Spatial-temporal patterns of Bashania fargesii bamboo shoot emergence and giant panda herbivory

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1003.2009.08290

Abstract

Abstract:

Bashania fargesii is an important food resource for giant panda in the Qinling Mountains, China, especially in winter and spring when giant panda prefers new shoots. Therefore, regeneration of B. fargesii is a key factor for conservation of the giant panda. B. fargesii regenerates mainly via new shoot recruitment. To identify spatial-temporal patterns of B. fargesii new shoot emergence and giant panda herbivory as well as spatial and quantitative associations between them, we established one 40 m×40 m permanent plot in Foping National Nature Reserve, and investigated new shoots of B. fargesii and giant panda herbivory from 2002 to 2008 (except 2007). Results of univariate and bivariate Ripley’s K function demonstrated that new shoots of B. fargesii were aggregated in the plot, maybe due to clonal growth, resource heterogeneity, and giant panda herbivory and trampling. Giant panda herbivory was also clumped at most scales from 0 m to 20 m. This pattern may be explained by spatial patterns of a restricted food resource (B. fargesii new shoots), giant pandas’ herbivory habits, and topography of the forging sites. Giant panda herbivory was significantly spatially correlated to B. fargesii new shoots, confirming the importance of B. fargesii as an important food resource for giant panda in the Qinling Mountains. Regression analysis revealed no relationship between giant panda herbivory intensity (percentage of eaten shoots in the plot) and B. fargesii new shoot density, possibly indicating the existence of other bamboos as a food source for giant panda, suggesting a partial dependence of giant panda on B. fargesii.

Key words: animal-plant relationship, giant panda conservation, population regeneration, Ripley’s K, spatial point pattern

Zhijun Lu, Wei Wang, Wenhui Zhang, Hong Li, Qing Cao, Gaodi Dang, Dong He, Scott Franklin. Spatial-temporal patterns of Bashania fargesii bamboo shoot emergence and giant panda herbivory[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2009, 17(1): 1-9.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.3724/SP.J.1003.2009.08290

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2009/V17/I1/1

Figures/Tables 5

Fig. 1 Location of Bashania fargesii permanent plot at Foping, Shaanxi

Fig. 2 Spatial point pattern of new shoots of Bashania fargesii from 2002 to 2008, except 2007. The solid line represents the observed number of neighbors per Bashania fargesii new shoot in the plot minus the expected number of neighbors if the new shoots were distributed randomly. At scale t, if L*(t) = 0, the new shoots are distributed randomly; if L*(t) ≠ 0, the distribution of new shoots deviate from random. If L*(t) is above the 95% confidence level of L*(t) from 200 Monte Carlo simulations of the data, shown by the dotted line, the new shoots are significantly clustered (P<0.05); if L*(t) is below the 95% confidence level, the new shoots are significantly regular (P<0.05). The value of t at the first peak in the L*(t) plot is patch length, describing the characteristic spatial scale of clustering. The height of the peak is used as a measure of crowding.

Fig. 3 Spatial point pattern of new shoots of Bashania fargesii eaten by giant panda from 2002 to 2008, except 2007. The solid line represents the observed number of neighbors per Bashania fargesii new shoot eaten by giant panda in the plot minus the expected number of neighbors if the new shoots were distributed randomly. At scale t, if L*(t) = 0, the new shoots are distributed randomly; if L*(t) ≠ 0, the distribution of new shoots deviate from random. If L*(t) is above the 95% confidence level of L*(t) from 200 Monte Carlo simulations of the data, shown by the dotted line, the new shoots are significantly clustered (P<0.05); if L*(t) is below the 95% confidence level, the new shoots are significantly regular (P<0.05). The value of t at the first peak in the L*(t) plot is patch length, describing the characteristic spatial scale of clustering. The height of the peak is used as a measure of crowding.

Fig. 4 Spatial correlation between new shoots of Bashania fargesii and giant panda herbivory from 2002 to 2008, except 2007. The solid line represents the observed number of Bashania fargesii new shoots eaten by giant panda per new shoot in the plot minus the expected number of neighbors if the new shoots eaten by giant panda were distributed randomly. At scale t, if L12*(t)=0, the new shoots and new shoots eaten by giant panda are independent; if L12*(t)≠0, the distribution of the two kinds of points are not independent. If L12*(t) is above the 95% confidence level of L12*(t) from 200 Monte Carlo simulations of the data, shown by the dotted line, the two kinds of points are significantly postively associated (P<0.05); If L12*(t) is below the 95% confidence level, the two kinds of points are significantly negatively associated (P<0.05). The value of t at the first peak in the L12*(t) plot describes the scale of association.

Fig. 5 Dynamics of Bashania fargesii new shoots and giant panda herbivory

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