Spatiotemporally monitoring forest landscape for giant panda habitat through a high learning-sensitive neural network in Guanyinshan Nature Reserve in the Qinling Mountains, China

Context. Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) are restricted to six mountain ranges at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau. One of these ranges, the Qinling Mountains, contains the highest density of giant pandas and is home to ~20% of those remaining in the wild. Commercial logging and other developments have resulted in habitat fragmentation, and an efficient and powerful conservation network is now needed for the species in this area. Aims. This study sought to assess giant panda habitat and estimate the carrying capacity of this reserve network. Our goal was to improve the function and carrying capacity of the reserve network and facilitate population growth and gene flow among subpopulations of giant pandas. Methods. We use habitat suitability models to assess the efficacy of conservation networks. With estimation of carrying capacity by home range, we can reveal issues facing reserves and populations of endangered species they contain. Here, we define key habitat, linkages, corridors and overall connectivity and then use habitat network modelling and spatial analyses to design a conservation landscape for giant pandas across their Qinling Mountains stronghold. Key results. We found that 91% of giant panda sightings were in suitable or marginally suitable habitat. The total area of giant panda habitat present in the Qinling Mountains is ~1600 km2 fragmented across four key habitat blocks by national roads or other human activity. The current nature reserve network encompasses 71% of available suitable habitat and 62% of available marginal habitat, meaning a significant proportion of panda habitat remains outside the current conservation network. We found that giant panda reserves across this region are not equal in their carrying capacity; some reserves contain an overabundance of giant pandas and the wellbeing of these populations are in doubt. Conclusions. Our results highlight the potential risk of high densities and bamboo flowering events to the safety of giant pandas. With poor population size and heavy isolation, small populations will not persist without translocation. Implication. Redrawing the reserve network to correct localised problems may improve the function of the giant panda protection system, build capacity in the reserve network, and decrease human–wildlife conflict. We propose a new reserve and adjustment of the borders and region for three reserves.

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TEMPORAL CHANGES IN GIANT PANDA HABITAT CONNECTIVITY ACROSS BOUNDARIES OF WOLONG NATURE RESERVE, CHINA

Ecological Applications ◽

10.1890/05-1288 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 1019-1030 ◽

Cited By ~ 58

Author(s):

Andrés Viña ◽

Scott Bearer ◽

Xiaodong Chen ◽

Guangming He ◽

Marc Linderman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Giant Panda ◽

Nature Reserve ◽

Temporal Changes ◽

Habitat Connectivity ◽

Wolong Nature Reserve ◽

Panda Habitat

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Impact of Wenchuan earthquake on the giant panda habitat in Wolong National Nature Reserve, China

Journal of Applied Remote Sensing ◽

10.1117/1.jrs.8.083507 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 083507

Author(s):

Cheng Kou ◽

Yu-Yue Xu ◽

Chang-Qing Ke ◽

Yu-Ting He

Keyword(s):

Wenchuan Earthquake ◽

Giant Panda ◽

Nature Reserve ◽

National Nature Reserve ◽

Panda Habitat

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Integrating Livestock Grazing and Sympatric Takin to Evaluate the Habitat Suitability of Giant Panda in the Wanglang Nature Reserve

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11082469 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 2469

Author(s):

Xiaoyu Chen ◽

Xiaorong Wang ◽

Junqing Li ◽

Dongwei Kang

Keyword(s):

Habitat Suitability ◽

Human Disturbance ◽

Giant Panda ◽

Nature Reserve ◽

Livestock Grazing ◽

Giant Pandas ◽

Essential Information ◽

Habitat Overlap ◽

Panda Habitat ◽

Wanglang Nature Reserve

Habitat suitability provides essential information for the management of protected species. However, studies that jointly consider the impacts of human disturbance and sympatric animals in habitat suitability assessments of giant panda are limited, which may overestimate the habitat status. To address this issue, we evaluated the habitat suitability of giant panda in Wanglang Nature Reserve by simultaneously investigating livestock grazing and sympatric takin via MAXENT, a new attempt at the assessment of the habitat suitability of giant panda. We focused on describing the habitat suitability of giant panda and determining the habitat overlap between livestock, takin, and panda to evaluate the impacts of livestock grazing and sympatric takin on the suitable giant panda habitat. Results revealed that only 16.33% of the area in Wanglang was suitable giant panda habitat, of which 67.66% was shared by livestock, and 97.99% of the remaining suitable panda habitat not shared by livestock was revealed to be shared by takin. The results indicate an unfavorable habitat status of giant panda in Wanglang, with the potential extensive habitat overlap between livestock, takin and panda exerting further pressure. Thus, to effectively protect giant pandas and their habitats, grazing activity should be controlled. Furthermore, to accurately protect sympatric animals, the monitoring of panda and takin activities in the overlapping areas must be maintained.

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