Tang Jiaxing, Cui Jiaxin, Wang Gang, Jiang Yong, Zhou Huaming, Jiang Jianping, Xie Feng, Wang Jie, Chen Guiying
College of Life Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610101, China.
CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610213, China.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Jun 7;14(12):1723. doi: 10.3390/ani14121723.
Amphibians serve as reliable indicators of ecosystem health and are the most threatened group of vertebrates. Studies on their spatial distribution pattern and threats are crucial to formulate conservation strategies. Gongga Mountains, with a peak at 7509 m a.s.l. and running latitudinally, are in the center of the Hengduan Mountains Range and at the eastern steep edge of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, providing heterogeneous habitats and varied niches for amphibians. In this study, we combined 83 days of field work with information from 3894 museum specimens that were collected over the past 80 years, and identified twenty amphibian species belonging to seven families and twelve genera by morphology. Of these species, seven were listed in the threatened categories of the Red List of China's Biodiversity and thirteen were endemic to China. Ten species were found on the plateau side (western slope) and eleven species were found on the other side close to the Sichuan Basin (eastern slope). Only one species was found on both sides, indicating different community structures horizontally. The species richness was unimodal vertically and peaking at mid elevation on both sides, with the maximum number (ten vs. nine) of species occurring at 3300-3700 vs. 1700-1900 m a.s.l. and in different types of vegetation. The elevation span and body length of species distributed on both slopes did not show significant differences. These findings help to understand the horizontal and vertical distribution pattern of amphibian diversity, laying a foundation for future biogeographical and conservation research in this area.
两栖动物是生态系统健康状况的可靠指标，也是受威胁最严重的脊椎动物群体。研究它们的空间分布模式和面临的威胁对于制定保护策略至关重要。贡嘎山主峰海拔7509米，呈东西走向，位于横断山脉中部和青藏高原东缘陡坡地带，为两栖动物提供了多样的栖息地和生态位。在本研究中，我们将83天的野外调查与过去80年收集的3894份馆藏标本信息相结合，通过形态学鉴定出7科12属的20种两栖动物。其中，7种被列入中国生物多样性红色名录的受威胁类别，13种为中国特有物种。在高原一侧（西坡）发现了10种，在靠近四川盆地的另一侧（东坡）发现了11种。两侧仅有一种相同，表明水平方向上群落结构不同。物种丰富度在垂直方向上呈单峰分布，两侧均在海拔中部达到峰值，物种数量最多的分别出现在海拔3300 - 3700米（10种）和1700 - 1900米（9种）的不同植被类型中。分布在两侧的物种海拔跨度和体长没有显著差异。这些发现有助于了解两栖动物多样性的水平和垂直分布模式，为该地区未来的生物地理学和保护研究奠定基础。
