The giant pandas of the Qinling Mountains, China:: A case study in designing conservation landscapes for elevational migrants

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), now restricted to approximately 24 montane forest areas in southwest China, is one of the world's most imperiled mammals. The Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi Province is refuge to approximately 220 pandas and is the focus of our study. Pandas in the Qinling Mountains are elevational migrants, needing both low- and high-elevation montane forests to survive. The current network of nature reserves provides protection for <50% of their remaining habitat and fails to conserve essential habitat for dispersal. Using a combination of satellite classification, fieldwork, and geographic information system analyses, we identified a landscape, termed a giant panda conservation unit, that would meet the long-term, elevational requirements for giant pandas in the Qinling Mountains. Our results indicate that although the central portion of the panda's range is well protected, additional protection and several areas providing linkage to adjacent habitat blocks are needed to provide adequate habitat for long-term survival. Our results could be applied to a wide range of species, such as habitat or dietary specialists, elevational migrants, species at the edge of their historic range, and area-sensitive species that require winter refugia.