Selecting the Appropriate Urban Biodiversity Restoration Indices based on the Pressure-State-Response Model and a Multi-scale Management Problem Investigation in Zhuhai City

Urban biodiversity is now recognized as playing a critical role in supporting global biodiversity. However, it is important to note that biodiversity is a systematic and holistic concept and prior studies have not generally focused on cross-border or multi-scale management problems. On one hand, the ecosystems of cities are interconnected with adjacent cities by natural landscapes, so they are like mosaics instead of being isolated. Urban biodiversity research demands the consideration of the continuity within an ecosystem. On the other hand, both active protection and passive restoration strategies for urban biodiversity should not only be developed by researchers or municipal government agencies, but more importantly, they should consider the real ecosystem management problems faced by multi-scale departments in order to build a practicable Pressure-State-Response (PSR) model. The solutions for these issues should be included in the analysis to form a complete and more effective urban biodiversity strategy. The study in this paper offers an answer to whether different scales of cities or districts should adopt the same biodiversity strategy; and therefore, the decision depends on whether the places are of the same importance to the global or regional ecosystem, or whether the ecological elements are connected to the adjacent cities/districts and the problems that multiple stakeholders care about.     

三江平原浓江河湿地生态廊道区及其周边春季鸟类多样性研究

浓江河湿地生态廊道是连接三江平原洪河国家级自然保护区湿地和三江国家级自然保护区湿地的生态廊道.2008年春季,对浓浓江河湿地江湿地生态廊道鸟类资源开展了调查研究.在研究区5种鸟类栖息生境共设立11个调查点,共记录有鸟类14目26科68种,3 220只.浓江河湿地生态廊道鸟类多样性指数(H')较高,生境主要以沼泽湿地为主,不同栖息生境中鸟类多样性指数表现为H'沼泽(1.260 1)>H'水域(1.248 8)>H'居民区(0.903 1)>H'农田(0.872 8)>H'林地(0.871 6);均匀性指数(E)表现为E水域(0.182 3)>E农田(0.164 6)>E林地(0.142 9)>E沼泽(0.110 5)>E居民区(0).维持浓江河湿地生态廊道沼泽和水域的面积对于保护该廊道的功能具有重要意义.     

汶川县生物多样性保育与区域发展的综合地域划分

依据生物多样性和社会经济发展方面的 2 0个指标 ,应用模糊聚类算法对汶川县的综合地域划分研究表明 ,汶川县可以划分为 4个综合地域类型 :发展主导型 (Ⅰ ) ,占县域面积的4 3% ;特色开发型 (Ⅱ ) ,占县域面积的 2 3 5 % ;发展支持型 (Ⅲ ) ,占县域面积的 6 5 % ;生态保育和限制性开发型 (Ⅳ ) ,占县域面积的 6 5 7%。县域水平上协调生物多样性保育和区域发展关系的空间策略是东西分治 ,东部 (Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ )以社会经济发展为主 ,西部 (Ⅳ )以生态保育为主。在区域发展的产业选择上应重视产业的生态化 ,突出地域优势与特色。     

生物多样性信息学及其在地质学研究中的应用

对生物多样性信息学做了简要介绍,并说明了其在生物学与地质学交叉领域研究中的应用现状,指出了生物多样性信息学发展过程中存在的困难及其在地质学研究中的应用前景.生物多样性信息学在生物多样性信息数据库和生物多样性信息处理程序2方面取得了很大的进展,而古生物学、生物与环境协同演化、地质生态学等研究领域的一些课题已经应用了生物多样性信息学的成果.     

