Assessing habitat quality of the mountain nyala Tragelaphus buxtoni in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia

Assessing habitat quality of the mountain nyala Tragelaphus buxtoni in the Bale Mountains,

Ethiopia

Paul H.EVANGELISTA;John NORMAN Ⅲ;Paul SWARTZINKI;Nicholas E.YOUNG

【期刊名称】《动物学报（英文版）》 【年(卷),期】2012(058)004

【摘要】Populations of the endangered mountain nyala Tragelaphus buxtoni are significantly threatened by the loss of critical habitat.Population estimates are tentative,and information on the species' distribution and available habitat is required for formulating immediate management and conservation strategies.To support management decisions and conservation priorities,we integrated information

from

a

number

of

small-scale

observational

studies,interviews and reports from multiple sources to define habitat parameters and create a habitat quality model for mountain nyala in the Bale Mountains.For our analysis,we used the FunConn model,an expertise-based model that considers spatial relationships (i.e,patch size,distance) between the species and vegetation type,topography and disturbance to create a habitat quality surface.The habitat quality model showed that approximately 18,610 km2 (82.7％ of our study area) is unsuitable or poor habitat for the mountain nyala,while 2,857 km2 (12.7％) and 1,026 km2 (4.6％) was ranked as good or optimal