Global distribution and conservation of rare and threatened vertebrates

Global conservation strategies commonly assume that different taxonomic groups show congruent geographical patterns of diversity, and that the distribution of extinction-prone species in one group can therefore act as a surrogate for vulnerable species in other groups when conservation decisions are being made. The validity of these assumptions remains unclear, however, because previous tests have been limited in both geographical and taxonomic extent. Here we use a database on the global distribution of 19,349 living bird, mammal and amphibian species to show that, although the distribution of overall species richness is very similar among these groups, congruence in the distribution of rare and threatened species is markedly lower. Congruence is especially low among the very rarest species. Cross-taxon congruence is also highly scale dependent, being particularly low at the finer spatial resolutions relevant to real protected areas. 'Hotspots' of rarity and threat are therefore largely non-overlapping across groups, as are areas chosen to maximize species complementarity. Overall, our results indicate that 'silver-bullet' conservation strategies alone will not deliver efficient conservation solutions. Instead, priority areas for biodiversity conservation must be based on high-resolution data from multiple taxa.     

Human population in the biodiversity hotspots

Biologists have identified 25 areas, called biodiversity hotspots, that are especially rich in endemic species and particularly threatened by human activities. The human population dynamics of these areas, however, are not well quantified. Here we report estimates of key demographic variables for each hotspot, and for three extensive tropical forest areas that are less immediately threatened. We estimate that in 1995 more than 1.1 billion people, nearly 20% of world population, were living within the hotspots, an area covering about 12% of Earth's terrestrial surface. We estimate that the population growth rate in the hotspots (1995-2000) is 1.8% yr(-1), substantially higher than the population growth rate of the world as a whole (1.3% yr(-1)) and above that of the developing countries (1.6% yr(-1)). These results suggest that substantial human-induced environmental changes are likely to continue in the hotspots and that demographic change remains an important factor in global biodiversity conservation. The results also underline the potential conservation significance of the continuing worldwide declines in human fertility and of policies and programs that influence human migration.     

典型喀斯特区域植物物种多样性研究——以广西中越边境喀斯特地区种子植物为例

【目的】广西中越边境地区喀斯特地貌广泛发育,是广西生物多样性研究和保护的关键区域,也是全球生物多样性研究和保护的热点地区。鉴于当前该地区植物区系复杂,植物调查薄弱,生物多样性面临严重威胁,特选该区域开展研究。【方法】基于相关文献资料,整合野外调查数据和历史标本信息,完成该地区的种子植物物种多样性编目,并据此开展综合分析。【结果】广西中越边境喀斯特地区共有种子植物3 118种(含种下单位),隶属于187科、1 050属,科属以寡种占优势,但优势科属也较明显。该区野生种子植物184科,可分为10个分布区类型,其中热带性质的共97科,温带性质的共39科,种子植物热带性科和温带性科的比值约为2.5/1,在属级水平上,该区野生的1 028属可划分为14个分布区类型和24个变型,热带性属共736个,温带性属共219个,热带性属和温带性属的比值约为3.4/1。可见不管在科级还是属级水平都表明该地区地理成分复杂,表现出强烈的热带性质。广西中越边境喀斯特地区种子植物特有现象突出,该地区拥有294种广西特有植物;还有351种为石灰岩特有植物,占该地区总种数的11.51%,另外还有423种为石灰岩适宜植物,综合二者,广西中越边境喀斯特地区典型的喜钙植物种类高达774种,占该地区总种数的25.38%,而且这些特有植物集中于少数的几个科属内,科属优势明显。广西中越边境喀斯特地区珍稀濒危植物众多,其中国家重点保护野生植物29种,包括11种Ⅰ级和18种Ⅱ级保护植物;广西重点保护野生植物有292种,兰科植物就多达261种,其余的31种;另外还有12种被列为全国极小种群保护野生植物。【结论】广西中越边境喀斯特地区植物物种多样性丰富,地理成分复杂,表现出明显的热带性质,特有现象突出,珍稀濒危植物众多,该地区具有重要的研究和保护价值,对广西乃至中国的生物多样性研究和保护都有着举足轻重的意义。     

