Spatial conservation prioritization for the Amur tiger in Northeast China

Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is critically endangered and also the
subspecies of the tiger with the most restoration potential in China. It
is challenging to protect large-ranging carnivores like tigers under
increasing pressure of human development. To provide a more technically
robust foundation for tiger habitat conservation prioritization, we
conducted a comprehensively empirical analysis based on a broadly
collected occurrence dataset of tigers and their prey. We modeled tiger
distribution by running an ensemble model integrating nine different
algorithms. We found that the ensemble model performed well and
outperformed any individual model regarding the discrimination ability. We
used cumulative resistant kernel analysis to identify core habitats as
with high predicted movement density and used factorial least-cost paths
to model corridors among tiger occurrence locations. We found core
habitats for Amur tigers are distributed in three mountain areas, namely
eastern Wanda Mountain, southern Zhangguangcailing, and
Laoyeling-Dalongling. We found significant protection gaps as existing
protected areas only cover less than 1/4 of predicted core habitats, but
this proportion will rise significantly with the establishment of the
Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park. Furthermore, we ranked
spatial priorities for the expansion of the protected area network,
simultaneously considering biological and socioeconomic dimensions under
the Zonation framework. Our study presented the most up-to-date and
detailed maps of the predicted potential distribution and area of the most
important habitats for the Amur tigers in China, which can provide
quantitative guidance in the effort to maximize the efficiency of
conservation initiatives at a regional scale.