Comparison Of Tardigrada Communities At Different Altitudes On Mount Taibai

Abstract Tardigrades are bilaterally symmetrical micrometazoans with wide distribution. They occupy a diversity of niches in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments throughout the world. Some have a cosmopolitan distribution, while others are endemic. About 1000 species have been described so far.Recent molecular analyses and additional morphological studies of the nervous system have confirmed the phylogenetic position of tardigrades as a sister group of the arthropods.The ability of tardigrades to undergo cryptobiosis has long intrigued scientists.Although tardigrades are active only when surrounded by a film of water, they can enter latent states in response to desiccation (anhydrobiosis), temperature (cryobiosis), low oxygen (anoxybiosis), and salinity changes (osmobiosis). Cryptobiotic states aid in dispersal.Tardigrade community diversity on Mount Taibai was studied in this dissertation. Species Richness, Shannon-Wiener index, Margalef index, Pielou evenness index, Simpson dominance index, PIE and ANOVA were used to analysis the community structure. The study results could be summarized as follows.1. The tardigrade community on Mt. Taibai possesses rather high species diversity, dominant speices and common species. A total of 10 678 specimens were collected from Mt. Taibai. 6258 specimens are from southern slope, 4420 from northern slope. They belong to 2 classes, 3 orders, 4 families and 13 genera. 10069 are common species, occupying 94.3%.2. Altitude remarkably influences the distribution of tardigrades. The dominant speices are different at different altitude.3. Slope direction doesn't significantly influence the distribution of tardigrades.