2.2 | Distribution maps and analyses
In this study, we produced up-to-date distribution maps of the eight
species of the large-seeded pine. This included the following species:
the Chinese white pine (P. armandii ), the Korean pine (P.
koraiensis ), the Siberian dwarf pine (P. pumila ), the Dabieshan
white pine (P. dabieshanensis ), the Hunan white pine (P.
fenzeliana ), the Chilgoza pine (P. gerardiana ), the Lacebark
pine (P. bungeana ), and the Siberian stone pine (P.
sibirica ) (Fig. 1). We also included the recorded seed dispersers, i.e.
the chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus ), the Eurasian red squirrel
(Sciurus vulgaris ), the Eurasian nutcrackers (Nucifraga
caryocatactes ), and David’s rock squirrels (Sciurotamias
davidianus ). We also excluded the habitats of cities, lakes, rivers,
and deserts, which are not suitable for these plants to live based on
the known distribution areas. It was assumed that these plants could be
distributed in other areas of the region. In addition, apart from the
animals specially designated as having a discrete distribution in the
literature, it was assumed that animals were present in a certain area.
Compared to the habitats of animals, if there was no significant
difference in the geographical environment of adjacent areas, we assumed
the animal’s distribution in those areas. ArcGIS 10.2 (Esri, USA) was
used to analyze and visualize the results based on the 1:3,000,000 scale
of the Chinese administrative geography vector map. Adobe Photoshop Pro
CC 2018 (Adobe Inc., USA) was used to calculate the proportion of
overlapping areas of both pines and animals (Zhong et al., 2015).