Diversity Of Mammals On The Southern Slope Of The Qinling Mountains

Qinling Mountains is the dividing line between subtropical zone and warm temperate zone in China.As one of the hotspots of global biodiversity and one of the regions with the richest biodiversity in China,it plays a vital role in maintaining China's species diversity.The study area is located on the southern slope of Qinling Mountains,which is a transitional zone for biological evolution and distribution.The climate and geomorphic types are complex and diverse,and the resources are abundance.Previous mammal surveys on the southern slope of Qinling Mountains mainly focused on the areas under the jurisdiction of the nature reserve,while there were few investigations outside the reserve.From October 2016 to November 2017,and from July 2020 to October 2021,the species composition and diversity of large and medium-sized mammals and small mammals on the southern slope of Qinling Mountains were investigated by the methods of camera trapping and live-cage trap and hand nets,respectively,and the altitude spatial distribution pattern,radial spatial distribution pattern,and the differences of mammal diversity inside and outside to the reserve were studied.The main results were as follows:(1)During the monitoring of infrared cameras,a total of 4 622 independent and valid photos of mammals were obtained,belonging to 31 species in 6 orders and 16 families;The small mammal No.1 531 was captured by live-cage trap and hand nets,belonging to 39 species of 4 orders and 11 families.In this research,70 species of mammals were found on the southern slope of the Qinling Mountains,and the species with large number and wide distribution in this area were basically recorded.House shrew(Suncus murinus)was a new distribution record in Shaanxi Province,and the Chinese Jumping Mouse(Eozapus setchuanu)was a new distribution record in Taibai County.Updated the list of large and medium-sized animals and small animals on the southern slope of Qinling Mountains.(2)The species richness of large and medium-sized mammals on the southern slope of Qinling Mountains was the highest in the area with altitude of 2 000-2 500 m,and the spatial distribution pattern of species richness presented a right-biased mid-elevation peak.The species richness of small mammals was the highest in the area with altitude of 1 000-1 500 m,and the spatial distribution pattern of species richness in the sea was in the mid-elevation peak.(3)This study found that the area with high Shannon-Wiener index of large and mediumsized mammals in the southren slope of Qinling Mountains was consistent with complex topography and high vegetation diversity by geological structure,and it was mainly concentrated in the center of the study area,which accorded with the hypothesis of median effect,while the distribution characteristics of small mammals were contrary to this.The abundance of large and medium-sized mammals was the highest on the eastern part in the southern slope of Qinling Mountains,and that of small mammals was the highest on the western part in the southern slope of Qinling Mountains.(4)Through the analysis of the diversity index,the diversity of large and medium-sized animals in the nature reserve was relatively high.The diversity of small mammals outside the protected area was very high.The Sorensen index indicated that large and medium-sized mammals had greater similarities in and around protected areas.Outside the reserve,small mammals were not quite similar.Through this research,we had basically mastered the current situation of species distribution and mammal resource in the southern slope of Qinling Mountains.The research results provided a reliable datebasis for the future protection work and measures and related scientific research in the furure.