Mammalian Biology 93 (2018) 13–20 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Mammalian Biology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mambio Original investigation Winter habitat of Mongolian gazelles in areas of southern Mongolia under new railroad construction: An estimation of interannual changes in suitable habitats Takehiko Y. Ito a,b,∗ , Yumi Sakamoto c , Badamjav Lhagvasuren d , Toshihiko Kinugasa c , Masato Shinoda e a Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University, Hamasaka 1390, Tottori 680-0001, Japan b Organization for the Strategic Coordination of Research and Intellectual Properties, Meiji University, Eifuku1-9-1, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 168-8555, Japan c Department of Agricultural Science, Tottori University, Koyamacho-minami 4-101, Tottori 680-8550, Japan d Institute of General and Experimental Biology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Peace Avenue 54b, Ulaanbaatar 13330, Mongolia e Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 23 February 2018 Accepted 14 July 2018 Available online 17 July 2018 Handled by Emmanuel Serrano Keywords: Dryland Habitat fragmentation Maxent Migration NDVI a b s t r a c t Environmental disturbances owing to human activity and habitat fragmentation are considered as threats to wildlife populations and migrations. The construction of railroads in southern Mongolia could lead to further habitat fragmentation that could disrupt the long-distance movement of ungulates such as the Mongolian gazelle (Procapra gutturosa). In this study, we used tracking and environmental data to con- struct habitat suitability maps for wintering Mongolian gazelles to analyze the spatiotemporal changes in habitats for regions that could be fragmented by the presence of new railroads. Habitat suitability in winter was high in areas with a short duration of snow cover and a high normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). We noted significant interannual variability in the spatial distribution of winter habitat suit- ability in the potentially fragmented area, which suggests a serious threat posed by railroad construction, although the tracked gazelles had not crossed the area of planned railroads during the entire one-year tracking period. Maintaining accessibility to habitat by creating enough accessible animal crossings over the new railroad area would be crucial for wild ungulate conservation in this region. © 2018 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Säugetierkunde. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. Introduction The migrations of herds of large terrestrial mammals that are primarily caused by seasonal changes in food availability are one of most spectacular but endangered ecological phenomena in the world (Harris et al., 2009; Wilcove and Wikelski, 2008). Such migra- tions remain mainly within dryland ecosystems (Durant et al., 2015) where significant interannual variability in climatic con- ditions affects food availability and animal movement (Ito et al., 2013b; Mueller and Fagan, 2008). The importance of landscape con- nectivity increases with the increasing frequency of climate change (Woodroffe et al., 2014). Mongolia’s grasslands are one of the world’s most important wildlife ecosystems as migratory ungulates, such as the Mongolian gazelle (Procapra gutturosa), goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa), ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: ito@alrc.tottori-u.ac.jp (T.Y. Ito). and Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) inhabit the grasslands. How- ever, human disturbances to the area, such as habitat fragmentation from anthropogenic structures and traffic are considered as threats to wildlife populations and their migrations (Batsaikhan et al., 2014; Mallon and Jiang, 2009). In particular, large-scale mining projects and new railroad construction are progressing in south- ern Mongolia (Batsaikhan et al., 2014) and, these activities could be detrimental to long-distance migrants, as demonstrated by the existing railroads and fences along the country’s international bor- ders that have a strong barrier effect on wild ungulates (Ito et al., 2005, 2008, 2013a; Kaczensky et al., 2011b). One study has shown that human-associated factors, such as road density, population centers and their associated areas of impact, and existing mines, in southern Mongolia have more of an impact than natural environmental variables on the distribution of goitered gazelles and Asiatic wild asses (Buuveibaatar et al., 2016). These analyses were conducted in spring and autumn, but over- wintering conditions would also be crucial for the survival of wild ungulates in this area. For example, 60% of the reintroduced Prze- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2018.07.006 1616-5047/© 2018 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Säugetierkunde. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.