Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Asian Grassland Conference, Ankara, Türkiye, 19 - 21 Nisan 2022, ss.17, (Özet Bildiri)
Anatolian chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra asiatica) is the only
endangered chamois subspecies and lonely distributed at Alpine
grasslands in northeastern Turkey and along the border of
Georgia. There have been extremely limited studies about the
species because of the difficulties in habitat accessibility and species
detectability. From former observations, it seems that Anatolian
chamois has probably different habitat requirements than its
counterparts in Europe. Its distribution and population in the last
three decades dramatically declined, but it has been also probably
recovering at some remote montane habitats in the last years.
Our aim is to reveal the current distribution, temporal change
in the area of occupancy, and habitat preference of this endangered
species. We collected presence data between 2002-2018
by direct observations during field studies, camera trap studies,
citizen-science data, and trophy hunting locations in eastern and
north-eastern Turkey (Lesser Caucasus) and southwestern Georgia.
The study area is about 300,000 km2. We conducted habitat
suitability modeling with environmental variables including
climate, vegetation cover, terrain, elevation, human disturbance,
food availability, and interspecific competition. We used regression-
based models including a generalized linear model in R and
maximum entropy modeling by MaxEnt software. The best-predicted
model showed that maximum temperature, terrain type,
elevation, and human disturbance are the most important variables
for species distribution and suitable habitats. The predicted
suitable habitats are much smaller than the former habitats of the
species, but still suitable alpine habitats are larger than the current
distribution. Anatolian chamois use mostly alpine grasslands
except during snowing in wintertime. In conclusion, there are still
suitable alpine grassland habitats to sustain viable populations
of Anatolian chamois in the Lesser Caucasus, but human disturbance
including trophy hunting, infrastructural constructions, and
mining activities specifically above 2000 m on Alpine grassland
habitats of Anatolian chamois should be restricted.