The Habitat Suitability Assessment Of Goitered Gazelle(gazella Subgutturosa) In Wulate Desert Of Inner Mongolia

Goitred gazelle(Gazella subgutturosa) is an important desert animal in China. Because of the interfere of human activity, the habitat is badly destroyed and the area is gradually decreased. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the habitat suitability of goitered gazelle in Wulate desert based on the past study of the behavior and habitat selection. The evaluation factors respectively are slope, aspect, water, vegetation type, vegetation coverage, road and settlement after the field investigation through the line transect survey. Then there is to evaluate the habitat suitability of single factor and calculate the area after obtaining all the environmental information. According to the analytic hierarchy process(AHP) to determine the weight ratio of each factor, we use the method of fuzzy comprehensive assessment to evaluate the habitat suitability of the study area. Then through strengthening the importance of human activity and vegetation resource, we will make a grade map about the goitered gazelle habitat suitability on the basis of overlay analysis function of ArcGIS software. The evaluation results show that the suitable area is mainly in the west and north of the study area. The most suitable area is 430.825km2, occupying 32.76%. The more suitable area is 589.82km2, occupying 44.85%. The unsuitable area is 294.45km2, occupying 22.39%. The test result is matched with the reality through the goitered gazelle activities trace points from the field survey. At the same time the evaluation result shows that the experimental area is also the suitable distribution area of goitered gazelle. It is also to put forward the corresponding management problems and relevant advise to improve the habitat suitability of goitered gazelle. Through the evaluation results can offer reference for the management of the study area in the future.