Abstract:Habitat suitability assessment is an important way to protect and manage the endangered species. Most of the environmental variable data used to evaluate the habitat suitability of species in existing studies had the problem of low resolution and accuracy, and large errors as studying the habitat suitability of small-scale species. To resolve the issue, this paper used the black-necked crane's emergence point data, optical, radar remote sensing data and terrain auxiliary data to obtain the characteristics of habitat and foraging area, and the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model is used to evaluate the habitat suitability of wintering black-necked cranes in Caohai on a fine scale. The results showed that:(1) the use of environmental variables generated by multi-source remote sensing and terrain auxiliary data combined with the MaxEnt to predict the habitat and foraging area of black-necked cranes was excellent, and the Area Under Curve(AUC) values of both were greater than 0.94. (2) Distance to cultivated land, water, water depth and buildings distance were the main environmental factors affecting the habitat of black-necked cranes, while the main environmental factors that affect the distribution of foraging area were distance to the cultivated land, dominant vegetation, distance to buildings, and water depth. (3) The area of the most suitable area and sub-suitable area for the black-necked cranes habitat and foraging area in Caohai Nature Reserve was relatively small. The sum of the most and sub-suitable areas for habitat and foraging area is 6.404 km2 and 12.644 km2, respectively, accounting for only 6.43% and 12.69% of the surveyed area. Through investigations, it was found that the current sources of human disturbance in the nature reserve are mainly tourists and local residents, which potentially threaten the habitat and foraging area of black-necked cranes. Therefore, in order to avoid the degradation of the black-necked cranes habitat and foraging area in the nature reserve, this paper proposed some suggestions, such as to delineate the designated bird watching and shooting places in the nature reserve, enhance the protection awareness of tourists and local residents, and prohibit tourists from entering the habitat privately. These suggestions are expected to promote the protection of black-necked cranes habitat, foraging area and wetland in nature reserves.