ali gholamhosseini

The Bee-eaters, include a group of 31 species of birds with bright colors that lives across the Palaeotropical and southern Eurasia regions. Of these, three species are distributed in Iran. Considering the role of bee-eaters in nature, presence of three species of Bee-eaters in Fars province and the conflict between Bee-keepers and Bee-eaters, it is important to study the distribution of these species in the province. In order to investigate the distribution range of Bee-eaters in ecoregions of Fars province, fieldwork was carried out during 2017 and 2018. In total, 294 points were recorded for the European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster), 58 points for the Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) and 13 points for the Persian Bee-eater (Merops persicus). Results showed that the European Bee-eater is distributed in almost regions of the province, Green Bee-eater in southern and western areas and the Persian Bee-eater in northern and western areas. According to the terrestrial ecoregions for Fars province, the European Bee-eater is distributed in the all three ecoregions including central Persian desert basins in northern areas, Zagros mountains forest steppe in central areas, and south Iran Nubo-Sindian desert and semi-desert ecoregion in southern areas of the province, but the most of its distribution points are related to the Zagros mountains forest steppe ecoregion. The Green Bee-eater is distributed in the Zagros mountains forest steppe and south Iran Nubo-Sindian desert ecoregions, however most of its distribution points are related to the south Iran Nubo-Sindian desert. The Persian Bee-eater is distributed only in the Zagros mountains forest steppe ecoregion.The three Bee-eater species overlap widely in distribution range in some parts of Fars province, and in the areas where all three species coexist, beekeeping is probably associated with a higher risk. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to this point for beehive apiary location.

Ants (Hym., Formicidae) have been recognized as vital components of arid ecosystems. Determining the diversity patterns of ants and the ecological factors behind these patterns is expected to improve our understanding of the functioning of arid ecosystems. Here, we explored patterns of ant species diversity and community composition along an elevational gradient (800 to 2800 m) in the arid area of Central Iran. The elevational gradient in ant diversity and the effects of environmental factors on various indices of ant diversity and species composition were investigated using generalized linear mixed models and variance partitioning analysis. We recorded 34 ant species of 12 genera and 8 tribes from 120 surveyed quadrats. Climate variables were the most important predictors of ant community structure. Indices of ant alpha diversity including Hill numbers and taxonomic diversity increased with elevation. Hill numbers were negatively influenced by temperature, while they were positively affected by precipitation. The observed diversity pattern could be explained by the diversity-productivity hypothesis. In our study area, the maximum primary productivity and consequently the maximum species diversity occurred at high elevations, where precipitation is high and temperature is lower than the extremes that could limit plant productivity. Ant assemblages are expected to become increasingly composed of warm-tolerant species in response to warmer and drier conditions driven by climate change. The distribution of species with lower heat tolerance will be limited to high-elevation areas in Central Iran. These areas could act as refuges for ants and should be considered priorities for conservation

Rich avifauna of Fars province, SW Iran, is a stem from high diversity of habitat and climate beside its geographical position as a crossroad between Palearctic, Oriental, and Afrotropical realms. It shares the greatest number of bird species with the Palearctic region, however two other faunal realms, including Oriental and Afrotropical have a pronounced influence on its avifauna. It seems its bird fauna to be more in common with the Oriental elements than Afrotropical ones; the question addressed in this study. In addition, the province is located east of the Western Palearctic and close to the Eastern Palearctic border. I explored how much its bird elements have in common with the Eastern Palearctic. It is important because in some cases, western and eastern bird elements may come together with a narrow or wide hybrid zone. Based on my expeditions in recent years and pervious published literature, I present the comprehensive annotated checklist including 371 bird species in 197 genera, 68 families and 23 orders. At least 88 species are resident, 193 species are breeding, 33 species are rare and 21 species are vagrant. Based on the international conservation criteria, five species fall under the EN, nine under the VU, 16 under the NT of IUCN and 62 species fall under the appendices of CITES, including eight species in appendix I and 54 in appendix II. Results show that the Fars province shares the greatest number of bird species with the Palearctic region (364). The province lies within the West Palearctic faunal region and as expected, its bird fauna shares a greater number of species with the western Palaearctic than its eastern (346 versus 314). Our results also showed that the two other adjacent faunal regions including Oriental and Afrotropical have influence on its avifauna, and the province shares a greater number of species with the Oriental than to Afrotropical.

