Amphibian Diversity And Conservation Along An Elevational Gradient On Mount Emei, Southwestern China

Understanding the diversity, distribution, and threat status of species serves an important role in biodiversity conservation, particularly in regions with high species richness. Being a well-known Natural and Cultural World Heritage site, Mount Emei is seated on the transition zone between Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and Sichuan Basin in southwestern China, and is of special significance to conservation and science due to its high biodiversity. Based on data from extensive field expeditions, the published literature, and museum specimens, this study documented a total of 35 species, belonging to 22 genera and nine families, along a 2,600 m elevational gradient on Mount Emei. Almost one-third of these species are in IUCN threatened categories. A majority of species occupied a narrower local elevation range size compared with their overall elevation range size, especially those that are threatened. Along the elevational gradient, both the total and threatened species richness showed hump-shaped patterns. These results provide insight into the species diversity, elevational distribution, and threat status for the amphibians on Mount Emei. These findings highlight the significance and urgent need to protect the amphibians in the focal region, provide support for further ecological studies, and will contribute to the conservation of this biodiverse region in the future.