Impact of carbon neutralization policy on the suitable habitat distribution of the North China leopard

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 18821 - 13
• Main Authors: Zhu, Mengyan, Zhao, Yue, Li, Weiqiang, Han, Xinghua, Wang, Zhen, Yang, Xiaomei, Dang, Cuiying, Liu, Yaoguo, Xu, Shicai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 13.08.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/158; 631/158/2165; 631/158/672; 631/601; 704/158/670; Animals; Carbon; Carbon - analysis; Carbon neutrality; Carbon peak; China; Climate Change; Conservation of Natural Resources; Ecosystem; Emissions; Environmental protection; Global climate; Habitats; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Neutralization; Northern Shaanxi; Owls; Panthera - physiology; Panthera pardus japonensis; Precipitation; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Seasonal variations; Species distribution model; Suitable habitat; Wildlife conservation; Wildlife habitats; China; North China leopard; Climate change; Species distribution model; Carbon neutrality; Suitable habitat; Northern Shaanxi; Carbon peak
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-69889-0
• ISSN: 2045-2322

The Chinese government has introduced a carbon neutral policy to cope with the rapid changes in the global climate. It is not clear what impact this policy will have on wildlife. Therefore, this study analyzed the suitable habitat distribution of China’s unique leopard subspecies in northern Shaanxi, and simulated the potential suitable habitat distribution under different carbon emission scenarios at two time points of future carbon peak and carbon neutralization. We found that in the future SSPs 126 scenario, the suitable habitat area and the number of suitable habitat patches of North China leopard will continue to increase. With the increase of carbon emissions, it is expected that the suitable habitat of North China leopard will continue to be fragmented and shifted. When the annual average temperature is lower than 8 °C, the precipitation seasonality is 80–90 mm and the precipitation of the warmest quarter is greater than 260 mm, the probability of occurrence of North China leopard is higher. The increase in carbon emissions will lead to the reduction, migration, and fragmentation of the suitable habitat distribution of the North China leopard. Carbon neutrality policies can protect suitable wild habitats. In the future, the impact of carbon neutrality policies on future wildlife habitat protection should be carried out in depth to effectively promote the construction of wildlife protection projects.