The Ecological Roles of Medium and Small Carnivores in the Terrestrial Animal Community in Liancheng National Nature Reserve, China

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Much less attention has been paid to medium and small carnivores than to large ones, leading to a shortfall of knowledge regarding their ecological roles. It is particularly necessary to improve the research on the ecological roles of medium and small carnivores in the context of the massive decline in the number of large carnivores around the world. For this purpose, a study on the ecological roles of medium and small carnivores was conducted in Liancheng Reserve, China. On the basis of constructing a spatial association network of species, we analyzed the status of medium and small carnivores in the network, characterized their association, and assessed their contribution to the maintenance of the community in the absence of large carnivores, such as gray wolf (Canis lupus) and brown bear (Ursus arctos). Furthermore, the development trends of the community were predicted in order to act as a guide for the direction and focus of conservation efforts. ABSTRACT: It is vitally important to understand the ecological roles of medium and small carnivores in the context of the massive decline in the number of large carnivores around the world. Based on a spatial association network of terrestrial birds and mammals, this study analyzed the ecological roles of medium and small carnivores in the community in Liancheng National Nature Reserve. From October 2019 to June 2020, we obtained 3559 independent detections of 20 terrestrial birds and mammals from 112 camera traps. There are seven species that are medium and small carnivores present in the study area, including red fox (Vulpes vulpes), leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), Chinese mountain cat (Felis bieti), stone marten (Martes foina), Asian badger (Meles leucurus), Siberian weasel (Mustela sibirica) and mountain weasel (Mustela altaica). By calculating the Phi coefficient of all species pairs, a spatial association network composed of twelve species was constructed. We analyzed the characterization of spatial associations by the Shannon–Wiener index and Lambda statistic. The results showed that: (1) the status of the network reflects the changes of community composition and structure after the decline in large carnivores and other species; (2) with the exception of the Chinese mountain cat and stone marten, the other five medium and small carnivores were located in the network, which played an important role in the complexity of the network and the maintenance of the community; (3) the medium and small carnivores could not take the place of the large carnivores in order to control the population of herbivores, such as Siberian roe deer (Capreolus pygargus) and Himalayan marmot (Marmota himalayana). The results of this study provide guidance for determining the direction and focus of conservation efforts.