خرس سیاه بلوچی یک گونه به شدت در خطر انقراض است که در جنوب شرق ایران پراکنش دارد. مدلسازی ارتباطات سـیمای سـرزمین بین لکه های زیستگاهی این گونه می تواند مورد استفاده مدیران حفاظت قرار گیرد. درنتیجه، مطالعه ای با هدف مدلسازی کریدورهای بالقوه خرس سیاه بلوچی میان 31 لکه زیستگاهی در ایران با استفاده از روش تئوری مدار انجام شد. نقشه مطلوبیت زیستگاه در نرم افزار Max Ent با استفاده از 101 نقطه حضور و نه متغیر محیطی طراحی و معکوس این نقشه در مدلسازی کریدورهای زیستگاهی استفاده شد. سـپس بـا استفاده از روش تئوری مدار، مناطق با قابلیت مهاجرت زیاد میان لکه های زیستگاهی با چهار خوشه تعیین شده در مطالعه پیشین (بر اساس مدل کمینه هزینه) مقایسه شدند. نتایج این مطالعه، سه خوشه اصلی با قابلیت مهاجرت زیاد برای خرس سیاه بلوچی تعیین کـرد. همچنـین هشت لکه زیستگاهی منزوی براي این گونه تعیین شد که نیازمند اقدامات مدیریتی سریع برای برقراری ارتباط با سایر لکه های زیسـتگاهی این گونه در این منطقه از ایران هستند. روش تئوری مدار به خوبی خوشه های اصلی معرفی شده برای حفاظت از ایـن گونـه را در جنـوب شرقی ایران تأیید کرد. نتایج این مطالعه می تواند الگوی مناسبی براي اولویت بندی حفاظت از زیستگاه های خرس سیاه بلوچی در این ناحیه از ایران باشد.

Dispersal and germination of fruit seed by omnivorous mammals such as bears is common in nature (Traveset & Willson, 1997). The importance of Asiatic Black Bears Ursus thibetanus Cuvier, 1823 in seed dispersal and germination have been documented in India and Japan (Koike et al., 2012; Sathyakumar & Viswanath, 2003). However, little is known about the role of Asiatic Black Bears (hereafter Black Bears) in seed germination and dispersal in other parts of the species range in Asia. In Iran, Black Bears are rare, least studied, and thus much of their ecology remains largely unknown (Yusefi, 2013). Typical of other areas, the diet of Black Bear in Iran consists of herbs, both wild and cultivated fruits, and animal matter (Ghadirian, Qashqaei, Soofi, Abolghasemi, & Ghoddousi, 2017). Seed germination and dispersal of date palm Phoenix dactylifera by Black Bears is common local knowledge in Baluchestan of Iran (Ziaie, 2008); however, no study has addressed the role of the species in this respect in the country. Here, we report the first evidence of date palm seed dispersal and germination (Figure 1) in the scats of Black Bears from the ‘Shushin’ area in Nikshahr County, which is located in Sistan and Baluchestan province, southeast of Iran.

Future changes in climate are imminent and they threat endangered and rare species due to habitat destruction. The Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus gedrosianus) is a rare and vulnerable species whose habitat fragmentation and habitat loss decreased the size of its population significantly. Climate change is another threat to this species that is investigated in this research work. Aiming at this goal, ten species distribution models (SDMs) were applied as helpful tools for evaluating the potential effects of climate change in habitat suitability of Asiatic black bear in Iran. Potential dispersal of Asiatic black bear was modeled as a function of 32 environmental variables for the current time and 2070 for 44 climate change scenarios (CC scenario) of future climate. Our results showed that modeling results depended on type of model. Our results confirmed that one of the greatest threats in the near future for Asiatic black bear was the change of suitable habitat due to climate change. All the CC scenarios showed that migration of this species would be to the north and west areas with higher elevation and that an increase in area would be more than a decrease in area in all scenarios. Recognizing and protecting potential future habitats are of the important activities to conserve this species and identify areas with conservation priority

The Iranian black bear (Ursus thibetanus gedrosianus; IBB) is a critically endangered subspecies. The IBB needs connectivity to access seasonally available foods and to provide gene flow among populations in the mountains of Kerman, Hormozgan, and Sistan and Baluchistan provinces of Iran. We identified IBB cores to be used as termini for modelled corridors. We mapped 31 habitat cores based on 200 IBB presence points from studies during 2008–2013, and 70 presence points from our own observations of IBB footprints and scats in 2014. We used MaxEnt on 101 spatially independent presence points to map areas of high-quality habitat. The largest population patch (approx. 8,700 km2 ) covered 4 protected areas. We used least-cost modelling to model habitat corridors among 31 habitat cores. We considered a corridor locally important if it helped join nearby cores into a cluster that would support a large demographically and genetically vigorous population. We considered a corridor regionally important if it could connect the clusters united by local corridors. The most important local corridors were the corridors creating 4 clusters in the southeast of Iran. Also, we identified the 2 important regional corridors that could connect the 3 most important clusters. Although the density of roads in all habitat corridors was low (18.51 m/km2 ), roads crossed many important corridors. Conservation of main habitat cores and corridors for the IBB in southeastern Iran should be considered by the Department of Environment in Iran.