The roles of environmental factors on reptile richness in Iran

Abstract

Iran is usually considered as a bridge between Oriental and African zoogeographical region, and also the 20th global biodiversity hotspot. Herpetofauna of the Iranian Plateau has a high diversity compared to other areas in the region and has always been interesting for herpetologists in terms of biogeography, ecology and zoogeography. In this study, distribution maps of 215 terrestrial reptilian species (of which 50 were endemic to Iran) were digitized and the species richness patterns were correlated with 13 environmental factors using spatial analyses methods. Our results showed that the hotspot regions for all reptilian species are concentrated on south and southwest of Iran. This result is consistent with the Irano-Anatolian biodiversity hotspot. Based on spatial analyses, species richness in the area is affected by seven environmental variables which are associated with temperature and probably interpreted as the most important factor on reptile richness in Iran.