Key factors on foraging and bedding sites selection of the Asiatic ibex (Capra sibirica) in Central Tianshan Mountains in winter

Abstract

Foraging and bedding sites are key ungulate demands of their habitats. Research however, on the differences between these two types of sites has been neglected. This study deals with the winter foraging and bedding site selection of the Asiatic ibex (Capra sibirica) in the Tianshan Mountains in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. A total of twelve line-transects were used to assist research of the Asiatic ibex within five valleys and canyons during December of 2010 and January of 2011. Ninety-five bedding and one hundred foraging sites used by the Asiatic ibex were examined and the effects of fifteen different environmental factors on habitat selection were analyzed and evaluated in this study. In comparison with its bedding sites, the Asiatic ibex in winter showed a greater preference for semishady slopes and higher vegetation density in its selection of foraging sites. Regarding its foraging site preferences when compared to its bedding site preferences, this species was less sensitive to deeper and greater snow cover, to a lower hiding cover level, and to greater distances from the nearest escape structures. Stepwise Discriminant Analysis showed that a group of five environmental factors played a dominant role in bedding and foraging site preferences. These factors were, in the order of their contribution value: vegetation density, hiding cover level, distance from the top of the mountain, and distance from escape structures. Using these five environmental factors alone, the ability to accurately predict bedding and foraging site preferences of the Asiatic ibex reached 93.3 %.