Data from: Combining human acceptance and habitat suitability in a unified socio-ecological suitability model: a case study of the wolf in Switzerland

Habitat suitability models (HSMs) are commonly used in conservation practise to assess the potential of an area to be occupied and colonised. A major limitation of these models, however, is the omission of spatially explicit understanding of human acceptance towards the focal species. As wildlife is more and more subject to human-dominated landscapes, ignoring the sociological component will result in misrepresentation of the observed processes and inappropriate management.
We distributed 10 000 questionnaires across Switzerland and identified key socio-demographical factors correlated with human acceptance of the wolf. We then created a spatially explicit acceptance model based on geo-referenced socio-demographical, social and geographical information. Finally, we combined our acceptance model with a HSM to obtain a unified socio-ecological suitability model, which included human and ecological components.
We showed that the key factors associated with human acceptance were perception of how harmful the wolf is, interest in wolf-related issues, need for livestock protection, and fear of the wolf. Perceived harmfulness was in turn correlated with direct and indirect experience with the wolf, and level of education.
Our acceptance map predicted decreasing acceptance with increasing altitude of residency and proximity to locations of confirmed wolf presence. This resulted in the overall opposition to the wolf for the Alpine region, albeit substantial regional differences.
We found little spatial overlap (6% of Switzerland) between areas where the wolf was accepted and areas of suitable habitat. These areas of socio-ecological suitability were concentrated in the Jura Mountains and in the eastern and southern Alps, and were absent in the western and central Alps. Particularly in the Jura region, which is yet to be colonised, management of human acceptance will be a crucial conservation target.
Synthesis and applications. We developed an integrative, socio-ecological approach that allowed us to accurately reproduce recent wolf recolonisation. We anticipate our framework to be a powerful tool to reliably evaluate overall suitable habitats and predict short to medium-term range expansion for species whose distribution is also dependent on human attitudes. Because our approach is sensitive to both the ecological and human component, it is ideally suited to identify key regions where proactive and targeted socio-ecological management plans are needed.

生境适宜性模型（Habitat suitability models, HSMs）是保护实践中用于评估某一区域被目标物种占据和拓殖潜力的常用工具。然而这类模型的一大局限在于，未能对人类针对目标物种的接受度开展空间显式的认知分析。随着野生动物愈发频繁地栖息于人类主导的景观之中，忽略社会学维度的考量会导致对观测过程的误判，以及不适宜的管理策略。

我们在瑞士境内发放了10000份调查问卷，明确了与人类对狼的接受度相关的关键社会人口统计学因素。随后基于地理参考的社会人口学、社会学与地理学信息，构建了空间显式的人类接受度模型。最终将该接受度模型与HSM相结合，得到了兼具人类与生态维度的统一社会生态适宜性模型。

研究表明，与人类接受度相关的核心因素包括：对狼危害性的感知、对狼相关议题的兴趣、对牲畜保护的需求，以及对狼的恐惧。而个体对狼危害性的感知，又与其与狼的直接、间接接触经历以及受教育程度密切相关。

我们的接受度地图预测，随着居民居住地海拔升高、距离确认的狼活动点位越近，人类对狼的接受度会逐渐降低。这使得阿尔卑斯山区整体呈现出反狼态度，尽管区域间存在显著差异。

我们发现，在瑞士境内，人类接受狼的区域与适宜狼栖息的区域之间的空间重叠度极低（仅占瑞士国土的6%）。这类兼具社会生态适宜性的区域集中分布在汝拉山脉以及阿尔卑斯山脉的东部与南部，而在阿尔卑斯山脉西部与中部则不存在此类区域。尤其在尚未被狼拓殖的汝拉地区，对人类接受度的管理将成为至关重要的保护目标。

综合与应用。我们开发了一套整合性的社会生态学研究框架，能够精准复现近期狼的重新拓殖事件。我们预计该框架可作为一款强有力的工具，可靠评估物种的整体适宜栖息地，并预测那些分布同样依赖人类态度的物种的短期至中期分布范围扩张情况。由于该方法同时兼顾生态与人文维度，它非常适用于识别需要制定前瞻性、针对性社会生态管理计划的关键区域。