Zhang Meiwen, Wang Yong, Li Bo, Guo Cong, Huang Guoxian, Shen Guo, Zhou Xunjun
Dongting Lake Station for Wetland Ecosystem Research, Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in the Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.
Integr Zool. 2014 Jun;9(3):294-308. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12073.
Although the Three Gorges Project (TGP) may have affected the population structure and distribution of plant and animal communities, few studies have analyzed the effect of this project on small mammal communities. Therefore, the present paper compares the small mammal communities inhabiting the beaches of Dongting Lake using field investigations spanning a 20-year period, both before and after the TGP was implemented. Snap traps were used throughout the census. The results indicate that the TGP caused major changes to the structure of the small mammal community at a lake downstream of the dam. First, species abundance on the beaches increased after the project commenced. The striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) and the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus), which rarely inhabited the beach before the TGP, became abundant (with marked population growth) once water was impounded by the Three Gorges Reservoir. Second, dominant species concentration indices exhibited a stepwise decline, indicating that the community structure changed from a single dominant species to a more diverse species mix after TGP implementation. Third, the regulation of water discharge release by the TGP might have caused an increase in the species diversity of the animal community on the beaches. A significant difference in diversity indices was obtained before and after the TGP operation. Similarity indices also indicate a gradual increase in species numbers. Hence, a long-term project should be established to monitor the population fluctuations of the Yangtze vole (Microtus fortis), the striped field mouse and the Norway rat to safeguard against population outbreaks (similar to the Yangtze vole outbreak in 2007), which could cause crop damage to adjacent farmland, in addition to documenting the succession process of the small mammal community inhabiting the beaches of Dongting Lake.
尽管三峡工程（TGP）可能影响了植物和动物群落的种群结构及分布，但很少有研究分析该工程对小型哺乳动物群落的影响。因此，本文通过对三峡工程实施前后20年期间的实地调查，比较了栖息于洞庭湖滩涂的小型哺乳动物群落。在整个普查过程中使用了 snap traps。结果表明，三峡工程对大坝下游湖泊小型哺乳动物群落的结构产生了重大变化。首先，工程开工后滩涂物种丰富度增加。三峡工程蓄水前很少栖息在滩涂的黑线姬鼠（Apodemus agrarius）和褐家鼠（Rattus norvegicus），在三峡水库蓄水后变得数量众多（种群显著增长）。其次，优势种集中指数呈逐步下降趋势，表明三峡工程实施后群落结构从单一优势种转变为更加多样化的物种组合。第三，三峡工程对放水的调节可能导致了滩涂动物群落物种多样性的增加。三峡工程运行前后多样性指数存在显著差异。相似性指数也表明物种数量逐渐增加。因此，应建立一个长期项目来监测长江田鼠（Microtus fortis）、黑线姬鼠和褐家鼠的种群波动，以防范种群爆发（类似于2007年长江田鼠爆发），这种爆发可能会对邻近农田造成作物损害，此外还要记录栖息于洞庭湖滩涂的小型哺乳动物群落的演替过程。
