Functional zoning of China's protected area needs to be optimized for protecting giant panda

Abstract

Management zone designations are important to improving the core function of biodiversity conservation in any protected area. However, land managers of most protected areas can barely identify whether the zones they manage are ideally designated due to lack of clear information related to the protected objects as well as other related in-situ conservation information on a regional scale. Here we focused on 26 protected areas at national and local levels that have mainly been designated to protect the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) in Sichuan Province, China. The management zones of these protected areas included core, buffer, and experiment zones. We used five indicators to test the spatial differentiation among management zones, including the area of each management zone (Area), the proportion of a zone that overlapped with other protected areas (Overlap proportion), the number of giant pandas present (Panda number), the density of giant pandas (Panda density), and the proportion of the concentrated distribution areas for giant panda (CDA proportion). The results showed that Area and Panda number of the core zone were significantly higher than the buffer zone (P = 0.000) and the experiment zone (0.000 ≤ P ≤ 0.001); Panda density in the core zone (P = 0.006) and buffer zone (P = 0.009) were significantly higher than in the experiment zone. Meanwhile, the buffer zone had the highest Panda density (7.71 individuals/100 km2) and the experiment zone had the highest CDA proportion (42.19%). Nevertheless, no significant differences were observed in the five indicators between the national and local protected areas (0.058 ≤ P ≤ 1). The concentrated distribution area for giant panda accounted for 36.66% of these 26 protected areas, covering nearly 80% of the population of wild giant pandas, while the previous core zones (accounting for 62.84% of the 26 protected areas) only covered 66.12% of the population of wild giant pandas. Thus, we suggested that the concentrated distribution area of giant panda should be designated as the main area of the functional zone and be designated mainly for conserving biodiversity that is represented by giant panda in the Sichuan area of Giant Panda National Park; in addition, the local protected areas should be given more attention during the reform of China's protected area system.

Keywords

• Protection efficiency
• Endemic species
• Management zone
• National park
• Nature reserve
• Sichuan