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Karst ecosystems are fragile and highly biodiverse but are threatened by hydropower development. Focusing on three sympatric primates (François' langur, Trachypithecus francoisi; the Tibetan macaque, Macaca thibetana; and the rhesus macaque, Macaca mulatta) in the Guizhou section of the Wujiang River Basin, which constitutes a key hydropower hub, we employed a multimodel coupling framework (Maxent, GeoDetector, bivariate local Moran's I, and PLS-SEM) to explore the spatial differentiation in habitat suitability index (HSI) and the main driving factors of and mechanisms underlying the response to hydropower disturbance. The results revealed that the interactions among all the driving factors of the HSI exhibited two-way or nonlinear enhancements. The HSI demonstrated exerted significant species-specific patterns: T. francoisi was restricted to lower-reach karst canyons, which are dominated by precipitation and relatively low elevations, where hydropower indirectly reduces the HSI via deciduous broad-leaved forest loss; M. thibetana occupied mid-low elevations, primarily due to hydropower station installation but benefiting from greater habitat heterogeneity; and M. mulatta was concentrated in valley–mountain transition zones under the regulation of synergies among flooded area, slope, and hydropower factors. The degree of area overlap between highly suitable habitats was limited (highest: M. thibetana-M. mulatta, 8687.55 km2; lowest: T. francoisi-M. mulatta, 1675.57 km2). Primate species-specific HSI responses and driving mechanisms to hydropower disturbance in karst ecosystems were quantified, cascading effect among driving factors and the spatial distribution overlap among species were revealed. This study provides targeted support for ecological risk assessment and conservation practice in karst hydropower development zones and offers technical references for balancing regional hydropower development and wildlife habitat protection.
Shi et al. (Thu,) studied this question.