Conservation Effectiveness Of Indigenous Communities On Biodiversity In Leigongshan National Nature Reserve ——Case Of Wildlife Conservation Awareness And Bird Diversity

The establishment of nature reserves has achieved remarkable success in conserving biodiversity in China.However,due to historical reasons,there are still many indigenous people living in some nature reserves.There is much debate about the effect of their presence on biodiversity conservation.This study examined the conservation effectiveness of indigenous communities in Leigongshan National Nature Reserve,Guizhou.We selected seven indigenous communities living in the nature reserve to evaluate their effectiveness in biodiversity conservation.We used a semi-structured interview method to investigate age,education level,income level,traditional cultural belief,and conservation awareness(including conservation knowledge,and conservation attitude and behavior)of the indigenous people between 2018 and 2019,to explore the awareness and influencing factors of indigenous wildlife conservation.We used the point-count method to survey birds in the seven indigenous communities and their surrounding protected areas,to examine the differences of bird diversity(taxonomic diversity,functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity)between the two sites.The main data and results are as follows:1.Factors influencing wildlife conservation awareness of indigenous people: We collected a total of 72 valid questionnaires.The results of linear regression models showed that the conservation knowledge of the indigenous people mainly depended on their education level,whereas there were no significant relationships of conservation knowledge with age,income level and traditional cultural belief.Conservation attitude and behavior of the indigenous people was not significantly affected by their ages,traditional cultural belief or conservation knowledge,but income level could partly predict the variation in conservation attitude and behavior.2.Differences in bird taxonomic diversity between indigenous communities and surrounding protected areas: We establsihed a total of 208 sample points,including 44 in the indigenous communities and 164 in the surrounding protected areas.We recorded 64 bird species belonging to 7 orders and 30 families.The Oriental,Palaearctic and widespread species accounted for 67.2%,21.9% and 10.9% of the total,respectively.Among the detected species,Chinese bamboo-partridge(Bambusicola thoracicus)and yellow-bellied tit(Pardaliparus venustulus)were endemic in China.The analysis showed that on the point scale,the bird taxonomic diversity in the indigenous communities was significantly higher than those in the surrounding protected areas.However,there was no significant difference in the bird species accumulation curve between the indigenous communities and the surrounding protected areas on the landscape scale.3.Differences in bird phylogenetic and functional diversity between indigenous communities and surrounding protected areas: We constructed the bird phylogeny to calculate the Faith's phylogenetic diversity.The analysis showed that the bird phylogenetic diversity in the indigenous communities is significantly higher than that in the surrounding protected areas.We obtained the surveyed birds' functional traits(such as weight,feeding guild,foraging behavior and foraging location).Three functional diversity indicators were calculated,including functional richness,functional evenness,and functional divergence.The analysis showed that the bird functional richness in the indigenous communities is significantly higher than that in the surrounding protected areas.However,there was no significant difference in bird functional evenness and functional divergence between the indigenous communities and the surrounding protected areas.The results suggested that education level and income level were the most important factors that affected the conservation awareness of the indigenous people.However,the conservation knowledge of indigenous people was not well transformed into conservation behavior.Crops grown in indigenous communities and specific habitats conserved under the traditional culture may help the survival and breeding of some specific bird species.By contrast,single habitat type or landscape homogeneity in indigenous communities may limit the effectiveness of indigenous communities on promoting bird diversity.Therefore,we recommend: 1.the managers should improve the educational level of indigenous people,carry out various environment education,encourage the inheritance and innovation of excellent traditional culture,and support sustainable economic development,to mobilize indigenous people to engage in conservation;2.The managers should understand the role of indigenous communities in protecting biodiversity.Vegetation configuration in the agricultural landscape should be adjusted to increase the landscape heterogeneity and promote more effective management and biodiversity conservation.