Karst Habitat Fragmentation and the Conservation of the White-Headed Langur ( Trachypithecus leucocephalus ) in China

Abstract

The white-headed langur survives in just four karst forest fragments in China: one in the Longgang National Nature Reserve on the border of the counties of Longzhou and Ningming (NS habitat); a second in Chongzuo Banli Provincial Nature Reserve, Chongzuo County (CZ habitat); and two in Fusui Papen Provincial Nature Reserve, Fushui County (F1 habitat and F2 habitat), all in the southwest of Guangxi Province. The population is fewer than 700. We used GIS of Mapinfo Professional 7.0 and Arcview 3.2 to study karst landscape features (forest fragmentation and patchiness of natural formations and those resulting from or affected by human activities) in the known range of the white-headed langur. Results indicated that the NS fragment was the best conserved regarding the presence of natural karst hill system forest and the connectivity of forest habitat, and having the least agriculture. F1 and F2 ranked the second and the third in these aspects, while the CZ forest was the most fragmented and degraded by human activities. Most of the plains in F1, F2 and CZ were cultivated, given over to sugarcane plantations-the most widespread cash crop in the southwest of Guangxi province. The four karst habitats and their populations of white-headed langurs are facing similar problems, most marked in F1, F2 and CZ. Foremost are cultivation and human interference, then firewood collection and illegal hunting. Fortunately, the government has initiated some measures to mitigate the affects of human activities, including clamping down on illegal hunting.