National Zoological Park--HistoryHistorical documents and photographs of the National Zoohttps://hdl.handle.net/10088/192024-03-29T15:05:08Z2024-03-29T15:05:08ZCorrelating habitat suitability with landscape connectivity: A case study of Sichuan golden monkey in ChinaLiu, FangMcShea, William J.Li, Diqianghttps://hdl.handle.net/10088/300812019-12-14T09:48:10Z2017-01-01T00:00:00ZCorrelating habitat suitability with landscape connectivity: A case study of Sichuan golden monkey in China
Liu, Fang; McShea, William J.; Li, Diqiang
We examined the landscape suitability of the region currently occupied by the Sichuan golden money (Rhinopithecus roxellana) using occupancy models constructed in Maxent with presence-only data and environmental variables. The aim of the study was to estimate potential dispersal corridors between presently disjunct populations. Least-cost path analysis was used to estimate its dispersal paths across the fragmented landscape. The results indicate that core areas of suitable habitat are located in the Qinling, Dabashan, and Minshan Mountains, as well as small patches in the Qionglai, Daxiangling and Liangshan Mountains; the most suitable habitats are in nature reserves of the Minshan Mountain. Elevation and density of the human settlements were the most important factors for identifying suitable habitat; and we identified location of less populated areas where some suitable forest patches offer the potential for dispersal corridors for this species. The study implies that there is potential for expansion of the species distribution, if steps are taken to preserve current forest patches that maybe too small for residency but suitable for dispersal.
2017-01-01T00:00:00ZSpatial Co-Occurrence and Activity Patterns of Mesocarnivores in the Temperate Forests of Southwest ChinaBu, HongliangWang, FangMcShea, William J.Lu, ZhiWang, DajunLi, Shenghttps://hdl.handle.net/10088/300222019-12-14T09:47:53Z2016-01-01T00:00:00ZSpatial Co-Occurrence and Activity Patterns of Mesocarnivores in the Temperate Forests of Southwest China
Bu, Hongliang; Wang, Fang; McShea, William J.; Lu, Zhi; Wang, Dajun; Li, Sheng
Understanding the interactions between species and their coexistence mechanisms will help explain biodiversity maintenance and enable managers to make sound conservation decisions. Mesocarnivores are abundant and diverse mid-sized carnivores and can have profound impacts on the function, structure and dynamics of ecosystem after the extirpation of apex predators in many ecosystems. The moist temperate forests of Southwest China harbor a diverse community of mesocarnivores in the absence of apex predators. Sympatric species tend to partition limited resources along time, diet and space to facilitate coexistence. We determined the spatial and temporal patterns for five species of mesocarnivores. We used detection histories from a large camera-trap dataset collected from 2004-2015 with an extensive effort of 23,313 camera-days from 495 camera locations. The five mesocarnivore species included masked palm civet Paguma larvata, leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis, hog badger Arctonyx collaris, yellow-throated marten Martes flavigula, and Siberian weasel Mustela sibirica. Only the masked palm civet and hog badger tended to avoid each other; while for other pairs of species, they occurred independently of each other, or no clear pattern observed. With regard to seasonal activity, yellow-throated marten was most active in winter, opposite the pattern observed for masked palm civet, leopard cat and hog badger. For diel activity, masked palm civet, leopard cat and hog badger were primarily nocturnal and crepuscular; yellow-throated marten was diurnal, and Siberian weasel had no clear pattern for most of the year (March to November), but was nocturnal in the winter (December to February). The seasonal shift of the Siberian weasel may be due to the high diet overlap among species in winter. Our results provided new facts and insights into this unique community of mesocarnivores of southwest China, and will facilitate future studies on the mechanism determining coexistence of animal species within complex system.
2016-01-01T00:00:00Z