Distribution Modeling of the Hybrid Sister Taxa in Passeriformes

Abstract

Background and Aims: Species separation based on phylogenetic results can be supported by modeling whose input is habitat data. In the present study, two sister taxa that have been separated based on molecular documentation have been examined in terms of habitat influencing factors that may have been involved in this separation, as well as in terms of past and future historical distribution. Materials and methods: in order to model the distribution of species, Bio-Climatic variables from CHESLA database with variables of DEM, Slope and vegetation index were examined as habitat data to input the model. Also, the presence points of the species were filtered after collection in the reproductive interval and added to the models as train data. In this study, sdm package including eight models (GLM،GAM ، BRT، RF،CART ،SVM ، MaxEnt و MARS) in R software environment was used for modeling. Modeling of species distribution from the last glacial period to 2050 was also performed. Results and discussion: the results showed the ecological niche separation of the species under the influence of environmental variables. . Also, according to the results, in 2050, suitability habitats for Embriza bruniceps species will be limited to the northeast of the country and for Embriza melanocephala species, suitability will be limited to areas in the south of Alborz mountain range, northwest and west of Iran. According to the results the area of suitable habitats for Embriza melanocephala species in the west has been less than today, which according to studies,