Abstract
The conservation status of the iconic giant panda is a barometer of global conservation efforts. The IUCN Red List has downgraded the panda’s extinction risk from “endangered” to “vulnerable”. Newly obtained, detailed GIS and remotely sensed data applied consistently over the last four decades show that panda habitat covered less area and was more fragmented in 2013 than in 1988 when the species was listed as endangered.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Swaisgood, R., Wang, D. & Weif, F. IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species: Ailuropoda melanoleuca (IUCN, 2016); http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T712A45033386.en.
State Forestry Administration & WWF The 2nd National Survey Report on Giant Panda in China (1989).
State Forestry Administration The Third National Survey Report on the Giant Panda in China (Science Publishing House, Beijing, 2006).
Tang, X. et al. Forest Resour. Manage. 1, 11–16 (2015).
Liu, J. et al. Science 292, 98–101 (2001).
An, L. et al. Ecol. Econ. 42, 445–457 (2002).
Liu, J. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 9477–9482 (2008).
Li, Y. et al. Land Use Policy 33, 42–53 (2013).
Ehrlich, P. R. et al. Nature 486, 68–73 (2012).
Liu, J. et al. Nature 421, 530–533 (2003).
Xu, W. et al. Front. Ecol. Environ. 7, 353–358 (2009).
Sichuan Forestry Department Giant Pandas in Sichuan: Report of the Fourth Giant Panda Survey in Sichuan (Sichuan Science and Techology Press, Beijing, 2015).
Liu, W. et al. J. Sustain. Tour. 24, 203–226 (2016).
Hull, V. et al. J. Nat. Conserv. 22, 256–264 (2014).
Yang, B. et al. Conserv. Lett. 8, 251–261 (2015).
Report: Logging Hurts Panda Habitat (China Daily USA, 2015); http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-10/23/content_22262759.htm.
Tuanmu, M.-N. et al. Nat. Clim. Change 3, 249–253 (2013).
Kong, L. et al. Biol. Conserv. 210, 83–88 (2017).
Li, B. V. & Pimm, S. L. Conserv. Biol. 30, 329–339 (2016).
Xu, W. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 114, 1601–1606 (2017).
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 41671534), Ministry of Science and Technology through the National Key Programme of Research and Development Project (2016YFC0503200), State Forestry Administration, Worldwide Fund for Nature, and U.S. National Science Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
W.X., A.V., S.L.P., J.L., and Z.O. designed research; W.X., A.V., L.K., J.Z., Y. X., and L.Z., performed research; W.X., L.K., J.Z., W.Y., and L.Z. analysed data; and W.X., A.V., S.L.P., W.Y., X.C., J.L., and Z.O. wrote the paper.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Supplementary Information
Supplementary data, tables, and references
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Xu, W., Viña, A., Kong, L. et al. Reassessing the conservation status of the giant panda using remote sensing. Nat Ecol Evol 1, 1635–1638 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0317-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0317-1
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Giant pandas in captivity undergo short-term adaptation in nerve-related pathways
BMC Zoology (2024)
-
Giant panda protection: urgent need for substantial action
Biodiversity and Conservation (2024)
-
The beneficial role of plant secondary compounds in giant panda foraging ecology
Mammalian Biology (2024)
-
Estimation of minimum viable population for giant panda ecosystems with membrane computing models
Natural Computing (2023)
-
Spatial models of giant pandas under current and future conditions reveal extinction risks
Nature Ecology & Evolution (2021)