| Tarim red deer(Cervus elaphus yarkandensis)is one of the endangered endemic animals which designated as a Category?protected animal in China.Among which,the deer subspecies reported to live in several hidden landscapes,such as populus euphratica,willow groves and reeds in the deserts of the Tarim Basin,are recognized as the only subspecies that most suitable for desert habitats.Recently,due to the deterioration of their living environment,the number of red deer populations is continuously decreasing,and according to the relative reports the number of population now is around 450.In order to understand the reason behind the fragmentation of the habitat of the red deer population and assess the suitability of the environments they living in,from 2016 to 2017,we have conducted number of field trips and collected relative data.The data gathered includes GPS data,habitat types,human activity status,and other attributes that are considered to affect red deer distribution.With application of the 3S technology,based on the LandsatTM remote sensing images of the study area,a manually assisted surveillance classification was carried out and resulted in six habitat types including farmland,desert vegetation,water bodies,residential land,bare land,and deserts.According to the classification results,using Landscape pattern software Fragstats4.2:(1)on plaque level,the acreage,number,density,fragmentation index of the plaque,as well as the ratio and acreage of the landscape that occupied by plaques were calculated;(2)on landscape level,the number,density,Shannon diversity index,and fragmentation index of plaques were analyzed.The analysis of habitat suitability was made using GIS10.2 software.The main results of this study are as follows:1)The geological changes of Tarim red deer living land in Shaya over the past two decades:farmland area has increased by 55.1%;the area of desert vegetation has decreased by 33.8%;waterbody has shrunk by 36.82%;human population of this area has expanded by37.77%;and the desert area has marked up by 50.1%.This indicates that,from the perspective of fragmentation,the plaque number of the suitable habitat for the Tarim red deer has expanded by 203.9%,and the plaque density boosted by 204.7%.This could be concluded that as the total fragmentation index was increased by 35.96%.2)The geological changes of Tarim red deer living land in Luntai over the past 20 years:farmland area has increased by 96.7%;the area of desert vegetation has decreased by 2.3%;waterbody has shrunk by 20.8%;human population has expanded by 66%;and the desert area has marked up by 41.7%.This shows that,from the perspective of fragmentation,the plaque number of the suitable habitat for the Tarim red deer has expanded by 50.5%,which is four time lesser than Shaya area,and the plaque density boosted by 49.4%.This could be concluded that as the total fragmentation index was increased by 54.1%.3)The geological changes of Tarim red deer living land in Yuli in the past two decades:farmland area has increased by 69.2%;the area of desert vegetation has decreased by 12.9%;waterbody has shrunk by 68.8%;human population has expanded by 89.3%;and the desert area has marked up by 4.6%.This suggests that,from the perspective of fragmentation,the plaque number of the suitable habitat for the Tarim red deer has expanded by 30%,and the plaque density boosted by 30.7%.This could be determined that as the total fragmentation index was increased by 49.6%.4)The geological changes of Tarim red deer living land in Ruoqiang over the past 20years:farmland area has increased by 175.7%;the area of desert vegetation has decreased by31.9%;waterbody has shrunk by 26.51%;human population has expanded by 96.6%;and the desert area has marked up by 3.3%.This implies that,from the perspective of fragmentation,the plaque number of the suitable habitat for the Tarim red deer has expanded by 57.2%,and the plaque density boosted by 56.7%.This could be determined that as the total fragmentation index was increased by 19.4%.5)The geological changes of Tarim red deer living land in Qiemo over the past 20 years:farmland area has increased by 98.1%;the area of desert vegetation has decreased by 8%;waterbody has shrunk by 26.51%;human population has expanded by 50%;and the desert area has marked up by 1.1%.This implies that,from the perspective of fragmentation,the plaque number of the suitable habitat for the Tarim red deer has expanded by 49.2%,and the plaque density boosted by 49.6%.This could be determined that as the total fragmentation index was increased by 62.6%.6)In terms of Landscape level,the number of plaque and segregation index in Shaya area was the largest among all the studied area;the plaque density,however,was second to the Luntai area.Moreover,the Shannon diversity index and the fragmentation index were also larger than that of other distribution areas.The order of the fragmentation level of all the area studied,from high to low,was Shaya>Luntai>Qiemo>Ruoqiang>Yuli.7)The human interference analysis indicated that the interference index of Luntai,Qiemo,Ruoqiang,Shaya,and Yuli were 0.05,0.04,0.004,0.202,and 0.053,respectively.The order of the interference index,from high to low,was Shaya>Yuli>Luntai>Qiemo>Ruoqiang.8)During the past 20 years,acreage of the most suitable land for the Tarim red deer was significantly reduced by 169,541 hm~2,and the general habitat was reduced by 436,522 hm~2.In conclusion,under the influence of both human activities and changes in the natural environment,from 1996 to 2016,the habitat of Tarim red deer,in almost all aspects,made significant changes.Among which,the total area of desert vegetation and water bodies declined substantially,and this trend,at the end,resulted in the shrinkage of the favorable land for red deer.This indicates that the habitat of Tarim red deer was severely damaged and fragmented.In order to protect the Tarim deer,first of all,it is crucial to protect their natural habitat.Furthermore,along with the protection of the natural habitat,we also need to focus on restoring the demerged habitat so that the Tarim deer can get better living conditions and a better chance of survival. |
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