Plants Food And Seasonal Variation Of The Chinese Monal In Jiajin Mountain,Sichuan Province

Food is an essential resource for the survival of birds.Dietary study is the basis for understanding the relationship between species and the environment,and also an important facet of conservation of rare and endangered species.Pheasants' feeding habits are closely related to the diversity and richness of plants in the environment,and generally vary along with seasons.The Chinese monal(Lophophorus lhuysii)belongs to family Phasianidae,order Galliformes.The species is of conservation concern globally,which is a first class protected wildlife species in China and a vulnerable species of IUCN red list of threatened species.At present,the research on the dietary of the Chinese monal is still insufficient for revealing its resource requirements and potential mechanism of endangerment.This study used fecal DNA macrobarcoding technique to analyze the plant foods composition and seasonal variation of the Chinese monal,and discussed the relationship between the food source plants of the Chinese monal and the plant resources in the environment in spring and summer combined with field investigation.The main results were as follows:(1)A total of 190 feces samples were collected,of which 58 were collected in spring,23 in summer,89 in autumn and 20 in winter.The annual food composition of the Chinese monal includes 110 genera,belongs to 23 orders,38 families.Non-gramineous herbs were the dominant food resources for the Chinese monal.The relative abundance of Cardamine and Poa in each season were high,which were the important food sources for the survival of the Chinese monal.There were obvious seasonal differences in the food composition of the Chinese monal,and the composition of plants food was the most diverse in autumn.The food niche width of the Chinese monal was wider in autumn and spring,and the overlap index of food niche between spring and summer was the highest.(2)A total of 195 species of plants were recorded in Jiajin Mountain,and the 183 species of plants which identified to genera belongs to 82 genera,37 families.The dominant families were Asteraceae,Rosaceae,Ranunculaceae and etc.,and the dominant genera were Pedicularis,Lonicera,Cardamine and Carex etc.In shrub layer,Rosaceae contained the largest number of genera and species.The differences among Potentilla,Lonicera and Juniperus were evident between spring and summer,and species diversity was higher in summer.In the herb layer,the important value of Ligularia was highest,followed by Heracleum,Cardamine and Pedicularis.(3)By comparing the plant genera contained in the feces samples with the plant resources in the environment in spring and summer,it was found that fewer plant genera were investigated in the environment compared to those contained in the fecal samples,this was largely due to the fact that the Chinese monal fed mainly on the underground rhizomes of plants,while the aboveground parts had not come out or been identified.The relative dominance of the genus Angelica which the preferred foods in spring and genus Acanthocalyx which in summer by the Chinese monal were low in the environment,this may be the key limiting factor for the maintenance and growth of the Chinese monal population.Compared with previous studies,this research identified more plant genera in the food composition of the Chinese monal using the fecal DNA macrobarcoding technique,and explored the seasonal variation of the food composition of the Chinese monal,thus broaden our understanding of the feeding habits of the Chinese monal.Giving that human activities such as herb gathering may affect the food diversity and abundance of the Chinese monal,we suggest that these human activities should be regulated to protect the habitat and food resources of the Chinese monal.