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Vol. 52, 2013
Habitat use by giant pandas Ailuropoda
melanoleuca in the
Wanglang Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China
Dong-Wei
Kang1, Hong-Wei Yang1, Jun-Qing Li1*,
You-Ping Chen2 and Lian-Jun Zhao2
1The
Key Laboratory for Silviculture and Conservation of Ministry of
Education, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
2Wanglang National Nature Reserve Administration
Bureau, Sichuan 622550, China
Abstract
Background: To better understand
the ecological requirements of the giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca in the wild,
field surveys were carried out at both the microhabitat scale and
foraging site scale in Wanglang National Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China.
Results: The results indicated that (1) at the
microhabitat scale, giant pandas usually occupied habitats with a high
fallen-log density, lower shrub density, and bamboo coverage of 50% to
75%; (2) at the foraging site scale, pandas usually used sites with
higher bamboo densities and taller and larger-diameter bamboo; and (3)
giant pandas may abandon plots when the proportion of young bamboo
decreases below average in the environment.
Conclusions: The availability of
young bamboo is an important driving force in habitat selection by
giant pandas, which could provide important reference for the
conservation of giant pandas and their habitats.
Key words: Foraging site; Giant panda; Habitat
use; Microhabitat.
*Correspondence: E-mail: lijunqing8100@gmail.com
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