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Landscape-level habitat connectivity of large mammals in Chitwan Annapurna Landscape, Nepal

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Jul 16, 2024 version files 30.64 KB

Abstract

The populations of many species of large mammals occur in small isolated and fragmented habitat patches in the human-dominated landscape. Maintenance of habitat connectivity in fragmented landscapes is important for maintaining a healthy population of large mammals. This study evaluated the landscape patches and their linkages on two carnivores (leopard and Himalayan black bear) and seven prey species (northern red muntjac, chital, sambar, wild pig, Himalayan goral, rhesus macaque, and langur) between Chitwan National Park (CNP) and Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) by using the least-cost path approach and the Linkage Mapper tool in ArcGIS. A total of 15 habitat patches (average area 26.67 ± 12.70 km2) were identified that had more than 50% of the total studied mammals. A weak relation among the habitat patches was found for chital and sambar (Cost-weighted distance CWD: Euclidean distance EucD >100), showed poor connectivity between the habitat patches, while the ratio of CWD and EucD was low (i.e., low least-cost path) between the majority of the patches for muntjac, wild pig and leopard hence had potential functional connectivity along the landscape. Similarly, a low least cost path between the habitat patches located in the mid-hills was observed for Himalayan goral and Himalayan black bears. Furthermore, the multi-species connectivity analysis identified the potential structural connectivity between the isolated populations and habitat patches. Therefore, these sites need to be considered connectivity hotspots and be prioritized for the conservation of large mammals in the landscape.