Colonisation of South African kelp-bed canopies by the alien mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis: extent and implications of a novel bioinvasion

The Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis is the most significant invasive alien marine species in South Africa and, although not normally found subtidally, has recently been observed colonising heads and stipes of the kelp species Ecklonia maxima in False Bay. We quantified this invasion and explored its ecological implications. Transects laid across kelp beds revealed that 10.34% of kelp individuals surveyed bore canopy mussels, with kelp heads (10.07%) being far more commonly infected than stipes (0.27%). Twenty kelp individuals with infected heads and 20 with infected stipes were separately collected for more-detailed examination. Wet mass of mussels on these kelp heads ranged from 2.5 to 2 462 g (median 86.4 g, interquartile range 14.8–353.8 g) and that of mussels on the stipes from 7.6 to 3 492 g (median 595.5 g, interquartile range 194.0–955.0 g). Mussel clumps consisted mostly of individuals <40 mm in length. Mussel clumps supported a rich biota of 80 invertebrate and 13 algal species. Larger clumps supported more epibiotic species, and those on stipes more species than those of comparable mass on kelp heads. The mussels and their associated epibiotic species negatively affected kelp buoyancy, but rarely enough to overcome natural buoyancy. Some kelp individuals that had been toppled by the weight of mussels and their epibiotic species, however, were encountered in situ. Implications of this invasion include large increases in animal biomass and species richness in the kelp canopy, plus reductions in kelp buoyancy and increased hydrodynamic drag on infected kelps, increasing their probability of being uprooted. Uprooted kelp individuals can raft long distances, potentially transporting both native and alien species to distant sites.     

A National Key R&D Program: Technologies and Guidelines for Monitoring Ecological Quality of Terrestrial Ecosystems in China

Ecological quality is defined as the stability, adaptability and resilience of an ecosystem. Monitoring and assessing ecological quality are important bases for China's ecological civilization construction. The national key research and development program “Technologies and guidelines for monitoring ecological quality of terrestrial ecosystems in China”, launched in July 2017, includes plans to study the observation technologies and provide guidelines on the ecological in-situ observation, the regional biodiversity and ecosystem function monitoring and its applications, all of which contribute to national ecological quality assessment. A year after its implementation, some important progress has been achieved, such as building the indicator system for comprehensive monitoring of ecological quality and improvement of the methods, mass data transmission, infrared camera-based monitoring of biodiversity, multi-angle automatic spectral observation systems, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based desert monitoring. We have organized this special issue and attempted to introduce the monitoring techniques and assessment methods on ecological quality from different perspectives in order to further promote the development of ecology and its observation methods.     

Local ecological knowledge demonstrates shifting baselines and the large-scale decline of sawfishes (Pristidae) in Tanzania

Sawfishes are coastally distributed rays that grow to very large sizes. All five species are assessed as Endangered or Critically Endangered as a result of population declines caused mainly by entanglements in fishing gear and by habitat degradation. Three species occur in the western Indian Ocean, but their populations are believed to have declined drastically in many areas and little is known about their presence in Tanzania. Fisher interviews were conducted to provide an overview of the status of sawfishes in Tanzania and to highlight where conservation actions should be focused to conserve sawfishes nationally. In total, 386 interviews were conducted: 296 at 31 villages in four regions on Tanzania’s mainland, and 90 interviews at 12 villages in four regions of Pemba Island. Less than half (46%) of the fishers were familiar with sawfishes and could identify one from a photograph. A precipitous decline in sawfish abundance in Tanzania could be inferred from the age-related decline in local knowledge of their existence; all fishers aged between 70 and 80 years were familiar with sawfishes, whereas only 10% of fishers younger than age 20 had ever heard of them. A total of 29 sawfish records were compiled, comprising 16 rostra and 14 catches that occurred between 2002 and 2014 (one record included both a catch and a rostrum). All rostra examined were from the largetooth sawfish Pristis pristis. Since 2002, the sawfish catches occurred in three locations, all on the mainland coast: in the southern Mtwara region, in the vicinity of the Rufiji Delta, and at Bagamoyo on the Zanzibar Channel. Interview data and rostra evidence suggest that the Rufiji Delta may be a largetooth sawfish nursery area, and confirmation of this should be a priority.     

