GIS APPLICATION IN RESEARCH OF WILDLIFE HABITAT CHANGE -A case study of the Giant Panda in Wolong Nature Reserve

摘要

The general aim of this study is to find the relationship between the panda distribution and human activities. Comparison of the potential panda habitat and the real panda distribution shows a difference between them. Seven human activities were identified and analyzed. They are settlements, farming, road construction, firewood collection, timber production, mining and Chinese medicinal plant collection. The spatial distributions of these activities were characterized. The analysis of their spatial distributions and the pandas' habitat and distribution revealed that there is a relation existing between the human activities and the panda distribution, and the Giant Pandas have disappeared from the areas where the human activities are concentrated. GIS is the main tool used in this study to collect, store, retrieve, transform and present the spatial data of human activities and panda habitat and distribution in Wolong Nature Reserve.