Abstract
With the accelerated urbanization, human activities pose serious threats to species because of fragmentation. Planning conservation corridors between habitats could improve species mobility in order to address the human disturbance. However, there are a limited number of studies that focus on assessing the effect of human activities on species movement in mountain areas as well as how to integrate different conservation models relating to conservation corridors identification. In our study, we modified the resistance model and took land use data as input parameters to quantify the impacts of human activities in mountain areas. Meanwhile, different conservation planning models, including Circuit model and Least Cost Path (LCP) algorithm, were integrated. Moreover, our approach was applied to identify giant panda corridors in Miarro nature reserve, Caopo nature reserve, and Wolong nature reserve. The results suggested that the impacts of human activities were limited in valley regions due to topography by resistance model. Secondly, Circuit model demonstrated that the conservation corridors for giant panda could not be identified between the Miarro and the Caopo nature reserves. Additionally, more detailed corridors between habitats were planned by the LCP algorithm. Furthermore, we also identified bottlenecks for migration in each corridor, indicating that human activities’ interference was the primary cause. Our approach not only could connect habitats for conservation in mountain areas but also found out that the corridor could not be identified between habitats.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson DG, Gillam JC (2000) Paleoindian colonization of the Americas: implications from an examination of physiography, demography, and artifact distribution. American Antiquity 65(1): 43–66. https://doi.org/10.2307/2694807
Bell T, Lock G (2000) Topographic and cultural influences on walking the Ridgeway in later prehistoric times. NATO ASI SERIES A LIFE SCIENCES Publication. pp 85–100.
Brad H, McRae B (2006) Isolation by Resistance. Evolution 60(8): 1551–1561.
Brad HM, Brett GD, Timothy HK, et al. (2008) Using circuit theory to model connectivity in ecology, evolution, and conservation. Ecology 89(10): 2712–2724.
Fountain T, Nieminen M, Sirã©N J, et al. (2016) Predictable allele frequency changes due to habitat fragmentation in the Glanville fritillary butterfly. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113(10): 2678–2683. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1600951113
Gibeau ML, Clevenger AP, Herrero S, et al. (2002) Grizzly bear response to human development and activities in the Bow River Watershed, Alberta, Canada. Biological Conservation 103(2): 227–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(01)00131-8
Hare TS (2004) Using measures of cost distance in the estimation of polity boundaries in the Postclassic Yautepec Valley, Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science 31(6): 799–814. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2003.10.016
Hargrove WW, Hoffman FM, Efroymson RA (2005) A practical map-analysis tool for detecting potential dispersal corridors. Landscape Ecology 20(4): 361–373. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-004-3162-y
Heller NE, Zavaleta ES (2009) Biodiversity management in the face of climate change: a review of 22 years of recommendations. Biological Conservation 142(1): 14–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2008.10.006
Hu J (2001) Research on the giant panda. Shanghai Science & Technology Education Press, China.
Irl SD, Steinbauer MJ, Epperlein L, et al. (2014a) The Hitchhiker’s guide to island endemism: biodiversity and endemic perennial plant species in roadside and surrounding vegetation. Biodiversity and Conservation 23(9): 2273–2287. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-014-0722-6
Irl SD, Steinbauer MJ, Messinger J, et al. (2014b) Burned and devoured-introduced herbivores, fire, and the endemic flora of the high-elevation ecosystem on La Palma, Canary Islands. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 46(4): 859–869. https://doi.org/10.1657/1938-4246-46.4.859
Li HL, Li DH, Li T, et al. (2010) Application of least-cost path model to identify a giant panda dispersal corridor network after the Wenchuan earthquake — case study of Wolong Nature Reserve in China. Ecological modelling 221(6): 944–952. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2009.12.006
Liang J, Gao X, Zeng G, et al. (2018a) Coupling Modern Portfolio Theory and Marxan enhances the efficiency of Lesser White-fronted Goose’s (Anser erythropus) habitat conservation. Scientific Reports 8(1): 214–222. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-18594-2
Liang J, He X, Zeng G, et al. (2018 b) Integrating priority areas and ecological corridors into national network for conservation planning in China. Science of The Total Environment 626: 22–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.086
Liang J, Xing W, Zeng G, et al. (2018 c) Where will threatened migratory birds go under climate change? Implications for China’s national nature reserves. Science of the Total Environment 645: 1040–1047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.196
Liu Z, Wimberly MC, Lamsal A, et al. (2015) Climate change and wildfire risk in an expanding wildland-urban interface: a case study from the Colorado Front Range Corridor. Landscape Ecology 30(10): 1943–1957. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0222-4
