Modeling of habitat suitability and prioritizing of destruction factors for the common crane (Grus grus) in aquatic ecosystems of Markazi Province

Meighan wetland is one of the valuable wetlands of Iran in Markazi Province which is known as an important wintering habitat for the common crane (Grus grus). This desert wetland has faced with several environmental challenges, in the last two decades, due to successive drought and the lack of proper management. In the current study, modeling of habitat suitability for the common crane was conducted in Meighan wetland and aquatic ecosystems of Markazi province, using 38 presence points of the crane and with nine environmental variables (climate, vegetation cover, slope, elevation, land use distance to road, rivers and villages) in maximum entropy model (Maxent). In addition, habitat destruction factors were prioritized using a hierarchical analysis process (AHP). The area under the curve (AUC) of the model was estimated 0.997, showing the high accuracy of the model. Three areas were selected as suitable habitats for the common crane including, Mighan wetland, Kamal Saleh Dam in Shazand and 15- Khordad Dam in Delijan city. An area of 4360 hectares equals to 18 percent of Meighan wetland was classified as suitable habitats for the common crane. Suitable habitats were located on the coastal margin of Meighan wetland. Central parts of the wetland and areas far from the wetland were classified as unsuitable habitats. Environmental variables including land use, vegetation type and distance to the roads accounted for the highest contributions to the model. Habitat destruction factors were prioritized using a hierarchical analysis process (AHP). The results of AHP indicated that three factors including road construction, human settlements and land use changes were the most damaging factors with the highest weights. These factors have priority for habitat restoration to improve the ecological habitat of this species.