Gaps in mammal conservation in China: An analysis with a framework based on minimum area requirements

Abstract

Climate change, habitat loss, and human disturbance are major threats to biodiversity. Protecting habitats plays a pivotal role in biodiversity conservation, and there is a global imperative to establish an effective system of protected areas (PAs) to implement habitat conservation and halt biodiversity decline. However, the protected patch size of habitat for a species is just as important for biodiversity conservation as the expansion of areas already under protection. In China, conservation management is often carried out based on administrative divisions. Therefore, here, an analytical conservation management framework was developed based on administrative divisions to assess whether the current network of PAs can effectively meet species' conservation needs using the minimum area requirements (MARs) of species as criteria for medium and large‐sized mammals in China. This study found that the MAR of medium and large‐sized mammals was larger in the northwest and smaller in the southeast, while taking the Hu line as the dividing line. Precipitation seasonality, elevation, annual mean temperature, and annual precipitation are the main environmental factors driving the distribution of a species MAR. Compared with MAR for each species, the maximum protected patch size of habitat is severely undersized in most provinces where those species primarily distribute, and this is particularly true for large carnivores and threatened species. The densely populated provinces of eastern China are particularly affected by this. The present study's framework can identify the provinces needing to expand PAs or implement other effective area‐based conservation measures and habitat restoration. This analytical framework is also relevant for biodiversity conservation in different taxa and regions around the globe.

Ecological and Public Advantages of a Dual Flagship Strategy: Giant Panda and Snow Leopard

“…Specifically, female snow have home ranges of approximately 124 km 2 and males around 207 km 2 [48]. Reserves designed for pandas often fall short in meeting the needs of these larger carnivores [32]. Including the snow leopard as a flagship species may facilitate the establishment of extensive protected areas, providing broader, continuous habitats that better address the needs of diverse species and reduce habitat fragmentation risks.…”

“…Both the giant panda and snow leopard have habitats in the two provinces. While species distributions do not naturally adhere to administrative boundaries, conservation management often does [32]. Thus, using the provincial boundary as a basis for this study holds practical significance for policy making and implementation.…”