Modeling Distribution and Habitat Suitability for the Snow Leopard in Bhutan

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is one of the world's most elusive felids. In Bhutan, which is one of the 12 countries where the species still persists, reliable information on its distribution and habitat suitability is lacking, thus impeding effective conservation planning for the species....

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Autores principales:	Dechen Lham, Gabriele Cozzi, Stefan Sommer, Phuntsho Thinley, Namgay Wangchuk, Sonam Wangchuk, Arpat Ozgul
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	Bhutan ensemble habitat suitability protected areas species distribution model snow leopard General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution QH1-199.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/829a802043b84d728dac705eee54bdce
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:829a802043b84d728dac705eee54bdce
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:829a802043b84d728dac705eee54bdce2021-11-12T11:03:38ZModeling Distribution and Habitat Suitability for the Snow Leopard in Bhutan2673-611X10.3389/fcosc.2021.781085https://doaj.org/article/829a802043b84d728dac705eee54bdce2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2021.781085/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2673-611XThe snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is one of the world's most elusive felids. In Bhutan, which is one of the 12 countries where the species still persists, reliable information on its distribution and habitat suitability is lacking, thus impeding effective conservation planning for the species. To fill this knowledge gap, we created a country-wide species distribution model using “presence-only” data from 420 snow leopard occurrences (345 from a sign survey and 77 from a camera-trapping survey) and 12 environmental covariates consisting of biophysical and anthropogenic factors. We analyzed the data in an ensemble model framework which combines the outputs from several species distribution models. To assess the adequacy of Bhutan's network of protected areas and their potential contribution toward the conservation of the species, we overlaid the output of the ensemble model on the spatial layers of protected areas and biological corridors. The ensemble model identified 7,206 km2 of Bhutan as suitable for the snow leopard: 3,647 km2 as highly suitable, 2,681 km2 as moderately suitable, and 878 km2 as marginally suitable. Forty percent of the total suitable habitat consisted of protected areas and a further 8% of biological corridors. These suitable habitats were characterized by a mean livestock density of 1.3 individuals per hectare, and a mean slope of 25°; they closely match the distribution of the snow leopard's main wild prey, the bharal (Pseudois nayaur). Our study shows that Bhutan's northern protected areas are a centre for snow leopard conservation both at the national and regional scale.Dechen LhamGabriele CozziStefan SommerPhuntsho ThinleyPhuntsho ThinleyNamgay WangchukSonam WangchukSonam WangchukArpat OzgulFrontiers Media S.A.articleBhutanensemblehabitat suitabilityprotected areasspecies distribution modelsnow leopardGeneral. Including nature conservation, geographical distributionQH1-199.5ENFrontiers in Conservation Science, Vol 2 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Bhutan ensemble habitat suitability protected areas species distribution model snow leopard General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution QH1-199.5
spellingShingle	Bhutan ensemble habitat suitability protected areas species distribution model snow leopard General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Dechen Lham Gabriele Cozzi Stefan Sommer Phuntsho Thinley Phuntsho Thinley Namgay Wangchuk Sonam Wangchuk Sonam Wangchuk Arpat Ozgul Modeling Distribution and Habitat Suitability for the Snow Leopard in Bhutan
description	The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is one of the world's most elusive felids. In Bhutan, which is one of the 12 countries where the species still persists, reliable information on its distribution and habitat suitability is lacking, thus impeding effective conservation planning for the species. To fill this knowledge gap, we created a country-wide species distribution model using “presence-only” data from 420 snow leopard occurrences (345 from a sign survey and 77 from a camera-trapping survey) and 12 environmental covariates consisting of biophysical and anthropogenic factors. We analyzed the data in an ensemble model framework which combines the outputs from several species distribution models. To assess the adequacy of Bhutan's network of protected areas and their potential contribution toward the conservation of the species, we overlaid the output of the ensemble model on the spatial layers of protected areas and biological corridors. The ensemble model identified 7,206 km2 of Bhutan as suitable for the snow leopard: 3,647 km2 as highly suitable, 2,681 km2 as moderately suitable, and 878 km2 as marginally suitable. Forty percent of the total suitable habitat consisted of protected areas and a further 8% of biological corridors. These suitable habitats were characterized by a mean livestock density of 1.3 individuals per hectare, and a mean slope of 25°; they closely match the distribution of the snow leopard's main wild prey, the bharal (Pseudois nayaur). Our study shows that Bhutan's northern protected areas are a centre for snow leopard conservation both at the national and regional scale.
format	article
author	Dechen Lham Gabriele Cozzi Stefan Sommer Phuntsho Thinley Phuntsho Thinley Namgay Wangchuk Sonam Wangchuk Sonam Wangchuk Arpat Ozgul
author_facet	Dechen Lham Gabriele Cozzi Stefan Sommer Phuntsho Thinley Phuntsho Thinley Namgay Wangchuk Sonam Wangchuk Sonam Wangchuk Arpat Ozgul
author_sort	Dechen Lham
title	Modeling Distribution and Habitat Suitability for the Snow Leopard in Bhutan
title_short	Modeling Distribution and Habitat Suitability for the Snow Leopard in Bhutan
title_full	Modeling Distribution and Habitat Suitability for the Snow Leopard in Bhutan
title_fullStr	Modeling Distribution and Habitat Suitability for the Snow Leopard in Bhutan
title_full_unstemmed	Modeling Distribution and Habitat Suitability for the Snow Leopard in Bhutan
title_sort	modeling distribution and habitat suitability for the snow leopard in bhutan
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/829a802043b84d728dac705eee54bdce
work_keys_str_mv	AT dechenlham modelingdistributionandhabitatsuitabilityforthesnowleopardinbhutan AT gabrielecozzi modelingdistributionandhabitatsuitabilityforthesnowleopardinbhutan AT stefansommer modelingdistributionandhabitatsuitabilityforthesnowleopardinbhutan AT phuntshothinley modelingdistributionandhabitatsuitabilityforthesnowleopardinbhutan AT phuntshothinley modelingdistributionandhabitatsuitabilityforthesnowleopardinbhutan AT namgaywangchuk modelingdistributionandhabitatsuitabilityforthesnowleopardinbhutan AT sonamwangchuk modelingdistributionandhabitatsuitabilityforthesnowleopardinbhutan AT sonamwangchuk modelingdistributionandhabitatsuitabilityforthesnowleopardinbhutan AT arpatozgul modelingdistributionandhabitatsuitabilityforthesnowleopardinbhutan
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Modeling Distribution and Habitat Suitability for the Snow Leopard in Bhutan

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