E ISSN: 2583-049X
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International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Research and Studies

Volume 4, Issue 5, 2024

Habitat Suitability Modelling and Mapping of Anatolian Wild Sheep (Ovis gmelinii anatolica Valenciennes, 1856)



Author(s): Ahmet Acarer

Abstract:

The Anatolian wild sheep (Ovis gmelinii anatolica Valenciennes, 1856), distributed in the Bozda? wildlife development area, has been described as the story of saving the first symbolic mammal wild animal species in Türkiye from extinction. In this respect, the necessary protection, management and planning studies for the Anatolian wild sheep, which is in danger of extinction, have been put forward. However, no digital and model-based mapping has been found for the Anatolian wild sheep, which is endemic and in danger of extinction in Türkiye. This study aimed to perform digital habitat suitability modelling and mapping of the Anatolian wild sheep distributed in the Bozda? wildlife development area. For this purpose, the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) method, which is generally preferred in target species protection studies for wildlife ecology and management, was preferred. According to the Anatolian wild sheep habitat suitability model results, it was determined that the training data set AUC value was 0.993 and the test data set AUC value was 0.992 and in the “very good” model category. It was determined that the variables contributing to the model were annual precipitation, precipitation of the driest quarter, isothermality, elevation, annual mean temperature and topographic position index, respectively. As a result, the habitat suitability mapping of the Anatolian wild sheep predicted by MaxEnt was presented based on the variable values contributing to the model.


Keywords: Anatolian Wild Sheep, Bozdag WDA, Endemic Species, Management and Planning, Maximum Entropy

Pages: 945-952

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