Background:Global climate change has had significant effects on animal distribution and population dynamics in mid-latitude alpine areas,but we know little about the basic ecology of high-altitude species due to the d...Background:Global climate change has had significant effects on animal distribution and population dynamics in mid-latitude alpine areas,but we know little about the basic ecology of high-altitude species due to the difficulties of conducting field research in the harsh climate and habitat present at high elevations.The Tibetan Snowcock(Tetraogallus tibetanus) is a little-known phasianid distributing in alpine areas at extremely high elevations in the mountains surrounding the Tibetan Plateau.Estimating the species occupancy rate and discussing the factors affecting its distribution based on infrared-triggered camera techniques would provide both a baseline to measure the influence of global warming and valuable information on its conservation and ecology.Methods:We used infrared-triggered cameras to investigate the Tibetan Snowcock on the western slope of Mt.Gongga from June to November 2016.We used the R package "overlap" to visualize its activity pattern,and used an occupancy model to both examine its habitat use as well as to determine the most influential variables affecting its habitat use.Results:Using 103 camera traps over 9213 camera-days,we recorded 428 instances of Tibetan Snowcock.The diel activity peaks of Tibetan Snowcock occurred during the periods of 8:00-10:00 am and 18:00-20:00 pm.The model estimate of occupancy for Tibetan Snowcock(0.830) was slightly higher than the na?ve site occupancy based on camera detections(0.663),indicating a wider use of habitat than the camera traps recorded.Elevation,slope,settlement density,road density,and EVI(enhanced vegetation index) were the most influential variables for its habitat use.Conclusions:The Tibetan Snowcock is confirmed to be diurnal.This species prefers an environment with a high elevation,gentle slope,and low EVI,apparently facing a trade-off between predator risk,foraging efficiency,and food availability.When human impact was low,there was a positive correlation between the habitat use of the Tibetan Snowcock and both its road and settlement densities.Infrared cameras and proper survey design are valuable for investigating extreme alpine phasianids.展开更多
Background: Phylogeographical patterns and population dynamics are usually interpreted by environmental disturbances and geographic barriers of the past. However, sister species may exhibit disparate patterns of genet...Background: Phylogeographical patterns and population dynamics are usually interpreted by environmental disturbances and geographic barriers of the past. However, sister species may exhibit disparate patterns of genetic structures and population dynamics due to their habitat preference and altitude segregation. In this study, we tested how species-specific altitude habitat affected phylogeographical patterns in two sister snowcock species, Tibetan(Tetraogallus tibetanus) and Himalayan Snowcocks(T. himalayensis).Methods: A panel of seven microsatellite loci and a fragment of Mitochondrial DNA Control Region were used to investigate genetic structures and population dynamics in hope of revealing the underlying evolutionary processes through the identification of possible past demographic events.Results: Our results suggest that T. himalayensis showed a significant phylogeographical signal in mtDNA(FST microsatellite(F the glacial-interglacial cycles in the = 0.66, p < 0.001) and ST Pleistocene and followed demog= 0.11, p < 0.001) data and is stable duringraphic contraction until 0.003 million years(Mys) ago. The phylogeographical signal of T. tibetanus is lower than the level of genetic difference among populations in mtDNA(FST icrosatellite(F= 0.41, p < 0.001) and mST s been experien= 0.09, p < 0.001) data, likely benefiting from stable habitats over a long period of time. T. tibetanus hacing expansion since 0.09 Mys ago. However, an abnormally haplotype H9 from T. himalayensis clustering with T. tibetanus was spotted.Conclusion: Our results indicate that differences in habitat preference and altitude specialities were reflected in the genetic structure patterns and population dynamics of these two species. These dissimilarities in life history traits might have affected the dispersal and survival abilities of these two species differently during environmental fluctuations. The results of this study also enriched our knowledge on population differentiation and connectivity in high altitude mountain ecosystems.展开更多
The population situation of Tibetan Snowcock (Tetragallus tibetanus) has been surveyed by line transect sampling in Tibet from 1987 to 1989. The total length of samplings is 4444km, which were arranged in an area of 1...The population situation of Tibetan Snowcock (Tetragallus tibetanus) has been surveyed by line transect sampling in Tibet from 1987 to 1989. The total length of samplings is 4444km, which were arranged in an area of 1 million.km2. 783 snowcocks were recorded in 35 line transects of 408km in the effective length. From these data, the densities of the snowcocks were estimated from negative exponential density distribution and jackknife method. The average density is 1.4523 cocks/ km2 and varies from 5.6580 to 0.0697 indiv. -km2. The population size of the snowcocks is 187.303±24.781 cocks in Tibet. In this paper, the author also discussed how to locate the line transect samplings, determine the observation width, choose possible shapes of the detection function and calculate the habitat size.展开更多
