Habitat Assessment Of Three Subspecies Of Red Deer In Xinjiang Based On Niche Model

Using niche models to predict and evaluate the potential habitats of species is a prerequisite for effective protection of endangered species.In order to protect and manage three subspecies of red deer in Xinjiang namely C.e.sibericus,C.e.songaricus and C.e.yarkanensis effectively,three niche models such as Bioclim,Dominian and Max Ent were used to predict and evaluate the habitats of these three subspecies.The main results are as follows:1.When predicting the potential habitat of C.e.sibericus,among the three niche models of Bioclim,Domain and Max Ent,the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve(AUC)value and Kappa value of the Max Ent model are the largest,0.992 and 0.976 respectively.There for,the Max Ent model more suitable for predicting the potential habitat of C.e.sibericus;When predicting the potential habitat of C.e.songaricus,among the three niche models of Bioclim,Domain and Max Ent,the AUC and Kappa value of the Bioclim model are the largest,0.989 and 0.964,respectively.There for,the Bioclim model more suitable for predicting the potential habitat of C.e.sibericus;While predicting the potential habitat of C.e.yarkanensis,among the three niche models of Bioclim,Domain and Max Ent,the AUC value and Kappa value of the Max Ent model are the largest,0.994 and 0.975,respectively.Max Ent model more suitable for predicting the potential habitat of C.e.yarkanensis.2.The Jackknife results of the Max Ent niche model shows that among the environmental variables of potential habitat of the C.e.sibericus,environmental variables related to precipitation(Bio14,Bio19,Bio17)and vegetation have a great influence on the distribution of C.e.sibericus,the influence of other factors on the distribution of this species was general or low;Among the environmental variables of the C.e.songaricus potential habitat,environmental variables related to temperature(Bio1,Bio5,Bio10,Bio6 and Bio8)and Elevation have a great influence on the distribution of C.e.songaricus,and other factors have generally or low influence on the distribution of this species;Among the environmental variables in the potential habitat of the C.e.yarkanensis,the Bio6,Bio8,Bio11,Bio18,Bio16,Bio1,Bio4,Bio7,Bio10,Bio5,Bio12 and Elevation have a great influence on the distribution of C.e.yarkanensis,and other factors have generally or low influence on the distribution of this species.3.The potential habitat areas of three subspecies of red deer in Xinjiang are divided into 4 levels,including high suitable area,sub-suitable area,low suitable area and non-suitable area.In terms of area,high-suitable,sub-suitable and low-suitable areas of C.e.sibericus account for 11%,38% and 51% of the C.e.sibericus distribution area,respectively;High-suitable,sub-suitable and low-suitable areas of the C.e.songaricus account for 11%,29% and 60% of the C.e.songaricus distribution area,respectively;High-suitable,sub-suitable and low-suitable areas of C.e.yarkanensis account for 7%,30% and 63% of the distribution area of this species,respectively.This study not only provides the potential distribution of the three subspecies of red deer in Xinjiang,but also provides an important scientific basis for the relationship between the environmental variables and three subspecies of Xinjiang red deer.