Habitat suitability of four threatened Himalayan species: Asiatic black bear, common leopard, musk deer, and snow leopard
Background Biodiversity conservation is becoming challenging day by day. For this, it is essential to understand the distribution, habitat, and impact of anthropogenic activities on animals at risk. We assessed the suitable habitats and anthropogenic impacts on Asiatic black bears, common leopards,...
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PeerJ Inc.
2023-09-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/16085.pdf |
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| author | Rajesh Malla Saroj Panthi Hari Adhikari Shiva Pariyar Rishi Baral Rukmagat Subedi Bishnu Prasad Adhikari Mahesh Poudel Nischal Sedhai Megharaj Poudel |
| author_facet | Rajesh Malla Saroj Panthi Hari Adhikari Shiva Pariyar Rishi Baral Rukmagat Subedi Bishnu Prasad Adhikari Mahesh Poudel Nischal Sedhai Megharaj Poudel |
| author_sort | Rajesh Malla |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Biodiversity conservation is becoming challenging day by day. For this, it is essential to understand the distribution, habitat, and impact of anthropogenic activities on animals at risk. We assessed the suitable habitats and anthropogenic impacts on Asiatic black bears, common leopards, musk deer, and snow leopards in and outside the protected areas of Gandaki Province, Nepal. Methods We collected the presence locations of Asiatic black bears, common leopards, musk deer, and snow leopards based on scats and other signs. We employed the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) tool to identify suitable habitats of our studied species and their anthropogenic impacts on them. Results The total suitable habitat of the common leopard was found to be 6,052 km2, followed by the Asiatic black bear (5,819 km2), snow leopard (4,447 km2), and musk deer (1,690 km2) in Gandaki Province. Most of the areas of suitable habitat for common leopards and Asiatic black bears were outside the protected areas, and for musk deer and snow leopards were inside the protected areas. Elevation was the most important variable determining habitat suitability of Asiatic black bear, common leopard, and musk deer, whereas the distance to water was the most important variable determining habitat suitability of snow leopard. Asiatic black bears, common leopards, and musk deer face significant anthropogenic impacts, but snow leopards face some anthropogenic impacts. Conclusion Managing these animals’ habitats inside and outside protected areas is essential. Hence, biodiversity conservation and livelihood opportunities should be balanced in the Himalayas on a win-win basis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:00:20Z |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:00:20Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
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| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-a67a69b47a104477ab62fdcddf6444c12023-12-03T09:55:01ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592023-09-0111e1608510.7717/peerj.16085Habitat suitability of four threatened Himalayan species: Asiatic black bear, common leopard, musk deer, and snow leopardRajesh Malla0Saroj Panthi1Hari Adhikari2Shiva Pariyar3Rishi Baral4Rukmagat Subedi5Bishnu Prasad Adhikari6Mahesh Poudel7Nischal Sedhai8Megharaj Poudel9Forest Research and Training Center, Pokhara, NepalMinistry of Industry, Tourism, Forests and Environment, Gandaki Province, Pokhara, NepalDepartment of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandMinistry of Industry, Tourism, Forests and Environment, Gandaki Province, Pokhara, NepalNational Trust for Nature Conservation, Annapurna Conservation Area, Pokhara, NepalDivision Forest Office, Mustang, Mustang, NepalDivision Forest Office, Manang, Manang, NepalDivision Forest Office, Gorkha, Gorkha, NepalInstitute of Forestry, Pokhara, NepalDivision Forest Office, Nawalpur, Nawalparsi (Bardaghat Susta East), Kawasoti, NepalBackground Biodiversity conservation is becoming challenging day by day. For this, it is essential to understand the distribution, habitat, and impact of anthropogenic activities on animals at risk. We assessed the suitable habitats and anthropogenic impacts on Asiatic black bears, common leopards, musk deer, and snow leopards in and outside the protected areas of Gandaki Province, Nepal. Methods We collected the presence locations of Asiatic black bears, common leopards, musk deer, and snow leopards based on scats and other signs. We employed the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) tool to identify suitable habitats of our studied species and their anthropogenic impacts on them. Results The total suitable habitat of the common leopard was found to be 6,052 km2, followed by the Asiatic black bear (5,819 km2), snow leopard (4,447 km2), and musk deer (1,690 km2) in Gandaki Province. Most of the areas of suitable habitat for common leopards and Asiatic black bears were outside the protected areas, and for musk deer and snow leopards were inside the protected areas. Elevation was the most important variable determining habitat suitability of Asiatic black bear, common leopard, and musk deer, whereas the distance to water was the most important variable determining habitat suitability of snow leopard. Asiatic black bears, common leopards, and musk deer face significant anthropogenic impacts, but snow leopards face some anthropogenic impacts. Conclusion Managing these animals’ habitats inside and outside protected areas is essential. Hence, biodiversity conservation and livelihood opportunities should be balanced in the Himalayas on a win-win basis.https://peerj.com/articles/16085.pdfNepalGandaki provinceEcologyAnthropogenic impactsMaxEntDistribution |
| spellingShingle | Rajesh Malla Saroj Panthi Hari Adhikari Shiva Pariyar Rishi Baral Rukmagat Subedi Bishnu Prasad Adhikari Mahesh Poudel Nischal Sedhai Megharaj Poudel Habitat suitability of four threatened Himalayan species: Asiatic black bear, common leopard, musk deer, and snow leopard PeerJ Nepal Gandaki province Ecology Anthropogenic impacts MaxEnt Distribution |
| title | Habitat suitability of four threatened Himalayan species: Asiatic black bear, common leopard, musk deer, and snow leopard |
| title_full | Habitat suitability of four threatened Himalayan species: Asiatic black bear, common leopard, musk deer, and snow leopard |
| title_fullStr | Habitat suitability of four threatened Himalayan species: Asiatic black bear, common leopard, musk deer, and snow leopard |
| title_full_unstemmed | Habitat suitability of four threatened Himalayan species: Asiatic black bear, common leopard, musk deer, and snow leopard |
| title_short | Habitat suitability of four threatened Himalayan species: Asiatic black bear, common leopard, musk deer, and snow leopard |
| title_sort | habitat suitability of four threatened himalayan species asiatic black bear common leopard musk deer and snow leopard |
| topic | Nepal Gandaki province Ecology Anthropogenic impacts MaxEnt Distribution |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/16085.pdf |
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