Abstract
The black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) is the only alpine crane species and is endemic to the Tibetan Plateau. The breeding habitats of this species are poorly understood, which greatly hampers practical research and conservation work. Using machine learning methods and the best-available data from our 7,000-kilometer mega-transect survey and open access data, we built the first species distribution model (SDM) to analyze the black-necked crane’s breeding habitats. Our model showed that current conservation gaps account for 26.7% of its predicted breeding habitats. Specifically, the northern parts of the Hengduan Mountains and the southeastern Tibet Valley, the northern side of the middle Kunlun Mountains, parts of the Pamir Plateau, the northern Pakistan Highlands and the western Hindu Kush should be considered as its main potential breeding areas. Additionally, our model suggested that the crane prefers to breed in alpine meadows at an elevation over 2,800 m, a maximum temperature of the warmest month below 20.5 °C, and a temperature seasonality above 7,800 units. The identified conservation gaps and potential breeding areas can aid in clearly prioritizing future conservation and research, but more attention and study should be directed to the unassessed Western Development of China to secure this endangered crane lineage and other wildlife on the Tibetan Plateau.
Highlights
The black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis; Taxonomic Serial Number 176187) is endemic to the wider Tibetan Plateau region in the Himalayas and is the only alpine crane species that breeds in the extensive landscape of high central Asia[1]
Anthropogenic pressures were represented by Human Influence Index (HII), and these were used as an alternative criterion to identify conservation gaps for the black-necked crane’s breeding habitats
In contrast to common practices that spatially overlay biodiversity hotpots or focal species distributions with existing reserve networks and other land management categories[32], we excluded those conservation-lacking but unaltered habitats from our resulting gaps because in these areas, industrialization and globalization are still absent and the balanced relationships between humans and nature are maintained as in past millennia[11]. We propose that this approach helps to identify for the public those conservation gaps that are more pertinent to the original intention of the conception of conservation gaps, “a way to set priorities for the steps of conservation actions”[34]
Summary
The black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis; Taxonomic Serial Number 176187) is endemic to the wider Tibetan Plateau region in the Himalayas and is the only alpine crane species that breeds in the extensive landscape of high central Asia[1]. The overall population count obtained from wintering grounds greatly outnumbers current estimates from these breeding grounds[10] This discrepancy provides clear evidence that in the geographical continuum of the Tibetan Plateau, many surrounding alpine areas appear to be unstudied with regard to their existing crane population[11]. Owing to rugged environmental conditions and a low infrastructure density, traditional survey methods that rely on road networks or residential settlements cannot be applied for exploring the largely unpopulated areas in this multi-national alpine landscape This limitation has become a serious bottleneck in the modern study and conservation of the black-necked crane. We suggest that studying the crane’s missing breeding population and associated habitats can be used to infer suitable habitats for the majority of the water birds that breed in this extensive and understudied alpine landscape
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