Distribution Patterns Of Chiroptera Species Diversity In China

The order Chiroptera,commonly known as bats,is the only mammals that can truly fly.As the second largest mammal order after Rodentia,bats are widely distributed and adapted to a variety of habitats.Bats play an important role in the natural ecosystems,and carry an important part of biodiversity.Researches on the geographic distribution patterns of bats are relatively limited.Domestic researches have carried out a lot of investigations on bat species resources,provided basic data,and carried out analysis and discussion on their conservation.Some overseas studies have further studied the elevational distribution pattern and its potential mechanisms of bats,but there is no relevant research report in China so far.The distribution patterns and its formations of biodiversity have been important research contents in ecology and zoogeography.In this study,bat diversity patterns were analyzed on three scales,namely,China,Guangdong Province and Guangdong Nanling National Nature Reserve.Firstly,the distribution list of bats in China was comprehensively summarized and analyzed.The results showed that there were 141species(7 families,34 genera)in China.Among the four geographical regions,the southern region had the highest species richness.Then the species richness decreased in the northern region,the Qinghai-Tibet region,and the northwest region in turn.The diversity indexes at the genus level(G-index)and the family level(F-index)are highest in the southern region,decreased in the Qinghai-Tibet region,and then the northern region and the northwest region in turn.The species richness of bats in China increased with the increase of annual mean temperature and annual mean precipitation.This study presents a Chiropteran geographic distribution pattern in China.The mechanisms of the distribution pattern are discussed from the aspects of regional energy level differences,geological historical activities and human factors.Secondly,the species diversity investigation for bats in Guangdong Province during the period of 2004-2020 was summarized.The horizontal and vertical distribution patterns of bat diversity in Guangdong Province were analyzed.The results showed that52 species(7 families,21 genera)were recorded in Guangdong Province during the 17 years,and the highest species richness was found in the geographical unit named the southern slope of Nanling mountains.According to the statistical results of bat distribution at different altitudes in Guangdong Province,the bat species richness decreased gradually with the increase of altitudes.Most species tend to be distributed at lower altitudes,while some species belong to Rhinolophidae or Murina tend to be distributed higher.Some species are widely distributed at various altitudes in Guangdong Province and adapted to a variety of habitats,the others are mainly distributed in the narrow altitude area below 500 m or above 1000 m.Based on the phylogenetic relationship of these 52 species of bats,a cluster analysis was conducted.The results show that it can be divided into three categories: Yunkai Mountain,western Guangdong and eastern Guangdong,revealed the role of geographical barriers in shaping bat distribution patterns in Guangdong Province.Third,from June to September 2020,this study investigated the diversity of bats in Guangdong Nanling National Nature Reserve,Guangdong Province,and analyzed its vertical distribution pattern.24 species(3 families,8 genera)of bats were investigated by recording,and 20 species were investigated by capturing.Species diversity indexes showed that the distribution pattern of bat altitudes in Guangdong Nanling National Nature Reserve conform to the mid-elevations model.The activity time of bats was also related to the altitude to some extent.Bats appeared the earliest in the low altitude area,while the activity duration was longer in the middle altitude area,and there was no obvious intensive activity time in the high altitude area.The body type,airfoil type and echolocation sound wave type of bat species also showed that functional diversity had influence on building the altitude distribution pattern of bats.Four functional diversity indexes of bats i.e.the active time,reflected the change of environmental temperature,the food choice reflected the change of productivity,and the body size and airfoil both reflected the change of habitat type.The elevational gradient distribution pattern of bats in this study was driven by environmental temperature,productivity and habitat types.As a group with relatively high diversity in mammals,bats perform important ecological functions in the ecosystem.The study on the distribution pattern of species diversity of bats is helpful to further understand the status of species resources and its regularity of distribution,has implicated specific roles in conservation strategies.Bat distribution patterns are closely linked to environmental factors.The future studies of the relationship between bat diversity and environmental factors will provide theoretical support for the development of biology-environment co-evolution theory and better command the diversity and variation patterns of ecosystem function.In addition,the vertical distribution of bats in China was studied for the first time in this work,which will provide a reference for related research.