Improving landscape connectivity through habitat restoration:application for Asian elephant conservation in Xishuangbanna Prefecture,China  

作　　者：Bin WAN Wenwen LI Peng LIU Nian YANG Shang CHEN Xianming GUO Bin WANG Li ZHANG 

机构地区：[1]Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering,Ministry of Education,College of Life Sciences,Beijing Normal University,Beijing,China [2]Research Center for Coastal Zone Science and Marine Development Strategy,First Institute of Oceanography,Ministry of Natural Resources,Qingdao,China [3]School of Biological Sciences,The University of Hong Kong,Pokfulam,Hong Kong,China [4]Research Institute of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve,Jinghong,China [5]Xishuangbanna Asian Elephant Conservation and Management Center,Jinghong,China

出　　处：《Integrative Zoology》2024年第2期319-335,共17页整合动物学（英文版）

基　　金：We are grateful for the financial support of the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2016YFC0503200);the National Nature Science Foundation of China(31570408 and 31801986);the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2018M631372).

摘　　要：Habitat restoration is an effective method for improving landscape connectivity,which can reduce habitat fragmentation.Maintaining landscape connectivity could promote connections between habitat,which is extremely essential to preserve gene flow and population viability.This study proposes a methodological framework to analyze landscape connectivity for Asian elephant habitat conservation,aiming to provide practical options for reducing habitat fragmentation and improving habitat connectivity.Our approach involved combining a species distribution model using MaxEnt and landscape functional connectivity models using graph theory to assess the impact on connectivity improvement via farmland/plantation restoration as habitat.The results showed that:(1)there were 119 suitable habitat patches of Asian elephant covering a total area of 1952.41 km^(2).(2)The connectivity between habitats improved significantly after vegetation restoration and the gain first decreased and then increased with the increase of dispersal distance.(3)The first few new habitat patches that were identified played an important role in improving connectivity,and the variation rate of connectivity gradually leveled off as the number of new habitats increased.(4)Prioritization of the 25 best new habitat patches increased connectivity from 0.54%to 5.59%as the dispersal distance increased and mainly was located between two Asian elephant distribution regions and two components.Establishment of new habitat patches was effective for improving or restoring connectivity.Our findings can be used as guidance for improving the studied fragmented Asian elephant habitats,and they can also be used as a reference for the habitat restoration of other endangered species heavily affected by habitat fragmentation.

关 键 词：Asian elephant CONNECTIVITY habitat restoration habitat suitability landscape graphs 

分 类 号：Q95[生物学—动物学]