Species separation based on phylogenetic results can be supported by modeling whose input is habitat data. In the present study, two sister taxa that have been separated based on molecular documentation have been examined in terms of habitat influencing factors that may have been involved in this separation, as well as in terms of past and future historical distribution.

in order to model the distribution of species, Bio-Climatic variables from CHESLA database with variables of DEM, Slope and vegetation index were examined as habitat data to input the model. Also, the presence points of the species were filtered after collection in the reproductive interval and added to the models as train data. In this study, sdm package including eight models (GLM،GAM ، BRT، RF،CART ،SVM ، MaxEnt و MARS) in R software environment was used for modeling. Modeling of species distribution from the last glacial period to 2050 was also performed.

the results showed the ecological niche separation of the species under the influence of environmental variables. . Also, according to the results, in 2050, suitability habitats for Embriza bruniceps species will be limited to the northeast of the country and for Embriza melanocephala species, suitability will be limited to areas in the south of Alborz mountain range, northwest and west of Iran.

According to the results the area of suitable habitats for Embriza melanocephala species in the west has been less than today, which according to studies,

Climate change is a major driver of species extinction, shifts in species’ phenology, distribution and morphology. Considering global warming impacts on different aspects of bird’s biology, especially on resident species living in lowland and warm areas, in this study, contemporary distribution points of Green Bee-eater in Fars province were combined with climate variables. Models were constructed using the maximum entropy algorithm implemented in MaxEnt 3.3.3 software. We evaluated the impacts of climate change using the General circulation model CCSM4 along with the concentration pathways RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, RCP 6.0, RCP 8.5 from the IPCC Assessment Report 5. Climate suitability maps were constructed based on the average of ten replications by cross validation method. Modelling shows the distribution of this species is restricted to the lowlands of southern, central and western parts of Fars province and there are relatively large climatic potential areas in the southern half. Estimates of relative contributions of the climate variables to the Maxent models show that min temperature of coldest month is the most important variable, and areas with very cold winters are apparently not favorable for this species. To estimate the potential impacts of climate change on the species, the predicted potential areas in the future scenarios were compared with the current potential areas. Results predicted decline in climate suitability but no poleward range expansion. Therefore the responses of each species to future climate change is different and depends on various factors.

Introduction of species outside their native distribution ranges, followed by population establishment and becoming an invasive element, has been a common task and a controversial issue in the last century. The topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva is a gobionid fish native to southeast Asia, with a high dispersion potential, which succeeded in spreading out in many countries of Eurasia and north Africa including Iran during the almost 50 years. In this study, we are addressing the following research questions: (1) how do fish morphology differ in different water bodies by applying traditional, and geometric morphometric methods? (2) does morphology of P. parva show previous molecular-phylogenetic research based on mtDNA? Results revealed that traditional morphometric characters do not demonstrate a high phenotypic variation among 20 populations of P. parva collected from nine basins/river drainages. The cluster analysis of Euclidean distances among groups of P. parva populations (nine basins/river drainages) revealed segregation of three populations (Harirood, Esfahan and Mashkid basins). Based on the genetic background and colonisation history of P. parva using the mitochondrial DNA control region (806 bp) and a cytochrome c oxidase subunit I barcode database (615 bp), presence of three matrilineal haplotypes belonging to two lineages was confirmed: (1) a widespread lineage with a common haplotype found throughout the country and one exclusive haplotype confined to the Mashkid basin, whose origin can be traced back to a single introduction of a small number of propagules from Japan, and (2) a Chinese lineage represented by a single haplotype found in the Shafarood River of the Caspian Sea basin but also translocated to central Iran. This genetic clustering is somehow in correspondence to the dendrogram derived from the cluster analysis of geometric-morphometrics of P. parva populations and might be due to habitat-induced or genetically induced changes (e.g., fish origin), or it may arise due to the combination of both.

