The range of the Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) has decreased dramatically over the last 100 years. This species is still under extreme risk of extinction and conservation efforts are rigorous. Understanding the long-term dynamics of the population decline would be helpful to offer insight into the mechanism behind the decline and endangerment and improve conservation perspectives and strategies. Historical data collection has been the challenge for reconstructing the historical distribution. In China, new gazetteers having systematic compilation and considerable local ecological data can be considered as an important complementary for reconstruction. Therefore, we have set up a data set (mainly based on the new gazetteers) in order to identify the historical range of the Amur Leopard from the 1950s to 2014. The result shows that the Amur leopard was historically widely distributed with large populations in Northeastern China, but it presented a sharp decline after the 1970s. The decline appeared from the plains to the mountains and northeast to southwest since the 1950s. Long-term historical data, mainly from new gazetteers, demonstrates that such resources are capable of tracking species change through time and offers an opportunity to reduce data shortage and enhance understanding in conservation.

Wild ungulates are an important part of terrestrial ecosystems and play a critical role in maintaining ecosystem health and integrity. In many grassland ecosystems that are habituated by wild ungulates, the coexistence of domestic ungulates has created a conflict over grazing resources. Solving this conflict requires a balanced and sustainable policy that satisfies both the needs of wildlife protection and food production. Here, we assess the optimal grassland livestock carrying capacity of an alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, given the coexistence of wild populations of kiangs (Equus kiang) and Tibetan gazelles (Procapra picticaudata), two key species grazing in this region. We use kriging and the MaxEnt method to estimate the population sizes of kiangs and Tibetan gazelles in Maduo County, Qinghai Province. We then convert the estimated population size of the two species into sheep units and calculate the residual carrying capacity for livestock grazing. We show that after accounting for the grazing need for kiangs and Tibetan gazelles, grassland in Maduo is capable of supporting 420,641 sheep units, which is slightly more than the current livestock population. However, the residual carrying capacity is highly uneven across the region, and overgrazing is found in many areas of Maduo, especially in northern Maduo. This research provides a useful framework for planning sustainable livestock farming for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and other regions facing wildlife-livestock conflict.

1. The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) has undergone a dramatic decline throughout the 20th century in China, especially in the North East. However, the dynamics responsible for the reduction in the distribution of otters in this region since the 1950s is still unclear. Such uncertainty and insufficient information can hinder effective conservation strategies. 2. A study was conducted using historical documents to attempt an evaluation of the status of otter populations in north‐east China between 1950 and 2014. The data suggest that otters were widely distributed with abundant populations in north‐east China in the 1950s, particularly in the area of the Songhua River basin and the Ussuli River basin. 3. Compared with the 1950s, the number of records in 2014 has fallen by 92%. Otter populations are fragmented and mainly restricted to national nature reserves, leaving little optimism for their future. 4. More broadly, this research demonstrates that recovering information from local historical documents can be a useful and reliable way to overcome the limits caused by lack of data. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Functional zoning is a key step for the integrated planning and scientific management of a national park. Selecting the Three-River-Source National Park (TNP) as the study area, this paper establishes an evaluation system including 13 evaluation indexes which are classified into four categories, namely: ecosystem services; potential distribution of key species habitats; ecological sensitivity; and ecological resilience through the comprehensive analysis on the regional eco-environmental features in the study area. The results of the comprehensive analysis, combined with the functions and requirements of management of national parks, indicate that TNP is divided into the first-level zone (the core conservation area, the ecological restoration area and the traditional utilization area) with definite targets of space management and the second-level zone with implementation of control measures. This method of functional zoning lays a solid foundation for the scientific planning of TNP; moreover, our study provides new insights into other national parks' functional zoning.