Global Ecology and Conservation (Apr 2024)
Promoting the conservation of the leopard in North China based on habitat suitability and connectivity
Abstract
Protection of large carnivores is a global biodiversity conservation issue. Habitat fragmentation has had a negative impact on the abundance and distribution of leopards (Panthera pardus) worldwide. Understanding the survival of leopards in these human dominated and fragmented landscapes is a major challenge. This study was conducted to assess habitat suitability for the North China leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis) in North China, and to determine the connectivity corridors and potential areas for habitat restoration to support leopards. We used the occurrence points of the North China leopard and maximun entropy model to examine habitat suitability. Based on the graph-based connectivity metric (the probability of connectivity, PC), we evaluated connectivity within each protected area. Through circuit theory modeling and least-cost path method, we determined the important connectivity corridors and restoration areas that were most likely to improve the connectivity of the North China leopard habitat. The results showed that forest coverage and human population density (POP) were the variables that contributed the most to habitat suitability prediction, with a positive association with forest coverage and a non-linear relationship with increasing POP. Approximately 17% of the potential core suitable habitats for North China leopards were located within the current protected areas. The PC value of each protected area was positively correlated with its potential suitable habitat area (r = 0.475, p < 0.05). The important restoration areas were mainly located between potential core suitable habitat groups or protected area groups (composed of highly connected protected areas). The study highlighted that the protection of the North China leopard should be carried out on multiple scales, such as within each protected area, between the protected areas, and between the protected area groups. The research methods proposed in our study could also provide insights for the conservation and sustainable management of other large carnivores.
