Department of Biodiversity Research, Global Change Research Institute CAS, Bělidla 986/4a, 603 00, Brno, Czech Republic.
Institute for Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Benátská 2, 128 01, Prague 2, Czech Republic.
Sci Rep. 2020 Nov 16;10(1):19853. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-76912-7.
The snow leopard is one of the most endangered large mammals. Its population, already low, is declining, most likely due to the consequences of human activity, including a reduction in the size and number of suitable habitats. With climate change, habitat loss may escalate, because of an upward shift in the tree line and concomitant loss of the alpine zone, where the snow leopard lives. Migration between suitable areas, therefore, is important because a decline in abundance in these areas may result in inbreeding, fragmentation of populations, reduction in genetic variation due to habitat fragmentation, loss of connectivity, bottlenecks or genetic drift. Here we use our data collected in Nepal to determine the areas suitable for snow leopards, by using habitat suitability maps, and describe the genetic structure of the snow leopard within and between these areas. We also determine the influence of landscape features on the genetic structure of its populations and reveal corridors connecting suitable areas. We conclude that it is necessary to protect these natural corridors to maintain the possibility of snow leopards' migration between suitable areas, which will enable gene flow between the diminishing populations and thus maintain a viable metapopulation of snow leopards.
雪豹是最濒危的大型哺乳动物之一。由于人类活动的影响，其数量已经减少，而且还在不断减少，包括适宜栖息地的面积和数量减少。随着气候变化，由于树木线上升和随之而来的高山带（雪豹生活的地方）丧失，栖息地丧失可能会加剧。因此，在适宜地区之间迁移很重要，因为这些地区的数量减少可能会导致近亲繁殖、种群破碎化、由于栖息地破碎化导致遗传变异减少、连通性丧失、瓶颈或遗传漂变。在这里，我们利用在尼泊尔收集的数据，通过使用栖息地适宜性地图来确定雪豹适宜的区域，并描述这些区域内和之间的雪豹的遗传结构。我们还确定了景观特征对其种群遗传结构的影响，并揭示了连接适宜区域的走廊。我们的结论是，必须保护这些自然走廊，以维持雪豹在适宜地区之间迁移的可能性，这将使种群之间能够进行基因流动，从而维持雪豹可行的复合种群。
