浅谈我国湿地生物多样性的保护

湿地能够有效的改善我们生存的环境环境,被亲切的誉为"地球之肾"。以占地球百分之六的覆盖面积,养活了百分之二十的物种。下面我根据不同地区的湿地特点和现状,简要谈谈我国各地的湿地的保护。     

城市湿地概念和功能及中国城市湿地保护

随着城市化进程加快,城市湿地保护问题日益突出。城市湿地是存在于城市区域之内的湿地,其生态服务功能与乡野湿地有着明显不同。受人为活动干扰强烈,中国城市湿地存在面积缩小、功能退化、污染严重,特别是富营养化现象突出。而由于长期对城市湿地研究薄弱,对湿地功能与价值认识存在偏差,以及城市湿地保护较高的机会成本,使得中国城市湿地保护面临诸多困难。本文在分析中国城市湿地存在的问题基础上,提出中国城市湿地保护对策,并就当前中国城市湿地研究与保护问题进行探讨。     

湿地研究现状及保护管理

通过查阅大量资料,阐述了湿地的定义、分类、功能、资源、保护与管理,以及湿地科学的研究领域,并将国际湿地研究与中国湿地研究作对比分析,旨在宣传湿地保护及提供教学素材。     

中国湿地生态站现状、发展趋势及空间布局

湿地调查与监测是全面了解和掌握湿地变化,开展湿地保护和修复的前提和基础。湿地生态站是开展湿地长期监测和野外试验的平台,对研究湿地生态系统过程与功能,揭示湿地变化机理具有重要作用。系统梳理了我国现有的湿地生态站,分析了当前湿地生态站建设中面临的问题,指出：与国际主要生态观测网络相比,我国综合性湿地生态站数量较少、比例偏低,导致在湿地生态系统监测和评估上存在较大空缺;现有生态站存在层级结构不合理、监测指标体系不规范等问题,制约了国家尺度湿地生态系统监测评估的需求。研究基于中国湿地生态站的现状,提出综合性湿地生态站布局原则,认为：应反映湿地生态系统类型代表性及湿地的空间分布特征,体现综合站-区域站-卫星站的层级结构特点,服务国家湿地保护和生态修复的战略需求。按照上述布局原则,对今后综合性湿地生态站的空间布局提出建议。同时,对湿地站发展定位、聚焦的前沿科学问题、湿地联网研究及国际合作方面提出了展望。     

我国湿地生态系统现状综述

阐述了我国湿地生态系统的现状及该生态系统主要特点,列举了我国为保护湿地生态系统及湿地动物植物设立的保护区,以期为我国的湿地保护及合理开发利用提供一些依据。     

中国沿海湿地保护绿皮书——沿海湿地保护十大进展与最值得关注的十块滨海湿地

中国沿海湿地拥有极其丰富的生物多样性,不仅支撑着具有国际意义的东亚-澳大利西亚鸟类迁飞路线上的数百万迁徙水鸟,还孕育着丰富的渔业资源,也是全球生物多样性的重要组成部分。然而我国沿海湿地保护还受湿地环境污染和外来物种入侵等威胁。《中国沿海湿地保护绿皮书》是介绍中国沿海湿地健康状况、保护进展与热点问题的双年度评估报告。重点介绍中国沿海湿地保护十大进展和最值得关注的十块滨海湿地。     

<中国湿地研究和保护>一书简介

<中国湿地研究和保护>是一本得到国家教育部科技司专项资金资助,由高校湿地研究中心著名湿地研究专家郎惠卿、林鹏、陆健健等教授主编,华东师范大学出版社于1998年8月出版的有关中国湿地研究和保护的学术论文集.     

北美水禽管理计划(NAWMP)及其对中国湿地生态环境建设的启示

保护水禽栖息的湿地已成为全球湿地生态系统研究的热点。本文阐述了北美水禽管理计划(NAWMP)的形成条件、遵循原则和设计理念,总结其该计划在共同管理、联合攻坚、资金积累等方面所取得的成功经验,并以PPJV草原沼泽保护合作项目为例分析了其在国际合作方面取得的突出成就;分析了中国水禽栖息地的湿地生态系统所面临的问题与挑战,提出应借鉴北美水禽管理计划的设计理念和成功经验,在湿地保护区共管、当地政府和当地社区参与及国际合作等方面需不断完善,并对中国湿地监测体系的建立、湿地开发方案的制定、对群众的宣传教育等方面提出了相应对策。     

