Measuring ecosystem services and ecological sensitivity for comprehensive conservation in Giant Panda National Park

Conserv Biol. 2023 Nov 22:e14215. doi: 10.1111/cobi.14215. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTChina announced the development of its first 5 national parks in 2021, the primary objective of which is to conserve the natural state and integrity of natural ecosystems. As such, ecosystem services and biodiversity levels are crucial assessment factors for the parks. For Giant Panda National Park (GPNP), we evaluated ecological sensitivity based on water and soil erosion and rocky desertification; ecosystem services based on headwater conservation, soil and water conservation, and biodiversity conservation; and presence of giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and sympatric species (e.g., takin [Budorcas taxicolor], Asiatic black bear [Ursus thibetanus]) habitat suitability derived from niche modeling to identify the ecosystem status and assess ecological problems within the park. From our results, we proposed ecologically critical areas to target to meet the park's goals. The suitable habitat for pandas and sympatric species encompassed 62.98% of the park and occurred mainly in the Minshan Mountains. One quarter of the total area (25.67%) contained areas important for ecosystem services. Ecologically sensitive and extremely sensitive areas covered 88.78% of the park and were distributed mainly in Qionglaishan and Minshan Mountains. This coverage indicated that there was much habitat for pandas and sympatric species but that the ecosystems in GPNP are vulnerable. Therefore, ecologically ...

Source: Conservation Biology - November 22, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Cheng Li Rong Hou Ziqiang Bao Wei Wu Jacob R Owens Wenlei Bi Qiang Xu XiaoDong Gu Zuofu Xiang Dunwu Qi Source Type: research