Habitat suitability evaluation for Rhinopithecus roxellanae based on GF-1 satellite.

Based on GF-1 satellite remote sensing images and geographic information technology (GIS), and combing data in previous research, we evaluated the habitat suitability of Rhinopithecus roxellana in Shennongjia Nature Reserve in Hubei Province, by taking various habitat factors as evaluation indicators, including altitude, slope, aspect, vegetation type, water system and anthropogenic disturbances. The results showed that, if not considering the influence of human activities, the optimal habitat area and the suitable habitat area were 56.876 km2 and 305.156 km2 respectively, accounting for 7.77% and 41.69% of the total area. Due to the impact of residential and roads, the actually suitable habitat in the reserve became smaller, and the optimal suitable habitat and suitable habitat area decreased to 46.935 km2and 214.617 km2, accounting for 6.41% and 29.32% of the total area. Comparing the habitat suitability evaluation results based on Landsat8 remote sensing images and GF-1 satellite images, the evaluation results accorded with each other, with a degree of 91.7%, showing that GF-1 satellite images can replace Landsat satellite ones effectively in the study of wildlife habitat evaluation. Therefore, the domestic GF-1 satellite can meet the practical requirements of wildlife habitat evaluation, which breaks the dependence on foreign data in the field of wild animal habitat research. With the characteristics of high spatial resolution, high time resolution, low cost and reliable data source, the GF-1 satellite images undoubtedly become a new data source for the remote sensing technology for studying wild animal habitat in China. Because the GF-1 is the first satellite in China with high resolution earth observation system, it is very important to verify GF-1 data. This study also plays a guiding role for the application of domestic high satellite remote sensing data in forestry.