In the present study, the relationship between the plant species Kelussia odoratissima Mozaff and environmental parameters (climate, topography, and NDVI spectral index) in Isfahan province was examined. To model the species' response along the gradient of environmental conditions, the "goeveg" and "eHOF" packages were utilized. The geographical coordinates of the species' presence locations were recorded using GPS devices during field surveys conducted in the growth season (spring). A total of 89 locations were determined through a random-systematic sampling method, and the presence of the species was recorded as occurrence points.Environmental data included 19 bioclimatic parameters, topographic variables (altitude above sea level, slope, and aspect), and the NDVI spectral index, which were determined for each occurrence location. Due to linear correlations between some environmental variables, the number of variables was reduced using cluster analysis based on Pearson correlation and Principal Component Analysis (PCA), identifying six main variables. Environmental variables with correlations greater than 0.8 were selected based on ecological importance, and the others were excluded. The response curve of Kelussia odoratissima in relation to the most important variables was created using the "eHOF" package in R software. The "eHOF" model plotted seven separate regression models for each environmental variable. The best model was determined using the corrected Akaike Information Criterion (AICc), with the model showing the lowest AICc being selected as the best fit.The "goeveg" package was also used to fit species response curves, which includes three models: unimodal, bimodal, and Generalized Additive Model (GAM). The best response curve is automatically determined based on statistical metrics. Using the GAM model, a potential distribution map of Kelussia odoratissima in Isfahan province was produced. The species response curves indicated that this species grows in areas with an altitude range of 2,450 to 2,950 meters, slopes of 20 to 70 percent, annual precipitation of 1,136 to 1,485 mm, an average annual temperature of 6.7 degrees Celsius, the coldest season temperature of -7.51 to -0.45 degrees Celsius, an annual temperature variation range of 17.40 degrees Celsius, and a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) ranging from 0.09 to 0.25. The suitable habitat area covers 515 square kilometers, equivalent to 0.48 percent of the entire province, mostly located in the western and southwestern regions.The results of the distribution map eva‎luation show an overall accuracy coefficient of 86%, a Kappa coefficient of 81%, and an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 83%, indicating good model performance. The results of this study, in addition to determining the ecological requirements of the species, assist managers and natural resource stakeholders in identifying suitable locations for the restoration, cultivation, and reintroduction of the species.

مصطفي تركش اصفهاني

سعيد پورمنافي

حميدرضا كريم زاده , حسين بشري