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Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology ›› 2017, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (9): 3032-3040.doi: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.201709.035

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Relationship between macroinvertebrate composition and environmental factors in habitats of Chinese giant salamander in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, China.

WANG Chong-rui1, LIANG Zhi-qiang1,4, SUO Wen-wen1, WU Yuan-an1,4, HE Ping3, WU Ji3, WEI Qi-wei2*, LIU Xun-hua1   

  1. 1Hunan Fisheries Science Institute, Changsha 410153, China;
    2Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Freshwater of Biodiversity Conservation, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Insititute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China;
    3Chinese Giant Salamander Rescue Center of Hunan Province, Zhangjiajie 427000, Hunan, China;
    4Collaborative Innovation Center for Efficient and Health Production of Fisheries in Hunan Province, Changde 415000, Hunan,China.
  • Received:2017-01-12 Online:2017-09-18 Published:2017-09-18
  • Contact: * E-mail: weiqw@yfi.ac.cn
  • Supported by:

    This work was supported by Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (201203086), Major Scientific Research Foundation of Science & Technology Department of Hunan Province, China (2013NK2007) and Open Topic of Key Laboratoty of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture.

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Abstract: In January 2013 and 2014, field investigations were conducted at 5 sampling sites located in the Hunan Zhangjiajie Chinese Giant Salamander National Nature Reserve. The results showed that: 1) A total of 73 and 78 taxa were identified in two surveys, respectively, belonging to 16 orders, 8 classes, and 5 phyla. Aquatic insects dominated the macroinvertebrate assemblages, accounting for 90.4% and 89.7% of the total number of taxa in the two surveys, respectively; 2) The average density of macroinvertebrates was 1610.4 ind·m-2 and 1671.4 ind·m-2, and the average biomass of macroinvertebrates was 11.22 g·m-2and 12.34 g·m-2 in the two surveys, respectively; 3) The two surveys had, respectively, an average Shannon diversity index (H) of 2.45 and 2.33, an average Margalef diversity index (dM) of 4.01 and 3.76, and an average Pielou evenness index (J) of 0.72 and 0.69. By comparing the average biodiversity indices between January 2013 and 2014, the habitat quality of Chinese giant salamander appeared to have declined; 4) The comparison curves of abundance and biomass at each sampling site in the two surveys indicated that the quality of river habitat experienced moderate disturbance at sampling sites S1 and S5, and that only sampling site S4 was undisturbed; 5) Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination, based on macroinvertebrate abundance, showed the convergence between all sampling sites was better in 2013 than in 2014 under a similarity of 40%; 6) The association between the NMDS ordination scores (axis 1 and axis 2) and environmental variables were tested by Spearman rank correlation. The results showed that the following environmental variables had explanatory power on macroinvertebrate assemblage: River width, NH4+-N, altitude, CODMn, and BOD5. In summary, the relationship between macroinvertebrate composition and environmental factors showed that some streams in the Reserve still supported a relatively favorable habitat, which could meet the habitat requirements for the Chinese giant salamander. However, some regions in this Reserve had been experiencing increased human impacts that made the habitat fragile. Therefore, we are calling for a strict management and protection strategy to be put in place in this region.