Survey of grassland rodent damage and analysis of rodent diversity in Altay Prefecture,Xinjiang
A survey was conducted in the Altay region from June to July 2022 to enhance rodent pest management strategies in grasslands. Across seven counties and four types of grasslands,a total of 51 transects and 463 survey points were utilized to assess rodent damage levels,the population sizes of dominant species,the species diversity,and community similarities of rodents. The results indicated that 17.49％ of survey points exhibited rodent damage,95.06％ of which were concentrated in central and eastern counties,including Fuyun,Qinghe,and Fuhai. We captured 251 rodents,representing four fami-lies,seven genera,and 11 species,with Eolagurus luteus comprising 67.33％. Counties with higher spe-cies diversity and richness,as indicated by Margalef,Shannon-Wiener,Pielou,and Simpson indices,in-cluded Fuyun,Fuhai,and Altay. The highest community similarity index (0.81) was observed between Fuyun and Qinghe,while the lowest (0) was between Altay and Jimunai. The diversity indexes of ro-dents were found to be highest in temperate steppes among the four types of grasslands,while they were lower in temperate desert steppes. Community similarity indexes indicated higher similarity between desert grasslands and temperate deserts (0.46),and between mountain meadows and temperate grass-lands (0.33),compared to between temperate grasslands and temperate deserts (0.24). These results sug-gest that rodent damage in Altay grasslands exceeds the national average,with a distribution pattern of being more prevalent in the east than in the west. Therefore,effective population management strategies should prioritize addressing the dominance of E. luteus as a pest species .
万方数据
维普
