Study on the Utilization of Chinese Pangolin Burrows by Symbiotic Species at Different Elevations
Many cave animals in nature build burrows,which are widely used by other burrowing and non-burrowing ani-mals.The utilization patterns of burrows by animals might be influenced by elevations due to the rapid changes in environ-mental characteristics,such a s temperature and precipitation.In this study,infrared cameras were used to monitor the Chi-nese pangolin(Manis pentadactyla)burrows in 3 regions of Guangdong Province from December 2018 to February 2022.The elevations of the study areas were divided into 3 groups by the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means,and the similarity analysis and linear model were used to explore the utilization patterns of symbiotic species in Chinese pangolin burrows and their relationship with elevations.The results showed that:(1)there were significant differences in the utilization rates of Chinese pangolin burrows among symbiotic species at different elevations(R=0.098,P=0.001),and the burrow utilization rates were significantly positively correlated with elevations(t=2.093,P=0.038).(2)Signifi-cant differences were detected in the proportions of the behaviors of foraging(R=0.113,P=0.002),exploring burrows(R=0.116,P=0.036),and entering and exiting burrows(R=0.077,P=0.042)of the symbiotic species among different elevations,and the proportion of foraging behavior was significantly positively correlated with elevations(t=2.136,P=0.035).Moreover,symbiotic species showed more utilization for foraging at high elevation.This study clarifies the utilization pat-terns of Chinese pangolin burrows by symbiotic species at different elevations,reveals the importance of Chinese pangolin burrows to wildlife at a higher elevation,and suggests that protection on wild Chinese pangolin population should be en-hanced.
万方数据
维普