Estimating genetic diversity and sampling strategy for a wild soybean （Glycine soja） population based on different molecular markers

With the rapid development of the global economy and continued increase in world population, natural environments face serious deterioration and change, which has led to the extinction or severe endangerment of many plant species including important crops…     

Climate change threats to protected plants of China: an evaluation based on species distribution modeling

Climate change poses major new challenges to biodiversity conservation. Distribution ranges of species have been proven to be affected by climate anomalies. Detecting the extent of protected species response to climate change can help formulate flexible conservation strategies to overcome the changing climate. Using species distribution modeling and high resolution climate data, we simulated current distribution patterns of 233 protected plants in China. Those patterns were then projected into future suitable habitats for each species under nine climate change scenarios, with no migration or full migration hypotheses. Under the most extreme climate change scenario （CGCM-B2a）, we evaluated species extinction risks. Sixteen percent of protected plants are expected to lose more than 30 % of their current ranges. By calculating areal shifts, hotspots for emigrants, immigrants, and persistent species were identified under climate change. Flexible conservation strategies were addressed for those regions. Those strategies strongly depend on the migration types of species and sensitivity of the hotspots to changing climate. In hotspots for emigrants, the main conservation strategy is ex situ protection; protected species from these regions should be stored in seed banks or botanical gardens. For hotspots of immigrants, enough space should be maintained for new species, and some measures are necessary to assist dispersal. For hotspots of persistent species, more natural reserves are needed. We highlight related fields that can help conserve protected species in the future, such as conserving the soil seed bank and understanding of the effects of migration ability and interactions between protected species.     

生物多样性刍议

生物多样性是生物及其组成的系统的总体多样性和变异性,或所有来源活的生物体的变异性,它包括物种的基因多样性或称遗传多样性,群落内部的物种多样性,景观中的群落多样性或称生态系统多样性.而景观多样性是指景观单元结构和功能方面的多样性,它包括了斑块多样性,类型多样性和格局多样性,主要研究组成景观的斑块在数量、大小、形状和景观类型的分布及其斑块之间的连接度、连通性等结构和功能上的多样性.显然,景观多样性与生物多样性无论在研究内容或方法上均有所不同,明显有别于生物多样性的概念与内涵, 而应是另类的多样性.因而,把景观多样性与遗传多样性、物种多样性和生态系统多样性并列为第四个层次的生物多样性是不确切的.     

Effects of household dynamics on resource consumption and biodiversity

Human population size and growth rate are often considered important drivers of biodiversity loss, whereas household dynamics are usually neglected. Aggregate demographic statistics may mask substantial changes in the size and number of households, and their effects on biodiversity. Household dynamics influence per capita consumption and thus biodiversity through, for example, consumption of wood for fuel, habitat alteration for home building and associated activities, and greenhouse gas emissions. Here we report that growth in household numbers globally, and particularly in countries with biodiversity hotspots (areas rich in endemic species and threatened by human activities), was more rapid than aggregate population growth between 1985 and 2000. Even when population size declined, the number of households increased substantially. Had the average household size (that is, the number of occupants) remained static, there would have been 155 million fewer households in hotspot countries in 2000. Reduction in average household size alone will add a projected 233 million additional households to hotspot countries during the period 2000-15. Rapid increase in household numbers, often manifested as urban sprawl, and resultant higher per capita resource consumption in smaller households pose serious challenges to biodiversity conservation.     

