| As the flagship species of forest ecosystem,the Amur tiger(Panthera tigris altaica)plays an important role in maintaining healthy ecosystem function.From 2017 to 2019,in Qinghe forest region,southeast of the Lesser Khingan Mountain,the author studied the number and distribution of the main prey species,the suitability of potential habitats and the potential migration corridor of the Amur tigers in this area to explore the feasibility of this area as a reintroduction site for future Amur tigers.The results are as follows:1.The author conducted field sampling surveys by using the transect method.48 transect lines were laid in the study area,with the survey area reaching 160km2,more than 10%of the total survey area.The average population density and population number of the main prey of Amur tiger were investigated by using GPS and mathematical statistics.The results showed that the average population density of wild boar(Sus scrofa)in the study area was 0.2708±0.0285 individuals/km2,and the population number was 366-452 individuals,mainly distributed in Donghua,Jianshe,Maolin,Xianghe,Xinsheng,Yulin and other forest farms.The average population density of roe deer(Capriolus pygargus)in the study area was 0.3833±0.0375 individuals/km2,the population number was 522-635 individuals,mainly distributed in Hengshan.Maolin,Songlin,Xianghe,Donghua,Donghui,Shuanghe and other forest farms.The main prey biomass of the Amur tigers in the study area is 56753.57-69788.44kg,which can maintain approximately the survival demand of 3(2.26-2.78)Amur tigers.2.According to the literature and the expert model,8 influencing factors which have a major impact on the Amur tiger's survival,including vegetation type,vegetation coverage,elevation,slope,the aspect,water source,settlements and the road,were selected to evaluate the suitability of single-factor habitat according to certain evaluation criteria.The results showed that the distance from the human settlements,vegetation types and the distance from the road were the factors that had the greatest impact on the habitat selection of the Amur tigers,and their weight values were 0.38,0.21 and 0.19,respectively.The human disturbance factors(residential areas and the roads)reached 0.57,indicating that human activities were the main factors affecting the distribution of the Amur tigers.Vegetation coverage,elevation,slope,distance from water source and distance from human settlements hardly hindered the survival of Amur tigers.And the suitable habitat area accounted for more than 95%of the total area of the study area.Vegetation types and the aspect have a certain influence on the survival of Amur tigers.The roads have the greatest influence on the distribution of Amur tigers among the eight factors,with the inappropriate area reaching 57197.92 hm2,accounting for 37.90%of the total area of the study area.3.On the basis of single factor habitat suitability evaluation,the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method and analytic hierarchy process(AHP)were used to evaluate the habitat of the Amur tigers by multiple-factor analysis in the study area.The results showed that the optimum habitat area reached 38,861.36 hm2,accounting for 25.75%of the total area of the study area;the sub-suitable habitat area is 33488.68 hm2,accounting for 22.19%of the total area of the study area.;the general suitable area is 56126.37 hm2,accounting for 37.19%of the total area of the study area.In the study area,the suitable habitats of the Amur tigers are mainly located in Donghui,Donghua,Hengshan,Maolin,Shuanghe and Songlin forest farms,as well as in the west of Xianghe forest farms and Xinsheng forest farms and some areas of Jianshe forest farms.The unsuitable area is 22,426.40 hm2 in total,accounting for 14.86%of the total area of the study area,and it is mainly located in the southwest of the study area.The suitable habitat area in the study area can satisfy approximately the survival and breeding needs of 3(2.63)female Amur tigers.4.According to the results of habitat suitability assessment and field investigation,it is found that there are 7 ecological corridors connecting the core habitat of Amur tigers in the research area.There are mainly 5 migration corridors for Amur tiger in China,respectively for the Hunchun city to Dongning city in south of the Laoye Mountain,Jidong county to Mishan county in north of the Laoye Mountain,Hulin city to Raohe city to Fuyuan city in east of the Wanda Mountain,Hailin city in the middle of the Zhangguangcai Mountain,Jiayin county to Luobei county in north of the Lesser Khingan Mountain.The study area is located at the throat of the Lesser Khingan Mountain and the Zhangguangcai Mountain,which plays a crucial role in the migration and diffusion of the Amur tiger in China and is also an ideal place for the reintroduction of the Amur tiger. |
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