Climate-change impacts on understorey bamboo species and giant pandas in China’s Qinling Mountains

Abstract

Understorey plants perform an important role in forest ecosystems but their sensitivity to climate change remains largely unexplored. Now research points to a substantial climate-mediated reduction in the distributional ranges of three dominant bamboo species in the Qinling Mountains over the twenty-first century; plants that comprise almost the entire diet of the panda population in the region. Climate change is threatening global ecosystems through its impact on the survival of individual species and their ecological functions1,2. Despite the important role of understorey plants in forest ecosystems3,4,5, climate impact assessments on understorey plants and their role in supporting wildlife habitat are scarce in the literature. Here we assess climate-change impacts on understorey bamboo species with an emphasis on their ecological function as a food resource for endangered giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). An ensemble of bamboo distribution projections associated with multiple climate-change projections and bamboo dispersal scenarios indicates a substantial reduction in the distributional ranges of three dominant bamboo species in the Qinling Mountains, China during the twenty-first century. As these three species comprise almost the entire diet of the panda population in the region, the projected changes in bamboo distribution suggest a potential shortage of food for this population, unless alternative food sources become available. Although the projections were developed under unavoidable simplifying assumptions and uncertainties, they indicate potential challenges for panda conservation and underscore the importance of incorporating interspecific interactions into climate-change impact assessments and associated conservation planning.

Cite this article

Tuanmu, MN., Viña, A., Winkler, J. et al. Climate-change impacts on understorey bamboo species and giant pandas in China’s Qinling Mountains. Nature Clim Change 3, 249–253 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1727

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