The species richness of nonvolant mammals in Shennongjia Nature Reserve, Hubei Province, China: distribution patterns along elevational gradient

Abstract

The results indicate that there are 59 species of nonvolant mammals in Shennongjia Nature Reserve (not including the introduced species Cervus nippon). At the same elevation, the primary forest usually has higher species richness than selectively logged forest and secondary forest, suggesting that logging has greatly reduced species richness. By comparing species richness at different elevations in the same habitat, it is found that the highest species richness occurs at the middle elevational zones (800-1700m). In primary forest and secondary forest, species richyness is highest at Dongxi at 1700m elevation. In the selectively logged forest, species richness peaks at Jiuchong at 800m elevation. Species composition at the six sites can be classed into two groups by cluster analysis: a higher elevational group (above 2100m) and a middle-low elevational group (below 1700m). The vertical distribution of species composition is matched with that of vegetation. The species richness of the mammals at different sites is correlated with average tree species richness in a unit area (100 m~(2)), number of habitat types and elevation. There is a correlation among average tree species richness, number of habitat types and elevation, suggesting that elevation has a very important effect on average tree species richness and the number of habitat types.