Identification of potential suitable areas and conservation priority areas for representative wild animals in the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains.

Species geographic distribution and conservation priority areas are important bases for in situ biodiversity conservation and conservation decision-making. In view of the urgency of endangered species protection, eight representative endangered species in the typical forest ecosystem of the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains were studied. Based on 1127 occurrence points and environmental data collected from 2016 to 2021, used BIOMOD2 and Zonation to reconstruct the potential distribution area and identify conservation priority areas of eight species (, , , , , , , ). The results showed potential distribution areas for almost all species concentrated in the northern part of the Greater Khingan Mountains (GKM) and the central part of the Lesser Khingan Mountains (LKM). The potential distribution areas of each species were as follows: black-billed capercaillie, 102,623 km; black grouse, 162,678 km; wolverine, 63,410 km; moose, 140,287 km; sable, 112,254 km; Siberian musk deer, 104,787 km; lynx, 139,912 km; and Eurasian otter, 49,386 km. Conservation priority areas (CPAs) clustered in the north GKM and central LKM and totaled 220,801 km, and only 16.94% of the CPAs were currently protected by nature reserves. We suggest that the Chinese government accelerate the integration of existing protected areas in the northern GKM and establish a larger GKM National Park based on cost-effective multi-species protection.