| Asian elephants(Elephas maximus)belongs to the order Proboscidae,family Elephantidae,genus Elephas,is the Asian largest living terrestrial wildlife.That is listed as endangered(EN)species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN),and it is one of the first class state protected species in China.The wild population is about 300,which is mainly distributed in parts of Xishuangbanna Prefecture,Pu 'er City and Lincang City in southern Yunnan.Asian elephant is large herbivore,that needs to spend a lot of time to eat on every day,the main factor that affects the habitat selection of Asian elephants is food resources,that can provide more food will become their favorite score on usually,food resources affect the survival and reproduction of Asian elephants,however,the plant's characteristics vary greatly among different vegetation types and different regions.In this study,on the basis of data inquiry and interview survey,we used field survey methods such as line transect method and sample method to obtain the data of forging plant diversity in the distribution region of Asian elephants from 2019 to 2021.In additoin,the distribution of Asian elephants and the geographical distribution and fauna of the feeding plants were analyzed.Which combined with the animal geographical regionalization to explore the correlation of Asian elephants distribution and fauna,and the adaptation of Asian elephants to food resources.The main research results of this paper are as follows:1.In this study,158 species of Asian elephant forging plants were newly recorded,which belongs to 127 genera,56 families,30 orders.combined with historical data,390 species of 251 genera,81 families,38 orders were recorded in totle now.The G-F index is 0.89,indicating the species diversity is high,which indicates that the Asian elephant has strong adaptability to the environment.Among these feeding plants,Gramineae,Leguminosae and Moraceae were in the majority..2.The results of geographical floristic distribution show that 46 families,80 genera belong to Pantropical flora,which is consistent with the seed plant flora in the distribution region of Asian elephants,indicating the choice of food resources of Asian elephants is adapted to their living environment.3.Through statistical analysis of the distribution of Asian elephant forging plants in different counties and the analysis of zoogeographic regionalization,it was found that the plant distribution and zoogeographic regionalization were consistent.That is,Xishuangbanna had the largest number of forging plants and the largest number of Asian elephants belonging to the East Asian Kingdom.The relationship between the two indicates the adaptability of the population of Asian elephants and the spatial distribution of food resources.4.A total of 81 plant samples,including 12 plant vegetation types were investigated in this study.136 species of Asian elephant foraging plants were found,accounting for35.38% of the total number of Asian elephant foraging plants.These five species of Asian elephants mainly has forged,such as Maesa indic,Ficus hirta,Trevesia palmata,Ficus auriculata,Thysanolaena latifolia,the most abundant species were found in seasonal rain forest,followed by evergreen broad-leaved forest,and few species were found in shrubs and mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest,suggesting that the choice of food resources of Asian elephants was closely related to vegetation types.The results of this study provide important references for habitat protection,restoration and reconstruction of Asian elephants,as well as planning and construction of their food source bases. |
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