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.

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2023.e02395

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 106 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It is also the first observation of the species in the eastern part of the park, as previous observations were in the Simenti area, in the central area of the park. The station was located in a gallery forest, while the previous observations in the NKNP were in wooded savannahs, both known habitats for this species (Hoffmann et al., 2020; Khwaja et al., 2019; Mouafo et al., 2023). As giant pangolins are reported from 5.3% of West Africa's protected areas, but most protected areas lack recent concrete evidence of presence, observations such as this are important to address this knowledge gap (USAID, 2020).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rediscovery of the endangered giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) in Senegal after 24 years

Ndiaye,

Drouilly,

Senghor

et al. 2024

Afr J Ecol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pangolins have generated great interest in recent years, largely due to the unprecedented scale of trafficking the species experiences. Detailed knowledge of pangolin distribution in West Africa is lacking, but many local extinctions are suspected. The last documented sighting of a giant pangolin in Senegal was in Niokolo‐Koba National Park (NKNP) and dates back to 1999. Following a large camera‐trap survey carried out in NKNP in 2023, we present photographic evidence that giant pangolins are still present in the park. Such rediscoveries not only underscore the importance of systematic biodiversity inventories, but also the critical value of West Africa's large protected areas.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rediscovery of the endangered giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) in Senegal after 24 years

Ndiaye,

Drouilly,

Senghor

et al. 2024

Afr J Ecol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…With increased precipitation seasonality, suitable habitat for pangolins decreases while decreased precipitation seasonality increases suitable habitat for pangolins as termites are abundant in the wet season as compared to the dry season 48 . There are no existing studies on the impact of climate change on Indian pangolin in its distribution range however a few studies have assessed habitat suitability of Indian pangolin 24 such as the Potohar region of Pakistan or the giant pangolin ( Smutsia gigantea) in central Cameroon 49 . However, our findings are not comparable with these studies since they did not use bioclimatic variables to predict habitat suitability, nor did they predict suitable habitat of either species under changing climatic conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting current and future habitat of Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) under climate change

Qasim,

Mahmood,

Rakha

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate change is among the greatest drivers of biodiversity loss, threatening up to 15–30% of described species by the end of the twenty-first century. We estimated the current suitable habitat and forecasted future distribution ranges of Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) under climate change scenarios. We collected occurrence records of Indian pangolin using burrow counts, remote camera records and previously published literature in Pakistan during 2021–2023. We downloaded bioclimatic data for current (1970–2000) and future (2041–2060, 2061–2080, 2081–2100) climate scenarios from the WorldClim database using the Hadley Global Environment Model (HadGEM3-GC31-LL). We used MaxEnt software to predict current and future distributions of Indian pangolin, then computed the amount of habitat lost, gained, and unchanged across periods. We obtained 560 Indian pangolin occurrences overall, 175 during the study, and 385 from our literature search. Model accuracy was very good (AUC = 0.885, TSS = 0.695), and jackknife tests of variable importance showed that the contribution of annual mean temperature (bio1) was greatest (33.4%), followed by the mean temperature of the coldest quarter (bio-12, 29.3%), temperature seasonality (bio 4, 25.9%), and precipitation seasonality (bio 15, 11.5%). The maxent model predicted that during the current time period (1970–2000) highly suitable habitat for Indian pangolin was (7270 km2, 2.2%), followed by moderately suitable (12,418 km2, 3.7%), less suitable (49,846 km2, 14.8%), and unsuitable habitat (268,355 km2, 79.4%). Highly suitable habitat decreased in the western part of the study area under most SSPs and in the central parts it declined under all SSPs and in future time periods. The predicted loss in the suitable habitat of the Indian pangolin was greatest (26.97%) under SSP 585 followed by SSP 126 (23.67%) during the time 2061–2080. The gain in suitable habitat of Indian pangolin was less than that of losses on average which ranged between 1.91 and 13.11% under all SSPs during all time periods. While the stable habitat of the Indian pangolin ranged between 64.60 and 83.85% under all SSPs during all time periods. Our study provides the current and future habitat ranges of Indian pangolin in the face of a changing climate. The findings of our study could be helpful for policymakers to set up conservation strategies for Indian pangolin in Pakistan.

show abstract

“…NDVI values were extracted from the same year's Landsat imagery to assess the vegetation health in a specific area. NDVI is proven to effectively predict the distribution and abundance of both herbivore and non-herbivore species across different times and locations (Mouafo et al, 2023). The 30 meter resolution Aster DEM (Digital Elevation Model) was obtained from available GEE data repository of United States Geological Survey (USGS) https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/, which was further processed to extract slope and aspect angle .…”

Section: Development Of Environmental Layersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Species Distribution Models (SDM) help pinpoint areas with suitable geographic conditions by analyzing and considering various predictor variables. (Mouafo et al, 2023). Such spatial models help represent the species' distribution and site preferences based on environmental parameters (Newton et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forecasting the probable range and environmental variables Linked with Indian pangolin habitats in Chakwal District of Pakistan

Safi,

Varriano

2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The population of Indian pangolin in Chakwal district is under serious threat due to various biological and human induced factors leading to rapid decline. Limited data on their habitat in Pakistan hinders conservation efforts. To address this issue, we conducted a comprehensive study combining a literature review, expert interviews and field surveys. We identified the presence of pangolins at 50 sites through direct observations and features such as burrows and scats along 15 transects and 11 quadrats covering different habitats. Our findings reveal that forested areas, characterized by medium-textured brown soil at altitudes between 400 and 1,300 meters above sea level, host the highest concentration of pangolin burrows. Maximum Entropy Model (MaxEnt) version 3.4.1 was used to model potential habitat distribution of Indian Pangolin in the study area with more than 100 sightings data from survey and literature. The results of the logistic regression analysis indicated strong correlations between pangolin sightings with distance from waterbodies, termite site presence, topographic diversity, open forest cover and precipitation. It was found that 7.8% (517 sq. km) of Chakwal district has been identified as highly suitable, consisting of fragmented upland forest and grassland and another 26% (1,579 sq. km) as moderately suitable habitat. These findings are essential for understanding the distribution of pangolins in Chakwal district and formulating effective conservation strategies. They provide the basis for local management plans aimed at protecting pangolin natural habitats and ensure their continued protection amid ongoing environmental challenges.

show abstract

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

Cited by 4 publications

References 106 publications

Rediscovery of the endangered giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) in Senegal after 24 years

Rediscovery of the endangered giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) in Senegal after 24 years

Predicting current and future habitat of Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) under climate change

Forecasting the probable range and environmental variables Linked with Indian pangolin habitats in Chakwal District of Pakistan

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About