A preliminary study of the biodiversity of ground-dwelling small mammals in Badagongshan National Nature Reserve, Hunan Province

Abstract

Little is known about the diversity patterns of mammals in the Badagongshan National Nature Reserve, Hunan Province, although the reserve was established in 1982. During September and October of 2012, the diversity of ground-dwelling small mammals was investigated using live traps, pitfalls and camera traps in a permanent forest dynamics plot and other nearby vegetation types. We captured 12 species of ground-dwelling small mammals, including eight species of Rodentia and four species of Insectivora. Pres- ently, there are 20 species of ground-dwelling small mammals recorded in the Badagongshan National Nature Reserve, including six new species recorded in this study, i.e., Eothenomys melanogaster, Typhlomys ciner- eus, Apodemus draco, Anourosorex squamipes, Blarinella griselda, and Sorex thibetanus. The body mass of the individuals captured by live traps was much larger than that of the individuals captured by pitfall traps. Our study also indicates that the diversity patterns of ground-dwelling small mammals are affected by the habitat types. Therefore, we recommend that a combination of different methods be used to effectively monitor mammal diversity in the Badagongshan National Nature Reserve.