高山雪鸡是生活在寒旱区的高山鸟类之一,全球80%以上的种群分布于中国.1989年被列为国家二级重点保护动物.近几十年来,因为"实际和潜在的过度利用、乱捕滥猎、天敌捕食、过度放牧造成生境质量下降",在2004年被列入中国物种红...高山雪鸡是生活在寒旱区的高山鸟类之一,全球80%以上的种群分布于中国.1989年被列为国家二级重点保护动物.近几十年来,因为"实际和潜在的过度利用、乱捕滥猎、天敌捕食、过度放牧造成生境质量下降",在2004年被列入中国物种红色名录,为:"近危NT,几近符合易危VUAlcd(Near Threatened NT,nearlymet VU Al-cd)"物种.为有效保护这一物种,有关学者对高山雪鸡进行了长期的观察与研究.本文从分类与分布、起源与演化、食性、生活习性、栖息地选择、繁殖、人工驯养和养殖、以及换羽、系统发生及生理生化指标测定等方面对高山雪鸡的研究现状进行了综述,并探讨了高山雪鸡的研究意义与未来的研究方向.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.31772478,31501851)the Administration of the Gongga Mountain National Nature Reserve
文摘Background:Global climate change has had significant effects on animal distribution and population dynamics in mid-latitude alpine areas,but we know little about the basic ecology of high-altitude species due to the difficulties of conducting field research in the harsh climate and habitat present at high elevations.The Tibetan Snowcock(Tetraogallus tibetanus) is a little-known phasianid distributing in alpine areas at extremely high elevations in the mountains surrounding the Tibetan Plateau.Estimating the species occupancy rate and discussing the factors affecting its distribution based on infrared-triggered camera techniques would provide both a baseline to measure the influence of global warming and valuable information on its conservation and ecology.Methods:We used infrared-triggered cameras to investigate the Tibetan Snowcock on the western slope of Mt.Gongga from June to November 2016.We used the R package "overlap" to visualize its activity pattern,and used an occupancy model to both examine its habitat use as well as to determine the most influential variables affecting its habitat use.Results:Using 103 camera traps over 9213 camera-days,we recorded 428 instances of Tibetan Snowcock.The diel activity peaks of Tibetan Snowcock occurred during the periods of 8:00-10:00 am and 18:00-20:00 pm.The model estimate of occupancy for Tibetan Snowcock(0.830) was slightly higher than the na?ve site occupancy based on camera detections(0.663),indicating a wider use of habitat than the camera traps recorded.Elevation,slope,settlement density,road density,and EVI(enhanced vegetation index) were the most influential variables for its habitat use.Conclusions:The Tibetan Snowcock is confirmed to be diurnal.This species prefers an environment with a high elevation,gentle slope,and low EVI,apparently facing a trade-off between predator risk,foraging efficiency,and food availability.When human impact was low,there was a positive correlation between the habitat use of the Tibetan Snowcock and both its road and settlement densities.Infrared cameras and proper survey design are valuable for investigating extreme alpine phasianids.
基金the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDA2010010103)National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC,Grant No.31372195 and 31772436)the Open Foundation of Research Institute of Qilian Mountains,Lanzhou University.
文摘Background: Phylogeographical patterns and population dynamics are usually interpreted by environmental disturbances and geographic barriers of the past. However, sister species may exhibit disparate patterns of genetic structures and population dynamics due to their habitat preference and altitude segregation. In this study, we tested how species-specific altitude habitat affected phylogeographical patterns in two sister snowcock species, Tibetan(Tetraogallus tibetanus) and Himalayan Snowcocks(T. himalayensis).Methods: A panel of seven microsatellite loci and a fragment of Mitochondrial DNA Control Region were used to investigate genetic structures and population dynamics in hope of revealing the underlying evolutionary processes through the identification of possible past demographic events.Results: Our results suggest that T. himalayensis showed a significant phylogeographical signal in mtDNA(FST microsatellite(F the glacial-interglacial cycles in the = 0.66, p < 0.001) and ST Pleistocene and followed demog= 0.11, p < 0.001) data and is stable duringraphic contraction until 0.003 million years(Mys) ago. The phylogeographical signal of T. tibetanus is lower than the level of genetic difference among populations in mtDNA(FST icrosatellite(F= 0.41, p < 0.001) and mST s been experien= 0.09, p < 0.001) data, likely benefiting from stable habitats over a long period of time. T. tibetanus hacing expansion since 0.09 Mys ago. However, an abnormally haplotype H9 from T. himalayensis clustering with T. tibetanus was spotted.Conclusion: Our results indicate that differences in habitat preference and altitude specialities were reflected in the genetic structure patterns and population dynamics of these two species. These dissimilarities in life history traits might have affected the dispersal and survival abilities of these two species differently during environmental fluctuations. The results of this study also enriched our knowledge on population differentiation and connectivity in high altitude mountain ecosystems.
文摘The population situation of Tibetan Snowcock (Tetragallus tibetanus) has been surveyed by line transect sampling in Tibet from 1987 to 1989. The total length of samplings is 4444km, which were arranged in an area of 1 million.km2. 783 snowcocks were recorded in 35 line transects of 408km in the effective length. From these data, the densities of the snowcocks were estimated from negative exponential density distribution and jackknife method. The average density is 1.4523 cocks/ km2 and varies from 5.6580 to 0.0697 indiv. -km2. The population size of the snowcocks is 187.303±24.781 cocks in Tibet. In this paper, the author also discussed how to locate the line transect samplings, determine the observation width, choose possible shapes of the detection function and calculate the habitat size.
文摘高山雪鸡是生活在寒旱区的高山鸟类之一,全球80%以上的种群分布于中国.1989年被列为国家二级重点保护动物.近几十年来,因为"实际和潜在的过度利用、乱捕滥猎、天敌捕食、过度放牧造成生境质量下降",在2004年被列入中国物种红色名录,为:"近危NT,几近符合易危VUAlcd(Near Threatened NT,nearlymet VU Al-cd)"物种.为有效保护这一物种,有关学者对高山雪鸡进行了长期的观察与研究.本文从分类与分布、起源与演化、食性、生活习性、栖息地选择、繁殖、人工驯养和养殖、以及换羽、系统发生及生理生化指标测定等方面对高山雪鸡的研究现状进行了综述,并探讨了高山雪鸡的研究意义与未来的研究方向.
