Introduction – humans, nature and human nature - Ecological Applications: Toward a Sustainable World - page 24

Migratory behavior and the design of nature reserves for giant pandas
Source: blickwinkel/Alamy.
Giant pandas depend for food on just a few species of bamboo. From June to September in China's
Qinling Province, home to 20% of the world's remaining animals, the pandas eat Fargesia spatha-
cea , which grows from 1900 to 3000 m. But as colder weather sets in, they move to lower elevations
and between October and May feed primarily on Bashania fargesii , a bamboo that grows from 1000
to 2100 m. Existing reserves did not cater for the needs of pandas at both ends of this seasonal
migration, putting the population at risk. But now, with a fuller knowledge of migratory behavior
and the distribution of bamboo species, a network of connected reserves has been established
(Section 4.2.2).
2 Applications at the level of populations
Countering the threat of extinction - genetic rescue of the Florida panther
Source: Mark J. Barrett/Alamy.