Multi‐scale habitat modelling identifies spatial conservation priorities for mainland clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa)

Abstract

Aim: Deforestation is rapidly altering Southeast Asian landscapes, resulting in some of the highest rates of habitat loss worldwide. Among the many species facing declines in this region, clouded leopards rank notably for their ambassadorial potential 1640 | MACDONALD et AL.

Simulating the impact of Belt and Road initiative and other major developments in Myanmar on an ambassador felid, the clouded leopard, Neofelis nebulosa

“…First and foremost, from the perspective of conservation, it resulted in very low economic and population growth as compared to other nations in the region. One unintended consequence of this is that Myanmar today retains a substantially higher amount of native forest and the largest extents of unfragmented forest ecosystems and the wildlife populations they support of all of Southeast Asia (Macdonald et al 2019).…”

“…The goal of this work was to assess the impact of several major investments that are likely to be implemented in Myanmar, including the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (Silk road and Pipeline Railroad), India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, 53 hydropower dam projects and emerging growth and transport centres, on the population size, genetic diversity and connectivity of mainland clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), which is as an indicator species of forest habitats in Southeast Asia (Macdonald et al 2019). We selected clouded leopards for this study not only because of their increasing importance as a top predator in SE Asia, following the rapid disappearance of tigers and common leopards, but also because their relative broad distribution in forested landscapes, combined with their charisma, makes them powerful ambassador species (Macdonald et al 2017).…”

“…We selected clouded leopards for this study not only because of their increasing importance as a top predator in SE Asia, following the rapid disappearance of tigers and common leopards, but also because their relative broad distribution in forested landscapes, combined with their charisma, makes them powerful ambassador species (Macdonald et al 2017). In this paper we explore the balance between national development plans and the status of clouded leopards, but in this context, while a priority in themselves, clouded leopards are best thought of as an indicator and umbrella for forest biodiversity in the region (see also Macdonald et al 2019).…”

“…We combined several recently developed approaches from landscape ecology and landscape genetics (e.g., Kaszta et al 2019), and a large empirical dataset on clouded leopard occurrences across its entire range (Macdonald et al 2019), to evaluate potential effects of development projects on Myanmar's clouded leopard population and its habitats. Our ultimate purpose is to use these projections as a basis for exploring policy-relevant options to balance the imperatives of economic development and biodiversity conservation.…”

Predictors of puma occupancy indicate prey vulnerability is more important than prey availability in a highly fragmented landscape

“…To avoid pseudo-replication bias between close cameras we overlaid a 1 km 2 grid over our study area and grouped all data collected within a single grid cell ( Fig. 1, 2; Sun et al 2014, Wang et al 2015, Macdonald et al 2019. After grouping, we had 181 grid cells with at least one active camera during some part of the study period.…”