Monitoring On Wildlife Biodiversity At Saihanwula National Nature Reserve

Monitoring research on terrestrial wildlife biodiversity was carried out at Saihanwula nature reserve in Inner Mongolia from Mar.2008 to Mar.2011. The methods such as line transects, point sampling, faceal analysis, radio telemetry and infrared camera techniques were used. Predator tracks and feces types were analyzed based on acquired data. The breeding habit of Red-horned owl (O. scops) Linnaeus was studied. Main conclusions came as follows.1) Fourty two species of mammals were found in the nature reserve, belonging to 6 orders,15 families, and 31 genera, among them Rodentia possessed the biggest part with 19 species (4 families), which takes 45.2% of total species and 26.7% of entire families. New distribution of 6 mammal species was confirmed in this area, i.e. Pallas cat (Otocolobus manul), Myotis chinensis(Myotis chinensis), Eared bat (Plecotus auritus), Oriental bat (Vespertilio superans), Long-tailed hamster (Cricetulus longicaudatus) and Confucianus (Nivinerter confucianus). Among them, Pallas cat(Otocolobus manul) the manual is listed in Class II national protected species.2) The characters of tracks and feces of 9 species of carnivores were studied and an identification criterion was fromed.3) Both radio telemetry and infrared camera monitoring showed red deer Cervus elaphus was less active during 10:00-15:00 and more active in night.4) 235 species of birds existed in the nature preserve, belonging to 19 orders,50 families,121 genera, covering 17.7% of total bird species of China, among which 3 of Class I national protected species and 35 of Classâ…¡national protected species. Four birds are endemic species of China, they are Chinese Thrush (Turdus mupinensis), Plain Laughingthrush (Garrulax davidi), white-browed Chinese warb (Rhopophilus pekinensis), and Yellow-bellied Tit (Parus venustulus). New distribution of 2 bird species were found in this study, which are Northern House-Martin (Delichon urbica) and Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus)5) Eggs in each Red-homed owl (O. scops) net tends to be 4 and owllets feeding period is at least 20 days. No obvious territory behaviors were observed in nest choosing. According to data from No.l nest, the first hatched nestling grows faster than the rest which would hatch several days later, resulting in bigger size and faster growth rate because of less completion from its siblings.6) Eleven species of amphibians and reptiles were found in the nature preserve, there are 3 species of amphibians (1 orders,2 families,2 genera) and 8 species of reptiles (1 orders,2 sub orders,3 families, 6 genera), covering respectively 37.5% and 27.6% of total species of amphibians and reptiles in Inner Mongolia. Presence of Twin-spotted Rat-snake (Elaphe bimaculata) was recorded for the first time in Inner Mongolia.