Determining the distribution loss of brown eared-pheasant ( Crossoptilon mantchuricum ) using historical data and potential distribution estimates

PeerJ

article

Yilin Li¹  Xinhai Li³  Zitan Song¹  Changqing Ding¹ 

[1] School of Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University;Forensic Center of Wildlife, Nanjing Forest Police College;Key Laboratory of the Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

关键词: Geographic information system;    MaxEnt;    Forest cover;    Historical data;    Brown eared-pheasant;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.2556

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

We analyzed the synchronous relationship between forest cover and species distribution to explain the contraction in the distribution range of the brown eared-pheasant (Crossoptilon mantchuricum) in China. Historical resources can provide effective records for reconstructing long-term distribution dynamics. The brown eared-pheasant’s historical distribution from 25 to 1947 CE, which included the three provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hebei based on this species’ habitat selection criteria, the history of the forests, ancient climate change records, and fossil data. The current species distribution covers Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hebei provinces, as well as Beijing city, while Shanxi remains the center of the distribution area. MaxEnt model indicated that the suitable conditions of the brown eared-pheasant had retreated to the western regions of Shanxi and that the historical distribution area had reduced synchronously with the disappearance of local forest cover in Shanxi. We built a correlative relationship between the presence/absence of brown eared-pheasants and forest coverage and found that forest coverage in the north, northeast, central, and southeast areas of the Shanxi province were all less than 10% in 1911. Wild brown eared-pheasants are stable in the Luliang Mountains, where forest coverage reached 13.2% in 2000. Consequently, we concluded that the distribution of this species is primarily determined by vegetation conditions and that forest cover was the most significant determining factor.

【 授权许可】

CC BY