Investigation of water change trends in Hamoon International Wetland and its effect on waterfowl habitats

Wetlands are valuable ecosystems for biodiversity conservation that have higher importance in arid area to provide water resource. The purpose of this study is to investigate the trend of changes in water resources in Hamoun and its effects on the habitat of waterfowls and shorebirds. In this regard, using satellite images, the water body map has been created and the changes of water category in 1990, 2002, 2015 and 2020 have been studied. The habitat map of waterfowls and shorebirds has been obtained by Maxent during the study period. The results showed that in 1977, the water area was about 321,056.8 hectares, which has provided 301,594.9 hectares of habitat for waterfowls. But in 2002, due to the lack of water resources in the wetland completely dried up, the habitat of birds has been completely degraded. In 2015 and 2020, although the whole wetland was not flooded and part of the wetland was flooded about 81,000 and 190,000 hectares, respectively, but has provided 50,000 and 83,000 hectares of habitat, respectively. The results of this study confirmed the importance of water resources on habitats. The results of this study have spatially identified areas that can provide habitat factors during water scarcity. The results of this study, in addition to the scientific expression of the importance of wetland conservation, are also applicable in the managerial decisions of the region.