Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, 637002, China.
Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China.
Sci Rep. 2016 Dec 8;6:37715. doi: 10.1038/srep37715.
Habitat fragmentation can reduce population viability, especially for area-sensitive species. The Minimum Area Requirements (MAR) of a population is the area required for the population's long-term persistence. In this study, the response of occupancy probability of giant pandas against habitat patch size was studied in five of the six mountain ranges inhabited by giant panda, which cover over 78% of the global distribution of giant panda habitat. The probability of giant panda occurrence was positively associated with habitat patch area, and the observed increase in occupancy probability with patch size was higher than that due to passive sampling alone. These results suggest that the giant panda is an area-sensitive species. The MAR for giant panda was estimated to be 114.7 km based on analysis of its occupancy probability. Giant panda habitats appear more fragmented in the three southern mountain ranges, while they are large and more continuous in the other two. Establishing corridors among habitat patches can mitigate habitat fragmentation, but expanding habitat patch sizes is necessary in mountain ranges where fragmentation is most intensive.
栖息地碎片化可能会降低种群的生存能力，尤其是对那些对面积敏感的物种。种群的最小面积需求（MAR）是种群长期生存所需的面积。本研究以大熊猫栖息的六大山脉中的五座山脉为研究对象，调查了大熊猫对生境斑块大小的占有概率的响应，这些山脉覆盖了全球大熊猫栖息地分布的 78%以上。大熊猫出现的概率与栖息地斑块面积呈正相关，且观察到的占有概率随斑块大小的增加高于单纯的被动抽样所致的增加。这些结果表明，大熊猫是一种对面积敏感的物种。基于大熊猫占有概率的分析，估计大熊猫的 MAR 为 114.7km。在三个南部山脉中，大熊猫的栖息地似乎更加碎片化，而在另外两个山脉中，它们的面积更大，也更加连续。在碎片化最严重的山脉中，建立栖息地斑块之间的走廊可以减轻栖息地碎片化，但扩大栖息地斑块的面积也是必要的。
