School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, NW1 4RY, U.K.
Conserv Biol. 2021 Aug;35(4):1288-1298. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13664. Epub 2021 Mar 2.
Establishing protected areas (PAs) is an essential strategy to reduce biodiversity loss. However, many PAs do not provide adequate protection due to poor funding, inadequate staffing and equipment, and ineffective management. As part of China's recent economic growth, the Chinese government has significantly increased investment in nature reserves over the past 20 years, providing a unique opportunity to evaluate whether PAs can protect threatened species effectively. We compiled data from published literature on populations of gibbons (Hylobatidae), a threatened taxon with cultural significance, that occurred in Chinese reserves after 1980. We evaluated the ability of these PAs to maintain gibbon habitat and populations by comparing forest cover and human disturbance between reserves and their surrounding areas and modeling the impact of reserve characteristics on gibbon population trends. We also assessed the perspective of reserve staff concerning PA management effectiveness through an online survey. Reserves effectively protected gibbon habitat by reducing forest loss and human disturbance; however, half the reserves lost their gibbon populations since being established. Gibbons were more likely to survive in reserves established more recently, at higher elevation, with less forest loss and lower human impact, and that have been relatively well studied. A larger initial population size in the 1980s was positively associated with gibbon persistence. Although staff of all reserves reported increased investment and improved management over the past 20-30 years, no relationship was found between management effectiveness and gibbon population trends. We suggest early and emphatic intervention is critical to stop population decline and prevent extinction.
建立保护区（PAs）是减少生物多样性丧失的重要策略。然而，由于资金不足、人员和设备不足以及管理不善，许多保护区无法提供充分的保护。随着中国近年来经济的增长，中国政府在过去 20 年中大幅增加了对自然保护区的投资，为评估保护区是否能有效保护受威胁物种提供了一个独特的机会。我们从 1980 年后发表的有关长臂猿（长臂猿科）种群的文献中收集了数据，长臂猿是一种具有文化意义的受威胁类群。我们通过比较保护区及其周围地区的森林覆盖和人类干扰，评估了这些保护区维持长臂猿栖息地和种群的能力，并通过建模评估了保护区特征对长臂猿种群趋势的影响。我们还通过在线调查评估了保护区工作人员对保护区管理有效性的看法。保护区通过减少森林砍伐和人类干扰有效地保护了长臂猿的栖息地；然而，自建立以来，一半的保护区失去了长臂猿种群。最近建立的保护区中，长臂猿更有可能存活下来，这些保护区的海拔更高、森林砍伐更少、人类干扰更低，并且受到了相对较好的研究。20 世纪 80 年代更大的初始种群数量与长臂猿的生存呈正相关。尽管所有保护区的工作人员都报告称，在过去 20-30 年中，投资增加，管理得到改善，但管理有效性与长臂猿种群趋势之间没有关系。我们建议早期采取有力的干预措施至关重要，以阻止种群减少并防止灭绝。
