Abstract
IntroductionA strong positive ‘abundance and habitat-suitability’ relationship is crucial for conservation of species. Nevertheless, anthropogenic alteration of natural landscapes leading to land use and land cover change, habitat loss, and species extinctions (may) have putatively disturbed this relationship. Hence, it is important to study the nature of the relationship in such human influenced landscapes.MethodsIn this study, we endeavored to understand the consistency of the relationship in the fragmented natural landscapes in the Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia hills of Meghalaya in northeast India, with Adinandra griffithii (an endangered endemic tree) as a model species. We reconstructed the distribution of its suitable habitats as a function of the remotely sensed vegetation phenology (i.e., EVI data), using point occurrence data and ecological niche modeling (ENM) tool. Estimation of the abundance and habitat characterization was done through field surveys following standard methods.ResultsThe study revealed that remotely sensed landscape-level vegetation phenology could effectively discriminate the suitable and unsuitable habitats of threatened species. Linear regression model showed a weak positive correlation between abundance and predicted habitat suitability for adult trees indicating (plausible) deterioration in the relationship. However, sapling and seedling populations did not show a precise trend in this respect. Field-based studies revealed that removal of the species from the suitable habitats because of anthropogenic disturbances possibly weakened the abundance-suitability relationship.ConclusionsThe findings of the study enjoin the need for re-establishment of the species in the suitable areas for its conservation and perpetuation.
Highlights
A strong positive ‘abundance and habitat-suitability’ relationship is crucial for conservation of species
A resilient Abundance Suitability (AS) relationship is crucial for species conservation as it helps in addressing the issues related to Adhikari et al Ecological Processes (2018) 7:3 landscape-level conservation, reintroductions, population connectivity, habitat restoration and management, and protected area delineation (Fischer and Lindenmayer 2007)
Analysis of variable contributions Jackknifing of the regularized training gain and the analysis of variable contributions reveal a strong influence of vegetation phenology on the distribution of potential habitats of A. griffithii (Fig. 4)
Summary
A strong positive ‘abundance and habitat-suitability’ relationship is crucial for conservation of species. A resilient AS relationship is crucial for species conservation as it helps in addressing the issues related to Adhikari et al Ecological Processes (2018) 7:3 landscape-level conservation, reintroductions, population connectivity, habitat restoration and management, and protected area delineation (Fischer and Lindenmayer 2007). Anthropogenic activities such as over-exploitation, habitat destruction, and fragmentation of forest areas have substantially altered the natural landscapes affecting the distribution of species populations and habitats (Hansen et al 2013). The nature of the relationship in humanaltered landscapes is not clearly understood, and deserves a detailed and systematic study
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