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چکیده
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The Zagros region, with almost 5 million hectares of forest,accounts forabout 40%of the total forests in Iran. The overexploitation of Zagros forests over many years has turnedthese valuable forests into sensitive and fragile ecosystems. Therefore, it is essential to plan for the future of forests based on their expansion trendsover the past decades. The Persian Squirrel, a species of paramount significance among mammals in Zagros oak forests, plays a crucial role in the ecosystem.Acquiring comprehensive knowledgeofthe habitat needs of thisspeciesis imperativeto formulate effectivemanagement policies aimed at its preservation. This study examined quantitative (surface and density) changes in the forests of Lorestan province using Landsat satellite images (1993–2022). The maximum disorder software (Maxent) was used to prepare habitat desirability mapsof the Persian Squirrel. The classification was carried out using a supervised method, classifying educational samples,and using the normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI). The classification accuracy was 94% for TM imageryand 98%for OLI imagery,with Kappa coefficientsof 86% and 98%, respectively. Forest and Non-Forestareas covered560,955.072 and 2,268,422.076 hectares of the study area in 1993,respectively. For 2022, these amounts were 409,148.81 and 2,420,249.49, respectively. In total, a staggering 5.6% of the forest area in the study area has been destroyedin recent decades. The forest density change was estimated using the FCD model, with the highest values being 0–10% inthetwo periods. The results showed that the most suitable habitats forthePersian Squirrel were located in the south and southwest of the province (93% = AUC). The mainvariables affecting this species'habitat desirability includeddistance from riversand precipitation duringthe driest three months of the year.
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