Prediction models are essential for the potential geographic distribution of scorpions, prevention of scorpion stings and diverse applications in conservation biology. There is limited information about habitat suitability and the factors affecting the distribution of Iranian digger scorpions. This study was undertaken to model the distribution of three types of digger scorpion in Iran, Odontobuthus doriae Thorell, Odonthubutus bidentatus Lourenco (Scorpiones: Buthidae) and Scorpio maurus Pocockin (Scorpiones: Scorpionidae), and investigate the factors affecting its distribution using the maximum entropy method. A total of 20 environmental and climate variables were used for modeling and evaluation of the ecological niche. The similarities and differences between the ecological overlap of the digger scorpions were evaluated using comparative environmental niche model (ENM Tools software). The results showed that the main factors for habitat suitability of O. doriae were soil type, mean temperature of the wettest quarter and slope. The variables for S. maurus were soil type, precipitation of the coldest quarter and slope. Annual temperature range, mean temperature of the driest quarter and land use had the greatest influence on the distribution of O. bidentatus. The ecological niches for O. doriae and O. bidentatus overlapped. The niche of these species differed from the niche of S. maurus. This approach could be helpful for the prediction of the potential distribution of three digger scorpion species and this model can be an effective for the promotion of health.

中文翻译：

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使用最大熵法对伊朗的Odontobuthus doriae、Odonthubutus bidentatus（Scorpiones：Buthidae）和Scorpio maurus（Scorpiones：Scorpionidae）进行生态建模和分布分析

预测模型对于蝎子的潜在地理分布、防止蝎子叮咬以及在保护生物学中的各种应用至关重要。关于栖息地适宜性和影响伊朗挖掘蝎子分布的因素的信息有限。本研究旨在模拟伊朗三种挖掘蝎子的分布，Odontobuthus doriae Thorell、Odonthubutus bidentatus Lourenco (Scorpiones: Buthidae) 和 Scorpio maurus Pocockin (Scorpiones: Scorpionidae)，并使用最大熵研究影响其分布的因素方法。总共使用了 20 个环境和气候变量来对生态位进行建模和评估。使用比较环境生态位模型（ENM Tools 软件）评估挖掘蝎子生态重叠之间的异同。结果表明，影响O. doriae生境适宜性的主要因素是土壤类型、最湿区平均温度和坡度。S. maurus 的变量是土壤类型、最冷区的降水和坡度。年温差、最干旱区平均温度和土地利用对O. bidentatus的分布影响最大。O. doriae 和 O. bidentatus 的生态位重叠。这些物种的生态位不同于 S. maurus 的生态位。这种方法有助于预测三种挖掘蝎子物种的潜在分布，该模型可以有效促进健康。