AUTHOR=Reshamwala Hussain Saifee , Bhattacharya Ankita , Khan Shaheer , Shrotriya Shivam , Lyngdoh Salvador Balajeid , Goyal Surendra P. , Kanagaraj Rajapandian , Habib Bilal 

TITLE=Modeling Potential Impacts of Climate Change on the Distribution of Wooly Wolf (Canis lupus chanco)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.815621

DOI=10.3389/fevo.2022.815621

ISSN=2296-701X

ABSTRACT=The Central Asian wolves form a cohort within wolf-dog clade known as woolly wolf (Canis lupus chanco). These wolves are poorly studied and their current extent and distribution remain unknown. Apex predators already existing at higher elevations like woolly wolf can be severely affected because of the absence of suitable refuge. Concomitantly, in the era of Anthropocene, the change in land-use land-cover is rapidly increasing. Even the most adaptable species occurring in human-dominated landscapes may fail to survive under the combined impact of both climate change and human pressure. We collected 3776 presence locations of Wooly wolf across its range from published literature and compiled 116 predictor variables for species distribution modelling, which included anthropogenic factors, climatic, vegetation and topographic features. We predicted the change in their distribution under different anthropogenic factors, climate change, and land-use land-cover change scenarios. Wolf showed affinity towards areas with low to moderate warm temperatures and higher precipitations. It showed negative relations with forests and farmlands. Our future projections showed an expansion of wolf distribution and habitat suitability under the combined effects of future climate and LULC change. Myanmar and Russia had introduction of high and medium suitability areas for woolly wolf in future scenarios. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan showed consistent loss in high suitability areas while Mongolia and Bhutan had the highest gain in suitability area. The study holds great significance for the protection and management of this species and also provides opportunities to explore the impact on associated species.