Habitat Suitability Assessment Methodology And Protection Strategy For Larus Relictus Using Linkage Pathway And Ranking Algorithm Approach

With the recent wetland degradation experienced in Erdos National Nature reserve,this research was conducted to quantify the spatio-temporal pattern to understand the different drivers behind the degradation and to assess the habitat suitability of L.relictus in the wetland,through the application of remote sensing and GIS,providing a research method reference for the habitat suitability assessment for typical narrow-dwelling birds.The landscape analysis conducted in this study comprising of the land cover transition intensity and the landscape pattern revealed that over the 3 decade period of study there was a significant increase experienced in the grassland/shrubs and the sparsely vegetated regions both covering between 182 and 342km2 of the region clearly indicating an increased anthropogenic pressure in the regions which was closely related to the changes experienced in the lake.The species inland migratory connectivity analysis conducted in this study to identify species priority zones,necessary for their protection from increased anthropogenic pressure in the region revealed that of the 10 extracted Potential Core Habitats(PCHs)and 14 Linkage networks(LN)(with a maximum and minimum average length of 4.8 and 2.49km respectively),4 PCHs(PCH 1,2,3 and PCH10(bojiang lake buffer zone)and their LN all proved to be highly significant for this species having significantly high Linkage index(LI)value ranging between 0.7 and 1 indicating the necessity for restoration improvement and close monitoring around the regions.The wetland was quantitatively assessed using a novel data driven ranking approach to predict the suitability of the wetland to accommodate L.relictus during breeding season,the result revealed that about 51.28km2(8.01%)of the entire reserve was suitable to accommodate this species most of which was situated around the lake island region,while 45%of the region were unsuitable to accommodate this species.This study revealed that the tool applied in this study compared to other decision making tools,possesses some unique qualities like flexibility,and autonomy giving its users a flexible and less time consuming way to survey and develop strict protective measures and close monitoring of human activities between the migratory pathways and the distribution of species habitats in the wetland.