Habitat models as a research gap in biodiversity conservation in tropical rain forest of southeast Asia

Tropical rain forests, the richest terrestrial ecosystem on earth are disappearing due to land use changes mainly agricultural activities and timber logging. Habitat alteration and as a result fragmentation have direct effect on species survival trough lose of connectivity between suitable habitats. Without a doubt the traditional strategies for protecting different wildlife species in this region was not successful enough to guarantee the survival of remaining biodiversity. Distribution modelling which, very little has been studied in the region, is significantly important for biodiversity conservation programs. Distribution data can determine all the areas that can have high potential of occupancy by certain species. By conserving all these areas that could be part of endangered species habitat, conservation strategies would be more effective. Recently development of geospatial technology (GIS, RS, GPS), made the possible way to study wildlife and their habitat. Integrating these technologies with habitat models made a robust tool for understanding wildlife habitat relationships. This paper highlights the need for using habitat models to determine species distribution with a focus of the tropical area and makes a review on some of these techniques.