Habitat pattern change of Martes zibellina and the impact of timber harvest in Huzhong Area in Greater Hing''''an Mountains, Northeast China
大兴安岭呼中区紫貂生境格局变化及采伐的影响

To better understand human impact on wild animal habitats,we selected three habitat types of Martes zibellina,representing three different successionary stages of their habitats in Huzhong Area,Greater Hing'an Mountain in northeastern China.Employing published literature about behavior ecology,aerial pho-tographs and forest stand maps,we classified the study site into three habitat types,i.e.,best-suitable,suit-able,and unsuitable.We chose the habitat pattern of the year 1989 in the core zone of Huzhong National Natural Reserve,which is adjacent to Huzhong Area and has similar natural conditions,to represent the pri-mary habitat pattern of Huzhong Area before exploitation.The result showed that,from 1989 to 2000,changes in the best-suitable-habitat was significant,decreasing from 68% to 40%,while suitable habitats de-creased from 42% to 17%,whereas unsuitable habitat increased from 21% to 39%.Suitable habitats shrank away from area close to river banks to central forests far away from rivers.Timber harvest proved to be the leading cause of habitat degradation.Our results provide a scientific basis for forest management and animal conservation.