Hainan eldi’s deer is a precious species of deer in the tropic zone,it is regardedas the first—class animal under protection in China.Based on all-year-round observation on thedeer’s feeding habit in the reserve fr...Hainan eldi’s deer is a precious species of deer in the tropic zone,it is regardedas the first—class animal under protection in China.Based on all-year-round observation on thedeer’s feeding habit in the reserve from 1985 to 1988,we discovered that Hainan eldi’s deer is aeuryphangous herbivore.They take various herbs as their main food and have fairly strongselectivity for woody plants,especially tending to eat the tender parts of plants and some fruits andflowers.Like other species of deer,they also like to lick the alkaline soil.This paper reports the re-search and evaluation on the feeding and choosing food characteristics of Hainan eldi’s deer,and onthe palatability of the main plants in the reserve.展开更多
Understanding life history patterns,individual fitness and population fitness can assist with conservation of endangered species.Field data on life history traits(i.e.age specific fecundity,age specific mortality,age ...Understanding life history patterns,individual fitness and population fitness can assist with conservation of endangered species.Field data on life history traits(i.e.age specific fecundity,age specific mortality,age at first reproduction,litter size and adult life expectancy)were collected from 121 Hainan Eld’s deer(Cervus eldi hainanus Thomas,1918),an in situ herd of an endemic,rare and endangered cervid inhabiting Bangxi Natural Reserve of Hainan Island,from 1990 to 2002.First,we constructed a dynamic life table to analyze the life history pattern of the population,which showed that the difference between the average lifespan of males and females was not significant(P>0.05),and that the difference between the average lifespan of the whole Hainan Eld’s deer population and that of other Eld’s deer populations living in South Asia(P>0.05),North America(P>0.05)and Europe(P>0.05)was not significant.Second,we used individual reproductive success or number of offspring of a male over its lifetime to estimate male individual fitness.Statistic analysis showed that male individual fitness was not significantly correlated with total antler velvet mass.Third,we used the population intrinsic rate of increase to measure population fitness,and population fitness of Hainan Eld’s deer was compared with similar indexes of 5 other cervid species.Hainan Eld’s deer population fitness index was 0.012,the second lowest value relative to other cervids.Results indicated that this rare species is still endangered and is in need of additional protection.展开更多
文摘Hainan eldi’s deer is a precious species of deer in the tropic zone,it is regardedas the first—class animal under protection in China.Based on all-year-round observation on thedeer’s feeding habit in the reserve from 1985 to 1988,we discovered that Hainan eldi’s deer is aeuryphangous herbivore.They take various herbs as their main food and have fairly strongselectivity for woody plants,especially tending to eat the tender parts of plants and some fruits andflowers.Like other species of deer,they also like to lick the alkaline soil.This paper reports the re-search and evaluation on the feeding and choosing food characteristics of Hainan eldi’s deer,and onthe palatability of the main plants in the reserve.
基金We are grateful to Mr Youfeng Zheng and Mr Daliang Fu of the Bangxi Natural Reserve of Hainan Province for their help in the course of field data collection.We sincerely thank anonymous reviewers for comments and suggestions that helped to improve the manuscript.The research was supported by the Key National Natural Science Foundation(Fund No.30430120)China Postdoctoral Fund No.20070410635 and the Introduction of Higher-Level-Talents Foundation of Central South University of Forestry and Technology(Fund No.101-0630).
文摘Understanding life history patterns,individual fitness and population fitness can assist with conservation of endangered species.Field data on life history traits(i.e.age specific fecundity,age specific mortality,age at first reproduction,litter size and adult life expectancy)were collected from 121 Hainan Eld’s deer(Cervus eldi hainanus Thomas,1918),an in situ herd of an endemic,rare and endangered cervid inhabiting Bangxi Natural Reserve of Hainan Island,from 1990 to 2002.First,we constructed a dynamic life table to analyze the life history pattern of the population,which showed that the difference between the average lifespan of males and females was not significant(P>0.05),and that the difference between the average lifespan of the whole Hainan Eld’s deer population and that of other Eld’s deer populations living in South Asia(P>0.05),North America(P>0.05)and Europe(P>0.05)was not significant.Second,we used individual reproductive success or number of offspring of a male over its lifetime to estimate male individual fitness.Statistic analysis showed that male individual fitness was not significantly correlated with total antler velvet mass.Third,we used the population intrinsic rate of increase to measure population fitness,and population fitness of Hainan Eld’s deer was compared with similar indexes of 5 other cervid species.Hainan Eld’s deer population fitness index was 0.012,the second lowest value relative to other cervids.Results indicated that this rare species is still endangered and is in need of additional protection.
