Biodiv Sci ›› 2022, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (2): 20395.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2020395

Special Issue: 青藏高原生物多样性与生态安全

• Bioinventories •     Next Articles

Mammal and bird diversity recorded with camera traps in Gongga Mountain National Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China

Jiang Qiao2,3, Guoqing Jia4, Huaming Zhou4, Lin Gong5, Yong Jiang4, Nengwen Xiao6, Xiaoqi Gao6, Anxiang Wen3,*(), Jie Wang1,2,*()   

  1. 1 College of Life Sciences, China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan 637002
    2 Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041
    3 College of Life Sciences, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya’an, Sichuan 625014
    4 Sichuan Gongga Mountain National Nature Reserve Administration, Kangding, Sichuan 626001
    5 Daofu National Forest Management Bureau, Daofu, Sichuan 626499
    6 Key Laboratory of National Environmental Protection for Assessment of Region Ecological Processes and Functions, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012
  • Received:2020-10-11 Accepted:2021-12-30 Online:2022-02-20 Published:2022-02-28
  • Contact: Anxiang Wen,Jie Wang

Abstract:

Aims The Gongga Mountain National Nature Reserve lies in the global biodiversity hotspot—the Hengduan Mountains and is a priority area of biodiversity conservation in China. However, surveys of large to medium-sized mammals are insufficient in the reserve. For this reason, we conducted a camera trap survey during 2011-2018.

Methods Camera traps were placed in 97 grid cells (1 km × 1 km per cell) with a minimum distance of over 500 m and at the altitudes of 2,672-4,764 m. Only one camera was placed in a cell during the same period. Seventy grid cells located continuously along the western slope of Mt. Gongga.

Results A total of 20,932 independent photographs were taken over 39,881 camera-days. Thirty wild mammal species and 78 bird species were captured by camera traps. Seven other mammal species were reported by literature or occasional observation. Among them, 12 species are class I, and 28 are class II national protected animals. 11 and 12 species are listed in the CITES Appendix I and II, respectively. According to the IUCN Red List, 3 and 8 species are listed as endangered (EN) and vulnerable (VU) species, respectively. According to Red List of China’s Vertebrates, 5 species are listed as Critically Endangered (CR), 5 are listed as endangered, and 11 are listed as vulnerable. Using a relative abundance index, the three most detected mammal species were the tufted deer (Elaphodus cephalophus, 147.39), sambar deer (Rusa unicolor, 66.10), and wild boar (Sus scrofa, 36.03); the three most detected avian species were the blood pheasant (Ithaginis cruentus, 14.64), white eared pheasant (Crossoptilon crossoptilon, 10.43), and giant laughingthrush (Garrulax maximus, 8.05).

Conclusion We provided an inventory of large to medium-sized mammals in the reserve. More in-depth investigations should be conducted in broad-leaved forest, coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest, alpine shrub meadow, and alpine scree to survey other undetected mammals.

Key words: Gongga Mountain, camera traps, species inventory, large to medium-sized mammals, species diversity