging global camera trap data to evaluate patterns of mammalian carnivore occurrence and richness across multiple spatial scales. Our research highlights the importance of intact prey populations and protected areas in conserving carnivore communities. Our research also highlights the potential of camera traps for monitoring wildlife communities and provides a case study for how this can be achieved on a global scale. We encourage greater integration and standardization among camera trap studies worldwide, which would help inform effective conservation planning for wildlife populations both locally and globally.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing global patterns in mammalian carnivore occupancy and richness by integrating local camera trap surveys

Rich

Davis

Farris

et al. 2017

Global Ecol Biogeogr

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108

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“…First, we retained habitat patches larger than the minimum patch size needed to hold breeding populations of leopards in Iran, ~ 250 km 2 , (Ghoddousi et al 2010). We then calculated the nearest-neighbor distance between patches and removed unoccupied habitat patches that were greater than 200 km from occupied patches [~ equal to the longest movement has been recorded for Asiatic cheetah in arid ecosystems of Iran (Farhadinia et al 2016)] to exclude suitable patches from inaccessible areas.…”

Section: Species Distribution Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species and space: a combined gap analysis to guide management planning of conservation areas

et al. 2020

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Context With accelerating global declines in biodiversity, establishment and expansion of conservation areas (CAs) have increasingly been advocated in recent decades. Gap analysis has been useful to evaluate the sufficiency and performance of CAs. Objectives Researchers often identify putative gaps in the protection of biodiversity in CA networks, drawing on evidence from species occurrence patterns (i.e., representation), yet the effect on the gap analyses of the spatial configuration of CAs is poorly understood. Methods Focusing on two large, charismatic carnivores of western Asia, Persian leopard and Asiatic cheetah, we used species distribution models (SDMs) to map potentially suitable habitats throughout the region. We calculated species representation for four categories of CAs within the conservation network in Iran and used a new application of graph theory to include their spatial configuration into our gap analysis. We then regressed species representation against spatial configuration to provide more insights into the performance of different categories of CAs. Results Results showed that the existing CA network conserves only 32% of the suitable habitats for the two species. Leveraging spatial configuration of the conservation areas into the gap analysis, however, revealed that the recentlyestablished less strictly CAs disproportionately provide a higher contribution to the collective effectiveness of the entire conservation network. Conclusions We introduce network bias as a new concept in reserve design and argue that incorporating spatial configuration into CA gap analysis improves the ability Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems Corporationto evaluate the effectiveness of reserve network designs, and is an important decision support tool for integrated conservation planning. Response to Reviewers:Reviewer 1: Overall, it is a nicely written paper, which investigate the distribution range of two species of conservation importance in Iran and also the importance of existing conservation areas in providing structural connectivity among the species' core habitats. I have a few major concerns with the analysis used in the methods that authors should address before the manuscript being accepted.*Response: We are glad the reviewer thought the paper addressed an important and novel topic and appreciate the positive feedback on its overall presentation. KeywordsThe list of keywords is not fit to the paper and aims. Please re-write the keywords based on the aims and findings. Also write "species distribution models" instead of SDM. *Response: Done. We changed the keywords and wrote species distribution models instead of SDM. It is worth mentioning that we tried to not use keywords from the title of the manuscript. L28: As you know, PAs in Iran are classified into five main groups (i.e. national parks, wildlife refuges, protected areas, natural monuments, and no-hunting area). One of these classes are protected areas. So, I thinks that authors use a better title for overall ...

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“…EOO can often be measured by a minimum convex polygon.'' The Asiatic cheetah shows long inter-reserve movements in Iran (Farhadinia et al 2013(Farhadinia et al , 2016a and we believe that the calculated EOO can provide a reasonable estimate of the range loss trends in the country.…”

Section: Extent Of Occurrencementioning

confidence: 78%

“…These records were based on physical evidence examined by at least one of the authors (i.e., 'confirmed') or sightings by experienced game guards (considered here as 'suspected'). Cheetahs accompany their cubs on average 17 months (Caro 1994) and are known to cover multiple adjacent reserves (Farhadinia et al 2013(Farhadinia et al , 2016a. In order to avoid double counting, we were conservative in estimating the number of unique families.…”

Section: Direct Sightingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cheetah in Iran are presently restricted to extremely arid regions where they show nomadic ranging behavior, covering several reserves (Farhadinia et al 2016a). Therefore, efforts to protect the cheetahs and their prey must be coordinated at both national as well as defined landscape levels, rather than within reserves, because they are likely to share the same individuals.…”

Section: Conservation Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The critically endangered Asiatic cheetah Acinonyx jubatus venaticus in Iran: a review of recent distribution, and conservation status

Farhadinia

Hunter

Jourabchian³

et al. 2017

Biodivers Conserv

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Considerable effort has been put into conservation of the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah Acinonyx jubatus venaticus in Iran during the past few decades, and a thorough review of the species' status, demography, range and conservation is provided here. We collated a large dataset of all verified occurrence data, photographic records and mortality cases since 1980 throughout the species' range in Iran. Currently, the cheetah is Communicated by Karen E. Hodges.

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Wandering the barren deserts of Iran: Illuminating high mobility of the Asiatic cheetah with sparse data

Cited by 19 publications

References 18 publications

Assessing global patterns in mammalian carnivore occupancy and richness by integrating local camera trap surveys

Assessing global patterns in mammalian carnivore occupancy and richness by integrating local camera trap surveys

Species and space: a combined gap analysis to guide management planning of conservation areas

The critically endangered Asiatic cheetah Acinonyx jubatus venaticus in Iran: a review of recent distribution, and conservation status

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