Alireza Mohammadi

University of Jiroft · Department of Environmental Science and Engineering

The feeding ecology of gray wolves has been investigated extensively worldwide. Despite previous studies on food habits of wolves in Asia and Iran, none has focused on the diet of the species in a scenario of depleted of wild prey and with recent records of attacks on humans. Here, we combined telemetry methods and scat analysis to study the diet o...

We evaluated local communities’ fear of wolves in a scenario of wolf attacks on people and livestock in Western Iran. In particular, we investigated the interaction between experiences of wolf attacks (both on people and livestock) and three factors: behavioral action (management action, e.g., livestock carcass management), religious (e.g., the bel...

Iran lies at the southernmost range limit of brown bears globally. Therefore, understanding the habitat associations and patterns of population connectivity for brown bears in Iran is relevant for the species’ conservation. We applied species distribution modeling to predict habitat suitability and connectivity modeling to identify population core...

Anthropogenic activities, including road expansion, are one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss in Iran. Central and northeastern Iran have been among the most vulnerable areas where expanding anthropogenic activities (in particular construction of road networks) have come into conflict with conservation and management of the endangered Asiati...

Interspecific killing is a widespread phenomenon among mammalian carnivores; being common, for instance, within the canid guild. The canid guild in Hamadan province, west of Iran, comprises three species: the gray wolf Canis lupus pallipes, the golden jackal Canis aureus, and the red fox Vulpes vulpes. In this area, habitat transformation and agric...

Conservation outside conservation areas (CAs) is more challenging due to increased exposure to human-induced disturbances. Therefore, it is important to identify and designate new CAs that can protect core wildlife habitat patches, as well as key linkages to promote connectivity. We performed this study to identify and prioritize core habitat patch...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269179.].

Human encroachment in natural habitats and consequent landscape modifications pose significant threats to animal populations, particularly endangered species. Therefore, studying the factors that determine the spatial distribution of large carnivores, including those at risk, holds great significance in developing effective conservation strategies....

Large carnivores have long fascinated human societies and have profound influences on ecosystems. However, their conservation represents one of the greatest challenges of our time, particularly where attacks on humans occur. Where human recreational and/or livelihood activities overlap with large carnivore ranges, conflicts can become particularly...

Large herbivores possess high dispersal rates and require vast areas to roam due to their ecology. This will make them susceptible to anthropogenic threats such as vehicle-collisions. Persian onager (Equus hemionus onager), as the only representative of Artiodactyla in Iran, is not an exception. Persian onager-vehicle collision can not only be leth...

Invasive species possess wide-ranging social and ecological impacts globally. Although the ecological impacts are well studied, social aspects especially in developing countries are often poorly understood. Free-ranging dogs (FRDs) (Canis familiaris) are the most abundant carnivore on earth with a high level of invasion. Recently, the presence of F...

Large carnivores’ far ranging habits and their requirements for wide areas often led them to move into unprotected lands, making them especially vulnerable to various human threats. Therefore, it is crucial to better understand their mortality characteristics and potential threats so to help guide conservation efforts. Brown bear is a protected spe...

Humans are responsible for over a quarter of all wildlife mortality events across the globe. The pressure this puts on wildlife populations contributes to the decline of many at-risk species. To minimize human-caused mortality and reverse population declines in species across the world, we first need to know where these events are happening or like...

Central Iran supports a diversity of carnivores, most of which are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. Carnivore conservation requires the identification and preservation of core habitats and ensuring connectivity between them. In the present study, we used species distribution modeling to predict habitat suitability and connectivity mode...

An introduced species is one that enters and occupies a habitat where it does not naturally occur. We have reviewed articles and media sources to shed light on the introduced vertebrate species (hereafter IVS) of Iran. Here, we present a list of IVS in Iran which have the potential to become invasive and are the ones that can harm biodiversity. We...

The combination of increasing trade across an ever more globalized world and the ubiquity of social media access has led to unprecedented levels of wildlife exploitation. In this study, we opportunistically surveyed Instagram and Telegram from 2019 to 2020, two of Iran's most prominent social media platforms, for advertisements of illegally-capture...

Climate change is one of the major challenges to the current conservation of biodiversity. Here, by using the brown bear, Ursus arctos, in the southernmost limit of its global distribution as a model species, we assessed the impact of climate change on the species distribution in western Iran. The mountainous forests of Iran are inhabited by small...

Given the complex and dynamic interrelationships of the underlying factors contributing to conflicts associated with wolf presence and persistence in human‐dominated landscapes, it is often difficult to clearly identify the ultimate causes of these conflicts. In this study, a system dynamics modeling approach was adopted to simulate human–wolf conf...

Conservation of large carnivores requires preservation of extensive core habitats and linkages among them. 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 stripe...

Identifying spatial gaps in conservation networks requires information on species-environment relationships, and prioritization of habitats and corridors. We combined multi-extent niche modeling, landscape connectivity, and gap analysis to investigate scale-dependent environmental relationships, and identify core habitats and corridors for a little...

Context Habitat loss and fragmentation are main drivers of biodiversity loss and are occurring at an accelerating rate globally. Carnivores are often subject to persecution and conflict with humans, typically reside in low densities and require large areas for core habitat and dispersal, which makes them especially vulnerable to habitat loss and fr...

