Verification of the vertical distribution pattern of species diversity of non-flying small mammal in the Lebu Valley of Eastern Himalayas, China#br#
WANG Zuobo 1,2, HU Yiming 3, ZHOU Zhixin 2, LIANG Jianchao 2, HUANG Zhiwen 2, ZHENG Shuyang 3, ZHOU Jiang 1, HU Huijian 2#br#
(1 School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China)
(2 Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Guangdong Institute of Applied Biological Resources, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510260, China)
(3 School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518000, China)
Abstract: Determining the vertical distribution of species diversity along altitudinal gradients is of critical importance in biodiversity and conservation research. Across a broad set of taxa, the hump-shaped pattern of species diversity is the most common one, and the vertical distribution of the small mammal community in the Middle Himalayas best fits a hump-shaped pattern. Since the Eastern Himalayas and Middle Himalays share many geographical and climatological conditions, we hypothesize that the vertical pattern of small mammal diversity in the East Himalayas also fit a mid-peak or humped pattern. Therefore, we conducted field surveys of two mammalian orders, Non-flying Small Mammal at an elevation of 2 300 – 5 000m, in the Lebu Valley of the East Himalayas. 45 sampling sites were set up, with each contained 9 segments distributing along an elevational gradient every 300 m. In total, our 16 200 traps captured 372 specimens, which belonged to 10 species, 5 families and 3 mammalian orders. Our results indicated that the species richness of Non-flying Small Mammal in the Lebu valley reached a peak at an elevation of 2 600 – 2 900 m, and then decreased at higher elevations, displaying a mid-peak pattern. Based on this study, we hypothesize that the vertical distribution and species diversity of small mammals inhabiting valleys in the southern part of the Himalayas will exhibit a similar pattern in response to similar geographical and climatological conditions. Results suggest that geography and climate are key factors in understanding the vertical distribution of species diversity.
王作波 胡一鸣 周智鑫 梁健超 黄志文 郑舒旸 周江 胡慧建. 东喜马拉雅勒布沟非飞行小型兽类物种多样性垂直分布格局[J]. 兽类学报, 2020, 40(5): 493-502.
WANG Zuobo, HU Yiming, ZHOU Zhixin,LIANG Jianchao, HUANG Zhiwen,ZHENG Shuyang,ZHOU Jiang, HU Huijian. Verification of the vertical distribution pattern of species diversity of non-flying small mammal in the Lebu Valley of Eastern Himalayas, China#br#. ACTA Theriologica Sinica, 2020, 40(5): 493-502.