Habitat modeling of the common pheasant Phasianus colchicus (Galliformes: Phasianidae) in a highly modified landscape: application of species distribution models in the study of a poorly documented bird in Iran

Figures & data

Figure 1. Distribution records of Phasianus colchicus talischens in Gilan province (black dots).

Figure 2. Habitat suitability map of Phasianus colchicus talischens in Gilan province along with distribution records (white dots).

Table I. Environmental variables used in developing a distribution model for subspecies talischensis in Gilan province.

Variable	Description	Source	Unit
Topographic	Slope: steepness	Jarvis et al. 2008	%
Anthropogenic	Roads: distance to roads	FRWOI 2010	m
	Human settlements: distance to urban and rural areas	FRWOI 2010	m
Land cover	Forest: distance to forest with 5–25% canopy cover	FRWOI 2010	m
	Forest: distance to forest with 25–50% canopy cover	FRWOI 2010	m
	Forest: distance to forest with more than 50% canopy cover	FRWOI 2010	m
	Rangeland: distance to the nearest patch covered by grass or grassland with scattered crops or woody vegetation	FRWOI 2010	m
	Agriculture and orchards: distance to the nearest patch covered by irrigated farms and orchards	FRWOI 2010	m
	Plantation forests: distance to the nearest patch covered by plantation forests	FRWOI 2010	m
Bioclimatic	Precipitation seasonality (standard deviation/mean)	Hijmans et al. 2005	Fraction
	Maximum temperature of warmest month	Hijmans et al. 2005	°C

Table II. Relative contribution of each environmental variable in the subspecies talischensis model.

Predictive variable	Description	Percentage contribution
Topographic	Slope: steepness	0.3
Anthropogenic	Roads: distance to roads	2
	Human settlements: distance to urban and rural areas	2.5
Land cover	Forest: distance to forest with 5–25% canopy cover	6.5
	Forest: Ddstance to forest with 25–50% canopy cover	1.4
	Forest: distance to forest with more than 50% canopy cover	8.8
	Rangeland: distance to the nearest patch covered by grass or grassland with scattered crops or woody vegetation	4.9
	Agriculture and orchards: distance to the nearest patch covered by irrigated farms and orchards (as human-created habitat)	35
	Plantation forests: distance to the nearest patch covered by plantation forests (as human-created habitat)	24.4
Bioclimatic	Precipitation seasonality (standard deviation/mean)	7.6
	Maximum temperature of warmest month	6.7

Table III. The results of the jackknife test of importance of variables. “Without variable” refers to when each variable is excluded in turn and a model created with the remaining variables; “with only variable” refers to when each model is constructed using only one variable.

Predictive variable	Description	Without variable	With only variable
Topographic	Slope: steepness	1.116	0.0014
Anthropogenic	Roads: distance to roads	1.08	0.0883
	Human settlements: distance to urban and rural areas	1.093	0.1783
Land cover	Forest: distance to forest with 5–25% canopy cover	1.023	0.0258
	Forest: distance to forest with 25–50% canopy cover	1.093	0.0216
	Forest: distance to forest with more than 50% canopy cover	1.054	0.1388
	Rangeland: distance to the nearest patch covered by grass or grassland with scattered crops or woody vegetation	1.059	0.22445
	Agriculture and orchards: distance to the nearest patch covered by irrigated farms and orchards	1.011	0.4059
	Plantation forests: distance to the nearest patch covered by plantation forests	0.9046	0.2665
Bioclimatic	Precipitation seasonality (standard deviation/mean)	1.114	0.2342
	Maximum temperature of warmest month	1.093	0.2913

Jarvis A, Reuter HI, Nelson A, Guevara E 2008. Hole-filled SRTM for the globe Version 4, available from the CGIAR-CSI SRTM 90m database. Available: http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org. Accessed Jul 2014 01.

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