EXAMINING SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF CROW SPECIES BY COMBINING ARCMAP & MAXENT MODEL

ABSTRACT: Species spatial database and mapping can be an excellent management tool for predicting patterns of biological diversity and for monitoring species spatial distribution, or even identifying geographical locations of conservation significance. This type of database and mapping can also increase our understanding of the appropriateness of habitat areas for individual species by using various GIS applications that enable us to predict problems related to the living, existence and biological diversity of certain species. This will help us take appropriate decisions in order to solve such problems and preserve the natural environment. This study focuses on examining spatial distribution of the crow species, specifically (House crow) in the Sultanate of Oman by using ArcMap & Maxent model. The current simple datasets of crow location will be examined and accompanied with the following two sets of variables: (1) environmental variables such as temperature, slope, height, natural vegetation etc., and (2) human variables such as distance to road, and settlements and change of landuse over time, etc. The final output of the possible spatial distribution of the crow bird in Oman will be presented as a new layer that will show perfect consistency between actual datasets of crow location and the prediction and distribution of the crow in the entire study area. 1