Abstract
AbstractParadoxically, despite the growth in protected areas globally, many species remain threatened and continue to decline. Attempts to conserve species in suboptimal habitats (i.e., as refugee species) may in part explain this Protected Area Paradox. Refugee species yield poor conservation outcomes as they suffer lower densities and fitness. We suggest that the giant panda may serve as an iconic example, reflecting the contraction and shift in the giant panda's range, diet and habitat use over the past 3,500 years, coinciding with increasing human pressure, and now maintained by conservation efforts, this due to shifted baselines. The global bias of protected area location to less productive habitats indicates that this problem may be widespread. We urgently need efforts to identify victims of refugee species status to allow improved conservation management globally, reducing the paradoxical outcomes of our conservation efforts.
Highlights
KEYWORDS Ailuropoda melanoleuca, conservation management, fitness, giant panda, optimal habitat, protected areas, range contraction, refugee species, shifted baseline, suboptimal habitat
We argue that the giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca (David), may serve as an important example of a refugee species and provide important insights into a mechanism behind this Protected Area Paradox
Giant panda are averse to human activities, as shown by the occurrence of grazing by domestic livestock, infrastructure and farming all being important and negative variables in models of giant panda habitat use (Qiu et al, 2019). This supports the view that giant panda would retreat from areas occupied by humans, one of the criteria for refugee species (Kerley et al, 2012). The fact that these recent changes in the giant panda's range and resource use patterns coincide with increasing human pressure, and that this resource use is anomalous to that of the rest of the Ursidae family, which use a diversity of habitats and are omnivores, further supports the hypothesis that the giant panda is a refugee species, sensu Kerley et al (2012)
Summary
KEYWORDS Ailuropoda melanoleuca, conservation management, fitness, giant panda, optimal habitat, protected areas, range contraction, refugee species, shifted baseline, suboptimal habitat The resulting conservation management actively traps refugee species in marginal habitats (Kerley et al, 2012).
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