Studies On Molecular Ecology And Nutritional Ecology Of Tibetan Red Deer(Cervus Wallichii) In China

Tibetan red deer (Cervus wallichii) is an endangered and rare deer species in China, distributing mainly in Sangri Red Deer Nature Reserve in Shannan area of Tibet. It was once recognized as extinct species by international conservation organization, But was rediscovered during field survey by Chinese and foreign scientists in the 1990s. Our study was performed in autumn from early autumn to late September for 2consectuive years (2013 and 2014). We analyzed genetic diversity, population size, sex ratio, food composition, food selection, nutrients content and health condition, using non-invasive sampling method. Results are as follows,1. We extracted DNA from 199 Tibetan red deer fecal samples and 87 of them were successfully extracted. Also we used twelve unlinked microsatellite loci with high polymorphism for individual identification, which indicated that there are 50 individuals with sex ratio of 1:0.79 (female:male). Larger female size than male implied development of Tibet red deer population.2. TIRM and ECM in R were used to estimate population size of Tibetan red deer. TIRM module estimated that Tibetan red deer population size is 87-90 individuals, with confidence interval of 97.5%. ECM module estimated the population size should be 65-67 individuals, with confidence interval of 97.5%. The likelihood ratio test P value did not significantly deviate from 0. This showed that the capture rates of different individuals were differed in the survey area. Therefore we prefer results based on TIRM(87-90 individuals), with our sampling area(264.5km2) included in our estimation and calculation, density of Tibetan red deer estimated to be 0.329-0.340 individuals/km2. Tibetan red deer distribute in groups in the 650.4 km2 area, within the 2680.6km2 Tibet Shannan Red Deer Nature Reserve, and sporadically distributed elsewhere in the nature reserve, White-lipped deer(C. albirostris) occupied other part of the reserve. Therefore, population of Tibetan red deer in all nature reserve in autumn of 2013 and 2014 is about 214-221 individuals.3. Statistical analysis on microsatellite loci of 50 individuals indicated that average number of alleles was 7.58±0.18, average number of effective alleles is 4.91±0.16 and PIC range for single microsatellite loci is 0.39-0.90, with average of 0.67±0.013. All 12 sites were highly polymorphic loci, except T123, which is considered to be moderate polymorphic loci. Range of expected heterozygosity is 0.45 to 0.91, with an average of 0.72±0.01. Average performance heterozygosity is 0.52±0.11. Both of these showed a high genetic diversity which indicated that Tibetan red deer population will not depress because of genetic reason.4. Fecal microhistological analysis results showed that Tibetan red deer forage on 37 plant species which belong to 26 genera and 18 families, during sampling period. Asteraceae, Legumes, Graminoids and Rosaceae occupied the most composition of red deer diet, with proportion of 21.62%,13.51%,13.51% and 8.11% respectively. Also, we detected nutritional and non-nutritional content of plants including water, crude protein, crude fat, energy, fiber and tannin.5. We selected content of fiber, energy and protein as independent variable and food component as dependent variable for response surface model establishment. Results indicated that Tibetan red deer preferred food with high energy and high protein content, but showed no avoidance on plants with high fiber content. This implied a nutritional balanced strategy. By comprehensive analysis, we deduced the relationship between animal manure nitrogen content and the protein content of food.6. We determined the number of parasites in fecal samples of Tibetan red deer using precipitation and flotation method. Also we used ELISA to determine the immunoglobulin in the fecal samples. Results showed that the parasite infection rate of Tibetan red deer was low and immune globulin content was lower than captive sika deer’s. This implied a good physiological state of Tibetan red deer.All results showed that Tibetan red deer population had high genetic diversity and be in good nutritional condition. While as Tibet is the only distribution area of this red deer subspecies, we suggest local authorities should increase construction investment and protection management in the red deer nature reserve In order to facilitate the rapid recovery of the population of this rare and endangered deer species.