The Rollers or Coraciidae (Passeriformes) are distributed in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, and New Guinea. The family has two genera including Coracias with nine species and Eurystomus with four species. Of this species diversity, only European Roller (Coracias garrulus) and Indian Roller (Coracias benghalensis) are found in Iran. Evolutionary biologists have always emphasized the importance of recording contact zones for sister species and relatives. The occurrence of hybridization in Coraciiformes was reported at about 14%. The reproductive range of European and Indian roller is broadly geographically separated, however their geographic distributions are in contact in eastern Iraq, western and southern Iran, and Pakistan. There is no information on the contact zone and hybridization between the two species. Therefore, in this study the distribution of these two rollers in the Fars province (southwestern Iran), contact zone and hybridization were investigated in fieldworks conducted during spring and summer in 2017 and 2018 years. The results showed that the European Roller was distributed throughout all of Fars province except narrow range in the south of the province but the distribution of Indian Roller is more restricted to the southern and western half of the province, so the two species has overlapping zones in the southern half and western parts of the province. In the present study, no hybrid specimens were observed in terms of plumage colors.

Different types of scale deformities have been reported from fishes worldwide, however there is no available study on the abnormal scales in the genus Garra except for G. variabilis. In the present study, scale deformities of three species of Garra including G. rufa, G. persica and Garra sp. from 6 sites of the Iranian drainages were examined and described. Different deformations were observed in focus, anterior, posterior and lateral sides of scales in the studied species, showing both slight and severe abnormalities. The occurrence of twin scales was one of the most interesting cases among various types of scale deformities observed on G. persica and Garra sp. Genetic disorders, diseases (including infection and lesions), developmental anomalies, incomplete regeneration after wounding, physical, and chemical environmental variables including pollutions might be considered as potential factors for scale abnormalities remained to be investigated.

Brown bear (Ursus arctos) is the largest carnivore of Iran with a holarctic distribution in Europe, Asia, and North America. In Iran, its distribution is restricted to the mountain forest areas of Alborz and Zagros and Fars province is on the southernmost distribution boundary for this species worldwide. Iran's brown bears recognized as U. a. syriacus, which has discrete populations at high risk, and there is a critical lack of knowledge concerning different aspects of its biology. This research was carried out in order to identify its distribution pattern and conservation planning for four years in Fars province. As direct observation of brown bears is difficult due to its nocturnal activity, signs are usually used in such researches. A total of 170 signs of this species were recorded in Fars province. The most signs are traces (about 48%) and scat (about 20%). Investigation of the signs and the mapping of the species in Fars province using ArcGIS 10.3 showed that the highest presence of this species belongs to Mountains areas of Marvdasht (32.54%) and Sepidan (31.95%) in the northern parts of the province with a height range of 1600 to more than 2800 meters above sea level. Based on the obtained results it can be concluded that brown bear faces conflict with humans by attack on humans, domestic livestock, honey hives, fish farms and agricultural products in the province.

The karyological and cytological characteristics of an endemic cyprinodont fish of Iran, Aphanius shirini have been investigated for the first time by examining metaphase chromosomes spreads obtained from gill epithelial and kidney cells. The diploid chromosome number of this species is 48. The karyotype consisted of one submetacentric and 23 subtelocentric pairs of chromosomes (2Sm 46St). The chromosome arm number (NF) is 50. Sex chromosomes were cytologically indistinguishable in this tooth-carp. Based on the present and previous reported diploid chromosome number for other cyprinodont species, it can be suggested that the diploid chromosome number of 2n = 48 is the modal number of the cyprinodont fish.

