Habitat quality outweighs the human footprint in driving spatial patterns of Cetartiodactyla in the Kunlun-Pamir Plateau

Xiaoran Huang; Yangfeng Wu; Anming Bao; Lei Zheng; Tao Yu; Sulei Naibi; Ting Wang; Fengjiao Song; Ye Yuan; Philippe De Maeyer; Tim Van de Voorde

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122693

Habitat quality outweighs the human footprint in driving spatial patterns of Cetartiodactyla in the Kunlun-Pamir Plateau

J Environ Manage. 2024 Oct 5:370:122693. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122693. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Xiaoran Huang¹, Yangfeng Wu², Anming Bao³, Lei Zheng⁴, Tao Yu⁵, Sulei Naibi⁵, Ting Wang⁵, Fengjiao Song⁶, Ye Yuan⁷, Philippe De Maeyer⁸, Tim Van de Voorde⁸

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China; Key Laboratory of Smart City and Environment Modelling of Higher Education Institute, College of Resources and Environment Sciences, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830046, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Department of Geography, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, Belgium.
² Northeast Institute of Geography and Agro-Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130102, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China; CAS Research Centre for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia, Urumqi, 830011, China; China-Pakistan Joint Research Centre on Earth Sciences, CAS-HEC, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Department of Geography, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, Belgium.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ Department of Geography, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, Belgium; Sino-Belgian Laboratory for Geo-Information, Ghent, 9000, Belgium.

PMID: 39369535
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122693

Abstract

The Human Footprint (HFP) and Habitat Quality (HQ) are critical factors influencing the species' distribution, yet their relation to biodiversity, particularly in mountainous regions, still remains inadequately understood. This study aims to identify the primary factor that affects the biodiversity by comparing the impact of the HFP and HQ on the species' richness of Cetartiodactyla in the Kunlun-Pamir Plateau and four protected areas: The Pamir Plateau Wetland Nature Reserve, Taxkorgan Wildlife Nature Reserve, Middle Kunlun Nature Reserve and Arjinshan Nature Reserve through multi-source satellite remote sensing product data. By integrating satellite data with the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST)HQ model and utilizing residual and linear regression analysis, we found that: (1) The Wildness Area (WA) predominantly underwent a transition to a Highly Modified Area (HMA) and Intact Area (IA), with a notable 12.02% rise in stable regions, while 58.51% rather experienced a negligible decrease. (2) From 1985 to 2020, the Kunlun-Pamir Plateau has seen increases in the forestland, water, cropland and shrubland, alongside declines in bare land and grassland, denoting considerable land cover changes. (3) The HQ degradation was significant, with 79.81% of the area showing degradation compared to a 10.65% improvement, varying across the nature reserves. (4) The species richness of Cetartiodactyla was better explained by HQ than by HFP on the Kunlun-Pamir Plateau (52.99% vs. 47.01%), as well as in the Arjinshan Nature Reserve (81.57%) and Middle Kunlun Nature Reserve (56.41%). In contrast, HFP was more explanatory in the Pamir Plateau Wetland Nature Reserve (88.89%) and the Taxkorgan Wildlife Nature Reserve (54.55%). Prioritizing the restoration of degraded habitats areas of the Kunlun Pamir Plateau could enhance Cetartiodactyla species richness. These findings provide valuable insights for the biodiversity management and conservation strategies in the mountainous regions.

Keywords: Cetartiodactyla; Habitat quality; Human footprint; Land cover; Nature reserves.