Abstract
IntroductionHuemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus Molina) is the most threatened flag species of Southern Patagonia, where conservation efforts were not effective to avoid the retraction of its distribution area. Habitat quality modeling can assist to design better management strategies for regional conservation planning. The objective was to elaborate one habitat suitability map for huemul, defining the environmental characteristics at landscape level, and determining the distribution of the suitable habitat inside the current natural reserve network.MethodsWe used a database of 453 records and explored 40 potential explanatory variables (climate, topographic, and landscape variables including human-related ones) to develop one habitat suitability map using the Environmental Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA) for Santa Cruz province (Argentina). We combined the outputs in a GIS project using different shapes, including the current natural reserve network.ResultsWe defined the potential habitat for huemul, where forest edges and ecotone zones (e.g., mainly alpine environments) were the most important environmental variables, as well as some forest types (e.g., Nothofagus pumilio). Habitat losses were found in the extreme potential distribution areas (northern and southern areas), probably related to the increasing ranch activities. The current natural reserve network maintains approximately half of the huemul potential habitat in Santa Cruz province, where National Parks presented the similar conservation importance than the Provincial natural reserves.ConclusionsHabitat suitability model for huemul can be used as a decision support system for new management strategies at different landscape levels to improve the current conservation efforts.
Highlights
Huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus Molina) is the most threatened flag species of Southern Patagonia, where conservation efforts were not effective to avoid the retraction of its distribution area
When we compared the record occurrences and each forest type, we found that (i) 71% of the forests in Santa Cruz province belonged to N. pumilio forest type where 88% of the huemul observations occurred indicating a higher preference (+17%); (ii) 26% of the forests belonged to N. antarctica type where 10% of the huemul observations were detected, showing a lower expected uses (−16%); and (iii) 3% of the forests belonged to mixed evergreen forest type with 2% of the huemul observations, showing as slightly lower expected uses (−1%)
The analysis showed that 54.7% of the potential habitat occurred inside the protection areas network (Table 5), where all the habitat quality classes were well represented
Summary
Huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus Molina) is the most threatened flag species of Southern Patagonia, where conservation efforts were not effective to avoid the retraction of its distribution area. One of the most important issues in the management and conservation planning is the knowledge of habitat requirement for a target species (Tan et al 2016; Villero et al 2017). These requirements allow to define living and environmental conditions that limit the species distribution (Acevedo et al 2010; Moreau et al 2012). For an effective management and conservation strategies, the potential habitat distribution of the target species allows to (i) analyze the effectiveness of the current network of protection areas, (ii) improve the regional connectivity by setting up new conservation areas, and (iii) identify areas for potential restoration or reintroduction programs Potential habitat distribution allows to identify synergies and trade-offs with other economic activities (Luque et al 2011; Carpentier et al 2017; Martínez Pastur et al 2017).
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