Habitat Selection Of Red Fox (Vulpes Vulpes) In Sanjiang National Nature Reserve

From July 2013 to September 2014,we studied the habitat selections of red fox during winter, spring, summer and winter in Sanjiang National Nature Reserve. A total number of 475used plots and 229 random plots were identified. The result indicates that there were significant differences in red fox’s habitat selections.In spring, red fox preferred in farmland and wetland, lower shrub density (<10), lower shrub height (<1m), lower canopy density (<50%), lower vegetation coverage(<50%), short distance to water resource (<300 m), long distance to human disturbance (>500 m), high hiding cover (>50%) and moderate food richness. In summer, red fox preferred habitat in island forest and farmland, with moderate shrub density (10-40), higher shrub height (>2 m), higher canopy density (>70%), moderate vegetation coverage (50%-70%), long distance to water source (>500 m), long distance to human disturbance (>500 m), low hiding cover (<50%) and higher food richness. In autumn, red fox preferred in farmland and wetland, higher shrub density (>10), moderate shrub height (1-2 m), long distance to shrub (>3 m), lower canopy density (<50%), lower vegetation coverage (<50%), short distance to water resource (<300 m), short distance to human disturbance (<500 m), low hiding cover (<50%) and high food richness. In winter, red fox preferred in farmland and island forest, moderate shrub density (1-2 m), lower shrub height (<1m), long distance to shrub (>3 m), lower canopy density (<50%), lower vegetation coverage(<50%), short distance to water resource (<500 m), short distance to human disturbance (<500 m), low hiding cover (<50%) and high food richness.Results of principal components analysis indicated that the first principal component accounted for 20.452% of total variance among utilized habitat variance during spring, with higher correlation coefficient for vegetation coverage and food abundance. In summer the result of principal components analysis the first principal component accounted for 26.682% of total variance among utilized habitat variance during summer, with higher correlation coefficient for shrub height, distance to shrub and distance to human disturbance. In autumn, the first principal component accounted for 26.682%. The higher correlation coefficient are shrub density, shrub height and distance to shrub. In winter, the first principal component accounted for 21.531%. The higher correlation coefficient are vegetation coverage, hiding cover and vegetation type.Using the chi-square test comparing the annual use of red fox habitat ecological factors, the results showed that there are significant differences on the vegetation types and food richness, using the Kruskal Wallis H - inspection to compare the rest of the ecological factors, there are significant differences in shrub density, shrub height, distance to shrub, vegetation coverage, distance to water source, human disturbance and hiding cover.