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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Ecol. Evol.
Sec. Conservation and Restoration Ecology
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fevo.2024.1435811

Human-wildlife conflict patterns and its hotspots prediction in the southern foothills of the Daba Mountains, China

Provisionally accepted
Qiang Wu Qiang Wu 1Yunchuan Dai Yunchuan Dai 2Qiaoyun Sun Qiaoyun Sun 3*
  • 1 Chongqing College of Humanities, Science and Technology, Chongqing, Chongqing Municipality, China
  • 2 Institute for Ecology and Environmental Resources, Chongqing Academy of Social Sciences, Chongqing 400020, China, Chongqing, China
  • 3 School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The Daba Mountain area is recognized as one of the global biodiversity hotspots. In recent years, human-wildlife conflicts (HWCs) in this region have intensified significantly.Understanding and mitigating the damage caused by wildlife is crucial for maintaining ecological balance and enhancing public welfare. We analyzed the current status of HWCs in the southern foothills of the Daba Mountains through semi-structured interviews and field surveys. Additionally, using the collected data on HWC occurrences, we predicted HWC hotspots using the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model. The results: (1) A total of 449 cases of actual HWC incidents were investigated, primarily involving wild boars (Sus scrofa; 81.96%) and Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus; 18.04%). The main types of HWC included crop destruction and attacks on beehives. (2) Incidents of damage caused by wild boars and Asiatic black bears were concentrated in the summer months, particularly from June to August. (3) In the study area, 21 out of 25 townships reported HWC cases. Notably, the townships of Fuxing, Gaoyan and Gaoguan were identified as the most affected, with Gaoyan and Fuxing experiencing the highest amounts of loss. (4) The variable of DTP (Distance to Protected Area) was found to have the greatest influence on the hotspot distributions of HWCs. The hotspot zone exhibited a strip-like distribution along the northwestsoutheast axis in the central part of the study area. The total area of the HWC hotspots was 1352.56 km 2 . The largest hotspot areas were located in Xiuqi Town, Gaoyan Town, and Houping Township, accounting for 13.26%, 12.01%, and 7.83% of the total hotspot area, respectively. HWC hotspots require robust management measures to mitigate wildlife damage to local communities and enhance indigenous people's engagement in wildlife conservation. Implementation of physical measures and compensation schemes may be necessary in these hotspots to alleviate the financial burden on indigenous populations. Our findings may provide valuable insights for the future formulation of biodiversity conservation policies and HWC mitigation strategies in the Daba Mountains.

    Keywords: human-wildlife conflicts, HWC hotspots, Crops Protection, Mitigation strategies, Maxent

    Received: 21 May 2024; Accepted: 01 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wu, Dai and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Qiaoyun Sun, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

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