| The protection and restoration of endangered species have always been the hot issue in the world,and the proper management of habitats is an important prerequisite for promoting the recovery of endangered species.The Amur tiger(Panthera tigris.altaica)is a Class I key protected animal in China and is listed as endangered(EN)in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.In the past century,due to human activities,the population of the Amur tiger in China has decreased by about 90%,and also about 95%for its habitat,leading to an isolated distribution that severely limits the expansion and recovery of the Amur tiger.Strengthening the protection and management of Amur tiger’s habitat can effectively promote the recovery of its population,and understanding the current status of its habitat is an important prerequisite for Amur tiger conservation and habitat management.The southern Laoyeling of Changbai Mountain is the most concentrated distribution area of Amur tiger in China,and an important source of the wild population dispersal of the Amur tiger between China and Russia.Strengthening the protection of the Amur tiger population and its habitats in this region will contribute to the recovery of the Amur tiger in China and even globally.Based on a winter survey of Amur tiger and its prey and their habitats from 2019 to 2021,this study analyzed the current status of the Amur tiger’s prey population and their distribution of suitable habitats.The study also researched the ecological quality of Amur tiger’s habitat,the risks of poaching and human-tiger conflicts,and identified priority areas for conservation,management,and restoration.In addition,key nodes affecting the connectivity of ecological corridors were identified,and suggestions were made for the priority construction of ecological corridors,in order to provide scientific basis for the conservation and management of the Amur tiger and its habitat in the southern Laoyeling Mountain.The main results obtained from this study are as follows:1.Based on the snow transects survey of Amur tiger’s prey in the spring of 2020 and the2019-2021 camera traps monitoring results,the density of Amur tiger’s prey in Hunchun is 2.24±0.8 individuals/km~2.The highest population density is found in the sika deer(1.0±0.61individuals/km~2),which was only distributed in the Hunchun Amur Tiger National Nature Reserve and Chaoyanggou Forestry Farm,east of G331,and was seriously affected by human activities,especially the G331.Red deer was not found in this survey.The camera trap monitoring results of the study area from 2019 to 2021 showed that the relative abundance index of roe deer was the highest(1.211 photos/day),while the red deer was the lowest(0.021photos/day),only distributed in the Erheiding and Daliushan.2.The most suitable habitat area for Amur tiger is 1854.44 km~2,accounting for 26.77%of the study area.It is mainly distributed in areas such as Lanjia,Qinglongtai,Wudaogou,Guandaogou,Heshan,Dahuanggou,and Erheiding.Overall,the key impact variables of suitability of Amur tiger habitat include distribution of prey,human activities such as roads and settlement areas,while threats to prey mainly come from settlements and altitude.Through comparison of different modeling results,there are still the large areas that have not been fully occupied by Amur tiger and its prey.3.The high-risk areas for poaching cover 29.31%of the southern Laoyeling and are mainly located in settlements and farmland in Daduchuan and Laoheishan in Dongning City,Chunhua,Ying’an,and Banshi in Hunchun City.16.96%of study area are in high-risk of human tiger conflict,and mainly distributed around the village of Madida and Hedong,the towns such as Yingan,Banshi and Jingxin around of Hunchun,the forest areas of southeastern Daduchuan town in Dongning.The habitats of wild boar and sika deer are seriously affected by the risk of poaching and human tiger conflict,while lower for Amur tiger.4.Based on the core habitat and resistance of Amur tiger,7 priority conservation areas with a total area of 1326.11 km~2,6 priority management areas with a total area of 1398.6 km~2,and 23priority restoration areas with a total area of 1174.58 km~2 were identified by Marxan.The priority areas have been basically included in the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park,but there are still 77.02km~2 to 374.31 km~2 of areas that are not fully protected and managed,mainly in the southeast of Dahuanggou forestry farm in Wangqing and the southern Daduchuan Town in Dongning.5.There are 7 plaques with the area of 531.95km~2 that require enhanced protection and management,10 plaques with the area of 292.86km~2 that require enhanced restoration and management,and 12 plaques with the area of 516.38km~2 that require enhanced protection and restoration.Maodingshan,Dahuanggou,Dabeicheng,Machuanzi,and Wudaogou are areas that require comprehensive protection,management,and restoration.6.Based on Minimum cumulative resistance,a total of 78 ecological corridors,902ecological nodes,and 179 ecological barriers were identified in the habitat of Amur tigers.Based on the indicators of corridors such as the cost value of construction,the proportion of land cover within a 3km range,and the movement direction of Amur tiger,18 priority ecological corridors such as a2,b8 and a38 were proposed to promote the Amur tiger spread from the eastern Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park to the west in the future.Based on the research results,it is suggested to carry out prey restoration focusing on the sika deer and red deer in the south of Laoyeling Mountain.At the same time,targeted protection,restoration,and management of Amur tiger habitats should be carried out in accordance with the priority areas identified.Priority should be given to the construction of the recommended 18ecological corridors to improve the connectivity of the Amur tiger habitat and promote the recovery of its populations in southern Laoyeling Mountain and Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park. |
