Role of New Nature Reserve in Assisting Endangered Species Conservation - Case Study of Giant Pandas in the Northern Qionglai Mountains, China

Tian-Pei Guan; Jacob R Owens; Ming-Hao Gong; Gang Liu; Zhi-Yun Ouyang; Yan-Ling Song

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159738

Role of New Nature Reserve in Assisting Endangered Species Conservation - Case Study of Giant Pandas in the Northern Qionglai Mountains, China

PLoS One. 2016 Aug 17;11(8):e0159738. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159738. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Tian-Pei Guan¹, Jacob R Owens², Ming-Hao Gong³, Gang Liu³, Zhi-Yun Ouyang⁴, Yan-Ling Song⁵

Affiliations

¹ Ecological Security and Protection Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Mianyang Normal University, Mianyang, China.
² Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Chengdu, China.
³ Research Institute of Wetland, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China.
⁴ Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁵ Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Abstract

The creation of nature reserves is the most direct way to save endangered species populations and their habitat. Development of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) nature reserve network in China was initiated in the 1960s, though the effort to create new reserves boomed considerably after the year 2000. Given this rapid development of protected areas in panda habitats, and the potential conflicting interests between conservation administrations and local economic development, it is essential to assess the role of new nature reserves in the overall giant panda conservation effort and reserve network. We utilized data from national giant panda surveys conducted in 2000 and 2012 to compare the size, spatial use, and distribution of panda populations, as well as the habitat suitability and connectivity in the Northern Qionglai Mountains between the two survey years. Our results show that although the total giant panda population in the study area did not change remarkably, local changes did occur. Most notably, the population in Wolong Nature Reserve declined by 27.3% (N = 39) and the population in Caopo Nature Reserve increased by 71.4% (N = 29) over the 12-year study period. We also found habitat suitability and availability decreased in both Wolong (12.4%) and Caopo (7.4%), but that the relative density of giant pandas declined (19.2%) and increased (84.6%) at each site, respectively. The distance between centers of high IUA were more distant in 2012 (14.1±1.9km) than that in 2000 (6.1±0.9km; t = -7.4, df = 5, p = 0.001), showing a scattered spatial pattern. Habitat availability decreased by 42% within the corridor between the two reserves, however panda occurrences in the corridor increased 24.6%. Compared to the total number of encounters, the proportion of the corridor increased 45.76%. Our results show the importance and success of the newly established Caopo to the conservation of giant pandas, and how crucial it is to identify and repair reserve corridors. Furthermore, we propose criteria for future nature reserve network management and investment, which is applicable for other endangered species conservation practices.

MeSH terms

Animals
China
Conservation of Natural Resources / methods*
Demography
Ecosystem*
Endangered Species*
Population Density
Ursidae*

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the Fourth National Giant Panda Survey initiated by the Chinese State Forestry Administration (SFA). National Natural Science Foundation of China (31300319) Chinese State Forestry Administration (No. CM1423), WWF-China (No. 10002980), Mianyang Normal University (QD2014A001,QD2012A12) also provided financial support for this study. We thank Jiansheng Jia, Director of Wildlife Conservation Department at SFA, for providing supporting during our study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.