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[Display omitted] • Revolutionizing National Park zoning in China with keystone species. • Habitat suitability of 16 wildlife in Kunlun area exhibits heterogeneity with MaxEnt. • KMNP's boundary and functional zoning were optimized, outperforming the selected area. National parks in China play a vital role in preserving biodiversity, protecting endangered species, maintaining ecological balance, and promoting sustainable development amid global biodiversity decline. Boundary delimitation and functional zoning within these parks are crucial for preserving ecosystem integrity and species diversity. In the case study of Kunlun Mountains National Park (KMNP, Qinghai section), an extensive wildlife background survey yielded 4,523 occurrence records (3,921 after optimization) for 16 nationally protected wildlife species. Using the ecological niche model, this study aimed to explore the boundary range, functional zoning, and protection gap areas within KMNP by simulating the suitable spatial distribution of wildlife species, taking into account their protection and endangered statuses. The findings indicated that the primary habitat for key protected species in KMNP mainly occupied meadow and steppe in terms of vegetation types, along with grassland and unused land in terms of land use types, with average annual precipitation from 200 mm to 400 mm, elevations ranging from 4,100 m to 4,700 m, and average annual temperatures from −4.5℃ to −2℃. The suitable distribution of different wildlife species in the Kunlun Mountains area showed variations, mainly concentrated in the southwestern, central, and southeastern regions. The optimized KMNP covered around 49,800 km2, a 16.3 % reduction from the selected area, with the core protection zone at 16,300 km2 and the general control zone at 33,200 km2. The suitability of 93.75 % (15/16) species within the core protection area of KMNP was higher comparing to the optimized area, selected area, and Mangya-Golmud-Dulan area, indicating that the boundary delimitation and functional zoning of KMNP were highly rational. The boundary range and functional zoning method developed in this study provide a crucial scientific foundation for KMNP's conservation and management, and valuable guidance for national park construction, ecosystem preservation, biodiversity conservation, and the promotion of key species' reproduction and survival on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with promising future applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild-caught animals must cope with drastic lifestyle and dietary changes after being induced to captivity. How the gut microbiome structure of these animals will change in response receives increasing attention. The plateau zokor (Eospalax baileyi), a typic subterranean rodent endemic to the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, spends almost the whole life underground and is well adapted to the environmental pressures of both plateau and underground. However, how the gut microbiome of the plateau zokor will change in response to captivity has not been reported to date. This study compared the microbial community structure and functions of 22 plateau zokors before (the WS group) and after being kept in captivity for 15 days (the LS group, fed on carrots) using the 16S rRNA gene via high-throughput sequencing technology. The results showed that the LS group retained 973 of the 977 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the WS group, and no new OTUs were found in the LS group. The dominant bacterial phyla were Bacteroides and Firmicutes in both groups. In alpha diversity analysis, the Shannon, Sobs, and ACE indexes of the LS group were significantly lower than those of the WS group. A remarkable difference (P < 0.01) between groups was also detected in beta diversity analysis. The UPGMA clustering, NMDS, PCoA, and Anosim results all showed that the intergroup difference was significantly greater than the intragroup difference. And compared with the WS group, the intragroup difference of the gut microbiota in the LS group was much larger, which failed to support the assumption that similar diets should drive convergence of gut microbial communities. PICRUSt revealed that although some functional categories displayed significant differences between groups, the relative abundances of these categories were very close in both groups. Based on all the results, we conclude that as plateau zokors enter captivity for a short time, although the relative abundances of different gut microbiota categories shifted significantly, they can maintain almost all the OTUs and the functions of the gut microbiota in the wild. So, the use of wild-caught plateau zokors in gut microbial studies is acceptable if the time in captivity is short. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The habitat of four antelopes showed a decreasing trend under climate change. • The four species were predicted to migrate to higher latitudes in the future. • The migration paths provide reference for the establishment of corridors. Climate change is predicted to directly or indirectly affect species distribution and abundance, especially the species that live on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau that is highly sensitive to climate change. The Przewalski's gazelle (Procapra przewalskii), the Goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa), the Tibetan gazelle (Procapra picticaudata) and the Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) are the only four existing antelopes living on the plateau. They play indispensable roles in regulating the structure and function of the plateau ecosystem. To understand how climate change affects the spatial distribution and migration direction of these ungulates, we applied the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model and used 82, 57, 397 and 324 GPS points of Przewalski's gazelle, Goitered gazelle, Tibetan gazelle and Tibetan antelope, respectively. These points were mainly obtained through the survey of the line transect method and a small part from the database, and then we combined with the related environmental variables, and afterwards evaluated to predict the habitat change and shift of species geographic range under three climate scenarios in the 2050s and 2070s. Additionally, the potential migration paths in the future were simulated by the Minimal Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model. The results showed that climate change would cause habitat loss for all four species. The Tibetan antelope was predicted to lose over 50% of its current inhabited area under the most severe climate scenario. Also, the suitable habitat of all species would shift to higher latitudes. In particular, the Przewalski's gazelle as an endangered species that occupies narrow habitat area would face more severe challenges in the future. Therefore, all suitable habitats should be considered as important protection areas, and our results also provide a reference for designing the optimal migration corridors for the investigated species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]