McRae B H, Beier P (2007) Circuit theory predicts gene flow in plant and animal populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(50): 19885–9890. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0706568104
Morato RG, Ferraz KM, De RP, et al. (2014) Identification of priority conservation areas and potential corridors for jaguars in the Caatinga biome, Brazil. PLoS One 9(4): 19885–19890. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0706568104
Murphy SM, Augustine BC, Ulrey WA, et al. (2017) Consequences of severe habitat fragmentation on density, genetics, and spatial capture-recapture analysis of a small bear population. PLoS One 12(7): e0181849. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181849
Nogués-Bravo D, Araújo MB, Romdal T, et al. (2008) Scale effects and human impact on the elevational species richness gradients. Nature 453(7192): 216–219. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06812
Nuñez TA, Lawler JJ, Mcrae BH, et al. (2013) Connectivity planning to address climate change. Conservation Biology 27(2): 407–416. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12014
Ortiz-Lozano L, Pérez-España H, Granados-Barba A, et al. (2013) The Reef Corridor of the Southwest Gulf of Mexico: Challenges for its management and conservation. Ocean & Coastal Management 86(86): 22–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2013.10.006
Phillips SJ, Williams P, Midgley G, et al. (2008) Optimizing dispersal corridors for the Cape Proteaceae using network flow. Ecological Applications 18(5): 1200–1211. https://doi.org/10.1890/07-0507.1
Pinto N, Keitt T H (2009) Beyond the least-cost path: evaluating corridor redundancy using a graph-theoretic approach. Landscape Ecology 24(2): 253–266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-008-9303-y
Shen G, Feng C, Xie Z, et al. (2008) Proposed conservation landscape for giant pandas in the Minshan Mountains, China. Conservation Biology 22(5): 1144–1153. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01038.x
Shen G, Pimm SL, Feng C, et al. (2015) Climate change challenges the current conservation strategy for the giant panda. Biological Conservation 190: 43–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.05.004
Socolar JB, Gilroy JJ, Kunin WE, et al. (2016). How should beta-diversity inform biodiversity conservation? Trends in Ecology & Evolution 31(1): 67–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2015.11.005
Wang F, Mcshea WJ, Wang D, et al. (2014) Evaluating Landscape Options for Corridor Restoration between Giant Panda Reserves. PLoS One 9(8): e105086. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105086
Wang IJ, Savage WK, Shaffer HB (2010) Landscape genetics and least-cost path analysis reveal unexpected dispersal routes in the California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense). Molecular Ecology 18(7): 1365–1374. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04122.x
Wang Y, Tao J, Zhang W, et al. (2006) Vegetation restoration patterns and their relationships with disturbance on the Giant Panda Corridor of Tudiling, Southwest China. Acta Ecologica Sinica 26(11): 3525–3532. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1872-2032(06)60051-6
Wei F, Costanza R, Dai Q, et al. (2018) The value of ecosystem services from giant panda reserves. Current Biology 28(13): 2174–2180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.05.046.
Williams P, Hannah L, Andelman S, et al. (2005) Planning for Climate Change: Identifying Minimum — Dispersal Corridors for the Cape Proteaceae. Conservation Biology 19(4): 1063–1074. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00080.x
Wood MA, Sheridan R, Feagin RA, et al. (2017) Comparison of land use change in payments for environmental services and National Biological Corridor Programs. Land Use Policy. PP 440–449.
Xu W, Ouyang ZY, Viña A, et al. (2006) Designing a conservation plan for protecting the habitat for giant pandas in the Qionglai mountain range, China. Diversity and Distributions 12(5): 610–619. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1366-9516.2006.00236.x
Yang B, Busch J, Zhang L et al. (2015) China’s collective forest tenure reform and the future of the giant panda. Conservation Letters 8(4): 251–261. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12143
Yu K (1996) Security patterns and surface model in landscape ecological planning. Landscape and Urban Planning 36(1): 1–17.
Zheng W, Xu Y, Liao L, et al. (2012) Effect of the Wenchuan earthquake on habitat use patterns of the giant panda in the Minshan Mountains, southwestern China. Biological Conservation 145(1): 241–245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.016
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41701114), the West Light Foundation of The Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. Y7R280080), and the Research on Conservation and Breeding of Plant Diversity in Giant Panda National Park (Grant No. 2018SZDZX0035). We are grateful to the supports in field survey data from The Nature Conservancy (TNC).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lu, Yf., Li, Qw., Wang, Yk. et al. Planning conservation corridors in mountain areas based on integrated conservation planning models: A case study for a giant panda in the Qionglai Mountains. J. Mt. Sci. 16, 2654–2662 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-018-5138-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-018-5138-4