Human infrastructure development drives decline in suitable habitat for Reeves's pheasant in the Dabie Mountains in the last 20 years

Abstract Human infrastructure development has increased particularly rapidly in the past 20 years in China. Some of these areas have coincided with the distribution areas of some endangered species in China, such as Reeves's pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii). As a nationally protected animal and as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, it is a flagship species in some of the mountainous massifs of central China and is important in maintaining some natural forest reserves. If uncontrolled, development will threaten survival of this rare wild animal. Understanding the spatial-temporal response of Reeves's pheasant to habitat changes will be useful for providing information and improving habitat quality when making decisions on the use and management of land-use resources. To elucidate the impacts of human infrastructure development on changing the potential habitat of Reeves's pheasant between 2001-2002 and 2018–2019, we compared three different distribution models: a model with topographic and land cover variables, a model with topographic and human infrastructure development, and a model with all variables. Then we estimated the relative strength of land use/land cover (LULC) factors contributing to these changes by integrating Geo-Information technology and Markov analysis. Finally, we evaluated habitat fragmentation between the two periods. We found that the distribution of suitable habitat decreased from 2001 to 2002 to 2018–2019. Moreover, the directional distribution became more elongated and the mean center moved to southeast, which is closer to the highest peak in the Dabie Mountains. During 2000–2015, cultivated land and grassland area declined, while artificial surface area increased. Detailed examination of the LULC changes suggested that desertification had also occurred. Importantly, functional categorization revealed that all the different habitat area types predicted for Reeves's pheasant had decreased from 2001 to 2019. With the likely movement of the pheasant to higher elevations, human infrastructure development and environmental goals must both be considered to ensure the survival of this charismatic species.