The general aim of this study is to find the relationship between the panda distribution and human activities. Comparison of the potential panda habitat and the real panda distribution shows a difference between them....The general aim of this study is to find the relationship between the panda distribution and human activities. Comparison of the potential panda habitat and the real panda distribution shows a difference between them. Seven human activities were identified and analyzed. They are settlements, farming, road construction, firewood collection, timber production, mining and Chinese medicinal plant collection. The spatial distributions of these activities were characterized. The analysis of their spatial distributions and the pandas' habitat and distribution revealed that there is a relation existing between the human activities and the panda distribution, and the Giant Pandas have disappeared from the areas where the human activities are concentrated. GIS is the main tool used in this study to collect, store, retrieve, transform and present the spatial data of human activities and panda habitat and distribution in Wolong Nature Reserve.展开更多
Massive geological landslides and unstable landslide areas were triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. These landslides caused deaths, damaged infrastructure and threatened endanger species. This study analyzed th...Massive geological landslides and unstable landslide areas were triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. These landslides caused deaths, damaged infrastructure and threatened endanger species. This study analyzed the impact of landslides on giant pandas and their habitats from the following aspects: threatening pandas‘ lives, damaging pandas‘ habitat, influencing giant panda behavior, increasing habitat fragmentation; the final aspect, and blocking gene flow by cutting off corridors. A habitat suitability map was created by integrating the landslide factors with other traditional factors based on a logistics regression method. According to the landslide inventory map, there are 1313 landslides, 818 rock debris flows, 117 rock avalanches and 43 mud flows occurred in the study area. A correlation analysis indicated that landslides caused the pandas to migrate, and the core landslides within 1 km2 had greater influence on panda migration. These core landslides primarily occurred in mid-altitude regionscharacterized by high slopes, old geological ages, large areas and large rock mass volumes. The habitat suitability assessment results for the Wolong Natural Reserve had better prediction performance(80.9%) and demonstrated that 14.5%, 15.9%, 20.5%, 47.6% and 1.5% of the study area can be classified as very high, high, moderate, low and very low giant panda suitability areas, respectively. This study can be used to inform panda and panda habitat research, management and protection during post-quake reconstruction and recovery periods in China.展开更多
The habitat of giant pandas borders the living areas of farmers in surrounding communities. Due to the low level of economic development and resource used method, the life of community farmers depends on the natural r...The habitat of giant pandas borders the living areas of farmers in surrounding communities. Due to the low level of economic development and resource used method, the life of community farmers depends on the natural resources of the habitat of giant pandas. Analyzing the natural resource utilization of farmers in communities around the habitat of giant pandas is conducive to formulating more reasonable management policies and protecting the habitat of giant pandas more effectively. Based on the field survey data, this paper classifies the main ways of community farmers using the natural resources of the habitat of giant pandas, counts the quantity of resources used and analyzes their change trends. On this basis, this paper selects indicators, constructs a model and analyzes the main influencing factors affecting the natural resources utilization of community farmers from three aspects: the individual characteristics of household heads, the family characteristics of community farmers and the residence characteristics of community farmers.展开更多
Many nature reserves are established to protect the habitat needs of particular endangered species of interest but their effectiveness for protecting other species is questionable.In this study,this effectiveness was ...Many nature reserves are established to protect the habitat needs of particular endangered species of interest but their effectiveness for protecting other species is questionable.In this study,this effectiveness was evaluated in a nature reserve network located in the Qinling Mountains,Shaanxi Province,China.The network of reserves was established mainly for the conservation of the giant panda,a species considered as a surrogate for the conservation of many other endangered species in the region.The habitat suitability of nine protected species,including the giant panda,was modeled by using Maximum Entropy(MAXENT)and their spatial congruence was analyzed.Habitat suitability of these species was also overlapped with nature reserve boundaries and their management zones(i.e.,core,buffer and experimental zones).Results show that in general the habitat of the giant panda constitutes a reasonable surrogate of the habitat of other protected species,and giant panda reserves protect a relatively high proportion of the habitat of other protected species.Therefore,giant panda habitat conservation also allows the conservation of the habitat of other protected species in the region.However,a large area of suitable habitat was excluded from the nature reserve network.In addition,four species exhibited a low proportion of highly suitable habitat inside the core zones of nature reserves.It suggests that a high proportion of suitable habitat of protected species not targeted for conservation is located in the experimental and buffer zones,thus,is being affected by human activities.To increase their conservation effectiveness,nature reserves and their management zones need to be re-examined in order to include suitable habitat of more endangered species.The procedures described in this study can be easily implemented for the conservation of many endangered species not only in China but in many other parts of the world.展开更多
In this study,we used remotely sensed data,GIS modeling,and statistical methods to evaluate the damage caused by the Wenchuan Earthquake (May 12,2008) to the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) habitat in the World N...In this study,we used remotely sensed data,GIS modeling,and statistical methods to evaluate the damage caused by the Wenchuan Earthquake (May 12,2008) to the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) habitat in the World Nature Heritage Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuary (WHSGPS) in China.A landscape ecological analysis found increases of landscape heterogeneity,complexity,and fragmentation in the giant panda habitat after the earthquake.A terrain analysis found that slope and elevation are directly associated with the distribution of the damaged areas.As slope and elevation increase,the size of the damaged area keeps increase until to a peak,and then starts to drop.The total area of the damaged vegetation in our study area is 114.26 km 2,accounting for 3.78% of the study area;30.46% of that 114.26 km 2 is located in the Core Zone of WHSGPS.There are 18.57km 2 of the damaged vegetation located in the identified suitable giant panda habitat,accounting for 1.75% of the total area of suitable giant panda habitats in the study area.Based on these findings,we conclude that the Wenchuan Earthquake does not have significant impact on the WHSGPS as a whole.展开更多
文摘The general aim of this study is to find the relationship between the panda distribution and human activities. Comparison of the potential panda habitat and the real panda distribution shows a difference between them. Seven human activities were identified and analyzed. They are settlements, farming, road construction, firewood collection, timber production, mining and Chinese medicinal plant collection. The spatial distributions of these activities were characterized. The analysis of their spatial distributions and the pandas' habitat and distribution revealed that there is a relation existing between the human activities and the panda distribution, and the Giant Pandas have disappeared from the areas where the human activities are concentrated. GIS is the main tool used in this study to collect, store, retrieve, transform and present the spatial data of human activities and panda habitat and distribution in Wolong Nature Reserve.
