Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, Front Royal, VA 22630, USA; Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA; Global Development Policy Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, Front Royal, VA 22630, USA.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 May 15;769:145081. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145081. Epub 2021 Jan 11.
Protected areas (PAs) form the backbone of global conservation efforts. Although many studies have evaluated the impact of PAs on land cover, human disturbances, and people's welfare, PAs' impact on wildlife habitat quality remains poorly understood. By integrating wildlife habitat mapping and information of 2183 rural households, we assessed the impacts of nature reserves (a type of PAs) across the entire geographic range of giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) on panda habitat suitability change between 2001 and 2013 using the matching approach. We found the impact of nature reserves is concentrated in areas susceptible to human pressure, where 65% of the habitat suitability increase is attributable to the nature reserves' protection. The impact of nature reserves has spilled over to nearby unprotected areas and enhanced habitat suitability there. Nature reserves supported by the central government showed higher performance in improving habitat suitability than their counterparts supported by local governments. Older nature reserves perform better than those established more recently. Our results also show that local households' participation in tourism and labor migration (people temporarily leaving to work in cities) enhanced the ability of nature reserves to improve habitat suitability. These results and methods provide valuable information and tools to support effective management of PAs to enhance the habitat quality of giant pandas and other wildlife species in China and elsewhere.
保护区（PAs）构成了全球保护努力的骨干。尽管许多研究已经评估了 PAs 对土地覆盖、人类干扰和人们福利的影响，但 PAs 对野生动物栖息地质量的影响仍知之甚少。通过整合野生动物栖息地制图和 2183 户农村家庭的信息，我们使用匹配方法评估了整个大熊猫（Ailuropoda melanoleuca）地理范围内的自然保护区（一种 PAs）对 2001 年至 2013 年间大熊猫栖息地适宜性变化的影响。我们发现，保护区的影响集中在易受人类压力影响的地区，其中 65%的栖息地适宜性增加归因于保护区的保护。保护区的影响已经溢出到附近未受保护的地区，并提高了那里的栖息地适宜性。由中央政府支持的自然保护区在改善栖息地适宜性方面的表现优于由地方政府支持的自然保护区。较老的自然保护区比最近建立的自然保护区表现更好。我们的研究结果还表明，当地家庭参与旅游和劳务移民（暂时离开农村到城市工作的人）增强了自然保护区改善栖息地适宜性的能力。这些结果和方法为支持有效管理 PAs 提供了有价值的信息和工具，以提高中国和其他地方大熊猫和其他野生动物物种的栖息地质量。
