Impacts of land-use change on mammal diversity in the upper reaches of Minjiang River, China: Implications for biodiversity conservation planning

The objective of this study was to assess land use change and the related biodiversity variations in the forest landscape of the upper reaches of Minjiang River, China. We examined temporal changes of land use at different periods. Remotely sensed images taken in 1974, 1986 and 2000 were rectified and classified based on the physiognomic characteristics of the vegetation. We applied landscape pattern metrics based on landscape composition, the shape and size of patches and patch isolation. We also calculated the suitable area for mammals in the upper reaches of Minjiang River and biodiversity of medium and large-sized mammals with Genera-Family index (G-F index). As a result of timber harvesting and increase of population, the forest area decreased and other land-use types increased. The suitable area for mammals decreased by 81,339 ha from 1974 to 2000, about 21.55% of the habitat in 1974. The number of medium and large-sized mammal species had decreased from 31 to 26, with G-F index decreased by 0.11, about 20% that of 1974. It can be concluded that landscape change and suitable habitat play an important role in protecting mammal diversity.