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Ecological niche modeling of the sympatric giant and red pandas on a mountain-range scale

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Abstract

Habitat use and separation between the two sympatric species, the giant panda and the red panda, have been primary causes of coexistence at the fine scale. In this paper, we addressed the question of coexistence between species in space. By Ecological Niche Factor Analysis, we calculated species-specific habitat requirements, built habitat suitability maps and examined interspecific differences in spatial niche parameters. According to the ENFA scores, suitable habitats in the giant and red panda are surrounded by high-altitude, and are rich in conifer forest. Compared with the giant panda, however, the red panda rather preferred sparse forests, and normally colonized far from village and road. Despite similar narrow niche breadth for both pandas, difference of niche overlap indices implied that the width of environmental niche of red pandas almost completely encompasses that of the giant panda. We, therefore, suggest that differences in use of ecological niche variables may contribute to coexistence of the sympatric species in space. Based on highly suitable locations of the sympatric species maps, most official reserves appear to be poorly located or are too small, and new reserves are recommended to be established in the central part of core habitats in the Liangshan Mountains.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 2007CB411600). The Sichuan Forestry Bureau gave us a lot of assistance with this project; Mr. Zongming Cao, Kui Fang, Guji Yang, Tianjian Gong, Zhuo Wang, Zhihong Li, Yongbin Liao, Weiming Yang, Bin Wang, and their colleagues helped with performing this research in their region. Importantly, many anonymous people participated in the fieldwork. Many thanks are given to the above organizations and persons.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Datun Road, 100101, Chaoyang, Beijing, China

    Dunwu Qi, Yibo Hu, Ming Li & Fuwen Wei

  2. Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100039, Beijing, China

    Dunwu Qi & Yibo Hu

  3. Sichuan Forestry Department, Wildlife Conservation Division, 610081, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Xiaodong Gu

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  1. Dunwu Qi
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Correspondence to Fuwen Wei.

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Qi, D., Hu, Y., Gu, X. et al. Ecological niche modeling of the sympatric giant and red pandas on a mountain-range scale. Biodivers Conserv 18, 2127–2141 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-009-9577-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-009-9577-7

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