Abstract:The habitat change of Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) from 1976 to was analyzed by comparing the three data set of wild surveys conducted in time period of 1976, 1987, and 2001 and monitoring data collected from 2006 to 2007 in the Qinling Mountains by using the ArcView GIS System. The results show that the size of habitat was 217 100 hm2 estimated in the first wild survey (1976), then reduce to 167 000 hm2 in the second survey (1986) due to the deforestation in the Qinling Mountains. The trend of habitat loss was improved thereafter. Meanwhile, distribution region of the panda has showed an expanding tendency to the north and the west in the study area after the banning of deforestation which came into effect in 1998. However, the habitat fragmentation of the giant panda in the study was not improved greatly because of the highway construction, and human activity impact.
