Autumn habitat selection of wild boar in the Fenghuangshan Nature Reserve, Heilongjiang Province

The habitat quality of the wild boar (Sus scrofa) was investigated by transect and plot surveys in the Fenghuangshan Nature Reserve, Heilongjiang Province, in autumn and winter of 2009, to explore spatial distribution and migration patterns of this animal. Vanderloeg  Scavia’s selectivity coefficient (Wi) and selectivity index (Ei) were used to assess the habitat factors that the wild boar preferred. MannWhitey’s U test was used to explore the difference between samples selected and those neglected by the wild boar. The results showed that the wild boar tend to live in such habitats as mixed coniferous and broadleaf forests with abundant food supply, preferring half sunny / half shady slopes with lower slope position, gentle slope degree, moderate anthropogenic interference and highlevel vegetation cover, and avoiding habitats with steep slope, lowlevel vegetation cover and severe disturbance. Four of the 13 given factors, food richness, level of concealment, slope gradient and slope position, were decisive for the wild boar’s utilization of habitats. In addition, the difference between samples selected and those avoided by the wild boar is significant (P  0.05).