The results revealed that elevation, distance to conservation areas, categorical climate and grasslands density were the most influential variables for predicting the occurrence of the striped hyaena in the study area. We used the procedure of spatial randomization test to evaluate the coincidence of striped hyaena road crossing with the predicted corridors. The goal of this study was to identify core habitats and corridors by predicting habitat suitability (an ensemble approach), and calculating resistant kernel and factorial least-cost path modeling for a relatively unknown carnivore, the striped hyaena in Khuzestan area in southwestern Iran. Our research can provide a reference for ecological risk assessment under the impact of human activities on other nature reserves in the world.Ĭonservation of large carnivores requires preservation of extensive core habitats and linkages among them. And the joint impact risk area of these four factors expanded by 1.55 times in five years. The TA impact risk area was distributed in strips and expanded by 16.38 % from 2015 to 2017 due to the construction of the G331 national road. But the POPD impact risk area was mainly distributed around settlements and expanded by 6.6 % from 2015 to 2020. In addition, we found that the LUI and IMA impact risk areas were widely distributed and remained stable for five years. The results show that the relationship between LFCI and Land Use Intensity (LUI) showed an inverted “U” shape, the relationship with Population Density (POPD) showed a “rising-flat-rising” trend, and the relationship with Traffic Accessibility (TA) and Industrial and Mining Activity (IMA) showed a positive correlation after a flat interval. Secondly, we identified impact risk areas of each human activity factor on LFCI by the location of threshold points in the curve and analyzed their spatiotemporal variation characteristics from 2015 to 2020. First, we fitted the relationship curve between LFCI and different human activity factors based on the Generalized Additive Model (GAM) to determine the impact patterns of each factor on LFCI. Thus, we constructed a risk assessment methodology to quantitatively assess the risk of different human activities on the Landscape Fragmentation Composite Index (LFCI) in the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park (NCTLNP). However, previous studies had been unable to quantitatively assess the risk of human activities on landscape fragmentation. Risk assessment of human activities on landscape fragmentation in nature reserves can effectively balance the conflict between wildlife conservation and human development. Besides, it is necessary to expand available CAs or establish new-targeted CAs according to mustelid diversity hotspots. CAs protected less than half of mustelid diversity hotspots, which means that wildlife managers should take into consideration the conservation action plan for the mustelid species in Iran. There were some other hotspots along the Zagros Mountains in western Iran.

The main mustelid diversity hotspots were along the Alborz Mountains and the Hyrcanian forest of northern Iran.

The results revealed that the highest richness of the mustelid species was six species for the overlaid map of the modeled core habitats. Accordingly, habitat suitability modeling was carried out for each mustelid species through an ensemble approach, and species richness and mustelid diversity hotspots were determined by overlaying the predicted core habitats. This study aimed to predict the core habitats of the eight mustelid species (family: Mustelidae) in Iran and detect mustelid diversity hotspots based on the highest species richness of these species to compare them with available conservation areas (CAs). The process of habitat loss and fragmentation is inevitable with increasing human activities, necessitating conservation for the areas with the highest priorities (i.e., biodiversity hotspots).

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