Study On Tardigrade Fauna And Species Diversity In Funiu Mountain Area

[Objective]Tardigrade is a kind of microscopic hydrophilous invertebrate commonly known as "water bear",with a body length of 0.05-1.2 mm.In terms of systematic classification,Tardigrada is an independent Phylum,including 4 classes 8 orders 30 families 142 genera,totally 1298 species and 34 subspecies.More than 200 species of tardigrada have been found in China.Funiu Mountains are the remnant of the eastern extension of the Qinling Mountains located in the southwestern part of Henan Province.They are important watershed of the Yellow River,the Huai River and the Yangtze River and range from northwest to southeast with a total length of more than 200 kilometers and a north-south width of about 40-70 kilometers.The mountains are the well-perserved natural ecology range with high forest coverage and rich species.In this paper,conducting a Taxonomic study of fauna of tardigrades in Funiu Mountains area filled in the blank of tardigrades in this region,and analyzed the suitable living environment of tardigrades.[Method]This paper collected the tardigrades in Funiu Mountains area as the research object and adopted the conventional faunal research method.A total of 300 moss samples(from stone,earth and the skin of trees)were collected from the five determinred sampling sites(in consideration of coverage area and environmental representativeness),including Guanyunshan,Laojieling,Laojundong,Jijiaojian and Baotianman.Tardigrades were extracted from moss and identified and the individual number were counted.Furthermore,the species diversity index and community similarity index of each sampling point were calculated.Then,the following results were obtained through statistical analysis:[Results]1.There are many tardigrades in Funiu Mountains area,and 1775 individuals and 162 eggs were obtained,totally 1937 specimens.They belong to three classes(Heterotardigrada,Apotardigradaand and Eutardigrada)six orders(Echiniscoidea,Apochela,Eohypsibioidea,Hypsibioidea,Isohypsibioidea and Macrobiotoidea)8 families(Echiniscidae,Milnesiidae,Eohypsibiidae,Hypsibiidae,Isohypsibiidae,Ramazzottiidae,Macrobiotidae and Richtersiidae)14 genera(Echiniscus,Pseudechiniscus,Milnesium,Bertolanius,Hypsibius,Doryphoribius,Isohypsibius,Ursulinius,RaMazzottius,Macrobiotus,Mesobiotus,Minibiotus,Paramacrobiotus and Richtersius)42 species,of which 17 species are new records to China.2.The number of species and species of tardigrades at different sampling sites in Funiu Mountains area were different to some extent.According to the number of species,the orders are listed from large to small as below:Guanyunshan(22 species)>Laojieling(19 species)>Laojundong(15 species)>Jijiaojian(13 species)>Baotianman(6 species);According to the individual's total line for:Laojieling(728)>Guanyunshan(341)>Laojundong(276)>Jijiaojian(242)>Baotianman(188),Guanyunshan has the most species,up to 22.At the same time,there are more samples in this sampling site.The species and the number of specimens of Baotianman are the least,which only has 6 kinds of species.3.Among all tardigrades collected in Funiu Mountains area,there were 5 dominant groups,which are Pseudechiniscus chengi,Ramazzottius tribulosus,Macrobiotus paulinae,Macrobiotus ramoli and Macrobiotus shonaicus.The proportion of specimens of each species in the total collection was 13.52%,10.42%,14.37%,11.21%and 12.45%,in total 61.97%;There are 15 common groups,which are Echiniscus canadensis,Echiniscus cf.bisculptus,Pseudechiniscus dabieshanensis,Milnesium sandrae,Hypsibius convergens,Hypsibius dujardini,Ramazzottius semisculptus,Mesobiotus harmsworthi,Mesobiotus mauccii,Mesobiotus szeptyckii,Minibiotus maculartus,Paramacrobiotus(Paramacrobiotus)magdalenae,Paramacrobiotus(Amicrobiotus)cf.huziori,Paramacrobiotus(Paramacrobiotus)cf.magdalenae and Richtersius coronifer.The proportion of specimens of each species in the total collection was 1.18%,2.31%,4.11%,3.61%,1.13%,4.34%,1.75%1.63%,3.27%,1.24%,1.63%,1.75%,1.18%,1.18%and 1.13%,in total 31.21%;There are 22 rare groups and the total number of specimens was 117 accounting for 6.59%of all tardigrades collected.4.A total of 162 eggs were collected from all the sampling sites in the Funiu Mountains area,According to the number of eggs in order:Guanyushan(83)>Laojieling(39)>Baotianman(24)>Laojundong(9)>Jijiaojian(7).5.Species diversity analysis among different sampling sites showed that the highest H and dMa indexes were Guanyunshan.The highest D and E indexes were Laojundong and the lowest H,D,E and dMa indexes were Baotianman.Through the analysis of species diversity at each sampling sites,different elevations in Funiu Mountains area,It was found that the species diversity index(H,D,E and dMa index)had a certain relationship with altitude,and the species diversity index of tardigrades first increased with altitude and then decreased to a certain extent.6.Among each sampling site of different regions of Funiu Moutains,the community similarity coefficient are medium-level dissimilar and extreme-level dissimilar.Most of the extreme-level dissimilar are the similarity between Baotianman and other sampling sites,which are the same as the similar degree between Guanyunshan and Laojieling.They are medium-level dissimilar between other sampling sites and the similar degrees are higher.