Habitat suitability analysis of snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and bharal (Pseudois nayaur) in the Sanjiangyuan National Park

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  • (1 Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Xining 810001, China)
    (2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China)
    (3 Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining 810001, China)

Online published: 2019-07-25

Abstract

Snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is the flagship species of biodiversity conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. They feed mainly on Bharal (Pseudois nayaur). Study of the habitat suitabilities of the two species can provide a scientific basis for their population protection in Sanjiangyuan National Park. Based on our extensive survey of Pseudois nayaur and Panthera uncia distributions in the national park, we used a Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) model to evaluate Pseudois nayaur and Panthera uncia habitat suitabilities and their spatial distribution patterns in the food chain, and to investigate the relationship between habitat and the main environmental variables. The results showed that altitude, the precipitation during the driest month, and the annual temperature range were the main environmental factors affecting the spatial distributions of Pseudois nayaur and Panthera uncia. The optimum altitude ranges of the two overlapped in the range of 4660 ~4730 m, and the precipitation during the driest month and the annual temperature range of the two overlapped in the range of 2 ~4 mm and 33.7℃~37.0℃, respectively. The areas of high- and medium-level suitable habitat for Panthera uncia and Pseudois nayaur in the national park were 19 246 km2 and 39 977 km2, accounting for 15.63% and 32.47% of the total area of the park, respectively. Meanwhile, the areas of overlap for high- and medium-level suitable habitat was 16 621 km2, accounting for 13.50% of the total area of the park. These were mainly located in the northeast, central and eastern regions of
Lancang river source park and the southeast region of Yangtze river source park. This study can provide a theoretical basis for the formulation of protection and management measures for Pseudois nayaur and Panthera uncia in the Three-River-Source National Park.

Cite this article

CHI Xiangwen, JIANG Feng, GAO Hongmei, QIN Wen, WU Tong, ZHANG Jingjie, CAI Zhenyuan, ZHANG Tongzuo . Habitat suitability analysis of snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and bharal (Pseudois nayaur) in the Sanjiangyuan National Park[J]. ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA, 2019 , 39(4) : 397 -409 . DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150300

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