Evaluation of the Suitable Habitat of Three Sympatric Pheasants in Guizhou Dashahe National Nature Reserve

Pheasants are important indicator species for assessing the stability of mountain ecosystems. Using infrared camera data and the MaxEnt model, we evaluated the habitat suitability of three sympatric species, Chrysolophus pictus, Tragopan temminckii and Bambusicola thoracicus in the Guizhou Dashahe National Nature Reserve. All three species were found to occupy extensive suitable habitats: C. pictus (with a suitable habitat area of 24091 hm², 89.26% of the reserve) occurs widely except in the southwest; T. temminckii (20031 hm², 74.21%) is concentrated in the northwest and northeast; and B. thoracicus (24774 hm², 91.79%) is mainly distributed in the west. Habitat suitability for C. pictus is driven by altitude, temperature seasonality, and land use/land cover (LULC) ; for T. temminckii by mean diurnal range and altitude; and for B. thoracicus by altitude and slope. These findings reveal the distribution patterns and key determinants of the suitable habitats for three sympatric pheasants in the Dashahe National Nature Reserve.