北京市湿地维管束植物多样性及优先保护级别划分

综合样带法和样方法对北京24处湿地进行调查,以样地数据为基础计算各处湿地维管束植物的多样性指数,及典型湿地维管束植物物种丰富度和优势度,并对计算结果进行聚类分析。根据分类结果对湿地赋分,密云水库、永定河、玉渡山水库3处湿地确定为重点保护区域,金海湖、汉石桥、野鸭湖等6处湿地确定为一级保护区域,潮白河、拒马河等6处湿地确定为二级保护区域,三里河、翠湖等6处湿地确定为三级保护区域,白河堡水库、北运河和凉水河3处湿地确定为湿地修复区域。根据各处湿地的特点提出国家级、市级、县级湿地自然保护区,湿地保护区小区、市级、县级湿地公园,湿地恢复小区的建设方案。     

中国南中国海海岸湿地的保护和管理

中国南中国海湿地是中国各类生态系统中生物多样性最为丰富的地区之一,也是中国人口稠密、经济发达的地区。范围包括广东省、香港特别行政区、澳门特别行政区、广西壮族自治区和海南省等5个行政区。该区海岸湿地总面积约为1.54×104km2。海岸湿地处于海陆的交错地带,是脆弱的生态敏感区。由于受人口增加和经济发展的巨大压力,中国南中国海湿地破坏严重,退化趋势明显。本文在对中国南中国海地区海岸湿地的现状、类型及湿地退化的主要原因进行分析的基础上,提出中国南中国海地区海岸湿地资源保护与管理的建议,以便切实保护中国南中国海沿海多样化的湿地类型,持续发挥其生态服务功能。     

向海自然保护区丹顶鹤生境结构空间特征

丹顶鹤为国家一级保护珍稀禽类,是向海自然保护区重点保护对象。在我国乃至世界范围的丹顶鹤保护中占有重要的地位。近年来,由于自然条件和人类活动的干扰,丹顶鹤的天然家园．沼泽湿地发生退化,其生存受到威胁,丹顶鹤的数量波动变化较大。为了有效地保护丹顶鹤有必要详细了解和掌握其生境结构的空间特征和变化特点,以了解丹顶鹤的生境动态。在RS、GIS技术和统计分析方法的支持下,运用景观生态学方法对向海自然保护区丹顶鹤生境空间结构特征从景观特征、生境斑块空间关系和生境破碎化3个方面进行分析。选择景观斑块面积、周长、斑块大小以及斑块密度等描述保护区景观格局基本特征。利用斑块的邻接边界长度和斑块间隙指数分析丹顶鹤生境——沼泽斑块的空间邻接关系和聚集程度,数据表明沼泽斑块与人类活动频繁的耕地邻接较为紧密,而自身的间隙指数自20世纪70年代以来有明显增大趋势。分析了由于自然原因和人为活动影响所造成的丹顶鹤生境斑块的空间破碎化程度。计算结果表明,由于沼泽生境自身条件的限制,研究区内物理性破碎化减少的生境面积为2039．6hm^2,人为破碎化（居民地和道路）减少的生境面积为3845．1hm^2,这样研究区内丹顶鹤适宜生境面积为13680．1hm^2,可见人类活动对丹顶鹤生境影响很大。研究为保护区内丹顶鹤物种的保护和生境管理提供重要的科学依据。     

The Ichthyofauna Associated with an Intertidal Creek and Adjacent Eelgrass Beds in the Kariega Estuary,South Africa

The structure and functioning of salt marsh fish communities in the overall ecology of southern African estuaries is poorly understood. This study compares the ichthyofauna associated with a salt marsh creek and eelgrass bed in an attempt to evaluate the relative importance of these habitats to fishes. Taylor's salt marsh creek and adjacent eelgrass bed in the Kariega Estuary were sampled twice per season between the winter of 1992 and the autumn of 1994. The average density and standing stock of fishes were found to be considerably higher in the eelgrass bed than in the intertidal creek. Both habitats had similar fish diversities but were dominated by different taxa, the most notable of which was the dominance of mugilids in the creek and their scarcity in the eelgrass. Taylor's intertidal creek and adjacent eelgrass beds were dominated by juvenile fish, with both habitats functioning as nursery areas for juvenile fish, albeit for totally different ichthyofaunal communities. The similar fish diversities but lower abundances in the intertidal creek compared to the eelgrass beds are in contrast to similar North American studies, and refute the hypothesis that intertidal salt marsh creeks have higher fish densities but lower diversities than eelgrass beds.The first author is also the senior author     

