Population Status Of Northern Whitecheeked Gibbon Nomascus Leucogenys In Pu Hoat Nature Reserve And Pu Hoat Protection Forest Nghe An Province

MINSTRY OF EDUCATIONAND

TRAINING

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE

AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF FORESTRY

BUI THANH TUNG

POPULATION STATUS OF NORTHERN WHITE￾CHEEKED GIBBON (NOMASCUS LEUCOGENYS) IN PU

HOAT NATURE RESERVE AND PU HOAT PROTECTION

FOREST, NGHE AN PROVINCE

MAJOR: FOREST SCIENCE

CODE: 8620201

MASTER THESIS IN FOREST SCIENCE

ACADEMIC ADVISOR:

ASSOC. PROF. DR. VU TIEN THINH

Hanoi, 2022

i

ABSTRACT

The Northern white-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus leucogenys) is listed as

Critically Endangered under the IUCN Red List and in Appendix I of CITES.

This species is distributed in Northern Laos, the North-West and the North￾central regions of Vietnam and Southern China. Pu Hoat Nature Reserve and

Pu Hoat Protection Forest (Pu Hoatforest) were established in 2013 with an

area of 85,500 ha. Pu Hoat forest was known as the key areas for the critically

endangered gibbon. However, there is a shortage of research and conservation

efforts this area. Therefore, this study was conducted to (1) objective 1; and (2)

objective 2. Outcomes from study showed that there were 32 groups of

Northern white-cheeked gibbons in total. Pu Hoat forest is the most important

distribution area of the white cheeked gibbon in Vietnam. In Pu Hoat, there

are 14,521 ha out of the total 85,500 ha of the nature reserve and protection

forest (accounting for 16.98%). The area of suitable habitat is low at 8,268 ha;

the average suitable area is 3,372 ha; the highly suitable area is 1,482 ha, and

the very high area is 1,399 ha. The high suitable habitat areas are smaller than

the low suitable habitat areas. The highly suitable habitat areas are mainly

protection forest adjacent to Xuan Lien NR.

ii

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT......................................................................................................i

CONTENTS.....................................................................................................ii

ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................iv

LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................... v

LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................vi

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................... 1

Chapter 1. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................... 3

1.1. Gibbon in Vietnam.................................................................................. 3

1.2. Northern white-cheeked gibbon.............................................................. 4

1.3. Species distribution modeling and Maxent model ................................. 7

Chapter 2. METHOD ................................................................................... 11

2.1. Study sites............................................................................................. 11

2.2. Data collection ...................................................................................... 13

2.2.1. Interview ......................................................................................... 13

2.2.2. Field surveys................................................................................... 14

2.2.3. Statistical analyses ......................................................................... 15

2.2.4. Determine the suitable area of gibbons in the study area.............. 16

Chapter 3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS............................................... 20

3.1. Status of the Northern white-cheeked gibbon in Pu Hoat forest......... 20

3.1.1. Numbers of gibbon groups recorded in Pu Hoat forest................. 20

3.1.2. Distribution area of the Northern white-cheeked gibbon in Pu Hoat forest23

3.2. Determining the suitable distribution area of the Northern white￾cheeked gibbon in Pu Hoat forest................................................................ 25

3.2.1. Model accuracy .............................................................................. 25

3.2.2. Habitat suitability for Northern white-cheeked gibbon in Pu Hoat forest...25

3.3. Threats to the habitat of the Northern white-cheeked gibbon in Pu Hoat forest.29

iii

3.3.1. International and national border roads........................................ 29

3.3.2. Illegal logging................................................................................. 30

3.3.3. Non- Timber Forest product collection.......................................... 32

3.3.4. Hunting and trapping ..................................................................... 32

3.3.5. Shifting cultivation.......................................................................... 35

3.4. Proposing solutions for conservation of Northern white-cheeked gibbon36

CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS.............................................................. 38

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................... 40

REFERENCES.............................................................................................. 41

APPENDIX

iv

ABBREVIATIONS

IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature

ArcGIS Geographic Information System

CITES

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of

Wild Fauna and Flora Carapace length

ENMs Ecological Niche Modellings

SDM Species distribution modelling

NR Nature Reserve

NTFPs Nontimber forest products

NP National Park

v

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1: List of gibbons in Vietnam .............................................................. 4

Table 2.1: Gibbon survey data sheet singing information (at listening posts)15

Table 2.2: Environmental variables were used in the model.......................... 17

Table 3.1: The gibbon groups detected during a survey in Pu Hoat forest .... 20

Table 3.2: Information of recorded gibbon groups......................................... 22

Table 3.3: Population size of Northern white-cheeked gibbon in protected

areas of Vietnam.............................................................................................. 24