مشخصات پژوهش

Biodiversity loss, driven by climate change and human activities that has led to a decline in habitat quality, has become a global crisis in recent decades. Understanding the complex relationship between biodiversity conservation and climate change is essential for effective policy and climate communication. This study quantifies biodiversity using the InVEST model by treating human-induced land-use changes as threats to habitat quality, and maps questionnaire-based perceptions of climate change risks to biodiversity across cold and warm climate zones. The study area is the Jiroft rangelands in Iran, characterized by coexisting cold and warm climate zones and diverse land use types, making it a typical case for arid and semi-arid ecosystems. The results show that perceptions of climate change risks and biodiversity conservation efforts are unevenly distributed, with a significant negative correlation between them (p < 0.01). Structural equation modeling identifies spatial and social factors associated with predictor climate change risk perception that may be potentially influencing these patterns. While biodiversity hotspots in the study area indicate potential for mutually beneficial outcomes in conservation and climate change risk awareness, increased public engagement is needed. Questionnaire-based findings suggest that economic, social, and ecological strategies could be effective in mitigating climate change risks in areas with lower modeled habitat quality and species diversity. These results provide indicative guidance for future efforts to protect biodiversity from the impacts of climate change.