Din Jaffar Ud, Hameed Shoaib, Ali Hussain, Norma-Rashid Yusoff, Hasan Adli Durriyyah Sharifah, Nawaz Muhammad Ali
Snow Leopard Trust, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Saudi J Biol Sci. 2022 Jan;29(1):197-203. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.08.071. Epub 2021 Aug 26.
The snow leopard () inhabits one of the most challenging environments on Earth, referred to as the 'third pole'. Only a fraction of its vast range has been explored thus far, owing to myriad of barriers inflicted by the remote terrain and socio-ecological realities of the landscapes. Understanding distribution patterns of species is essential to devise practical management measures. This study aimed to understand the distribution pattern and factors influencing occupancy of snow leopard in the Pamir Mountain range through sign-based occupancy modelling. Our study confirmed that the Pamir range is a snow leopard stronghold, with occupancy estimated at 0.57 ± 0.02. The topographic features positively influenced the detection probability (p = 0.37 ± 0.005) of snow leopards. Occupancy was influenced by mean annual precipitation (β = -6.12 ± 1.8), density of roads (β = -1.61 ± 0.6) and water sources (β = 0.74 ± 0.4). Our findings underpin that sign-based distribution surveys provide vigorous scientific knowledge about elusive species and merit replication being used for other species. We propose to redefine the protected area boundaries based on ecological knowledge and encourage transboundary cooperation to safeguard snow leopards at a landscape scale.
雪豹（）栖息于地球上最具挑战性的环境之一，即被称为“第三极”的地方。由于偏远地形以及当地社会生态现实所带来的众多障碍，迄今为止，其广袤分布区域中仅有一小部分得到了探索。了解物种的分布模式对于制定切实可行的管理措施至关重要。本研究旨在通过基于痕迹的占有率建模，了解帕米尔山脉雪豹的分布模式及影响其占有率的因素。我们的研究证实，帕米尔山脉是雪豹的一个据点，其占有率估计为0.57±0.02。地形特征对雪豹的探测概率有正向影响（p = 0.37±0.005）。占有率受年平均降水量（β = -6.12±1.8）、道路密度（β = -1.61±0.6）和水源（β = 0.74±0.4）的影响。我们的研究结果表明，基于痕迹的分布调查能为难以捉摸的物种提供有力的科学知识，值得在其他物种研究中进行复制。我们建议根据生态知识重新划定保护区边界，并鼓励开展跨界合作，以便在景观尺度上保护雪豹。
