EAPSI: Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on the Connectivity of Wildlife Populations

栖息地的丧失和剩余栖息地的破碎化是野生动物数量和全球生物多样性下降的最大原因。然而，人类的干扰和栖息地的丧失如何影响动物在整个景观中的运动，并将不同的种群联系起来，这一点很难理解。为了研究这一主题，该项目将使用遗传分析来测量几个自然保护区和未受保护地区面临不同程度的人类干扰的大熊猫种群连通性作为案例研究。这项研究将与西华师范大学的大熊猫生态学专家张近东博士合作进行。这将通过在整个研究区域收集熊猫粪便样本并从每个颗粒的外层提取DNA来完成。将分析该地区大熊猫个体之间的遗传距离，并与景观特征进行比较，以找出哪些因素促进了大熊猫的迁徙和基因流动，哪些因素阻碍了大熊猫的迁徙和基因流动。例如，道路或村庄可能比森林更难以移动。该项目还将研究在一个景观中保持种群联系所需的栖息地数量。研究结果不仅可以为大熊猫的管理提供参考，还可以为其他面临栖息地破碎化和人类干扰压力的栖息地特殊物种的管理提供参考。自然和人为干扰导致的栖息地破碎化对野生动物来说是一种复杂的压力，可以对物种产生不同的影响。大熊猫是一个在其活动范围内面临广泛破碎化的物种，由于对林下竹林栖息地的依赖，大熊猫是研究其影响的理想栖息地专家。本项目将以大熊猫为研究对象，探讨自然和人为生境破碎化对野生动物种群连通性的影响。将收集自然保护区网络中粪便沉积物的非侵入性遗传学样本，以比较不同环境距离措施下熊猫个体之间的遗传距离。对这些基质协方差的分析将确定整个地区基因流动和种群连通性的主要障碍和抵抗区域。研究结果不仅有助于加深对大熊猫生态学的认识，而且有助于进一步了解栖息地破碎化对栖息地特有物种的影响。该奖项由美国国家科学基金会和中国科技部共同资助，隶属于东亚和太平洋暑期研究所项目，支持美国研究生的暑期研究。

Habitat loss and the fragmentation of remaining habitat are the biggest causes of declines in wildlife populations and global biodiversity. The way that human disturbance and habitat loss affect animal movement across the landscape and connect separate populations is difficult to understand, however. In order to investigate this topic, the project will use genetic analysis to measure population connectivity of giant pandas across several nature reserves and unprotected areas facing varying levels of human disturbance as a case study. This research will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Jindong Zhang of China West Normal University, an expert in giant panda ecology. This will be done by collecting panda fecal samples across the study area and extracting DNA from the outer layer of each pellet. The genetic distance between panda individuals across the region will be analyzed and compared with landscape features to find out which ones enhance and which ones impede giant panda movement and gene flow. For example, a road or village will likely be much more difficult to move through than a forest. The project will also examine the amount of habitat that is needed to keep populations connected across a landscape. Results will inform management of not only giant pandas, but other habitat specialist species facing habitat fragmentation and human disturbance pressures. Habitat fragmentation, resulting from natural and anthropogenic disturbances, is a complex pressure for wildlife that can affect species differently. The giant panda is a species that faces extensive fragmentation throughout its range, and is an ideal habitat-specialist to study its effects due to a reliance on understory bamboo habitat. This project will use giant pandas as a case study to investigate the effects of natural and anthropogenic habitat fragmentation on the connectivity of wildlife populations. Non-invasive genetics sampling of fecal deposits across a nature reserve network will be collected to compare the genetic distance between panda individuals with different measures of environmental distance. Analyses of the covariance of these matrixes will determine the major barriers and areas of resistance to gene flow and population connectivity throughout the region. Results will enhance understanding of not only giant panda ecology, but also advance knowledge of the effects of habitat fragmentation on habitat specialist species.This award, under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program, supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.