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Maximum entropy modeling of giant pangolin Smutsia gigantea (Illiger, 1815) habitat suitability in a protected forest-savannah transition area of central Cameroon

Mouafo, Alain D.T., Tédonzong, Luc Roscelin Dongmo, Ingram, Daniel J., Binda, Valery A., Ngwayi, Itoe Constantine Nfor, Mayaka, Theodore B. (2023) Maximum entropy modeling of giant pangolin Smutsia gigantea (Illiger, 1815) habitat suitability in a protected forest-savannah transition area of central Cameroon. Global Ecology and Conservation, 43 . Article Number e02395. E-ISSN 2351-9894. (doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2023.e02395) (KAR id:100850)

Abstract

Across the planet, biodiversity is facing ever-growing threats including habitat loss, climate change, overexploitation, and pollution. Pangolins of the order Pholidota are the only scaly mammal species worldwide and are considered the most trafficked wild mammals in the world, being widely exploited for their meat and scales. The giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea, GP) is one of the least studied species of this order, with little being known about their response to environmental and anthropogenic variables, as well as their distribution patterns in forest-savannah transition areas. Our study aimed to increase ecological knowledge about GP by investigating the environmental factors associated with the distribution of suitable habitat for GP within a protected forest/savannah transition area of Cameroon. Using data on the locations of GP resting burrows collected using line transects and employing a maximum entropy (MaxEnt) modelling approach, we explored GP habitat suitability within a forest-savannah transition area of Cameroon. Our model revealed a good level of accuracy based on the average test area under the Receiver Operator Curve metric. The jackknife test found that Euclidian distance to the national park’s boundaries, normalized difference vegetation index, elevation, and distance to river were the most important predictors determining the distribution of GP burrows. Areas predicted to be suitable for GP burrows were patchily distributed within dense forests, ecotone and savannah, with 19.24% of the study area being suitable and 1% very suitable. Overall, our study shows the possible importance of habitat suitability modeling for understanding GP distribution, as well as planning and prioritising their conservation actions.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.gecco.2023.e02395
Uncontrolled keywords: Ecotone, Cameroon, mammals, Manis gigantea, Sspecies distribution modeling, suitable habitat
Subjects: H Social Sciences
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation > DICE (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology)
Depositing User: Daniel Ingram
Date Deposited: 12 Apr 2023 08:09 UTC
Last Modified: 13 Apr 2023 08:03 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/100850 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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