三峡库区不同生境类型蝶类多样性调查及分析 (三峡地区资源环境生态研究)

1998—2003年对长江三峡库区阔叶林、灌丛、林缘灌丛、农田、草地等5种不同生境类型蝴蝶分布状况进行调查。获得蝴蝶7 853只,隶属12科157属380种。蛱蝶科蝴蝶的属、种和个体数均为最多,说明此类群最适应库区当前的环境条件;珍蝶、喙蝶、绢蝶等科蝶类是三峡库区的稀有类群,也是库区蝶类生物多样性保护的关键类群。阔叶林、灌丛、林缘灌丛是该区域物种多样性的重要生境,特别是灌丛类生境。各类型生境的多样性指数,灌丛(0.584 5)和农田(0.474 0)的年间波动较小,草地(0.329 8)的年间波动较大。在5种类型中,灌丛的蝶类多样性指数(0.584 5)相对较高,是库区内最适于蝴蝶生存的生境。研究表明蝴蝶分布特征与生境关系密切,植被类型越接近、空间复杂程度越相似的生境,其蝴蝶生态分布特征越相似。蝴蝶生境保护对于三峡库区蝶类多样性保护具有重要意义。     

Global tests of biodiversity concordance and the importance of endemism

Understanding patterns of biodiversity distribution is essential to conservation strategies, but severe data constraints make surrogate measures necessary. For this reason, many studies have tested the performance of terrestrial vertebrates as surrogates for overall species diversity, but these tests have typically been limited to a single taxon or region. Here we show that global patterns of richness are highly correlated among amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, as are endemism patterns. Furthermore, we demonstrate that although the correlation between global richness and endemism is low, aggregate regions selected for high levels of endemism capture significantly more species than expected by chance. Although areas high in endemism have long been targeted for the protection of narrow-ranging species, our findings provide evidence that endemism is also a useful surrogate for the conservation of all terrestrial vertebrates.     

芝罘岛污水排放对大型底栖动物群落的影响

【目的】分析芝罘岛附近污水排放对该海域大型底栖动物群落结构的影响,为近岸海区生物多样性保护的可持续和海洋环境生态监测利用提供科学依据。【方法】于2012年9月在芝罘岛附近海域设置10个站位对大型底栖动物群落进行调查和分析。采用生物统计软件PRIMER6.0计算Shannon-Wiener多样性指数(H′)、Margalef物种丰富度指数(D′)和Pielou物种均匀度指数(J′),并进行等级聚类(CLUSTER)、MDS标序及ABC曲线分析。【结果】共鉴定出大型底栖动物63种,其中多毛类35种,软体动物13种,甲壳动物11种,棘皮动物3种,其他类群生物1种,优势类群为多毛类。总平均生物量为8.30g/m2,软体动物贡献率最高;总平均丰度为618.67ind./m2,多毛类贡献率最高。Shannon-Wiener多样性指数(H′)、Margalef物种丰富度指数(D′)和Pielou物种均匀度指数(J′)分别为3.173±0.102,5.469±0.417和0.965±0.007。Pielou物种均匀度指数(J′)与盐度呈显著正相关关系(P0.05),而Shannon-Wiener多样性指数(H′)和Margalef物种丰富度指数(D′)与12个主成分环境因素均无显著相关性。CLUSTER聚类分析和MDS标序结果表明,在60%的相似性水平上,不同站位可分为3组,且不同群落组间差异显著。离排污口最近的Z2站位以丝异蚓虫为主的多毛类占绝对优势,且优势种表现出小型化趋势。【结论】水深、溶解氧与总氮含量是影响该海域大型底栖动物群落空间分布的关键环境因子,与底栖动物丰度、生物量的相关性较大。ABC曲线显示该海域部分站位的底栖动物群落受到中等程度的扰动。结合历史材料发现,调查区域大型底栖动物群落物种呈小型化趋势,物种组成单一,多毛类占绝对优势。     

