Changes in habitat suitability and population size of the endangered Przewalski's gazelle

Abstract Habitat loss and degradation is one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity, and understanding the changes in habitat suitability is crucial to wildlife conservation. The Przewalski's gazelle Procapra przewalskii is a rare and endangered ungulate endemic to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China. Its historical distribution range covered a large area of the western China, but had shrunk to fragmented areas around the Qinghai Lake during the 20th century. Along with global changes and economic development in its range, the gazelle population and habitats may undergo corresponding dynamics, which should be studied comparably in relation to environmental drivers. In this study, we conducted field surveys during two periods, from 2009 to 2011 and from 2020 to 2021, to quantify changes in population size and habitat suitability of Przewalski’s gazelle. We found that the overall population size of the species increased from 1544 to 4078, with declines in some subpopulations. The local population changes could be generally related to changes in habitat suitability which experienced an overall decline but improvement in areas on the northern side of the Qinghai Lake. Among the environmental variables, distance to railways and highways, distance to arable lands, NDVI, and DEM were the key factors affecting habitat suitability of the gazelle. This study provides the first comparative analysis of the population trends and habitat suitability of Przewalski’s gazelle involving all the current distribution areas, thus providing important implications for conserving this endangered species.