Potatso National Park was the first national park in mainland China, preceded by the earlier Bitahai Nature Reserve. Located in the northwest of Yunnan and on the southeast of Qinghai-Tibet plateau, Potatso is a typical low latitude and high elevation wetland nature reserve, with large areas of coniferous forest around alpine lakes and both wetland and water area ecosystems. In August, 2011, we undertook a survey of crustaceans in the park, sampling lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers throughout Potatso. We found a total of 29 species (including varieties) belonging to 24 genera and 11 families. Notable discoveries include Parartemiopsis sp, Arctodiaptomus parvispinus and Simocephalus congener, which are the first examples of these species to be recorded in China. Likewise, Gammarus bitaensis is a unique crustacean found only in Potatso National Park and Thermocyclops dumonti and Gammarus paucispinus are both endemic species to northwestern Yunnan. The overall faunal characteristics of crustaceans in the park also revealed several things about Potatso: (1) Cosmopolitan and Palaearctic elements reach 48.27% and 37.93%, clearly showing the Palaearctic element as the dominant fauna; (2) most of the crustacean, such as Arctodiaptomus parvispinus and Gammarus, are typical alpine types, confirming that Potatso has feature typical of alpine and plateau fauna; and (3) the proportion of endemic and rare crustacean species in Potatso National Park is approximately 10%, suggesting that the Potatso National Park in particular and the northwest of Yunnan in general have a unique geological and evolutionary history.
该研究于2011年8月调查了云南普达措国家公园淡水甲壳动物多样性现状。结果表明,该区域共计淡水甲壳动物11科24属29种,其中,拟卤虫属、密刺低额溞和微齿北镖水蚤为国内新记录;枝角类和桡足类为主要淡水甲壳动物类群,占总物种数的82.8%;淡水甲壳动物区系以广布种和古北区物种为主,分别为48.3%和37.9%,特有种为10.4%,东洋区物种仅为3.5%。在此基础上提出了应借鉴“具特殊科学价值地点”的保护方式,对国家公园甲壳动物栖息的水塘环境进行单独保护。
Keywords: Diversity; Fauna; Freshwater crustacean; Potatso National Park; Shangri-La.