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.栖息地适宜性模型（Habitat Suitability Models, HSMs）常被应用于保护实践，用于评估某一区域被目标物种占据并实现定居的潜力。然而这类模型的核心局限在于，未能以空间显性的视角理解人类对目标物种的接受度。随着野生动物愈发频繁地栖息于人类主导的景观中，忽略社会学维度的考量会导致对观测过程的误判以及管理策略的失当。 本研究在瑞士境内发放了10000份问卷，明确了与人类对狼的接受度相关的关键社会人口学因素。随后，研究团队基于地理参照的社会人口学、社会学及地理学信息，构建了空间显性的人类接受度模型。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，与人类对狼的接受度相关的关键因素包括：对狼危害性的认知、对狼相关议题的关注度、对牲畜保护的需求，以及对狼的恐惧心理。而感知到的危害性又与人类与狼的直接、间接接触经历，以及受教育程度密切相关。 本研究构建的接受度地图显示，人类接受度随居住海拔升高以及与确认有狼活动区域的距离缩短而降低。这使得阿尔卑斯地区整体呈现出对狼的反对态度，尽管区域间存在显著差异。 研究发现，人类接受狼的区域与适宜狼栖息的区域空间重叠度极低，仅占瑞士国土面积的6%。这类社会生态适宜区域集中分布于汝拉山脉以及阿尔卑斯山脉的东部与南部，而在阿尔卑斯山脉的西部和中部则不存在此类区域。在尚未有狼定居的汝拉地区，提升人类接受度的管理工作将成为关键的保护目标。 综合与应用 本研究构建了一套整合性的社会生态研究框架，能够精准复现近期狼的重新定居过程。我们预计该框架可作为一项强有力的工具，可靠评估物种的整体适宜栖息区域，并对那些分布同样依赖人类态度的物种的中短期分布扩张进行预测。由于本研究方法同时兼顾生态与人类维度，因此非常适合用于识别需要制定主动且针对性社会生态管理计划的关键区域。