Zhang Hu, Shi Zongkun, Feng Bin, Liu Ying, Tang Zhuo, Dong Xin, Gu Xiaodong, Qi Dunwu, Xu Weihua, Zhou Caiquan, Zhang Jindong
Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education) China West Normal University Nanchong China.
School of Ecology and Environment Tibet University Lhasa China.
Ecol Evol. 2024 Jul 29;14(7):e70067. doi: 10.1002/ece3.70067. eCollection 2024 Jul.
As human activities continue to expand, wildlife persistence faces escalating threats from roads. In Wolong area of Giant Panda National Park, the local giant pandas () are divided into two population groups along the National Highway G350 (NHG). Therefore, selecting suitable areas to help those giant pandas communicate across the NHG is necessary. In this research, we evaluated the presence of human activities and simulated their absence to analyze how they affect the giant panda's habitat in Wolong. Subsequently, based on the kernel density estimation (KDE) for giant pandas and the main human distribution locations, we selected suitable areas for the population link between the two road sections on the NHG. We simulated the absence of human activities on the two road sections to compare changes in the habitat suitability index (HSI) and connectivity value (CV) relative to their presence. We aimed to carefully select the area for future giant panda corridor plans and simulate whether eliminating human activities will significantly improve the HSI and CV of the area. Our results show that: (1) Human activities presence has led to subtle changes in the landscape pattern of suitable habitats and a decrease in Wolong by 78.76 km compared to their absence. (2) Human activities presence significantly reduced HSI and CV in the 1000 m buffer along the NHG compared to their absence. (3) The HSI and CV of the 1000 m buffer in the simulated absence of human activities for the two road sections were significantly higher than their presence. This research identified the optimal road section for crossing the NHG to link giant panda population groups and habitats in Wolong. These insights are significant for formulating conservation decisions and corridor plans and for promoting wildlife conservation in reserves amid high levels of human activity.
随着人类活动的不断扩张，野生动物的生存面临着来自道路的日益严重的威胁。在大熊猫国家公园的卧龙地区，当地大熊猫种群沿着国道G350（以下简称NHG）被分为两个群体。因此，选择合适的区域来帮助这些大熊猫跨越NHG进行交流是必要的。在本研究中，我们评估了人类活动的存在情况，并模拟其不存在的情况，以分析它们如何影响卧龙大熊猫的栖息地。随后，基于大熊猫的核密度估计（KDE）和主要人类分布地点，我们为NHG上两个路段之间的种群连接选择了合适的区域。我们模拟了两个路段上人类活动不存在的情况，以比较相对于其存在时栖息地适宜性指数（HSI）和连通性值（CV）的变化。我们的目的是精心选择未来大熊猫廊道规划的区域，并模拟消除人类活动是否会显著提高该区域的HSI和CV。我们的结果表明：（1）与人类活动不存在时相比，人类活动的存在导致了适宜栖息地景观格局的细微变化，卧龙地区减少了78.76公里。（2）与人类活动不存在时相比，人类活动的存在显著降低了NHG沿线1000米缓冲区内的HSI和CV。（3）模拟两个路段不存在人类活动时，1000米缓冲区内的HSI和CV显著高于其存在时。本研究确定了跨越NHG连接卧龙大熊猫种群群体和栖息地的最佳路段。这些见解对于制定保护决策和廊道规划以及在人类活动高度密集的情况下促进保护区内的野生动物保护具有重要意义。
