Abstract: To build up a binary distribution database of endangered terrestrial vertebrates in Jiangsu Province with conunty as its basic geographic unit,field investigations were carried out in combination and data collection.To explore richness patterns of the endangered animal species in Jiangsu,GIS technology was applied;and to analyze similarity distribution patterns of the endangered animal species,cluster analysis was performed of similarity between geographic units in species composition.Results show that Jiangsu has 83 species of terrestrial vertebrates in 62 generas and 35 families,under the category of endangered;they are relatively high in richness in the hilly region of Southwest Jiangsu,Yancheng,Lianyunggang and Qidong;and quite low in the centre of Jiangsu,such as Taizhou and Huaiyin,which basically accords with the distribution of biodiversity hotspots in Jiangsu,and their richness is positively related to the total species richness(P<0.01,n=73),with Pearson correlation coefficient being 0.869.Based on species composition similarity,the 73 basic units can be clustered into 3,4 and 5 groups,when the distance between the groups is 23.8,20.6 and18.8,respectively.The cluster analysis indicates that the distribution of endangered terrestrial vertebrates is affected by the geographical sub-region,topography and human activities of their habitatas.

Key words: endangered animal, spcies diversity, distribution pattern, clustering analysis, Jiangsu Province