Genetic structure of an endemic tooth-carp fish, Aphanius farsicus from four different water bodies in the Maharlu Lake basin was investigated by applying five microsatellite markers. All of the five examined microsatellite loci showed polymor-phism pattern. A total of four alleles were detected at five microsatellite loci, with an average of 2.8 to 3.5 alleles per locus. Average values of observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.95±0.09 and 0.64±0.02 respectively. None of the tests of linkage disequilibrium were significant between each pair of loci and no deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were detected to test for heterozygote deficiency within populations. The Nei's genetic distance values ranged between 0.03 – 0.13. Analysis of pairwise genetic differentiation between each pair of the populations revealed that fixation index (FST) values ranged from 0.013 to 0.039 and RST ranged from 0.005 to 0.065. High genetic diversity observed within the populations (99%) and low diversity (1%) among them indicating probably high level of gene flow among the studied populations of Fars tooth-carp at the present time or in the past. Regarding low genetic differentiation among the studied populations and results of population assignment test, two hypotheses are suggested and supporting evidence for each hypothesis are provided.

The karyological and cytological characteristics of an endemic cyprinodont fish of Iran, Aphanius darabensis Esmaeili, Teimori, Gholami & Reichenbacher, 2014 have been investigated for the first time by examining metaphase chromosomes spreads obtained from gill epithelial and kidney cells. The diploid chromosome number of A. darabensis is 48. The karyotype consisted of five submetacentric and 19 subtelocentric pairs of chromosomes (5smퟛ). The fundamental number (FN) is 58. Sex chromosomes were cytologically indistinguishable in this tooth-carp. According to this study and previous karyological reports from other cyprinodont species, it can be suggested that the diploid number (2n=48) is common amongst cyprinodont fishes. These results can be used as basic informations in population studies and management and conservation programs.

This study provides a new and updated checklist of the freshwater fishes of the Persis region which drains to the Persian Gulf. The list is based on historical literature records and taxon occurrence data obtained from natural history collections and new fish collections. The confirmed freshwater fishes of the Persis region (sub-basin) comprise 44 species in 34 genera, 14 families, 11 orders and one class. The most diverse order is the Cypriniformes with 23 confirmed species (52.25%) followed by Cyprinodontiformes (6 species, 13.65%), Mugiliformes (4 species, 9.1%), Gobiiformes (3 species, 6.8%) and Perciformes with 2 species (4.55%). Acipenseriformes, Clupeiformes, Gonorynchiformes, Siluriformes, Salmoniformes and Synbranchiformescomprise only one species (2.25%). New species have been discovered, some subspecies have been elevated to species, some are being resurrected from synonymy and some taxonomic problems remain and are commented on briefly. Eleven endemic species (25%) in seven genera and four families and 10 exotic species (22.7%) in 8 genera and 3 families are listed here. The fish taxa were classified into different major groups based on the fish ichthyogeographical origin, ecoregion and ecological factors (tolerance to salt water and mode of life). The long history of connection and isolation from fresh and marine waters, multiple sources of species, uneven distribution of inflows and nutrient inputs, and the low to moderate ranges of salinity, different types of habitat (both fresh and brackish water habitats including rivers, lakes, lagoons, marshes, and marine environments), have all contributed to the high ichthyodiversity of the Persis region. It is proposed that the current isolated river systems of the Persis, Zohreh, Tigris and Kor River basins were interconnected during the Last Glacial Maximum of the Late Pleistocene (21,000–18,000 y. BP) and remained so until the sea-level rise of the Early Holocene (11,000 y. BP.). The predicted geographic distributions for the eight species of this region based on current bioclimatic variables revealed that a relatively large area of suitable climate for these native species in the Persis basin extend to western parts of Iran.

