The Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus) is a national first grade protected species in China.So far,current knowledge of the Himalayan Monal in China is still poor.An estimate of its distribution,numbers and habit...The Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus) is a national first grade protected species in China.So far,current knowledge of the Himalayan Monal in China is still poor.An estimate of its distribution,numbers and habitat was conducted during a two-year investigation from 2008 to 2009 in southern Tibet,especially in Lhozhag,Cona and Yadong counties.In total,12 sightings of the Himalayan Monal were recorded during the study period.Our data suggest that this bird is mainly found in Medog,Zayu,Cona,Lhunze,Lhozhag,Nyalam,Dingjie,Gamba and Yadong counties on the southern slopes of the Himalayas.Its western-most location was confirmed to be Nyalam County.The bird ranges in elevation from 3800 to 4300 m in the summer and from 3200 to 3500 m in the winter.We sighted 36-37 individual birds,consisting of 8-10 males,16-20 females and 7-8 sub-adults inhabiting the area around the Kajiu Monastery in Lhozhag County.The birds are mainly found in rocky forests,interspersed with steep slopes,cliffs and alpine meadows at elevations between 3800 and 4000 m.The population density of the Himalayan Monal near the Kajiu Monastery is 2.03 individual birds per km2,much larger than that of Yadong and Cona counties (0.052 individuals per krn2).展开更多
The Chinese Monal(Lophophorus thuysii)is an alpine-obligate galliform species of global conservation priority.It has been listed as a first class protected wildlife species in China,requiring conservation actions duri...The Chinese Monal(Lophophorus thuysii)is an alpine-obligate galliform species of global conservation priority.It has been listed as a first class protected wildlife species in China,requiring conservation actions during the 14 th Five-Year Plan period.However,the diet composition of Chinese Monal and its seasonal variations have rarely been studied,constraining the effective conservation of the species.Here,we investigated the plant diet composition of the Chinese Monal and its seasonal variations using a DNA metabarcoding approach on fecal samples.We collected 190 fecal samples of the Chinese Monals from the central Qionglai Mountains located in China,and analyzed the plant diet of this species using a DNA metabarcoding approach.Taxonomic profiling of higher plants in the fecal samples was performed using the second internal transcribed spacer(ITS2)amplicon.Downstream analyses,including rarefaction curves,nonmetric multidimensional scaling(NMDS)and permutational multivariate analysis of variance(PERMANOVA),were used to explore the seasonal variations in diet composition.The Chinese Monal foraged a wide range of plant recipes composed of 35 families and 83 genera throughout the year,with Brassicaceae,Apiaceae,and Poaceae as the dominant families,and Cardamine as the dominant genus.The species consumed plants from 62 genera from 28 families during the breeding season(n=81)and 66 genera from 31 families during the non-breeding season(n=109).Further,the plant diet composition significantly varied between the breeding and non-breeding seasons,especially for the frequency of occurrence and relative read abundances at genus level.Our study analyzed the plant diet of the Chinese Monal at a high resolution for the first time,and the results revealed that the seasonal variations in its plant diet composition was adapted to plant phenology and foraging strategy.Fritillaria species,a previously confirmed important food resource for the Chinese Monal,were not detected in any fecal samples,potentially due to overharvesting of Fritillaria bulbs for Traditional Chinese Medicine.Therefore,we highly recommend further restriction of herb gathering in Chinese Monal habitats to facilitate the conservation of this endangered species.Altogether,our study enriches essential ecological information for the Chinese Monal and also provides insights into conservation management for this endangered species.展开更多
基金the State Forestry Administration to provide financial support to this study
文摘The Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus) is a national first grade protected species in China.So far,current knowledge of the Himalayan Monal in China is still poor.An estimate of its distribution,numbers and habitat was conducted during a two-year investigation from 2008 to 2009 in southern Tibet,especially in Lhozhag,Cona and Yadong counties.In total,12 sightings of the Himalayan Monal were recorded during the study period.Our data suggest that this bird is mainly found in Medog,Zayu,Cona,Lhunze,Lhozhag,Nyalam,Dingjie,Gamba and Yadong counties on the southern slopes of the Himalayas.Its western-most location was confirmed to be Nyalam County.The bird ranges in elevation from 3800 to 4300 m in the summer and from 3200 to 3500 m in the winter.We sighted 36-37 individual birds,consisting of 8-10 males,16-20 females and 7-8 sub-adults inhabiting the area around the Kajiu Monastery in Lhozhag County.The birds are mainly found in rocky forests,interspersed with steep slopes,cliffs and alpine meadows at elevations between 3800 and 4000 m.The population density of the Himalayan Monal near the Kajiu Monastery is 2.03 individual birds per km2,much larger than that of Yadong and Cona counties (0.052 individuals per krn2).
基金supported by Department of Wildlife Conservation,National Forestry and Grassland Administration of Chinathe National Natural Science Foundation of China(32000354)+1 种基金the Special Foundation for National Science and Technology Basic Research Program of China(2018FY100701)the Sichuan Science and Technology Program。
文摘The Chinese Monal(Lophophorus thuysii)is an alpine-obligate galliform species of global conservation priority.It has been listed as a first class protected wildlife species in China,requiring conservation actions during the 14 th Five-Year Plan period.However,the diet composition of Chinese Monal and its seasonal variations have rarely been studied,constraining the effective conservation of the species.Here,we investigated the plant diet composition of the Chinese Monal and its seasonal variations using a DNA metabarcoding approach on fecal samples.We collected 190 fecal samples of the Chinese Monals from the central Qionglai Mountains located in China,and analyzed the plant diet of this species using a DNA metabarcoding approach.Taxonomic profiling of higher plants in the fecal samples was performed using the second internal transcribed spacer(ITS2)amplicon.Downstream analyses,including rarefaction curves,nonmetric multidimensional scaling(NMDS)and permutational multivariate analysis of variance(PERMANOVA),were used to explore the seasonal variations in diet composition.The Chinese Monal foraged a wide range of plant recipes composed of 35 families and 83 genera throughout the year,with Brassicaceae,Apiaceae,and Poaceae as the dominant families,and Cardamine as the dominant genus.The species consumed plants from 62 genera from 28 families during the breeding season(n=81)and 66 genera from 31 families during the non-breeding season(n=109).Further,the plant diet composition significantly varied between the breeding and non-breeding seasons,especially for the frequency of occurrence and relative read abundances at genus level.Our study analyzed the plant diet of the Chinese Monal at a high resolution for the first time,and the results revealed that the seasonal variations in its plant diet composition was adapted to plant phenology and foraging strategy.Fritillaria species,a previously confirmed important food resource for the Chinese Monal,were not detected in any fecal samples,potentially due to overharvesting of Fritillaria bulbs for Traditional Chinese Medicine.Therefore,we highly recommend further restriction of herb gathering in Chinese Monal habitats to facilitate the conservation of this endangered species.Altogether,our study enriches essential ecological information for the Chinese Monal and also provides insights into conservation management for this endangered species.
