Prakash Kumar Paudel1,2,3, Martin Hais2, Pavel Kindlmann1,4. 1. Department of Biodiversity Research, Global Change Research Centre AS CR, Bělidla 4a, 603 00 Brno, Czech Republic. 2. Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic. 3. Center for Conservation Biology, Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences, PO Box 23002, Kathmandu, Nepal. 4. Institute for Environmental Studies, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Charles University, Benátská 2, Prague, Czech Republic.
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.
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.
Authors: O E Sala; F S Chapin; J J Armesto; E Berlow; J Bloomfield; R Dirzo; E Huber-Sanwald; L F Huenneke; R B Jackson; A Kinzig; R Leemans; D M Lodge; H A Mooney; M Oesterheld; N L Poff; M T Sykes; B H Walker; M Walker; D H Wall Journal: Science Date: 2000-03-10 Impact factor: 47.728