Mapping multi-seasonal habitats of giant pandas to identify seasonal shifts

Yapeng Chang; Chuanyan Zhao; Xingming Liu; Liwen He

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.109115

Mapping multi-seasonal habitats of giant pandas to identify seasonal shifts

iScience. 2024 Feb 5;27(3):109115. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109115. eCollection 2024 Mar 15.

Authors

Yapeng Chang¹, Chuanyan Zhao¹, Xingming Liu², Liwen He²

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Engineering Research Center of Grassland Industry, Ministry of Education, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730020, China.
² Baishuijiang National Nature Reserve, Wenxian, Gansu 746400, China.

Abstract

As a flagship species of biodiversity conservation globally, the giant panda has seasonal migration to cope with seasonal changes in available resources. Here, we have mapped the spatial distribution of multi-seasonal habitats of the giant panda across the Baishuijiang reserve in China. Results show that the spatial patterns are different in different seasons, generally, large patches are observed in the western part, while staggered clusters occur in the middle and eastern parts. That is, suitable habitats for giant pandas are mostly distributed in the west part. More than 75% of the predicted suitable habitats are within the core zone of the reserve year-round, indicating the core zone essentially meet giant panda's ecological needs, although this range could potentially be expanded. This study provides valuable insights into the spatiotemporal migration patterns of endangered species and helps to guide conservation planning.

Keywords: Applied geography; Biological sciences; Zoology.