Historical distribution of the otter (Lutra lutra) in north‐east China according to historical records (1950–2014)

Abstract

1. The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) has undergone a dramatic decline throughout the 20th century in China, especially in the North East. However, the dynamics responsible for the reduction in the distribution of otters in this region since the 1950s is still unclear. Such uncertainty and insufficient information can hinder effective conservation strategies. 2. A study was conducted using historical documents to attempt an evaluation of the status of otter populations in north‐east China between 1950 and 2014. The data suggest that otters were widely distributed with abundant populations in north‐east China in the 1950s, particularly in the area of the Songhua River basin and the Ussuli River basin. 3. Compared with the 1950s, the number of records in 2014 has fallen by 92%. Otter populations are fragmented and mainly restricted to national nature reserves, leaving little optimism for their future. 4. More broadly, this research demonstrates that recovering information from local historical documents can be a useful and reliable way to overcome the limits caused by lack of data. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Historical data for conservation: reconstructing range changes of Chinese pangolin ( Manis pentadactyla ) in eastern China (1970–2016)

“…In this case, the potential distribution can be captured by our approach due to several reasons: (i) historical records already contained potential information about human influence [15–17,20]; (ii) human influence layers for different periods were included for ensemble modelling; and (iii) quality historical climate data were obtained for each period [35]. …”

“…The situation may worsen in the near future if consumption and demand for pangolin derivatives continues [1,3,6]. However, environmental protection programmes in China may have positive impacts on pangolin populations: the rate of decrease has been dropping since several environmental protection programmes were launched in the late 1980s, such as the PRC Law on the Protection of Wildlife, the Natural Forests Protection Program and establishing nature reserves [15,16,20]. …”

“…In practice, primary data at local scales is often incomplete and spatially biased, and these problems can be reduced by ecological niche modelling [15,20,21]. Discrepancies among different species distribution models (SDMs) can be large, making it difficult to choose an appropriate model [22,23].…”

Geographic characteristics of sable (Martes zibellina) distribution over time in Northeast China

“…Based on previous research (Yang et al., ; Zhang et al., ), we collected historical sable data from five sources: gazetteers, fauna records, nature reserve scientific surveys, scientific research, and news (see the Table S1 in Appendix S1). Conflicting records with unsubstantiated datasets, such as those lacking relevant or detailed descriptions, were excluded from the analysis.…”

Gap analysis and implications for seasonal management on a local scale

“…Combining data from multiple sources into a single dataset can ameliorate the data shortage that often limits local studies. In addition, primary data on a local scale is often incomplete and spatially biased, a problem that can be mitigated through the use of ecological niche modeling (Hammitt, Cole & Monz (2015); Hortal et al, 2008; Marks (2012); Yang et al, 2016; Zhang et al, 2016). Such modeling has proven to be an effective tool for reducing the data limitations of traditional methods for measuring biodiversity (Carretero & Sillero, 2016; Elith & Leathwick, 2009; Ranjitkar et al, 2016; Thuiller et al, 2009).…”