MaxEnt analysis of Ochotona rufescens, Oumm Qatafa

For pika, we collected the coordinates of 35 find spots of recent and sub-recent O. rufescens (Čermák et al.  2006; Khaki-Saneh 2014), a set of 20 rasters representing current (1979 - 2013) climate based on standard 19 bioclim variables at 2.5° resolution (Anthropocene, v1.2b: https://chelsa-climate.org/), and a raster with net primary productivity (NPP) data (Imhoff and Bounoua 2006, https://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/hanpp-net-primary-productivity/). These data were used to construct a Maximum Entropy model for the current distribution of the Afghan pika using the MIAmaxent package (Vollering et al. 2019) in R (version 4.0.2; see SI3 for code and input files). The model provided a list of variables that parsimoniously predict suitable environments for the Afghan pika, and also a projection of the probability of finding suitable habitats, as defined by the bioclimatic variables, in geographical space under present-day conditions. The values of the selected model bioclimatic variables at the present find spots were compared with the same values for Oumm Qatafa to examine its present climatic suitability as a habitat for pikas.