Abstract
The margins of protected areas are usually considered to have greater forest degradation, and given that most mammals live outside protected areas, researchers and conservation practitioners are increasingly recognizing that nonprotected areas must be incorporated into conservation strategy. However, the strategy used to manage these areas still involves increasing the size of protected areas, while not considering the habitat characteristics and requirements of the species. In this study, during a 3‐year period, camera trap and habitat characteristic surveys were used to estimate composition, diversity, and habitat characteristics of mammals to determine habitat characteristics or increase the size of protected areas what should be considered first for mammals’ conservation in a nonprotected area near the Huangshan Mountains in Anhui Province, China. From June 2017 to October 2019, 18 species of mammals were recorded, more than in any other protected area nearby. The linear model analysis results showed that habitat characteristics of mammals were different and showed a significant correlation with their relative abundance. Most species were related to vegetation characteristics, except primates (Macaca thibetana), and rodents (Leopoldamys edwardsi). Therefore, to establish conservation policies for nonprotected areas, habitat characteristics should be of prime concern, followed by increasing the size of protected areas to provide effective refuge areas for species conservation.
Highlights
The most effective strategy for species conservation is to protect all their habitats
We predicted that habitat characteristics should be considered first and increase the size of protected areas second in the nonprotected area as these areas are the last refuge for mammals
We found that increasing the size of protected areas may effectively protect species such as Reeve's muntjac and Wild boar, which were highly dependent on habitat characteristics
Summary
The most effective strategy for species conservation is to protect all their habitats. A large number of protected areas still face problems such as illegal hunting (Duporge et al, 2020), wildfires (Camargo et al, 2018), and deforestation (Mekonen, 2020); some forest's species diversity became very low or even extinct and formed the “empty forest” phenomenon (Redford, 1992). Forest structure changes make the understory vegetation more open, and the increase of herbaceous layer coverage is beneficial to ungulates such as Reeve's muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) Otherwise, such habitats can cause specialists and human-sensitive species to decline, such as felid species guilds (Cheyne et al, 2016; Chiang et al, 2014) and Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) (Craigie et al, 2010; Thirgood et al, 2004). We predicted that habitat characteristics should be considered first and increase the size of protected areas second in the nonprotected area as these areas are the last refuge for mammals
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