The Influences Of Landscape Permeability On Winter Movement Patterns Of Amur Tiger(panthera Tigris Altaica)

The Amur tiger(Panthera tigris altaica)is one of the flagship species for biodiversity conservation in Northeast Asia,and since 2000,China has steadily restored Amur tiger populations in China through natural forest conservation projects and the construction of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park.However,the current isolation of the Amur tiger’s main habitat patches is limiting the further spread of the Amur tiger along the Sino-Russian border(e.g.,Hunchun Reserve),and the high density of tigers in the border area is leading to an increase in human-tiger conflicts.The study of tiger movement characteristics and the effect of habitat landscape on them is important for the development of conservation management measures to promote further inland migration of Amur tigers.In this study,the snow tracks of Amur tigers were tracked in the Hunchun area of Jilin Province in January 2022.Combine with data from winter 2012～2015,the fractal analysis was applied to quantify the path tortuosity of Amur tiger snow tracks,and a linear mixed-effects model was established to analyze the movement patterns of Amur tigers accordingly.At the same time,the Amur tiger and prey occurrence points were collected through line transect surveys and camera traps,and the MaxEnt model was used to predict the suitable distribution of Amur tigers’ winter habitat and to assess the landscape permeability.Finally,the relationship between Amur tiger movement patterns and landscape permeability was analyzed.The main results were obtained as follows:1.The Amur tiger’s movement paths did not show scale differences in response to the surrounding environment in the range of 2 to 50 m.2.The closer to townships and shrub vegetation,the higher the tortuosity of Amur Tiger paths;the closer to the forest roads,the lower the tortuosity of Amur Tiger paths.3.The main factors affecting the distribution of Amur tigers are prey,residential areas,croplands,and broad-leaved forest.The closer to residential areas and croplands,the lower the habitat suitability value of Amur tigers;the higher the probability of prey,and the closer to broad-leaved forests,the higher the habitat suitability value of Amur tigers.4.There was a negative correlation between Amur tiger path tortuosity and landscape permeability.This study combined animal movement pattern analysis with a species distribution model to provide a theoretical basis for determining the factors affecting Amur tiger dispersal in the landscape and for rational planning of the existing habitat structure based on this information.At the same time,testing the relationship between path tortuosity and landscape permeability also provides a new perspective for future research on landscape permeability.