The effects of predation by the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus (L.), on the abundance and distribution of the salt marsh snail, Melampus bidentatus (Say)

Enclosure and exclosure experiments were conducted in Canary Creek marsh to examine how predation by a killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus (L.), affects the abundance and size distribution of the salt marsh snail, Melampus bidentatus (Say). Enclosures (7.6 × 19.7 m) were stocked with Fundulus heteroclitus at densities of one-half normal, normal, twice normal, and four times normal density. Fish exclusion pens were also built. In both years of study, the mean density of snails increased significantly in pens where fish were excluded or their density reduced. During the same period in each year, the density of snails in pens containing higher than normal fish density fell by ≈50%.

Fish density also affected the size distribution of snails within pens. In both years, mean shell length of snails in the pen with the highest density of fish was significantly greater, and mean shell length of snails within fish exclusion pens was significantly lower than in all other treatments. Gape size limitation of F. heteroclitus causes selective predation on small snails and apparently is responsible for the difference in mean shell length among treatments.

Density and size distribution measurements of the natural Melampus bidentatus population in Canary Creek marsh were also taken. Larger snails were found to occur in the low marsh zone, whereas smaller snails occurred in the high marsh zone. Since the high marsh area is flooded less often than the low marsh, and the grass types found in the high marsh zone are known to afford protection from fish predation, the distribution of snails in the marsh is consistent with the idea that fish predation is an important factor influencing the distribution of snails in Canary Creek marsh.     

Edaphic diatom communities associated with Spartina alterniflora and S. patens in New Jersey

Edaphic diatoms inhabiting the sediments beneath dwarf Spartina alterniflora Loisel. and S. patens (Ait.) Muhl. in Great Bay salt marsh, Tuckerton, New Jersey were collected from 24 September 1974 through 20 August 1975. Of the 91 taxa encountered, 8 were endemic to the dwarf S. alterniflora habitat and 42 endemic to the S. patens habitat. The edaphic diatom community associated with S. patens was comprised of a much greater number of taxa and possessed higher values for species diversity (H') and evenness (J') than the community associated with dwarf S. alterniflora. The salinity of the marsh surface showed a completely opposite trend, being greatly reduced at the S. patens habitat. A highly significant relationship (P < 0.001) between the number of diatom taxa and marsh surface salinity at the S. patens habitat was demonstrated by a least squares regression. This finding led to the conclusion that the dissimilarity in the structure of the two edaphic diatom communities was primarily due to the very low marsh surface salinities at the S. patens habitat from January through June, and that this sustained. low-salinity regime allowed a very large number of taxa to coexist only in the S. patens community. Comparison of the diatom flora of Great Bay salt marsh with that of a Delaware marsh studied previously by the author showed that 67.0% of the 91 taxa encountered in New Jersey also occur on the Delaware marsh.     

Current status and future prospects of Zoige Marsh in Eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Zoige Marsh, located in the Northeastern Qianghai-Tibet Plateau, is the largest highland marsh in the world. The marsh is one of the hotspots for biodiversity, harboring many endemic and endangered species, including Grus nigricollis, the only plateau crane. Zoige Marsh has a large area of high-quality grasslands, serving as the fifth largest livestock base in China, and it is also the major water source to the headstream of the Yellow River. However, due to global warming and unwise use of the marsh resources, including ditching for grassland enlargement, peat exploitation, and livestock grazing, since the 1970s, Zoige Marsh has suffered severe ecosystem degradations such as vegetation recessive succession, biodiversity loss, soil deterioration, and rodent disasters. It is therefore imperative to restore the damaged marsh. We propose in this paper that ecological engineering and livestock population control must be taken as measures for ecological restoration and biodiversity protection.     

