Hekmat Amin, Naderi Saeid, Zamani Wahid
Natural Resources Faculty, Department of Environment University of Guilan Rasht Iran.
Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources University of Kurdistan Sanandaj Iran.
Ecol Evol. 2024 Aug 6;14(8):e70090. doi: 10.1002/ece3.70090. eCollection 2024 Aug.
Nowadays, in addition to the destruction and fragmentation of the world's habitats, invasive species, and damage caused by them, are one of the most important factors in the destruction of ecosystems. The raccoon ) is a medium-sized mammal that is placed in mid-levels of the food web and can affect a wide range of species. Considering the damage done to local ecosystems by this invasive species, habitat assessment and determining the factors affecting its habitat suitability would be a key step in managing this species. In this study, using the MaxEnt model and examining 12 environmental parameters (elevation, slope, aspect, geological units, soil type, vegetation, land use, distance to villages, distance to main roads, distance to waterways, average temperature, and rainfall) in the west of Guilan Province, habitat suitability of this alien species was determined, and the most important factors affecting this suitability were investigated. Results showed that the validity value of the model (AUC) was estimated to be 0.852 and parameters such as distance to village (34.5%), elevation (24.2%), and land use (15.9%) are among the most important and effective factors. Also, the results showed that 0.60% of the study area has high suitability, 6.14% moderate, 24.87% low, and 68.36% unsuitable areas for raccoons. The overall result shows that despite the lack of vast favorable areas for this invasive species, an increase in the number and expansion of this species is very likely because of its omnivorous diet, high adaptability to different environments and conditions, as well as extensive niche. All of these factors cause raccoons to spread further in the region and consequently increase the risks and damages to the native ecosystem.
如今，除了全球栖息地的破坏和碎片化之外，入侵物种及其造成的破坏是生态系统破坏的最重要因素之一。浣熊是一种中型哺乳动物，处于食物网的中间层级，会对多种物种产生影响。鉴于这种入侵物种对当地生态系统造成的破坏，栖息地评估以及确定影响其栖息地适宜性的因素将是管理该物种的关键一步。在本研究中，利用最大熵模型（MaxEnt）并考察了吉兰省西部的12个环境参数（海拔、坡度、坡向、地质单元、土壤类型、植被、土地利用、距村庄距离、距主要道路距离、距水道距离、平均温度和降雨量），确定了这种外来物种的栖息地适宜性，并调查了影响这种适宜性的最重要因素。结果表明，模型的有效性值（AUC）估计为0.852，距村庄距离（34.5%）、海拔（24.2%）和土地利用（15.9%）等参数是最重要且最有效的因素。此外，结果显示，研究区域中0.60%的面积对浣熊具有高适宜性，6.14%为中等适宜性，24.87%为低适宜性，68.36%为不适宜区域。总体结果表明，尽管该入侵物种缺乏广阔的适宜区域，但由于其杂食性饮食、对不同环境和条件的高适应性以及广泛的生态位，该物种数量增加和扩散的可能性很大。所有这些因素导致浣熊在该地区进一步扩散，从而增加了对当地生态系统的风险和破坏。
