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Implicaciones de las Reducciones en las Poblaciones de Pandas Gigantes más Pequeñas y Aisladas
Author(s) -
ZHU LIFENG,
ZHAN XIANGJIANG,
WU HUA,
ZHANG SHANNING,
MENG TAO,
BRUFORD MICHAEL W.,
WEI FUWEN
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01499.x
Subject(s) - ailuropoda melanoleuca , endangered species , coalescent theory , population , geography , deforestation (computer science) , habitat fragmentation , ecology , habitat destruction , extinction (optical mineralogy) , habitat , biology , demography , sociology , computer science , programming language , paleontology , biochemistry , gene , phylogenetic tree
In conservation biology, understanding the causes of endangerment is a key step to devising effective conservation strategies. We used molecular evidence (coalescent simulations of population changes from microsatellite data) and historical information (habitat and human population changes) to investigate how the most‐isolated populations of giant pandas ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) in the Xiaoxiangling Mountains became highly endangered. These populations experienced a strong, recent demographic reduction (60‐fold), starting approximately 250 years BP. Explosion of the human population and use of non‐native crop species at the peak of the Qing Empire resulted in land‐use changes, deforestation, and habitat fragmentation, which are likely to have led to the drastic reduction of the most‐isolated populations of giant pandas. We predict that demographic, genetic, and environmental factors will lead to extinction of giant pandas in the Xiaoxiangling Mountains in the future if the population remains isolated. Therefore, a targeted conservation action—translocation—has been proposed and is being implemented by the Chinese goverment .