SummaryAsian Houbara Chlamydotis macqueenii is a vulnerable flagship species specific to steppe, desert and semi-desert habitats of the Middle East and Central Asia. Iran provides a critical corridor in the middle of Asian Houbara’s migratory route and also hosts a relatively large proportion of wintering and breeding populations. The aim of this study was to assess the distribution and habitat suitability of both wintering and breeding populations of Asian Houbara in Iran and evaluate the effectiveness of the existing protected area network for long-term protection of the species. For this purpose, 644 occurrence points for wintering and 216 points for breeding birds were collected from 17 Iranian provinces during 2015 to 2017. We then used a consensus species distribution modelling (SDM) approach using 11 uncorrelated environmental variables to explore the distribution of Asian Houbara habitats. Results showed that climatic and topographic variations have the most significant influence on the regional-scale distribution of Asian Houbara. Of the suitable habitats recognised for the wintering and breeding populations, 40.6% and 29.6% respectively overlapped with the extent of the protected network. A high level of spatial niche similarity (78%) was observed between wintering and breeding populations. The central, eastern and south-central Iranian semi-arid regions and desert landscapes hosted the majority of both wintering and breeding houbara occurrences. Results of this study could be used for adopting direct management planning and raising the protection level of important no-hunting areas.

中文翻译：

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亚洲波斑衣原体在伊朗越冬和繁殖种群的潜在分布

概要亚洲波巴拉麦昆衣原体是中东和中亚草原、沙漠和半沙漠栖息地特有的脆弱旗舰物种。伊朗在亚洲波巴拉的迁徙路线中间提供了一条重要的走廊，并且还拥有相对较大比例的越冬和繁殖种群。本研究的目的是评估伊朗亚洲胡巴拉越冬和繁殖种群的分布和栖息地适宜性，并评估现有保护区网络对该物种的长期保护的有效性。为此，在 2015 年至 2017 年期间，从伊朗 17 个省份收集了 644 个越冬发生点和 216 个繁殖鸟类发生点。然后，我们使用共识物种分布模型 (SDM) 方法，使用 11 个不相关的环境变量来探索亚洲 Houbara 栖息地的分布。结果表明，气候和地形变化对亚洲凤原的区域尺度分布影响最为显着。在为越冬和繁殖种群确定的适宜栖息地中，分别有 40.6% 和 29.6% 的栖息地与受保护网络的范围重叠。在越冬种群和繁殖种群之间观察到高度的空间生态位相似性（78%）。伊朗中部、东部和中南部的半干旱地区和沙漠景观是大多数越冬和繁殖波巴拉发生的地方。