Habitat degradation assessment and restoration framework for the Giant Panda in the Shimian section of the Giant Panda National Park (GPNP), China

Anthropogenic activities and environmental changes have historically impacted the habitat quality of the giant panda. This study introduces the concepts of “theoretical habitat” and “actual habitat” and integrates disturbance factors to assess habitat degradation in the Shimian section of Giant Panda National Park (GPNP). The MaxEnt model and ArcGIS were used to quantify habitat suitability, identify degraded habitat, rank environmental drivers and develop restoration scenarios. Our findings indicated that the theoretical habitat area was 33,671.97 ha, while the actual habitat area was 25624.44 ha, whereas 10424.07 ha identified as degraded. In the theoretical habitat model, elevation was the most significant factor (23.2%), followed by vegetation type (22.6%) and distance to water (16.4%). In the actual habitat model, grazing intensity was the predominant factor (46.8%), ahead of infrastructures (11.8%), distance to water (6.8%) and vegetation type (6.0%). Grazing intensity was also the primary factor affecting habitat quality among the controllable variables. The study advocates for prohibiting or controlling grazing intensity and restoring habitat vegetation as critical strategies for rehabilitating degraded panda habitats in Shimian. The methodologies provide a framework for broader ecological sustainability and establish a replicable framework for habitat restoration applicable to other similar regions, contributing to global conservation efforts.