Abstract: Bamboo shoot-collecting is a lasting human disturbance activity in giant panda’s habitat. To estimate how the behavior of bamboo shoot-collecting affects the shoot growth of giant panda’s diet bamboo, a field experiment was conducted to study the shoot growth of Chimonobambusa szechuanensis affected by the shoot-collecting at different time from July to November, 2009 at Wawushan Town, Hongya County of Sichuan Province. Five different ways of shoot-collecting were set up during shooting period: A) early period (days 1-15) shoot-collecting, B) mid-period (days 16-30) shoot-collecting, C) late period (days 31-45) shoot-collecting, D) continual (days 1-45) shoot-collecting, and E) no shoot-collecting. The total amount of bamboo shoots in treatments A, B, and D was 1.53, 1.57, and 1.62 times of that in treatment E, respectively, but no significant difference was observed in the bamboo shoot amount between treatments C and E. Treatment A increased the amount of budding shoot in the early and mid-period. Treatment B only increased the amount of budding shoot in the mid-period, while treatment D increased this amount all the periods (P<0.05). There was significant difference in the stem height of young bamboo between treatments A, B, C, and E respectively (P<0.05). The amount and stem height of young bamboo in treatment D were significantly lower than those in other treatments, and the basal diameter of young bamboo in treatment D was only lower than that in treatment E (P<0.05). There were positive correlations between the amounts of shooting, withering, and collecting in all treatments except D (P<0.05). It was suggested that the mid-period of shooting was the optimal time for bamboo shoot-collecting, and the local government should pay more efforts to guide and support the economic development of the surrounding communities of giant panda’s habitats.

Key words: Picea mongolica, Ecotype, Drought stress, Eco-physiological response