黑龙江呼中国家级自然保护区主要哺乳动物食物网结构

Food web structure of dominant mammals in Heilongjiang Huzhong National Nature Reserve, Greater Khingan Mountains

  • 摘要: 食物网研究能够揭示物种营养关系和关键物种, 是理解生态系统结构的重要基础。以黑龙江呼中自然保护区为例, 利用粪便DNA宏条形码技术解析主要哺乳动物食物网结构, 并结合网络分析和连接度(degree)指标识别关键物种及关键营养联系, 为大兴安岭寒温带森林生态系统保护管理提供科学依据。结果显示驼鹿(Alces alces)、原麝(Moschus moschiferus)、狍(Capreolus pygargus)具有最高连接度, 其中驼鹿是连接植物资源和食肉动物的重要节点; 猞猁(Lynx lynx)是连接度最高的食肉动物; 棕熊(Ursus arctos)和北松鼠(Sciurus vulgaris)虽然样本量较少, 仍具有较高的连接度, 反映了杂食动物的重要作用; 杜鹃花科(Ericaceae)和松柏纲(Coniferopsida)植物具有最高的丰度加权连接度, 是最重要的植物性食物来源。研究表明, 大型有蹄类构成了寒温带森林食物网的关键骨架, 杂食动物增强了食物网复杂性, 大型食肉动物通过更宽的食谱促进物种共存和食物网维持。

     

    Abstract: The understanding of food web structure is fundamental to revealing trophic interactions, identifying key species, and elucidating the mechanisms that maintain ecosystem stability. Large mammals perform critical ecological functions in boreal forests, yet direct observation of their feeding relationships remains challenging. As a result, the scientific community still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the overall architecture of mammalian food webs and the relative roles of different trophic groups. This study focused on the Heilongjiang Huzhong National Nature Reserve, a representative boreal forest ecosystem in the Greater Khingan Mountains of Northeast China, to investigate the food web structure of dominant mammals. The objectives were to clarify the key species and major trophic interactions within the typical boreal forest ecosystem and to provide a scientific basis for ecosystem conservation and ecological health assessment. The study employed fecal DNA metabarcoding to determine trophic interactions among mammals and their food resources, reconstructed the food web through ecological network analysis, assessed species importance using degree centrality and abundance-weighted degree metrics, and identified key species and major trophic links critical to ecosystem functioning from the constructed network. A total of eight host species were identified, including three carnivores (Lynx lynx, Canis lupus, and Martes zibellina), two omnivores (Ursus arctos and Sciurus vulgaris), and three herbivores (Alces alces, Moschus moschiferus, and Capreolus pygargus). The three ungulates exhibited the highest connectivity in the food web. Among them, moose linked diverse plant resources and multiple carnivores, occupied a central position, and played a key role in maintaining trophic connectivity. Among carnivores, lynx showed the highest centrality, reflecting its broad prey spectrum and its strong regulatory influence on food web structure. Although sample sizes for brown bear and Eurasian red squirrel were relatively limited, both also displayed high connectivity, suggesting that omnivores can link multiple trophic levels and significantly enhance network connectivity. Among plant resources, species in Ericaceae and Coniferopsida had the highest abundance-weighted mean degree (wMD), highlighting that these plants serve as the primary food source for forest mammals and play a dominant role in sustaining trophic interactions. The results demonstrate that large ungulates underpin species interactions across trophic levels and form the structural backbone of the boreal forest food web. Omnivores enhance network complexity through their diverse feeding habits, and large carnivores strengthen trophic connectivity and facilitate species coexistence through broader diets. These different trophic groups exhibit functional complementarity, collectively maintaining the structural organization and system stability of the boreal forest food web. This study provides one of the first DNA metabarcoding-based reconstructions of a mammalian food web in the Greater Khingan Mountains and offers a scientific basis for biodiversity conservation, ecosystem management, and the identification of priority species for conservation in boreal forests.

     

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