Mapping transboundary ecological networks for conservation in the Altai Mountains

The Altai Mountains, spanning China, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, are crucial habitats for many endemic, rare, and endangered species and are a vital migration corridor. However, the standards for establishing protected areas (PAs) differ among the four countries, resulting in suboptimal spatial arrangements and protection gaps in PAs. Therefore, here, by integrating the habitats of rare and endangered species and key ecosystem service areas, we identified potential conservation areas in the Altai Mountains. And we overlaid them with existing PAs in China, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia to determine the core habitats of the transboundary ecological networks for conservation. The identified core habitats covered 168,729.00 km², representing 50.63 % of the Altai Mountains. Among these, potential conservation area not covered by existing PAs was approximately 82,833.50 km² (24.86%). Additionally, 116 ecological corridors were identified with an average length of 38.15 km, including 8 transboundary corridors that connect the core conservation areas across different countries. Based on these findings, new PAs and other effective conservation measures (OECMs) in the Altai Mountains were proposed, along with a phased cooperation framework to gradually enhance the construction of transboundary ecological networks for conservation. Establishing the Altai Mountains’ transboundary ecological networks for conservation has the potential to become a model for transboundary conservation projects, providing valuable insights and guidance for developing conservation and collaborative management strategies in other transboundary regions.