Using the Lonsdorf and ESTIMAP models for large-scale pollination mapping (Case study: Iran)

The Lonsdorf model simply considers the potential of land covers in providing nesting habitat and floral resources for mapping pollination services in different landscapes. However, this model does not take into account topographic and climatic factors in its modeling and does not include edge effects of factors such as roads, rivers, lakes, and wetlands, which affect the presence of pollinators. To overcome these problems, we used the ESTIMAP model to improve the results of the Lonsdorf model. For this, we included the effects of roads, railways, rivers, wetlands, lakes, altitude, climate, and ecosystem boundaries in the ESTIMAP modeling and compared the results with the Lonsdorf model. The results of the Lonsdorf model showed that the majority of Iran had a very low potential for providing pollination service and only three percent of the northern and western parts of Iran had high potential. However, the results of the ESTIMAP model showed that 16% of Iran had a high potential to provide pollination that covers most of the northern and southern parts of the country. The results of the ESTIMAP model for pollination mapping in Iran showed the Lonsdorf model of estimating pollination service can be improved through considering other relevant factors.