Response of Reeves’s Pheasants Distribution to Human Infrastructure in the Dabie Mountains over the Last 20 Years

Abstract

Human infrastructure development drives habitat loss and fragmentation worldwide. In China, over the last 20 years, rapid infrastructure development impacted the habitats of endangered species. To facilitate conservation efforts, studies of how human infrastructure affects the distribution of Reeves’s pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii), an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and a nationally protected species in China, are critically needed. We assessed how the distribution of Reeves’s pheasant was impacted by human infrastructure development over the past 20 years in the Dabie Mountains, the main distribution range of the species. We surveyed Reeves’s pheasants by direct sightings and indirect evidence through line transects which were randomly distributed in the Dabie Mountains from 2001 to 2002 and 2018 to 2019. We evaluated the variation of the roads and buildings in these areas in the last 20 years, and then modeled the relationship of the distribution of this pheasant with the road and building data from 2000 and 2017. Human infrastructure became more extensively distributed throughout the Dabie Mountains during the period, with all lands within 10 km of a road or a building. The distribution of Reeves’s pheasants became closer to the buildings and roads and there was a significantly positive relationship between the occurrence of Reeves’s pheasants and the distance to the nearest buildings and roads in 2018–2019. These results suggest that the increased density of buildings and roads in the Dabie Mountains may have caused negative effects on Reeves’s pheasants.

Comparative Habitat Divergence and Fragmentation Analysis of Two Sympatric Pheasants in the Qilian Mountains, China

“…Over the last 20 years, rapid infrastructure development in China has had a severe impact on the habitats of endangered species, since the distance from their core habitat to the impervious infrastructure is shortening every year [16]. The response curves for both blood pheasants and blue eared pheasants indicated that the major sustainable habitats of the two pheasants fell within 10 km of transportation infrastructure (i.e., distance to roads) and built-up areas (i.e., distance to buildings) (Figure 3).…”

“…Many avian species have suffered from human activities, as man-made infrastructure have cut through and fragmented their habitat [16]. Gallinaceous birds, which are grounddwelling with limited disperse ability [5,[17][18][19], are particularly vulnerable to human overexploiting and infrastructure expansion.…”

Sex-Specific Movement Responses of Reeves’s Pheasant to Human Disturbance: Importance of Body Characteristics and Reproductive Behavior

“…The study site was located in Pingjingguan village, Guangshui City, Hubei Province, China (113 [31]. The land use types include coniferous forest, deciduous broad-leaved forest, coniferous broad-leaved mixed forest, undergrowth, wasteland, water sources, and human-modified habitat, such as farmland, forest paths, and residential and paved roads.…”