Predicting Potential Breeding Range and Wintering Range of Fairy Pitta (Pitta nympha)
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Lee, Wen-Yu
Abstract
Understanding the relationship between a species’ distribution and its environment is important for further research and conservation management. Fairy Pitta (Pitta nympha) is a kind of migratory bird distributed in East Asia, and classified as a globally vulnerable species due to habitat loss and illegal human hunting. As they are rare and difficult to detect, the records are very shortage, especially in wintering grounds. Moreover, most previous studies focused on fine-scales, which showed few characteristics of distributions and habitats of the Fairy Pitta. The goal of this study was to integrate environmental factors with records of the Fairy Pitta by Geogtaphical Information System (GIS), to predict potential ranges of the Fairy Pitta in breeding and wintering grounds by using Genetic Algorithm for Rule-Set Prediction (GARP), Ecological Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA) and Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt), and to understand overall geographical distributions and habitat characteristics of the Fairy Pitta in East Asian. Two spatial scales were compared simultaneously (i.e. a meso-scale in East Asia (0.1x0.1°) and a fine-scale in Taiwan (1x1km)). The results showed that precipitation was the most important factor to effect the distribution of the Fairy Pitta. Their predicted breeding ranges included Japan, Korean Peninsula, Taiwan and southern China, in which central Japan, northern Korean Peninsula and southwestern China were potential range but were outside the known range; wintering ranges were located in western Borneo, including Brunei, Sarawak and northern Sabah of Malaysia, and Kalimantan of Indonesia, in which Kalimantan was potential range but was also outside the known range. The predicted distribution at the meso- scale in East Asia was similar to those at the fine-scale in Taiwan, but more locally specific habitat characteristics were represented at the fine-scale than at the meso-scale. In this study, the distribution predictive model can indeed draw the potential ranges of suitable habitat, both breeding and winter habitats, of the Fairy Pitta, and provide guidelines to further field research and conservation.
Subjects
Fairy Pitta
distribution predictive model
habitat
Type
thesis
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