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Abstract
We describe large-scale patterns of terrestrial mammal distribution in China by using geographical information system (GIS) spatial analysis. Mammal taxa, examined by species, family, and order, were binned into 10 km × 10 km grids to explore the relationship between their spatial distribution and geographical factors potentially affecting the same. The spatial pattern of species richness revealed four agglomerations: high richness in the south, low in north, and two low richness areas in eastern and western China. Species richness patterns in Carnivora was the most similar to overall terrestrial mammals’ richness; however, species richness in different orders exhibited distributions distinct from the overall pattern. We found a negative relationship between richness and latitude gradient. Species richness was most strongly correlated with forested ecosystems, and was found to be higher at an elevation of 2000~2200 m, with greater altitudinal variation indicative of higher species richness.
Highlights
China is a major biodiversity hotspot, with over 7300 vertebrate taxa (11% of the world’s extant species)
To analyze the spatial distribution of mammals, 10 by 10 km blocks occupied by terrestrial mammalian richness were tallied to detect the distributional characteristics
Compared with previous regional studies that had been limited to administrative districts, the analysis explored the spatial distribution of terrestrial mammals on the mesh scale to eliminate the influence of area on species richness
Summary
China is a major biodiversity hotspot, with over 7300 vertebrate taxa (11% of the world’s extant species). The rapid acceleration of anthropogenic activity poses a severe threat to biodiversity [1], with the number of endangered species far outstripping available conservation resources. Of 673 mammal species of China were classified as regionally threatened during the 2015 Redlist assessment [5]. Numerous studies have investigated the diversity of groups across the animal kingdom [7,8,9,10,11]. Some of these studies emphasized species richness and evenness [12,13], while others included data on evolutionary history and species function within ecosystems [14,15,16]
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