The Iranian Persian chub is an endemic species of the family Cyprinidae known only from few localities in drainages of Southern Iran. It was originally described in the genus Pseudophoxinus as (Pseudophoxinus persidis) and then Petroleuciscus (as Petroleuciscus persidis). In this study, we examined phylogenetic relationships of the Iranian Persian chubwith other relatives in the family Cyprinidae based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene to estimate the phylogenetic (and taxonomic) position of the species. Our molecular phylogenies show that new fish sequences from the drainages in southern Iran are clustered with sequences of the genus Acanthobrama from GenBank while the sequences from two other genera (Pseudophoxinus and Petroleuciscus) are in distinct clade. Therefore, we conclude that the populations of Persian Chub in drainages of southern Iran (i.e., Kol, Kor, Maharlu and Persis) belong to the genus Acanthobrama andspecies Acanthobrama persidis. The predicted geographic distributions for the species showed a large area of suitable climate for A. persidis across south and west of Iran especially in the Kor River basin. Some other parts in the Persis and Tigris are also might have been suitable habitats for this cyprinid species showing possible dispersal route of Acanthobrama from Tigris to the Persis, Kor and Kol basins.

Introgression among hybridizing species plays an important role in intraspecific variations and acquisition of novel traits especially along hybrid zones. The breeding ranges of the Red-headed and Black-headed buntings (Passeriformes) overlap in southestern Caspian Sea where hybrid specimens can be found. Mainly using Mist nets، we sampled 81 specimens of the Red-headed bunting (57 males and 24 females) from north and northeastern Iran in order to investigate sexual dimorphism، intraspecific variation، and role of hybridization on species-specific traits. The Independent sample t test and the PCA were performed on 15 morphometric characters using SPSS and PAST softwares. Furthermore nine chromatic characters were coded and analyzed in PHYLIP and PAUP softwares. Results of morphometric characters showed significant difference between male and females. Analyses of plumage coloration showed that there are at least four morphotypes in the Red-headed bunting. We concluded that using morphometrical and especially chromatic characters we will be able to discriminate pure individuals from most F1 hybrids.

Mast cells are important stromal elements, with different roles in tumorigenesis, including their effect on tumor growth, progression, differentiation and invasion. Histologic grading shows tumor differentiation and is used to predict the invasive behavior of various tumors, including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The aim of the present study was to evaluate and mast cell density (MCD) and its relationship with different grades of OSCC based on three different valid grading systems. In this experimental study, 42 histologic block samples of OSCC were retrieved from the archives of Cancer Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. After hematoxylin and eosin staining of the sections, they were graded according to the methods described by Broder, Anneroth and Bryne. All the samples were subjected to toluidine-blue staining and MCD was determined in 10 fields at ×40. The results were analyzed using one-way ANOVA (α=0.05). Means ± standard deviations of MCD in low-, intermediate- and high-grade tumors were 42.07±23.45, 33±20.32 and 24.92±15.81 according to Broder; 36.08±27.88, 34.38±19.85 and 27±6.32 based on Bryne and 33.25±26.35, 33.50±18.99 and 34.46±21.92 using the Anneroth system, respectively. There were no significant differences in MCD between different OSCC grades in any of the three grading systems (p value = 0.11, p value = 0.68, p value = 0.99). Based on the results of the present study, there is no relationship between MCD in OSCC and the tumor grade in the three grading systems evaluated in this study.

The Gorm mountain with an area of 80000 ha is located in northwest of Jahrom city in Fars province, south of Iran. The area is registered as a no- hunting zone since 1995. In order to study the Herpetofauna of this region, a survey was conducted during Apr. 2007 to Apr. 2008. In this study, three quadrates (size 100×100 m) in different elevations were selected and a total of 225 pitfall traps of two different sizes were placed in the quadrates. Quadrates were visited within three weeks for three months. The trapped samples were collected, transferred to the laboratory, fixed in 10% formalin solution and identified using different valid documents. On the basis of different field works and study of trapped samples in quadrates, 20 reptile species consisting of two species of turtle and tortoise belonging to two genera and two families, eight species of snakes belonging to eight genera and three families and 10 lizard species belonging to ten genera and five families were identified and their conservation status were worked out.