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How do two giant panda populations adapt to their habitats in the Qinling and Qionglai Mountains, China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 22, pages 1175–1185 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

The spatial separation of the Qinling Mountains from the western mountains has caused morphological and genetic distinctions of giant pandas. Could this separation also cause the pandas’ behavior change? In this research, we focused on the pandas’ movement pattern and selected two wild panda groups in Foping and Wolong Nature Reserves (NR) to represent the populations in the Qinling and Qionglai Mountains, respectively. We hypothesized that the Qinling pandas have developed a different seasonal movement pattern compared with the pandas in the western mountains. We analyzed the radio tracking data from two NRs by using GIS. Our results showed the following significant differences: (1) The Foping pandas live most of the year in the low elevation areas and move higher during June and remain through August while the Wolong pandas live most of the year in the high elevation areas and move lower in April and stay through June; (2) Comparing their low and high elevational areas shows the distinct spatial patterns between reserves, forming two obviously separated clusters in Foping but a single-compact cluster in Wolong; (3) Foping pandas move an average of 425 m ± 147 s.d. daily, while Wolong pandas move an average of 550 m ± 343 s.d. daily; and (4) Three habitat factors (i.e., terrain, temperature, and bamboo nutrient) were taken as the driving forces and analyzed, and they showed a strong support explanation to these different movement behaviors of pandas in two NRs. Our findings have important implications for management, for instance, it needs to be careful considering the behavior difference of the pandas when reintroducing them to the wild.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all the people who contributed in any way to make these valuable datasets available for further scientific researches but thanks especially to the Foping and Wolong Nature Reserves. This work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) project (41271194) and the SFA-CWCA’s International Cooperation Project for Giant Panda Conservation (No. WH0633). Thanks should also be given to Dr Pieter S. A. Beck (The Woods Hole Research Center, Falmouth MA02540, USA) for creating Fig. 6.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Xuehua Liu & Ting Wang

  2. Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Tiejun Wang & Andrew K. Skidmore

  3. Conservation Ecology Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA

    Melissa Songer

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  1. Xuehua Liu
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  2. Tiejun Wang
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  4. Andrew K. Skidmore
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Correspondence to Xuehua Liu.

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Liu, X., Wang, T., Wang, T. et al. How do two giant panda populations adapt to their habitats in the Qinling and Qionglai Mountains, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 1175–1185 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3412-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3412-8

Keywords

  • Driving forces
  • Foping Nature Reserve
  • Giant panda
  • Movement behavior
  • Wolong Nature Reserve