Habitat suitability models of mountain ungulates: identifying potential areas for conservation

Abstract

Background: Determining the distribution of species and of suitable habitats is a fundamental part of conservation planning. We used slope and ruggedness of the terrain, forest type and distance to the nearest village to construct habitat suitability maps for three mountain ungulates (barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak), Himalayan goral (Naemorhedus goral) and Himalayan serow (Capricornis thar)) inthe midhills of western Nepal. We used locations of sightings and signs of presence of these mountain ungulates collected during surveys along transect to derive a suitability value for each variable using Jacob's index. A multiplication approach was used to combine environmental variables andproduce a habitat suitability map for each of the three species. An independent dataset was used to evaluate the maps using Boyce's index. This approach provides an overview of the probable distributions of the species in question.

Results: We predict that of the total area studied, 57% is suitable for M. muntjak, 67% for N. goral and 41% for C. thar. Although there are suitable habitats for all three species throughout the study area, the availability of high-quality habitats for these species varied considerably.

Conclusions: Suitable habitats for N. goral and C. thar were fragmented and mostly confined to the southern and northern parts of the study area. This study provides important baseline information for conservation biologists concerned with maintaining biodiversity in the midhills of Nepal.

Keywords: Capricornis thar; Habitat model; Midhills; Muntiacus muntjak; Naemorhedus goral; Nepal.

Fig. 1.

Figure 1 Map of a 1 km × 1 km grid superimposed over the study area. The black regions are the grids that were sampled. The inset shows a map of the study area (in grey) showing the protected areas Bardia National Park in the south and Shey Phoksundo National Park in the north (in black) of Nepal. Location of the study area in the box (in black)

Fig. 2.

Figure 2 Habitat preferences of each species based on Jacob’s index. The first, second and third columns correspond to barking deer, Himalayan goral and Himalayan serow, respectively (see Table 1 for the abbreviations).

Fig. 3.

Figure 3 Map of the habitats suitable for barking dee

Fig. 4.

Figure 4 Map of the habitats suitable for Himalayan goral.

Fig. 5.

Figure 5 Map of the habitats suitable for Himalayan serow.