Potential of satellite-derived ecosystem functional attributes to anticipate species range shifts

In a world facing rapid environmental changes, anticipating their impacts on biodiversity is of utmost relevance. Remotely-sensed Ecosystem Functional Attributes (EFAs) are promising predictors for Species Distribution Models (SDMs) by offering an early and integrative response of vegetation performance to environmental drivers. Species of high conservation concern would benefit the most from a better ability to anticipate changes in habitat suitability. Here we illustrate how yearly projections from SDMs based on EFAs could reveal short-term changes in potential habitat suitability, anticipating mid-term shifts predicted by climate-change-scenario models. We fitted two sets of SDMs for 41 plant species of conservation concern in the Iberian Peninsula: one calibrated with climate variables for baseline conditions and projected under two climate-change-scenarios (future conditions); and the other calibrated with EFAs for 2001 and projected annually from 2001 to 2013. Range shifts predicted by climate-based models for future conditions were compared to the 2001–2013 trends from EFAs-based models. Projections of EFAs-based models estimated changes (mostly contractions) in habitat suitability that anticipated, for the majority (up to 64%) of species, the mid-term shifts projected by traditional climate-change-scenario forecasting, and showed greater agreement with the business-as-usual scenario than with the sustainable-development one. This study shows how satellite-derived EFAs can be used as meaningful essential biodiversity variables in SDMs to provide early-warnings of range shifts and predictions of short-term fluctuations in suitable conditions for multiple species.     

Changes and opportunities for integrated management of the Razim-Sinoe Lagoon System

The aim of this paper is to identify the general trend of changes and the basic requirements of the most important lagoon system of the Black Sea, on the basis of critical analysis of existing data. A more coherent set of data sampled after 1988 on the basis of some intensive and extensive study and research programmes, including the main trophic parameters and the most representative structural and functional features of this complex of ecotonal lakes, is comparatively analysed together with more fragmentary data previously existing. The structural and functional changes within this complex of lakes were analysed based on 31 most representative variables belonging to the main abiotic and biological compartments of the two main lakes, Razim and Sinoe: dissolved organic carbon, dissolved oxygen, trophic state index TSI, nutrient content and ratio, salinity, chlorophyll, phytoplankton, zooplankton, submerged macrophytes, zoobenthos, fish and birds. Two stages were distinguised in the main structural changes, including morphometric connections with the Danube River and the Black Sea and hydrochemistry and its effects on communities. These transitions were associated with two main driving forces, water desalinisation and rapid eutrophication, and with other two kinds of man-induced changes, local hydrotechnical buildings and long-distance variables operating over the entire Danube River watershed. The information support system for sustainable management of the Razim-Sinoe Lagoon Complex as a part of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, integrating existing data from research programmes and an integrated monitoring system for new data is a final conclusion on further needs.     

基于生态系统服务视角的“土地分离与共享框架”解析

“土地分离和共享框架”是协调物质生产和生态保护、促进土地可持续利用的重要理论。本文梳理了“土地分离与共享框架”和生态系统服务间关联,剖析生态系统服务应用于该框架的理论基础,结合美国典型土地共享案例,分析了土地利用策略选择对粮食生产、生物多样性、直接和间接生态系统服务的影响,并探讨了该框架对中国生态系统工程的启示。结果表明：随着人类对土地功能认知的不断深入,“土地分离与共享框架”的拓展表现为从单一的粮食供给服务需求演进到粮食供给服务和其他生态系统服务的综合需求。当粮食供给服务与其他服务处于权衡状态时,在生态脆弱、恢复力差的地区,不同生态系统服务间多处于凸权衡关系,一般适宜采用分离策略;在生态系统稳定、恢复力强的地区,不同生态系统服务多处于凹权衡关系,一般适宜采用共享策略。结合美国典型土地共享案例发现,其土地利用实践中选择土地功能共享策略是比较适宜的;生态系统服务作为政策评估工具,可在策略选择和评估实施效果中发挥一定作用。研究结果可为可持续土地利用提供理论与方法支撑,并为中国制定土地利用策略提供参考。