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Land-use and climate change accelerate the loss of habitat and ecological corridor to Reeves’s Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) in China
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  • Qingqing He,
  • Shan Tian,
  • Jun-Qin Hua,
  • Zheng-Xiao Liu,
  • Yating Liu,
  • Jiliang Xu
Qingqing He
Beijing Forestry University
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Shan Tian
China Natural-harmony Blueprint Technology Co., Ltd
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Jun-Qin Hua
Beijing Forestry University
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Zheng-Xiao Liu
Beijing Forestry University School of Ecology and Nature Conservation
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Yating Liu
Beijing Forestry University
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Jiliang Xu
Beijing Forestry University

Corresponding Author:xujiliang@bjfu.edu.cn

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Abstract

Human activity and climate change are widely considered to be main responsible for Galliformes bird extinction. Due to a decline in population, the Reeves’s Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii), a member of the Galliformes family, was recently elevated to first-class national protected status in China. However, determining their factor on extinction and provide remedy is challenging owing to the lack of long-term data with high spatial and temporal resolution. Here, based on national field survey we used habitat suitability models and integrated data on geographical environment, road development, land-use and climate change to predict potential changes from 1995 to 2050 in the distribution and connectivity of Reeves’s Pheasant habitat. Furthermore, ecological corridors were identified using the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model. The priority of building ecological corridors was then determined by combining the ecological source and the network cost-weight importance index. The study results indicate that both intensified land-use and climate change were associated with the increased habitat loss of the Reeves’s Pheasant. In more recent decades, road construction and land-use changes have been linked to a rise in local extinction, and future climate change is predicted to cause the habitat to become even more fragmented and lose 89.58% of its total area. The ecological corridor for Reeves’s Pheasant will continue to decline by 88.55%. To counteract the negative effects of human activity and climate change on Reeves’s Pheasant survivorship, we recommend taking immediate action. This includes bolstering cooperation amongst provincial governments, restoring habitats, and creating ecological corridors amongst important habitat.
10 May 2024Submitted to Ecology and Evolution
06 Jun 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned
30 Jul 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
05 Aug 2024Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
04 Oct 20241st Revision Received
05 Oct 2024Assigned to Editor
05 Oct 2024Submission Checks Completed
05 Oct 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
15 Oct 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned
08 Nov 2024Editorial Decision: Accept