Estimating Carrying Capacity Of Deer At Qinglongtai Forestry In Hunchun Nature Reserve, Jilin

Carrying capacity, widely used in wildlife ecology, is a vital concept in wildlife and habitat management and is meaningful in theory and practice. Nutrition based carrying capacity model reveals the amount of wildlife that can be sustained by a certain habitat, which benefits the conservation and management of habitat and wildlife.Hunchun Nature Reserve is the only national reserve for tigers (Panthera tigris) and leopards (Panthera pardus) in China. To protect their living, it is necessary to estimate the carrying capacity in the reserve. Deer is the main food for tigers and leopards. Its quantity directly affects the quantity and quality of tigers and leopards. This study aims to estimate the food amount for tigers that can be provided in Qinglongtai Forestry, the most representative for Hunchun Nature Reserve, based on the carrying capacity of deer. The usable energy - in the form of dry matter (DM), nitrogen (N) and metabolizable energy (ME) - supplied by the forestry is calculated in terms of the analysis of plant samples from four forest types (coniferous forest, mixed forest, farmland and broadleaved forest) and their areas. Daily energy needed by deer - in the form of Animal Unite (AU) - is estimated from the nutrient analysis of forage sample for three kinds of deer (red deer (Cervus elaphus), sika deer (Cervus nippon) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)) in Yanji Zoo and their relative density in the wild. On the basis of above study in Qinglongtai Forestry during 2004 - 2005, the carrying capacity of deer AU in winter is estimated. Considering the food consumed by tiger in the form of deer, the number of tiger is also calculated. Results are as follows:1) Usable energy for deer in Qinglongtai Forestry.Upon sample nutrient analysis, the amounts of DM per area for the four habitat types, in the order of coniferous forest, mixed forest, farmland and broadleaved forest (same as follows), are (5.09 ± 0.62) × 10-2kg/m2, (1.67 ± 0.10) × 10-2kg/m2, (1.15 ± 0.15) × 10-2 kg/m2, (1.59 ± 0.07) × 10-2 kg/m2, respectively. The amounts of N per area are (5.08 ± 2.14) ×10-4kg/m2, (1.44 ± 0.20) ×10-4kg/m2, (1.02 ± 0.17) × 10-4 kg/m2, (7.30 ± 0.96) × 10-5 kg/m2,respectively. The values of ME per area are(1.18±0.25) ×102kcal/m2, 36.40±0.69 kcal/m2, 21.53 ± 6.54 kcal/m2, 26.92± 3.00 kcal/m2, respectively. The areas of the four habitats are 3.35×107 m2, 1.23 ×108 m2, 1.15×108m2, 1.48×107m2, respectively. Taken together, the DM, N and ME of entire Qinglongtai Forestry are (5.32 ± 0.60) ×106kg, (4.75 ± 1.18) ×104kg,and(1.13 ± 0.17) ×1010 kcal, respectively.