扬子鳄的现状与保护

扬子鳄为我国特有的珍稀爬行动物,被我国政府列为国家一级保护,在我国有关它的记载已有三千多年的历史。古典文献把它记作“鼍’,民间称为“土龙”、“猪婆龙”,拉丁学名叫Alligatorsinensis。据史料记载,约五百多年前,它在长江中下游种群分布稠密,分布区范围约在东经11     

Habitat use and growth of age-0 whitefish,Coregonus lavaretus,and cisco,C. albula

Synopsis Local American eel stocks were studied by mark-recapture methods along 600m of tidal creeks in Great Sippewisset Marsh, Falmouth, Massachusetts, during summer 1979. The estimated stock density was 350 eels, equivalent to 875 fish ha^-1, and movement of individual American eels over the five week study was usually less than 100 m. Large American eels were found to predominate in the wide marsh creeks whereas smaller American eels predominated in narrower creeks at the landward side of the marsh. Territoriality is suggested as a mechanism for maintaining differences in distribution of size classes and a limited home range.Senior author     

Vegetation as self‐adaptive coastal protection: Reduction of current velocity and morphologic plasticity of a brackish marsh pioneer

By reducing current velocity, tidal marsh vegetation can diminish storm surges and storm waves. Conversely, currents often exert high mechanical stresses onto the plants and hence affect vegetation structure and plant characteristics. In our study, we aim at analysing this interaction from both angles. On the one hand, we quantify the reduction of current velocity by Bolboschoenus maritimus, and on the other hand, we identify functional traits of B. maritimus’ ramets along environmental gradients. Our results show that tidal marsh vegetation is able to buffer a large proportion of the flow velocity at currents under normal conditions. Cross‐shore current velocity decreased with distance from the marsh edge and was reduced by more than 50% after 15 m of vegetation. We were furthermore able to show that plants growing at the marsh edge had a significantly larger diameter than plants from inside the vegetation. We found a positive correlation between plant thickness and cross‐shore current which could provide an adaptive value in habitats with high mechanical stress. With the adapted morphology of plants growing at the highly exposed marsh edge, the entire vegetation belt is able to better resist the mechanical stress of high current velocities. This self‐adaptive effect thus increases the ability of B. maritimus to grow and persist in the pioneer zone and may hence better contribute to ecosystem‐based coastal protection by reducing current velocity.     

Hambleton Island restoration: Environmental Concern's first wetland creation project

Early in 1971, the author began a 1-year sabbatical near Hambleton Island (HI) after resigning from his teaching/researching chemistry professorship at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. A new career for the author and this project commenced after reading “The Life and Death of a Salt Marsh” by Teal and Teal [Teal, J., Teal, M., 1969. Life and Death of the Salt Marsh. Little, Brown and Co., Boston, MA]. After obtaining the necessary Maryland and Army COE permits to proceed with this project, one of the author's chemistry post doctorates, Dr. Paul Woller, and one of his graduate students who just received his Ph.D. in chemistry, Dr. Robert McCallum, joined the author to restore a section of Hambleton Island that had eroded into two islands, back to a single section through the creation of over 0.8 ha of tidal brackish marsh. This is a story of the creation of a tidal marsh by three Ph.D. chemists who had never grown a plant and, at the beginning, knew nothing about wetlands. In 1972, the author formed Environmental Concern Inc., a public not-for-profit corporation that has constructed (created, restored, or enhanced) over 700 non-tidal and tidal wetlands throughout mostly the eastern USA through year 2003.     

The protective role of coastal marshes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

Salt marshes lie between many human communities and the coast and have been presumed to protect these communities from coastal hazards by providing important ecosystem services. However, previous characterizations of these ecosystem services have typically been based on a small number of historical studies, and the consistency and extent to which marshes provide these services has not been investigated. Here, we review the current evidence for the specific processes of wave attenuation, shoreline stabilization and floodwater attenuation to determine if and under what conditions salt marshes offer these coastal protection services.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We conducted a thorough search and synthesis of the literature with reference to these processes. Seventy-five publications met our selection criteria, and we conducted meta-analyses for publications with sufficient data available for quantitative analysis. We found that combined across all studies (n = 7), salt marsh vegetation had a significant positive effect on wave attenuation as measured by reductions in wave height per unit distance across marsh vegetation. Salt marsh vegetation also had a significant positive effect on shoreline stabilization as measured by accretion, lateral erosion reduction, and marsh surface elevation change (n = 30). Salt marsh characteristics that were positively correlated to both wave attenuation and shoreline stabilization were vegetation density, biomass production, and marsh size. Although we could not find studies quantitatively evaluating floodwater attenuation within salt marshes, there are several studies noting the negative effects of wetland alteration on water quantity regulation within coastal areas.

Conclusions/Significance

Our results show that salt marshes have value for coastal hazard mitigation and climate change adaptation. Because we do not yet fully understand the magnitude of this value, we propose that decision makers employ natural systems to maximize the benefits and ecosystem services provided by salt marshes and exercise caution when making decisions that erode these services.