太湖西区公路两侧植物物种多样性的研究

按植物群落的乔木层、灌木层、草本层和藤本层,运用物种丰富度指数(S)、Shannon-Wiener指数、Simpson指数和Pielou均匀度指数,研究无锡马山国家旅游度假区公路两侧主要植物群落的物种多样性。结果表明:(1)各植物群落乔木层和灌木层的4种生物多样性指数变化具有相关一致性,草本层则差异较大;(2)公路边坡经人工植被修复后,植物物种多样性比未经修复的显著增加,起到防护边坡和改善景观的作用;(3)修复的湖滩地植物群落盖度大,但种类单一,故物种多样性较低;(4)原生植物群落的物种多样性最大;合理的人工修复可促进受损植物群落生物多样性增加;(5)通过物种多样性计算方法的比较,可以更客观地反映一个地区的物种多样性状况。     

峒河国家湿地公园维管植物多样性调查

通过实地调查,对峒河国家湿地公园的维管植物多样性进行了研究.研究结果表明,峒河国家湿地公园共有维管植物1 485种,隶属766属和179科,其中湿地植物(含水生植物)73科186属285种,分别占维管植物总数的40.78%,24.28%,19.19%;地理成分复杂,科的分布有11个类型,属的分布有15个类型;属的地理成分中,热带成分(327属,占46.25%)略高于温带成分(288属,占41.00%),植物区系呈现出一定的过渡特性.最后给出了相应的保护建议,为湿地公园生物多样性保护提供参考.     

Species Diversity Based on Vertical Structure as Indicators of Artificial Restoration for Coniferous Forests in Southwest China

0IntroductionConiferous forest in Southwest China con-stitutes the bulk of the second largestforest region(the so-calledsouthwest forest re-gion)of the country.As Southwest Chinais atthe southeastern fringe of the Qinghai-TibetanPlateau andthe source area of many major riv-ers,forestsinthis region playanextremelyi m-portant role in preserving water and soil,pre-venting mountain disasters and regulating cli-mate[1-3]and act as an“ecological shield”forthe upper reaches of rivers such as the …     

Effective global conservation strategies

Using data on the global distribution of mammal, bird and amphibian species, Grenyer et al. conclude that planning based on individual taxa does not provide efficient solutions for the conservation of other taxa. They also report that the performance of existing global conservation strategies-endemic bird areas, biodiversity hotspots and global 200 ecoregions-in representing those taxa is often no better (and in some cases worse) than random. I argue here that the methodology used by Grenyer et al. was not appropriate for purported globally comprehensive analyses. Focusing on analyses of rare species as an example, I demonstrate how the data actually reveal substantial cross-taxon surrogacy and good performance of existing global conservation strategies.     

草原植物群落物种多样性与结构稳定性之间的相关性分析

以位于内蒙古高原中东部的锡林郭勒草原的代表性植物群落做为研究对象，在不同的空间尺度上，以生物量涨落、频度涨落及微涨落种群比例做为群落结构稳定性的度量指标，与表示草原植物群落物种多样性的丰富度指数、Ｓｈａｎｎｏｎ－ｗｉｅｎｅｒ指数、均匀度指数进行了直线回归分析，主要结果如下：１）以频度涨落反映的群落结构稳定性与丰富度指数，Ｓｈａｎｎｏｎ－ｗｉｅｎｅｒ指数不相关；２）生物量涨落在区域尺度上（荒漠草原－典型草原－草甸草原）与丰富度指数、均匀度指数以及Ｓｈａｎ－ｎｏｎ－Ｗｉｅｎｅｒ指数呈正相关，即群落多样性越高，其结构稳定性越高；３）尺度对多样性与稳定性关系起着十分重要的作用．在群落尺度上（群系内三个群落类型之间相比较），微涨落种群比例、生物量涨落与几个多样性指数都不相关，说明物种多样性对于全局稳定性起着更明显的影响．     

