Tao of Pandas: Sometimes They Go With the Flow
Sue Nichols is
the assistant director of the Center for Systems Integration and
Sustainability at Michigan State University. Nichols contributed this
article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
Good news on the panda front: Turns out, they're not quite as delicate — or as picky — as scientists had thought.
Until now, information gleaned from 30 years of scientific literature
suggested pandas were inflexible about habitat. Those conclusions
morphed into conventional wisdom, and then guided policy in China. But a
Michigan State University (MSU) research associate recently led a deep
dive into aggregate data and emerged with evidence that the endangered animal is more resilient and flexible than previously believed. [Pandas Show Resilience in Range of Habitats (Gallery )]
Plowing through panda data
Vanessa Hull is a
postdoctoral researcher at MSU's Center for Systems Integration and
Sustainability (CSIS). She spent three years studying giant pandas in
China's Wolong Nature Reserve. Given the pandas' elusive nature, Hull
had a lot of downtime. So she bided her time plowing through literature
on panda habitat selection, and discovered inconsistencies and a lack of
consensus on matters crucial for scientists and policymakers struggling
to protect the estimated 1,600 giant pandas remaining in the wild.
Those animals have been relegated to just 21,300 square kilometers
(about 8,200 square miles). [Pandas' Latest Threat: Horses? ]
"Panda habitat selection is a complex process that we are still trying
to unravel," said Jianguo "Jack" Liu, CSIS director. "Pandas are a part
of coupled human and natural systems where humans have changed so much
in [the pandas'] habitat."
Vanessa Hull plays with one of the tamed baby pandas in the Wolong Nature Reserve.
Credit: Sue Nichols, Michigan State University
What pandas need
It has been thought that pandas demanded a forest with fairly gentle
slope (easier to mosey around in while seeking bamboo), at a certain
elevation, in original, old forest; an abundance of bamboo; and plenty
of distance from people. Those recommendations, however, come from
often-scant research, because pandas are difficult animals to study,
Hull said.
"Pandas are difficult to observe and follow in the wild; we're always
10 steps behind them," Hull said. "We don't know why they're there — or
where they were before and after. There's a lot of guesswork."
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Hull and her colleagues analyzed the existing research and sought to separate studies that focus on where pandas live
from studies that examine what kind of choices pandas make when
multiple habitats are available. They discovered that pandas are not as
selective as researchers once thought.
The research shows, for instance, that pandas are willing to live in
secondary forests — forests that were logged and have since regrown.
They also don't seem as selective about slope, and are willing to climb
depending on which of the many varieties of bamboo is growing, or what
type of forest it is in. The same flexibility exists for elevation and
the amount of sunshine that hits a piece of panda home. The researchers
also found a complex relationship between trees and bamboo: Pandas
choose a range of forest types as places to spend their time, as long as
bamboo is available.
Jianguo "Jack" Liu, director of the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability at Michigan State University.
Credit: MSU
Hope for the future
Those findings are good news. Indications that forests once cut clean
by timber harvesting can return to acceptable panda habitat validate
current bans on forest harvesting.
Hull said consensus would be helpful for future panda habitat research, since the future guarantees change.
"It's exciting to see the flexibility pandas have, or at least see that
pandas are choosing areas I didn't think could support them," Hull
said. "It gives you hope. They've survived throughout many challenges
over so many millions of years; it would be sad to think humans came
along and threw it all away. This also suggests we should stay on board
and try to make things better for them."
The paper, "A synthesis of giant panda habitat selection," is published in the journal
Ursus, a publication of the International Association for Bear Research and Management.
In addition to Liu and Hull, article authors include Gary Roloff, MSU
associate professor of fisheries and wildlife; Jindong Zhang, a CSIS
postdoctoral research assistant; Wei Liu, a CSIS alumnus; Hemin Zhang,
Shiqiang Zhou and Jinyan Huang of the China Center for Research and
Conservation of the Giant Panda in Wolong; and Zhiyun Ouyang and Weihua
Xu of the State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research
Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences in
Beijing. The National Science Foundation, NASA and MSU AgBioResearch
have supported the work.
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The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily
reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was
originally published on Live Science.
source: http://www.livescience.com/49034-pandas-more-resilient-than-once-thought.html
ASSIGNMENT verb-Ing
- She spent three years studying giant pandas in
China's Wolong Nature Reserve. Studying from the above its means study but the word using v-Ing as Noun.
- So she bided her time plowing through literature
on panda habitat selection. Plowing on that sentence using Gerund because the sentence explain about the time.
- And discovered inconsistencies and a lack of
consensus on matters crucial for scientists and policymakers struggling
to protect the estimated. the sentence using Infinitive for struggling, because that follow the action of the main verb.
- 1,600 giant pandas remaining in the wild. this sentence using v-Ing and explain with the Infinitive verbs
- "Panda habitat selection is a complex process that we are still trying
to unravel. trying for this sentence using a Gerund, becasue they explain about the time
- Those findings are good news. findings using V-ing for progressive aspect
- Indications that forests once cut clean
by timber harvesting can return to acceptable panda habitat validate
current bans on forest harvesting. this sentence using Gerund to be a noun
