Habitat pattern dynamics and cause analysis of Equus hemionus in Kalamaili Mountain Ungulate Nature Reserve, Xinjiang

Habitat loss and fragmentation caused by human disturbance has seriously affected the survival of wildlife. We investigated key environmental factors that affected Khulan(Equus hemionus) habitat preferences in the Xinjiang Kalamaili Mountain Ungulate Nature Reserve, and used a maximum entropy model(MaxEnt) to simulate the spatial distribution of suitable habitat for Khulan during three distinct time-periods: 1) before mining development(2005), 2) at the peak of mining development(2011), and 3) after ecological restoration and road construction(2019). The data was based on field survey data from 2005 to 2019. In the meantime, the landscape pattern indices were chosen to analyze the dynamic change trend of Khulan′s habitat pattern during past 15 years. We found that the suitable habitat for Khulan was mainly located in the central part of the reserve, with water availability being a key factor affecting habitat quality for Khulan. From 2005 to 2019, the habitat of Khulan in the reserve experienced a process from good condition to deterioration, and then gradually recovered. Before mining development, the area of highly suitable habitat was the largest(2022.31 km~2), with a low degree of habitat fragmentation, and habitat quality was generally well during this time-period. At the peak of mining development, the bulk of suitable habitat lost and shifted to the north of the reserve, among which the area of highly suitable habitat decreased by 30.28%. The remaining highly suitable habitat was in small, irregular, scattered and fragmented patches, which seriously threatened the survival of Khulan. After ecological restoration of the mining area, most of the restored mining area changed to the suitable habitat again, and the suitable habitat area of Khulan increased by 556.31 km~2 compared with the mining development, however, they still suffered from fragmentation and isolation. Additionally, with many roads were built, Khulan obviously avoided it, and thus the habitat along these roads was also lost. Based on the results, the specific suggestions have been put forward for the habitat protection of Khulan. The study provides scientific basis for the habitat restoration and protection of the Khulan in the Xinjiang Kalamaili Mountain Ungulate Nature Reserve.