Rapid expansion of roads is among the strongest drivers of the loss and degradation of natural habitats. The goal of the present study is to quantify landscape fragmentation and degradation before and after the construction of the Isfahan-Shiraz highway in southern Iran. To this end, the ecological impacts of the highway on forests, rangelands, and...

Land-use change has led to substantial range contractions for many species. Such contractions are particularly acute for wide-ranging large carnivores in Asia’s high altitude areas, which are marked by high spatiotemporal variability in resources. Current conservation planning for human-dominated landscapes often takes one of two main approaches: a...

1. De Araujo et al. (Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13516) described the development and application of a wire foot snare trap for the capture of jaguars Panthera onca and cougars Puma concolor. Snares are a commonly used and effective means of studying large carnivores. However, the article presented insu...

Free-ranging domestic dogs Canis familiaris threaten wildlife species through predation, hybridization, competition for resources, and by contributing to the transmission of pathogens. The impacts of predation may be problematic, but in many regions the interactions of free-ranging dogs and wildlife are poorly studied. To determine the extent of th...

Southern Iran is a conservation priority area for the endangered Persian onager (Equus hemionus onager), which is threatened by habitat fragmentation and conflict with local communities. To better understand factors that influence onager conservation, we administered a questionnaire in local communities to survey their ecological knowledge, persona...

Central Iran supports a diversity of carnivores, most of which are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. Carnivore conservation requires the identification and preservation of core habitats and ensuring connectivity between them. In the present study, we applied species distribution modeling to predict habitat suitability and used connectiv...

The increasing trend of large carnivore attacks on humans not only raises human safety concerns but may also undermine large carnivore conservation efforts. Although rare, attacks by brown bears Ursus arctos are also on the rise and, although several studies have addressed this issue at local scales, information is lacking on a worldwide scale. Her...

Sitta europaea, with 18 subspecies, has a wide distribution in deciduous forests of Eurasia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships of this subspecies to European, Asian as well as Caucasian clades. 10 individuals of two populations from Zagros forests in Kermanshah and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province...

Nowadays, in western Iran, especially Hamadan province, conflicts between local communities and wolves has peaked and has become a major concern for local people. In this research, in order to investigate the role of social components, social network analysis was used to portrait a scenario in reducing conflict between local communities and environ...

The amphibian decline and extinction crisis demands urgent action to prevent further large numbers of species extinctions. Lists of priority species are an important tool for the Effective allocation of scarce conservation resources. Amphibians of Iran consist of 22 species belonging to six families. In this study we have analyzed 15 species of Ira...

Divergent evolution between Western Rock Nuthatch Sitta neumayer and Eastern Rock Nuthatch S. tephronota is widely recognised as the original case study of character displacement. However, in their contact zone in the Zagros Mountains, Iran, the morphological differences important for niche segregation between the two species remain unknown. We inv...

Two sympatric nuthatch species, Sitta tephronota and S. neumayer, provided the exemplar case of character displacement when the term was coined. The two species are quite similar morphologically but have diverged from one another in sympatry, presumably because of competition-driven selection favoring the partitioning of food resources. However, ac...

The transportation networks within and adjacent to protected areas degrade natural habitats and contribute to a higher risk of mortality through roadkill. Following years of unplanned and unsustainable road network development in Iran, the protected areas of signifi cant biodiversity value have suffered from such phenomenon. Yazd Province, one of I...

There is little chance for species with competitor to develop intraspecific variability such as sexual dimorphism. Sitta tephronota is a well-known rock-dwelling bird species in Iran, which occurs in Zagros Mountains in strong ecological competition with Sitta neumayer. Thus, no sexual dimorphism is expected for Sitta tephronota in this area. Despi...

Mammals are increasingly affected by ongoing trend of extinction and one fourth of the world’s existing known mammalian species are endangered. Lack of proper conservation strategy can lead to non-suitable allocation of resources to larger species and ingoring smaller taxa. Despite Iran’s rich diversity of mammalian fauna which is predominantly com...

Sitta tephronota has three subspecies in Iran: S. t. obscura, S. t. tephronota and S. t. dresseri, with the latter occurring with very gradual variation in plumage in Zagros Mountains. Despite our knowledge about plumage variation, morphometrical variation in this subspecies is little known. In this study, we investigated geographical variation of...

Mammals are increasingly affected by ongoing trend of extinction and one fourth of the world’s existing known mammalian species are endangered. Lack of proper conservation strategy can lead to non-suitable allocation of resources to larger species and ignoring smaller taxa. Despite Iran’s rich diversity of mammalian fauna which is predominantly com...

Mammals are increasingly affected by ongoing trend of extinction and one fourth of the world’s existing known mammalian species are endangered. Lack of proper conservation strategy can lead to non-suitable allocation of resources to larger species and ingoring smaller taxa. Despite Iran’s rich diversity of mammalian fauna which is predominantly com...

A 2-year study of the food habits of the Persian leopard was conducted in Sarigol National Park in northeastern Iran, North Khorasan Province. Based on an analysis of 52 leopard scats, the principal prey was wild sheep (Ovis orientalis: prey frequency of occurrence = 61.5%; prey relative frequency of occurrence = 47.05%; relative biomass = 53.96%),...