基金supported by program of international S&T Cooperation"Fined Earth Observation and Recognition of The Impact of the Global Change of on World Heritage Sites"(Grant No.2013DFG21640)Open Fund of the center for Earth observation and Digital Earth,the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.2013LDE006)
文摘Massive geological landslides and unstable landslide areas were triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. These landslides caused deaths, damaged infrastructure and threatened endanger species. This study analyzed the impact of landslides on giant pandas and their habitats from the following aspects: threatening pandas‘ lives, damaging pandas‘ habitat, influencing giant panda behavior, increasing habitat fragmentation; the final aspect, and blocking gene flow by cutting off corridors. A habitat suitability map was created by integrating the landslide factors with other traditional factors based on a logistics regression method. According to the landslide inventory map, there are 1313 landslides, 818 rock debris flows, 117 rock avalanches and 43 mud flows occurred in the study area. A correlation analysis indicated that landslides caused the pandas to migrate, and the core landslides within 1 km2 had greater influence on panda migration. These core landslides primarily occurred in mid-altitude regionscharacterized by high slopes, old geological ages, large areas and large rock mass volumes. The habitat suitability assessment results for the Wolong Natural Reserve had better prediction performance(80.9%) and demonstrated that 14.5%, 15.9%, 20.5%, 47.6% and 1.5% of the study area can be classified as very high, high, moderate, low and very low giant panda suitability areas, respectively. This study can be used to inform panda and panda habitat research, management and protection during post-quake reconstruction and recovery periods in China.
文摘The habitat of giant pandas borders the living areas of farmers in surrounding communities. Due to the low level of economic development and resource used method, the life of community farmers depends on the natural resources of the habitat of giant pandas. Analyzing the natural resource utilization of farmers in communities around the habitat of giant pandas is conducive to formulating more reasonable management policies and protecting the habitat of giant pandas more effectively. Based on the field survey data, this paper classifies the main ways of community farmers using the natural resources of the habitat of giant pandas, counts the quantity of resources used and analyzes their change trends. On this basis, this paper selects indicators, constructs a model and analyzes the main influencing factors affecting the natural resources utilization of community farmers from three aspects: the individual characteristics of household heads, the family characteristics of community farmers and the residence characteristics of community farmers.
基金Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.40901289)Major State Basic Research Development Program of China(No.2009CB421104),U.S.National Science Foundation
文摘Many nature reserves are established to protect the habitat needs of particular endangered species of interest but their effectiveness for protecting other species is questionable.In this study,this effectiveness was evaluated in a nature reserve network located in the Qinling Mountains,Shaanxi Province,China.The network of reserves was established mainly for the conservation of the giant panda,a species considered as a surrogate for the conservation of many other endangered species in the region.The habitat suitability of nine protected species,including the giant panda,was modeled by using Maximum Entropy(MAXENT)and their spatial congruence was analyzed.Habitat suitability of these species was also overlapped with nature reserve boundaries and their management zones(i.e.,core,buffer and experimental zones).Results show that in general the habitat of the giant panda constitutes a reasonable surrogate of the habitat of other protected species,and giant panda reserves protect a relatively high proportion of the habitat of other protected species.Therefore,giant panda habitat conservation also allows the conservation of the habitat of other protected species in the region.However,a large area of suitable habitat was excluded from the nature reserve network.In addition,four species exhibited a low proportion of highly suitable habitat inside the core zones of nature reserves.It suggests that a high proportion of suitable habitat of protected species not targeted for conservation is located in the experimental and buffer zones,thus,is being affected by human activities.To increase their conservation effectiveness,nature reserves and their management zones need to be re-examined in order to include suitable habitat of more endangered species.The procedures described in this study can be easily implemented for the conservation of many endangered species not only in China but in many other parts of the world.
基金supported by Sichuan Foundation of Excellent Scientists (Grant No.2010JZ0002)the Directional Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No.KZX2-YW-333)
文摘In this study,we used remotely sensed data,GIS modeling,and statistical methods to evaluate the damage caused by the Wenchuan Earthquake (May 12,2008) to the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) habitat in the World Nature Heritage Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuary (WHSGPS) in China.A landscape ecological analysis found increases of landscape heterogeneity,complexity,and fragmentation in the giant panda habitat after the earthquake.A terrain analysis found that slope and elevation are directly associated with the distribution of the damaged areas.As slope and elevation increase,the size of the damaged area keeps increase until to a peak,and then starts to drop.The total area of the damaged vegetation in our study area is 114.26 km 2,accounting for 3.78% of the study area;30.46% of that 114.26 km 2 is located in the Core Zone of WHSGPS.There are 18.57km 2 of the damaged vegetation located in the identified suitable giant panda habitat,accounting for 1.75% of the total area of suitable giant panda habitats in the study area.Based on these findings,we conclude that the Wenchuan Earthquake does not have significant impact on the WHSGPS as a whole.
