Implications of habitat overlap between giant panda and sambar for sympatric multi-species conservation
Wenke Bai
A B C , Jindong Zhang B , Ke He B , Shanshan Zhao B , Xiaodong Gu D , Jie Hu B , Melissa Songer C , Caiquan Zhou B , Xin Dong B E * and Qiongyu Huang C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Sichuan Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology for Endangered Wildlife, Chengdu 610086, China.
B Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation & Institute of Ecology, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637009, China.
C Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA 22630, USA.
D Forestry and Grassland Administration of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Giant Panda National Park Administration, Chengdu 610081, China.
E College of Environmental Science and Engineering, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637009, China.
Wildlife Research 50(10) 820-826 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR22018
Submitted: 19 February 2021 Accepted: 9 November 2022 Published: 23 December 2022
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Context: Studies of distribution and habitat utilisation of sympatric animals, especially those experiencing population increases, are useful for understanding their specialised habitat niches and interspecies relationships, in addition to developing effective protection strategies.
Aims: As a species that lives within the range of the giant panda, the sambar population has been increasing in the past few decades in Southwest China. In this paper, we aimed to analyse the overlap in habitat area and habitat suitability between giant panda and sambar in Wolong National Nature Reserve to examine potential sympatric species competition in the context of wildlife conservation.
Methods: We ran MaxEnt models based on giant panda occurrence sign locations (n = 316) and sambar presence locations (n = 598). In addition, we predicted the core and secondary habitat for the two species to assess the degree of competition across a gradient of habitat conditions.
Key results: Our analysis detected significant habitat overlap between the two species – up to 75.96% in their potential habitat, with suitability overlap indices reaching 0.74.
Conclusions: These results indicate that the similarity of habitat requirements of the two species is high in our study area. In addition, the competition over space utilisation between the two species’ populations could intensify in the future as the sambar population increases.
Implications: Our results suggest that habitat restoration and corridor construction could be recommended as conservation strategies for future wildlife conservation in China’s Giant Panda National Park. Moreover, future wildlife conservation should pay greater attention to the niche overlap and interspecific competition among sympatric species. We suggest strengthening habitat restoration and corridors for all key species in the region, not just giant pandas, to alleviate the increased competition associated with niche overlap among sympatric species.
Keywords: ecological niche, habitat overlap, interspecific competition, panda, population increases, potential habitat, sambar, space utilisation, sympatric animals.
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