Abstract
BackgroundHabitat specialists living in human-dominated landscapes are likely to be affected by habitat fragmentation and human disturbances more than generalists. But there is a paucity of information on their response to such factors. We examined the effect of these factors on movement patterns of red pandas Ailurus fulgens, a habitat and diet specialist that inhabits the eastern Himalaya.MethodsWe equipped 10 red pandas (six females, four males) with GPS collars and monitored them from September 2019 to March 2020 in Ilam, eastern Nepal. We collected habitat and disturbance data over four seasons. We considered geophysical covariates, anthropogenic factors and habitat fragmentation metrics, and employed linear -mixed models and logistic regression to evaluate the effect of those variables on movement patterns.ResultsThe median daily distance travelled by red pandas was 756 m. Males travelled nearly 1.5 times further than females (605 m). Males and sub-adults travelled more in the mating season while females showed no seasonal variation for their daily distance coverage. Red pandas were relatively more active during dawn and morning than the rest of the day, and they exhibited seasonal variation in distance coverage on the diel cycle. Both males and females appeared to be more active in the cub-rearing season, yet males were more active in the dawn in the birthing season. Two sub-adult females dispersed an average of 21 km starting their dispersal with the onset of the new moon following the winter solstice. The single subadult male did not disperse. Red pandas avoided roads, small-habitat patches and large unsuitable areas between habitat patches. Where connected habitat with high forest cover was scarce the animals moved more directly than when habitat was abundant.ConclusionsOur study indicates that this habitat specialist is vulnerable to human disturbances and habitat fragmentation. Habitat restoration through improving functional connectivity may be necessary to secure the long-term conservation of specialist species in a human-dominated landscape. Regulation of human activities should go in parallel to minimize disturbances during biologically crucial life phases. We recommend habitat zonation to limit human activities and avoid disturbances, especially livestock herding and road construction in core areas.
Highlights
Wildlife increasingly live in human-modified landscapes [1, 2]
We found the median forest cover as 92.8% (90.8–98.1%) with Patch Density (PD) of 5 (2.8–7.1) within each animal’s home range
In a world ever more dominated by human activities it is increasingly important to understand how wild animals adapt in anthropogenic landscapes
Summary
Wildlife increasingly live in human-modified landscapes [1, 2]. Movement of animals through such landscapes is necessary to maintain ecosystem health and viability ofBista et al Movement Ecology (2021) 9:62 local populations and metapopulations [3, 4]. Wildlife increasingly live in human-modified landscapes [1, 2]. An unwillingness to move through modified habitats makes habitat specialists especially vulnerable to human-induced fragmentation and disturbances [1, 3, 5], with implications for foraging, reproduction, and conspecific interactions [6,7,8,9]. An animal’s responsiveness to disturbances may be dependent on its species, age, sex, reproductive condition, nutritional condition and prior experience [3, 7, 16]. Habitat specialists living in human-dominated landscapes are likely to be affected by habitat fragmentation and human disturbances more than generalists. We examined the effect of these factors on movement patterns of red pandas Ailurus fulgens, a habitat and diet specialist that inhabits the eastern Himalaya
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