Predicting habitat suitability of the critically endangered Be'er Sheva fringe-fingered lizard.

ABSTRACT: Anthropogenic changes, such as land use, are the main drivers causing climate change and biodiversity loss, with hundreds of thousands of species lacking sufficient habitats for their populations to persist and likely to go extinct within decades. Endemic species are more susceptible to habitat changes and are at the forefront of the biodiversity crisis. We used species distribution models to generate a relative habitat suitability map and identified the habitat requirements of the critically endangered and endemic Be'er Sheva fringe-fingered lizard (Acanthodactylus beershebensis). The model showed that the species' suitable habitats are associated with arid loess plains characterized by scattered, low vegetation cover, primarily on north-facing aspects, suggesting that these specie

SUBMITTER: Horesh SJA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11327611 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature