Species diversity of primary and secondary forests in Wanglang Nature Reserve

To study the availability of secondary forest for giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), we conducted a field survey on the primary and secondary forests in Wanglang Nature Reserve. We compared these two forests based on species diversity and community structure using variance analysis and Mann-Whitney U test. Results showed that, as compared with the primary forest, the secondary forest had more woody plant species, higher tree richness, smaller tree size, smaller regeneration size, and a higher proportion of young bamboo. The secondary forest could provide enough food, species composition, and large-tree environment for giant pandas just as the primary forest does. Importantly, the secondary forest could provide more of the giant pandas’ preferred food than the primary forest, which might be the reason why giant pandas are increasingly using the secondary forest habitat. Thus, we consider the secondary forest as a viable habitat for giant pandas.