Principles of Ecology
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distribution of
clouded leopards
Distribution of Clouded Leopard
"Dispersion or distribution patterns show the spatial relationship between members of a population within a habitat" (Boundless, 2016).
Individuals of species within a population may be spread across the environment in different patterns. These include;
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Clumped dispersion
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Uniform dispersion
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Random dispersion (McGinley, 2015).
In a uniform distribution, species are equally spaced apart, as seen in negative allelopathy where chemicals kill off plants surrounding sages.
In a random distribution, species are spaced at unpredictable distances from one another other, which is seen among plants that have wind-dispersed seeds.
In a clumped distribution, individuals are grouped together, as seen among elephants at a watering hole (Boundless, 2016).
Interaction with both abiotic and biotic environments can influence patterns of spatial dispersion. For example, clumped dispersions may arise when individuals are limited to living in patchy with the appropriate abiotic environmental conditions and even dispersions may arise as the result of intraspecific competition (McGinley, 2015).
(Intra specific competition is the competition of organisms from a same species whilst inter specific competition is the competition of organisms from different species)
Distribution of clouded leopards (Clouded Leopard, 2009).
The species was once also found within Taiwan, however but is now widely thought to be extinct there. Clouded Leopards spend nearly all their lives up climbing in the trees and prefer the denser forest habitats including tropical and subtropical forests and/or jungles. These are usually at altitudes of up to 2,000 meters.
However, despite seemingly only being found in very dense rainforest, the Clouded Leopard has sighted within a variety of other habitats, such as; tall grasslands in Nepal and in the mangrove swamps of Borneo. The highest population is thought to reside on the island of Borneo but they are threatened throughout their natural range by deforestation to clear land for agriculture or by common loggers (A-Z-A, 2015).
Clouded leopards primarily live in the lowland tropical rainforests, but can also be found in dry woodlands and secondary forests.
They have been spotted at elevations
up to 9000 feet in the Himalayan mountains.
Historically, their range covered most of
Southeast Asia from Nepal and
southern China through Thailand, Indonesia,and also the Borneo.
However, this range has shrunk due to factors
such as habitat destruction and human poaching
(Clouded Leopard, 2009).
The Clouded Leopard is natively found in south-east Asia throughout a number of countries. These include;
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India
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Southern China
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Burma
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Nepal
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Indochina
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Borneo and Sumatra
Three patters on distribution in populations of organisms (Boundless, 2016).