Habitat mapping as a tool for water birds conservation planning in an arid zone wetland: The case study Hamun wetland

Wetlands, especially those in semi-arid areas, are highly vulnerable to human activities, droughts, and other climate variations. Regards to water resources limitations in these regions, prioritization of management strategies is essential to ecosystem conservation and restoration, particularly during the breeding season of waterbirds. The present study sought to develop a spatial conservation prioritization approach based on remote sensing and geographical information system to identify areas of a wetland which require special protective measures during waterbirds’ breeding season. After the extraction of spatial information from Landsat 8 time series data, maximum entropy and weighted linear combination (WLC) methods were used to identify areas with higher conservation priority. Firstly, waterbirds’ habitat suitability map during their nesting time in Hamun Wetland was constructed. Then, Habitat suitability changes until the end of the nestling period were evaluated and areas providing suitable conditions for longer periods were identified. Moreover, areas with suitable conditions in the beginning of breeding season but unsuitable conditions (caused by the drying of the wetland) in the nestling period were also determined. Considering limited water availability in the study area, carefully designed management strategies are required to conserve waterbird habitats in such parts of the wetland which are at higher risk of drying. The results of this paper highlighted areas with high conservation priority in a wetland with water limitation. This approach can be practically applied in the management of water habitats in arid and semi-arid areas facing water limitations.