Multi‐Scale Habitat Suitability and Spatial Distribution of the European Green Toad
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, cilt.16, sa.73984, ss.1-12, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 16 Sayı: 73984
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1002/ece3.73984
- Dergi Adı: ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Natural Science Collection (ProQuest), Biological Science Database (ProQuest), Scopus, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), BIOSIS, Greenfile, CAB Abstracts, Directory of Open Access Journals, Zoological Record
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-12
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Amphibians are among the most threatened vertebrates globally, primarily because of habitat loss, pollution, climate change,and landscape fragmentation. This study aimed to model and map the potential spatial distribution and ecological suitabilityof the European green toad (Bufotes viridis sensu lato) across the Mediterranean Basin of Türkiye to inform conservation andhabitat management strategies. A multi-criteria decision-making approach integrated with Geographic Information Systems(GIS) was applied. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to assign weights to nine environmental variables: slope,aspect, altitude, canopy cover, temperature, land cover, and distances to roads, urban centers, and freshwater. The weightedlayers were combined to produce a composite habitat suitability map. The model accuracy was validated using 33 georeferencedfield sampling points from Adana Province. Model outputs indicated that approximately 67% of the study area was classified ashigh or very high suitability for B. viridis, while 95.36% of the study area fell within the moderate, high, or very high suitabilityclasses. Proximity to freshwater (weight = 0.352) and temperature (weight = 0.186) were identified as the most influential pre-dictors. Spatial analysis revealed that suitable habitats are primarily concentrated near freshwater systems and low-elevationzones, highlighting the importance of riparian and agricultural landscapes as key breeding and dispersal areas. The integrativeAHP–GIS framework successfully identified critical breeding habitats, ecological corridors, and priority conservation zones forB. viridis. Our findings provide a spatially explicit framework that supports biodiversity conservation and sustainable landscapemanagement in Mediterranean ecosystems, offering a replicable model for amphibian species in other biodiversity-rich but data-deficient regions