To clarify the community structure characteristics and spatial ecological niche of grasshoppers in three different grassland types in Zhaosu County in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, grasshopper surveys were conducted in temperate grassland, temperate meadow steppe, and alpine meadow steppe using the sweep-net method. Relative abundance, diversity indices, niche indices, community similarity, and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) were used for systematic assessment. The results showed that a total of 20 434 grasshopper individuals were collected, belonging to 24 species, 14 genera, and five families. The dominant species in Zhaosu County were Calliptamus italicus and Omocestus haemorrhoidalis. Specifically, C. italicus was dominant in temperate grassland; C. italicus, Stauroderus scalaris and O. haemorrhoidalis were dominant in temperate meadow steppe; and O. peliopteroides, O. haemorrhoidalis, and Gomphocerus sibiricus were dominant in alpine meadow steppe. Significant differences were observed in the richness, diversity, and evenness indices of grasshopper communities, while no significant difference was found in the dominance index. The richness and diversity indices in alpine meadow steppe were significantly lower than those in the other two grasslands types, whereas the evenness index in the temperate grassland was significantly lower than that in the other two types. Niche analysis indicated that O. ventralis had the widest niche breadth (0.95), while eight species including Omocestus petraeus and Dociostaurus brevicollis, had the lowest niche breadth (0.33). A total of 28 species pairs showed niche overlap values of ≥0.99. Community similarity analysis revealed high similarity between temperate grassland and temperate meadow steppe (similarity coefficient=0.81) and very low similarity with alpine meadow steppe (similarity coefficient=0.22). NMDS analysis demonstrated that grassland type explained 63.6% of the variation in grasshopper community composition. These results indicate significant differences in grasshopper community characteristics among grassland types in Zhaosu County, suggesting that grassland type is the primary factor influencing grasshopper community structure.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |