Abstract
We analyzed the synchronous relationship between forest cover and species distribution to explain the contraction in the distribution range of the brown eared-pheasant (Crossoptilon mantchuricum) in China. Historical resources can provide effective records for reconstructing long-term distribution dynamics. The brown eared-pheasant’s historical distribution from 25 to 1947 CE, which included the three provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hebei based on this species’ habitat selection criteria, the history of the forests, ancient climate change records, and fossil data. The current species distribution covers Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hebei provinces, as well as Beijing city, while Shanxi remains the center of the distribution area. MaxEnt model indicated that the suitable conditions of the brown eared-pheasant had retreated to the western regions of Shanxi and that the historical distribution area had reduced synchronously with the disappearance of local forest cover in Shanxi. We built a correlative relationship between the presence/absence of brown eared-pheasants and forest coverage and found that forest coverage in the north, northeast, central, and southeast areas of the Shanxi province were all less than 10% in 1911. Wild brown eared-pheasants are stable in the Luliang Mountains, where forest coverage reached 13.2% in 2000. Consequently, we concluded that the distribution of this species is primarily determined by vegetation conditions and that forest cover was the most significant determining factor.
Highlights
The issue of species distribution is of fundamental interest to ecologists (Guisan & Thuiller, 2005)
Distribution of the brown eared-pheasant There are historical records of brown eared-pheasants occurring in 13 Chinese provinces (Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing, Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Sichuan, Fujian, Guangdong, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, and Gansu). 10 provinces records were excluded and we determined that the brown eared-pheasant was historically widely distributed in China, including Shanxi, the east and center of Shaanxi, and the west and center of Hebei
The most serious reduction in the historical distribution area has occurred in Shanxi
Summary
The issue of species distribution is of fundamental interest to ecologists (Guisan & Thuiller, 2005). Understanding the biogeographic and ecological characteristics of species distribution decline is a key area of research in conservation science. Accurate information on patterns and drivers of distribution change under different environmental conditions is fundamental for developing appropriate management strategies for threatened species (Turvey, Crees & Di Fonzo, 2015). Since the first studies using species distribution models (SDMs) appeared in the 1980s, the number of published studies using SDMs has increased exponentially (Lobo, Jimenez-Valverde & Real, 2008). The aim of these models is to geographically represent the ecological niche of a target species and to evaluate these models to represent potential real world distributions (Soberon & Nakamura, 2009). An increasing awareness of the need to integrate historical datasets into conservation research and environmental management (Turvey, Crees & Di Fonzo, 2015)
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