Title
Giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca behaviour and carrying capacity following a bamboo die-off
Author(s)
Reid, D.G., Hu Jinchu, Dong Sai, Wang Wei and Huang Yan
Published
1989
Publisher
Biological Conservation
Abstract
The preferred bamboo food Bashania fangiana of the giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca mass-flowered and died in 1983 in Wolong Natural Reserve, China. The standing crop dropped by 82% and pandas changed their feeding behaviour. The panda population was above the carrying capacity immediately after the die-off, but high shoot production and decreased numbers of pandas put it below carrying capacity by 1987. This study empirically establishes the importance of alternating bamboo foods for a panda population faced with a single-species flowering event. Further it gives insight into the management of panda rescues when expecting future bamboo die-offs.
Full Citation
Reid, D.G., Hu Jinchu, Dong Sai, Wang Wei and Huang Yan. 1989. Giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca behaviour and carrying capacity following a bamboo die-off. Biological Conservation. 49:85-104.
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