Yousefi Masoud, Jouladeh-Roudbar Arash, Kafash Anooshe
Stiftung Neanderthal Museum Mettmann Germany.
Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB) Museum Koenig Bonn Germany.
Ecol Evol. 2024 Feb 16;14(2):e10970. doi: 10.1002/ece3.10970. eCollection 2024 Feb.
Freshwater ecosystems are experiencing accelerating global biodiversity loss. Thus, knowing where these unique ecosystems' species richness reaches a peak can facilitate their conservation planning. By hosting more than 290 freshwater fishes, Iran is a major freshwater fish hotspot in the Middle East. Considering the accelerating rate of biodiversity loss, there is an urgent need to identify species-rich areas and understand the mechanisms driving biodiversity distribution. In this study, we gathered distribution records of all endemic freshwater fishes of Iran (85 species) to develop their richness map and determine the most critical drivers of their richness patterns from an ecoregion approach. We performed a generalized linear model (GLM) with quasi-Poisson distribution to identify contemporary and historical determinants of endemic freshwater fish richness. We also quantified endemic fish similarity among the 15 freshwater ecoregions of Iran. Results showed that endemic freshwater fish richness is highest in the Zagros Mountains while a moderate level of richness was observed between Zagros and Alborz Mountains. High, moderate, and low richness of endemic freshwater fish match with Upper Tigris & Euphrates, Namak, and Kavir & Lut Deserts ecoregions respectively. Kura - South Caspian Drainages and Caspian Highlands were the most similar ecoregions and Orumiyeh was the most unique ecoregion according to endemic fish presence. Precipitation and precipitation change velocity since the Last Glacial Maximum were the most important predictors of endemic freshwater fish richness. Areas identified to have the highest species richness have high priority for the conservation of freshwater fish in Iran, therefore, should be considered in future protected areas development.
淡水生态系统正经历着全球生物多样性加速丧失的过程。因此，了解这些独特生态系统的物种丰富度在何处达到峰值有助于其保护规划。伊朗拥有290多种淡水鱼类，是中东地区一个主要的淡水鱼热点地区。鉴于生物多样性丧失的速度不断加快，迫切需要确定物种丰富的地区，并了解驱动生物多样性分布的机制。在本研究中，我们收集了伊朗所有特有淡水鱼类（85种）的分布记录，以绘制其丰富度地图，并从生态区域方法确定其丰富度模式的最关键驱动因素。我们进行了具有拟泊松分布的广义线性模型（GLM），以确定特有淡水鱼丰富度的当代和历史决定因素。我们还量化了伊朗15个淡水生态区域之间特有鱼类的相似性。结果表明，扎格罗斯山脉的特有淡水鱼丰富度最高，而在扎格罗斯山脉和阿尔伯兹山脉之间观察到中等水平的丰富度。特有淡水鱼的高、中、低丰富度分别与底格里斯河上游和幼发拉底河、纳马克以及卡维尔和卢特沙漠生态区域相匹配。根据特有鱼类的分布情况，库拉-里海西南部排水区和里海高地是最相似的生态区域，乌尔米耶是最独特的生态区域。自末次盛冰期以来的降水量和降水变化速度是特有淡水鱼丰富度的最重要预测因子。在伊朗，被确定为物种丰富度最高的地区对于淡水鱼保护具有高度优先性，因此，在未来保护区的发展中应予以考虑。
