Abstract:

Moose is a national first-class protected animal in China.Studying the habitat quality of moose is a key step to protect moose population.In this paper,taking Heilongjiang Nanwenghe National Natural Reserve as an example,the habitat suitability of moose was evaluated using maximum entropy model(MaxEnt)and habitat suitability index(HSI)model.Moose distribution points data was gathered from unmanned aerial vehicle transect survey,the maximum entropy model was used to get the environmental factor contribution and single environment variable response curve,combined with natural geography of the Reserve,the evaluation model was set up based on the impact of different environmental factors on moose to evaluate the moose habitat suitability of reserve quantitatively.The results showed that altitude(20.3%),slope(11.4%)and distance from river(11.3%)were the main environmental factors affecting the habitat distribution of moose,while slope aspect,slope position and vegetation coverage had less effect on moose habitat.Moose prefer to live in forested area with low altitude,moderate slope,sunny slope,and prefer to live close to river,far away from human disturbance and in areas with high coverage.In the reserve,the area of high suitable habitat for moose is 424.6 km²,accounting for 18.5% of the total area.The area of low suitable habitat is 1 422.9 km²,accounting for 62% of the total area.The area of unsuitable habitat is 447.5 km²,accounting for 19.5% of the total area.

Key words: habitat suitability, maximum entropy model, habitat suitability index model, Alces alces