Abstract:

To examine the diversity and abundance of mammals in the mountain forest ecosystems of southern mountainous areas in Anhui Province, a total of 121 cameras were installed at eight sample plots including two national and five provincial nature reserves and the Huangshan Mountain Scenic Area between July 2013 and October 2015. In total, 6,375 trap days and 1,361 effective independent photographs were collected. 19 species belonging to 5 orders and 12 families were recorded. The first five species of photographic rate and relative abundance index were Muntiacus reevesi, Sus scrofa, Macaca thibetana, Callosciurus erythraeus, and Arctonyx collaris. Except Macaca thibetana, the other four species among the five and Paguma larvata were widely distributed in mountainous areas of south Anhui Province. For those species under special state protection, the relative abundance index of Macaca mulatta was nearly two fifths of Macaca thibetana; the relative abundance index of Muntiacus crinifrons was nearly one fifth of Muntiacus reevesi; Martes flavigula and Capricornis sumatraensis was about one fourth of Muntiacus crinifrons. The relative abundance index of Ursus thibetanus was minimal among these recorded species. Compared to historical records collected thirty years ago, Ursus thibetanus was the sole large species in Carnivora captured by camera traps in this study, which indicates that the top predators, including Panthera pardus, Neofelis nebulosa, Canis lupus and Cuon alpines, were extremely sparse or had vanished from this area. As a result, the vegetarian Muntiacus reevesi and omnivorous Sus scrofa had the highest abundance amongst those mammals in this area. Correlation analysis with generalized linear models indicated that the number of species captured by infrared cameras positively correlated with the surveyed area (z = 2.04, P = 0.04) and effective independent photographs (z = 2.10, P = 0.04), while it did not associate with effective camera sites (z = 1.63, P = 0.10) and total trap days (z = 1.85, P = 0.06). Results of this study provide baseline data for a follow-up to the dynamic monitoring, protection and management of key national protected mammals.

Key words: camera traps, nature reserve, photographic rate, relative abundance, large and medium-size mammal