CONTENT - International Society of Zoological Sciences

ICZ2008 – Abstracts S18
Wildlife Depredation on Livestock in Medog County, Tibet,
China
Guangpu Guo 1 , Endi Zhang 2 , Pengju Wu 3 and Min Chen 2
1
School of Life Science and Technology, Tongji University,
Shanghai, 200092 China
2
School of Life Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai,
200062 China
3
Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan Guangdong,
523808 China
The importance of the eastern Himalaya as an important center of
biological diversity has long been recognized. Yarlung Tsangpo
River flows eastward through southern Tibet before looping north
then toward the plains of India. And it flows all through Medog
County. The style of life and work affected the environment while
the wildlife brings them damages.
The main depredated livestock were cattle, horses, mules and pigs
and the main predators was tigers, and also bears and wild dogs.
Most depredations (91.37%) occurred in 1990s and in Gedang
Xiang. There were 97.37% families who suffered from losing
livestock. Even though the depredation occurrences were not
significantly different between months and seasons, they showed
an increasing trend from spring to winter.
Horses and mules were depredated most by tiger during
1990~1999 with an average of 10.60 ± 10.15 heads per year, and
it showed a significant difference among months with the most
occurrences in November (18.82%) and the least from August to
September (1.18%, 2.35% and 1.18% individually). Cattle also
killed mostly in November but less in May (0.77 ± 1.91) and
September (1.14 ± 1.05). Livestock were preyed by tiger mainly in
grassland and forest-grass with cattle also in forest-shrub-grass
environments. There were 29.47% depredated livestock dragged
by tiger for a certain distance.
Wild dogs were often in groups of 2~7 individuals and mainly
preyed on cattle and pigs; black bear preyed mainly on cattle. It is
supposed that there would be 5 tigers in Gedang Xiang in those
years.
Mediterranean molluscs: an inventory in Port-Cros national
park, France
Elsa Marangoni and Pierre Noël
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, DMPA / BOME -UMR n°
5178, CP 53, 57 rue Cuvier, F-75231 Paris cedex 05, France
Molluscs appeared some 600 MY ago and started diversification.
Eight classes are recognized presently viz. Solenogastra,
Caudofoveata, Polyplacophora, Monoplacophora, Gastropoda,
Cephalopoda, Bivalvia and Scaphopoda. most of them
represented within the 2045 species or so recognized to be
present in the Mediterranean. This work presents preliminary
results about the inventory of molluscs Port-Cros national park and
its surroundings.
A collection gathered by Priest Olivier all along the second half of
XIXth century in Porquerolles Island was studied first; it includes
some 274 species. It is one of the few shell collections from XIXth
century for Mediterranean.
Quite a number of shells were also obtained from the "Miladou"
wreck, a roman ship, lying 42 m deep since 100 yrs BC in the Port-
Cros national park. When she sank, some of the shells were on
board (obvious for species from Red Sea), and some others could
also have settle there as larvae later on. Subsequently, octopuses
living in amphora brought also their own contribution... A total of 36
species were present. It is well known that Humans were
interested long ago by sea-shells for different reasons: food,
decoration, jewel, money, religion... The question of the origin of
these shells will be discussed.
Our own findings brought other species not reported yet from the
studied area. This work is a contribution to the knowledge of
marine biodiversity in southern France
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Vertebrates of Buçaco’s National Forest, Centre of Portugal
Milena Matos and Carlos Fonseca 1
Department of Biology/CESAM, University of Aveiro, 3810-193
Aveiro, Portugal
Buçaco’s National Forest (wall fenced area with approximately 105
ha) constitutes an exclusive natural heritage in Portugal and in the
World, due to its history, architecture and nature values.
Biologically, it represents one of the best dendrological collections
in Europe. However an unknown fauna is associated to the
amazing and well-described flora diversity. The only faunistic study
of this forest took place more than 100 years ago, comprising a
survey/inventory of the animals present at that time.
The vertebrate species (except Chiroptera) identification as well as
the assessment of each vertebrate local distribution was
conducted in this forest during the last three years. To reach these
goals, several methodologies were applied for each group of
vertebrates.
117 species (fishes: 5, amphibians: 10, reptiles: 14, birds: 66,
mammals: 22) were confirmed in this forest ecosystem and their
distribution mapped.
The occurrence of several protected and endemic species from all
presented vertebrates groups (e.g. Chondrostoma oligolepis, the
gold-striped salamander Chioglossa lusitanica, the Schreiber’s
green lizard Lacerta schreiberi, the booted eagle Hieraatus
pennatus and the Lusitanian pine vole Microtus lusitanicus)
reinforces the importance of this natural area in terms of
Portuguese fauna’s conservation.
This study will provide the basis for further investigations focused
on regional biodiversity and habitat fragmentation, among other
subjects.
The knowledge and science education of Buçaco’s National
Forest’s biodiversity can contribute to the environmental
sensitization of the visitors (more than 100 thousand/year) in what
concerns to the maintenance of natural balances and the
protection of ecosystems.
Does Thermo-period influence growth and activity of the asp
viper?
Catherine Michel and Xavier Bonnet
CEBC CNRS, UPR 1934, Villiers en Bois 79360 Beauvoir sur Niort,
France
Daily and seasonal variations of ambient temperatures determine
activity and metabolism of animals. The vast majority of species
are ectotherms and cannot maintain constant their body
temperature through physiological means; the effects of ambient
temperatures apply with force in these organisms. We
experimentally examined the influence of thermo-period
(temperature fluctuations) on the behaviour and physiology of a
reptile, the aspic viper (Vipera aspic). This snake faces strong
natural daily and annual temperature variations. During three
months, we placed four groups of snakes under 4 contrasted
thermal regimes: 1) a 2400h natural regime, 2) a 1200h
accelerated regime, 3) a slow 4800h regime, and 4) a stable
regime. For the first 3 groups, the ambient temperature fluctuated
from 19°C to 29°C (mean=23°C) to mimic daily variations recorded
during the peak of activity in the field (e.g. May). For the fourth
group, the temperature was maintained at 23°C. Overall, the mean
temperature over the whole experiment (3 months) was of 23°C for
each of the four groups. For that, we used four climatic chambers
where both temperature and hygrometry were controlled. We
recorded locomotor activity, feeding success, digestion efficiency
and growth rates. There was no significant effect of thermo-period
on activity (p=0.163), digestion efficiency (p=0.850), ecdysis
frequency (p=0.290), body mass changes (p=0.982) and growth
rate (p=0.999). This study suggests that mean temperatures might
be determinant, but not fluctuations. This notion challenges the
simplistic paradigm that suggests that maximal body temperatures
chosen by reptiles correspond necessarily to thermal optimum.