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Vol. 54, 2015
Habitat suitability
models of mountain ungulates: identifying potential areas for
conservation
Prakash
Kumar Paudel1,2,4*, Martin Hais2 and Pavel
Kindlmann1,3
1Department of Biodiversity Research, Global Change Research Centre AS CR, Bělidla 4a, 603 00 Brno, Czech Republic
2Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
3Institute for Environmental Studies, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Charles University, Benátská 2, Prague, Czech Republic
4Current address: Center for Conservation Biology, Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences, PO Box 23002, Kathmandu, Nepal
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)) in the 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 and
produce 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.
Key words: Capricornis
thar; Habitat model;
Midhills; Muntiacus muntjak; Naemorhedus goral; Nepal.
*Correspondence: E-mail: pk.paudel@gmail.com
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