The Individual Identity And Home Range Of Reeves’s Muntjac Based On Faeces Molecular Biology

With the rising of the faeces molecular biology, the marking technology of micro satellite DNA based on the faeces of wild animals was more and more widely used in the research of the wild animal ecology. The method of the faeces molecular biology was made the best use of in this study to research the individual identity, sex identification, the size of home range and the seasonal changes of the area of home range of Reeves’s Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi), etc. And 130,12,239, and 253 fresh faeces samples of Reeves’s Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) were collected in Gutian Mountain nature reserve in April, July, October of 2014 and January of 2015, respectively. The fecal DNA extraction kit (OMEGA Stool DNA Kit) was used to extract the genomic DNA of the 634 fecal samples, and 617 DNA samples were extracted successfully in final. In order to complete the individual identity of Reeves’s Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi), eight pairs of highly polymorphic microsatellite primers were applied for PCR amplification experiments and genotyping. What’s more, combining with the analysis of GPS information of multiple defecation points of the same individual, the characteristic of the home range of Reeves’s Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) was studied. The main results were as follows:1.177 Reeves’s Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) were identified successfully from the 634 feces samples of Reeves’s Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi). And there are 61 individuals were identified for more than or equal to 3 times, the experiments of Sry sex identification showed that there were 34 females and 27 males.2. The minimum convex polygon(MCP) method was used to calculate the areas of home range of 61 Reeves’s Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi). The results showed that the range of the areas of the home range of males was 46.71 hm2-179.55 hm2, the average of which was 76.26 hm2, and the range of the areas of the home range of females was 19.25 hm-113.62 hm2, the average of which was 40.18 hm2. The average area of home range of males was about 1.90 times than that of the females. One-way ANOVA was used to analyze the effect of genders on the average size of home range of males and females. The results indicated that there was extremely significant difference between the different genders(P<0.01) in spring, autumn and winter.3. The one-way ANOVA was used to analyze the effects of seasons on the average size of home range of males and females. And the results showed that there was significant difference between spring and winter(P<0.05) and extremely significant difference between autumn and winter(P<0.01), while there was no significant difference between spring and autumn(P>0.05) for both males and females.4. The one-way ANOVA was used to analyze the effects of functional areas (namely the core area and the buffer area) on the average size of home range of males and females in three seasons. The results indicated that there was extremely significant difference between the different functional areas(P<0.01) for both males and females in spring, autumn and winter.5. Among these 61 Reeves’s Muntjac(Muntiacus reevesi),43 Reeves’s Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) appeared the phenomenon of overlapping of home range with others, and the proportion was about 70.5%. The number of males was 19, while the number of females was 24, and the sex ratio(female:male) was about 1:0.79. And the phenomenon of overlapping of the home range existed in both members of the different genders and the same gender.