苏北沿海地区不同土地利用类型下土壤动物群落结构特征

【目的】了解中国苏北沿海地区不同土地利用类型下土壤动物的多样性及其生态分布特征,为该地区土壤动物系统研究以及生态系统健康评价提供基础资料。【方法】采用手拣法和干漏斗法,对苏北沿海3种不同土地利用类型(杨树人工林、杨-农复合林、农田)下的土壤动物群落组成与多样性特征进行研究。【结果】土壤动物群落在杨树人工林、杨-农复合林、农田中均以蜱螨目(Acarina)、弹尾目(Collembola)动物为优势类群,占全部捕获量的82.48%,是组成该地区土壤动物群落的主体; 土壤动物个体数量随季节呈现一定规律性,即夏>秋>春>冬; 土壤动物垂直分布上,表聚性明显; 在群落多样性方面,杨树人工林土壤动物的Shannon-Wiener多样性指数与Pielou均匀度指数最高,杨-农复合系统土壤动物的丰富度(Margalef指数)最高,而农田土壤动物的Simpson优势度最高,多样性指数与均匀度指数最低。【结论】土地利用方式的转变影响了土壤动物的组成与多样性特征,复合经营和适度干扰可在一定程度上提高土壤动物的丰富度; 但是人为干扰强度较大时,会降低土壤动物的多样性和均匀度。     

Preserving the evolutionary potential of floras in biodiversity hotspots

One of the biggest challenges for conservation biology is to provide conservation planners with ways to prioritize effort. Much attention has been focused on biodiversity hotspots. However, the conservation of evolutionary process is now also acknowledged as a priority in the face of global change. Phylogenetic diversity (PD) is a biodiversity index that measures the length of evolutionary pathways that connect a given set of taxa. PD therefore identifies sets of taxa that maximize the accumulation of 'feature diversity'. Recent studies, however, concluded that taxon richness is a good surrogate for PD. Here we show taxon richness to be decoupled from PD, using a biome-wide phylogenetic analysis of the flora of an undisputed biodiversity hotspot--the Cape of South Africa. We demonstrate that this decoupling has real-world importance for conservation planning. Finally, using a database of medicinal and economic plant use, we demonstrate that PD protection is the best strategy for preserving feature diversity in the Cape. We should be able to use PD to identify those key regions that maximize future options, both for the continuing evolution of life on Earth and for the benefit of society.     

黄浦江上游大型底栖动物生物多样性现状

2005年4月至2006年3月对黄浦江上游大型底栖动物群落结构进行了调查.采用香农威纳指数(H′)、物种均匀度指数(J)和物种丰富度指数(D)对黄浦江上游大型底栖动物的群落结构、种类组成、多样性进行了分析.本次调查共采到底栖动物13种.密度优势种为环节动物门的霍甫水丝蚓(Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri)、软体动物门的铜锈环棱螺(Bellamya aeruginosa)以及河蚬(Corbicula fluminea).生物量优势种为软体动物门的铜锈环棱螺以及河蚬.淀峰断面的香农威纳指数(H′）、物种均匀度指数(J)和物种丰富度指数(D)都高于松浦大桥.季节变化方面，三种指数的最高值都出现在秋季，最低值则分别出现在夏季、冬季和春季.生物多样性除了受种的数量及其个体密度影响外，还与多种因素有关，如水温、水质、底栖环境和人为干扰等.     

青城山森林植被物种多样性的研究

以各个植被样地为对象，采用物种丰富度、Simpson指数、Shannon-wiener指数及Pielou指数，研究了青城前山森林植被的物种多样性。结果表明：（1）在对青城山森林植被样地的物处多样性进行测度时，上述4种指标表现出相同的变化趋势。（2）不同层次的物种多样性的大小依次是：灌木层、乔木层和草本层。（3）不同植被类型物种多样性的大小是常绿阔叶林大于暖性针叶林。（4）人为因子的干扰对青城山森林植被的物种多样性有较大的影响。     

不同生境节肢动物多样性的初步研究

章报道了乌鲁木齐市生境不同的3所高等院校内节育肢动物多样性的研究结果,应用物种丰富度模型、Shannon-Wiener指数、Simpson指数以及均匀性指数等分析了3个生境中物种的丰富度和多样性。结果表明新疆农业大学校内节肢动物物种组成为丰富型,新疆石油学院和新疆师范大学节肢动物物种组成虽都为较多型,但前的物种多样性指数明显低于后。