Modeling vegetation distribution based on environmental variables and logistic regression method in Mullah Fahleh area of Firoozabad, Fars province

Vegetation distribution modeling, as a tool that uses statistical methods and GIS, plays an important role in examining the complex relationships between plant community distribution and influential environmental variables. These models are based on data on the presence and absence of species and their correlation with environmental variables and on the hypothesis that environmental factors control the distribution of plant species. One of the objectives of this study was to present a model for predicting the habitat distribution of plant species and to prepare a map for predicting their relative distribution by the logistic regression method. In this study, random sampling method was used to sample vegetation and soil in Molla Fahleh watershed area of Firoozabad, Fars province,. At each sampling point, 4 soil samples were taken from two depths of 0-15 and 15-30 cm. Soil physical and chemical parameters along with physiographic factors (slope, slope direction and elevation) were recorded for each sample. Habitat distribution modeling was performed by logistic regression method using SPSS software for major plant species in the region. According to the results, soil texture, organic matter, clay content, lime content, acidity, slope and height have the underlying role in the distribution of the studied species. The results show that the logistic regression method is able to provide an accurate prediction model most of the plant species in the area.