Dhami Bijaya, Adhikari Binaya, Panthi Saroj, Neupane Bijaya
Tribhuvan University, Institute of Forestry, Pokhara, Kaski, 33700, Nepal.
Pokhara Zoological Park and Wildlife Rescue Center, Kaski, 33700, Nepal.
Heliyon. 2023 May 25;9(6):e16639. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16639. eCollection 2023 Jun.
Over the last few years, intensifying human impact and the deterioration of natural habitats have severely restricted the global distribution of large herbivores. commonly recognized as the swamp deer, is a habitat-specialist endemic large herbivore of the Indian Subcontinent. It is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN and listed in CITES Appendix I due to a steep decline in its population, which is primarily due to anthropogenic causes. In Nepal, the last remaining population of this species is confined to limited pocket areas within the western Terai Arc Landscape. We explored potential habitat for swamp deer across this landscape using species distribution modelling through the MaxEnt algorithm by using 173 field-verified presence points alongside six anthropogenic, four topographic, and four vegetation-related variables. Our study found that out of the total study area (9207 km), only 6% (590 km) was suitable for swamp deer. Approximately 45% of suitable habitat was incorporated within protected areas, with Shuklaphanta National Park harboring the largest habitat patch. The suitability of habitat was discovered to be positively associated with low-elevation areas, areas near water sources, and areas far from settlements, implying the need to conserve water sources and minimize the extension of anthropogenic pressure for their long-term conservation. Additionally, we suggest the implications of a swamp deer-centric conservation strategy, with an emphasis on increasing connectivity through the corridors and landscape-level population connectivity through -boundary conservation initiatives between Nepal and India. Moreover, considering large herbivores' high vulnerability to extinction, similar researche incorporating anthropogenic factors is of the utmost importance to produce vital information on habitat suitability for conserving other regionally and globally endemic, habitat-specialized herbivores.
在过去几年中，人类影响的加剧和自然栖息地的退化严重限制了大型食草动物的全球分布。沼鹿通常被认为是印度次大陆特有的栖息地专家型大型食草动物。由于其种群数量急剧下降，主要是人为原因，它被国际自然保护联盟列为易危物种，并被列入《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》附录一。在尼泊尔，该物种仅存的种群局限于西部特莱弧形景观内有限的小块区域。我们通过使用最大熵算法进行物种分布建模，利用173个实地验证的存在点以及六个与人为因素、四个地形因素和四个植被相关的变量，探索了整个景观中沼鹿的潜在栖息地。我们的研究发现，在整个研究区域（9207平方公里）中，只有6%（590平方公里）适合沼鹿生存。大约45%的适宜栖息地被纳入保护区，其中舒克拉凡塔国家公园拥有最大的栖息地斑块。研究发现，栖息地的适宜性与低海拔地区、靠近水源的地区以及远离定居点的地区呈正相关，这意味着需要保护水源，并尽量减少人为压力的扩展，以实现它们的长期保护。此外，我们提出了以沼鹿为中心的保护策略的意义，强调通过走廊增加连通性，并通过尼泊尔和印度之间的跨界保护倡议实现景观层面的种群连通性。此外，考虑到大型食草动物极易灭绝，纳入人为因素的类似研究对于获取有关栖息地适宜性的重要信息以保护其他区域和全球特有的、栖息地专门化的食草动物至关重要。
