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Grant support

We are grateful to B. Schatti, H. Ghaffari and R.A. Pyron for providing occurrence data of H. andreanus and guiding us. We also thank J.C. Brito, B.J. Halstead, S.C. Anderson, M. Blair and an anonymous referee for their helpful comments and suggestions on the manuscript. RC was supported by the postdoctoral fellowship SFRH/BPD/85040/2012 from the Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal). We also thank FCT funding by "UID/Multi/04326/2013" for CCMAR.

Analysis of institutional authors

Chefaoui, Rosa MAuthor

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Article

Identifying suitable habitats and current conservation status of a rare and elusive reptile in Iran

Publicated to:Amphibia-Reptilia. 39 (3): 355-362 - 2018-01-01 39(3), DOI: 10.1163/15685381-17000185

Authors: Chefaoui, Rosa M; Hosseinzadeh, Mahboubeh Sadat; Mashayekhi, Meysam; Safaei-Mahroo, Barbod; Kazemi, Seyed Mahdi

Affiliations

Islamic Azad Univ, Qom Branch, Dept Biol, Coll Sci, Qom, Iran - Author
Islamic Azad Univ, Sci & Res Branch, Dept Environm & Energy, Tehran, Iran - Author
Pars Herpetologists Inst, 3th Floor,24 Roodbar S Walley, Tehran, Iran - Author
Univ Algarve, CCMAR Ctr Ciencias Mar, CIMAR Lab Associado, Campus Gambelas, P-8005139 Faro, Portugal - Author
Univ Birjand, Dept Biol, Fac Sci, Birjand, Iran - Author
Zagros Herpetol Inst, PO 12,Somayyeh 14 Ave, Qom 3715688415, Iran - Author
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Abstract

Knowledge gaps regarding species distribution and abundance are great in remote regions with political instability, and they might be even larger concerning elusive and rare species. We predict the potential distribution for Hierophis andreanus, a poorly known endemic snake in the Iranian Plateau, and assess its conservation status in relation to existing protected areas. We used a maximum entropy modeling tool and Mahalanobis distance to produce an ensemble species distribution model. The most suitable habitats where located mainly in mountain ranges and adjacent areas of Iran and Afghanistan. Mean temperature and slope were the most important predictors for our models. Furthermore, just five localities for H. andreanus were inside the Iranian protected areas. A 10 km expansion from existing boundaries of protected areas in all directions would double protected localities to 10, and a 20 km buffer would result in 13 protected localities. Our findings are particularly valuable to select locations to conduct new surveys and produce a more reliable estimate of current population size to improve conservation and management for this reptile in the Irano- Anatolian region.

Keywords

Andreanus wernerBiodiversityClimateDistributionsEcological niche modellingEndemicHierophisIranian plateauMorphologyPredictionProtected areasSmall sample sizeSnakeSpecies distribution modelsSquamata colubridaeSuitability

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Amphibia-Reptilia due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2018, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Animal Science and Zoology. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q3 for the agency WoS (JCR) in the category Zoology.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 1.47, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-29, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 9
  • Scopus: 10

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-29:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 20 (PlumX).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Iran; Portugal.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Chefaoui Díaz, Rosa María) .