Abstract:

To investigate the biodiversity of wild mammals and birds in Daiyunshan National Nature Reserve and Shiniushan Forest Park (located in Dehua County, Fujian Province), 60 camera-traps were established and monitored from February 2017 to March 2018. A total of 3,499 independent photographs were collected with a sampling effort of 19,924 camera-days. This effort identified 18 wild mammal species belonging to 4 orders, 10 families, and 17 genera; 24 wild bird species belonging to 5 orders, 11 families and 21 genera; and 3 domestic animal species. Two of the species are listed as Class I Nationally Protected Wildlife, and 5 species are listed as Class II. One new species, Syrmaticus ellioti, was recorded at the Daiyunshan National Nature Reserve. Based on the relative abundance index, the five most abundant wild mammal species are Muntiacus reevesi, Sus scrofa, Muntiacus vaginalis, Callosciurus erythraeus, Arctonyx collaris, and the five most abundant bird species are Lophura nythemera, Myophonus caeruleus, Garrulax pectoralis, Arborophila gingica, Bambusicola thoracica. In addition, the detection rates of poultry, livestock and local villagers were rather high, which indicates high levels of anthropogenic disturbance across the study area. The results of this study provide a comprehensive baseline of the wild mammals and birds in the Daiyunshan and Shiniushan areas, fill the gaps in the observations of large and medium-sized mammals in central Fujian Province, and establish the basis for follow-up protection management and long-term monitoring.

Key words: wildlife monitoring, Shiniushan Forest Park, Daiyunshan National Nature Reserve, relative abundance index