Giant pandas hold great potential umbrella effectiveness for golden snub-nosed monkeys under climate change

Abstract

Umbrella species are widely used as conservation strategies for the design of reserves. However, empirical data on their potential effectiveness, particularly in the context of climate change, is limited and inconclusive. Here, we evaluated the potential umbrella effectiveness of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and its reserve network in the Qinling Mountains for the conservation of sympatric golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) under climate change. We modeled their current and future habitat suitability index (HSI) by using the MaxEnt model and analyzed their current and future spatial congruence of HSI. Their suitable areas were also overlaid onto the boundaries and management zones of the reserve network. Subsequently, we designed a series of indices to assess the potential umbrella effectiveness of the reserve network under climate change. Our results indicate that their habitat spatial congruence will remain high in the future. The suitable habitat of giant pandas overlaps substantially with that of golden snub-nosed monkeys in both present and future. Importantly, the umbrella effectiveness of the reserve network for the golden snub-nosed monkey will not decrease. However, there are still some protection gaps shared by them outside the reserve network. Overall, our results demonstrate that the giant panda and its reserve network can serve as an effective umbrella for the golden snub-nosed monkey under climate change, providing theoretical support to the application of umbrella species under climate change.