生物多样性重要区域识别——国外案例、国内研究进展

生物多样性丧失已经成为全球重大环境问题之一,重要区域或重要物种的识别是制定和实施保护计划的首要步骤,生物多样性保护的优先性研究成为保护生物学研究的焦点之一。优先保护的概念很早就被提出,保护国际(Conservation International,CI)一直倡导的热点地区途径受到国际社会的重视,生物多样性重要区域(KBAs)可以是综合的,也可以是单一类群的重要区域,如不同的国家已经开展了鸟类重要区域(important bird areas,IBAs)、植物重要区域(important plants areas,IPAs)、蝴蝶重要区域(prime butterfly areas,PBAs)和两栖爬行动物重要区域(important amphibians and reptiles areas,IARAs)等的识别研究工作。集中力量优先保护一些重要的地区是目前生物多样性保护较为现实和高效的途径。以佛得角群岛(the Cape Verde Islands)、意大利(Italy)、荷兰(the Netherlands)分别依据动物、植物单一类群或多个类群组合进行生物多样性重要区域识别为例,介绍了几个国家的生物多样性重要区域识别经验,概述国内在生物多样性重要区域识别领域的研究现状,详细介绍了海南岛生物多样性保护优先区识别案例,同时以国务院2010年批准实施的《中国生物多样性保护战略与行动计划(2011—2030年)》划定的32个陆地生物多样性保护优先区为例,提出中国未来应全面开展生物多样性本底调查,在充分获取生物多样性分布数据的基础上,依据植被类型和物种多样性以及受威胁因素等,在32个陆地生物多样性保护优先区内进一步客观准确地识别生物多样性重要区域(热点中的热点或重要区域中的重要区域),为中国未来的保护地规划、生物多样性监测、政策制定等提供科学支撑。

Case studies on the identification of key biodiversity areas (KBAs) in foreign countries and progress and prospects in China

The loss of biodiversity has become one of major global environmental problems. The efforts to protect the biodiversity must be prioritized because the resources for nature conservation are limited. The identification of significant or important species or areas is the first step in the formulation and implementation of the protection scheme. Priority conservation for biodiversity has become the focus of conservation biology. Priority protection in some important areas is a practical and efficient practice. The concept of priority conservation was proposed a long time ago, and increasing attention has been focused on the hot areas advocated by the Conservation International. The important biodiversity areas (KBAs) can be categorized based on numerous criteria, including single and several causes, from ecological integrity to species representation, such as important bird areas (IBAs), important plants areas (IPAs), prime butterfly areas (PBAs), and important amphibians and reptiles areas (IARAs) supported by different protection projects. This paper presents some case studies on the identification of KBAs in the Cape Verde Islands, Italy, the Netherlands, summarizes the progress and the case of Hainan Province in China, and suggests that a further identification of important biodiversity areas (important areas within important areas or hotspots with hotspots) should be carried out based on a detailed biodiversity survey and full access to the distribution data on biodiversity within 32 priority areas for conservation of terrestrial biodiversity, which proposed in the "China Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (2011-2030)"(NBSAP) approved by the State Council in 2010, Conservation planning decisions are typically made on the basis of species distribution or occurrence data. The main methodological challenges are the lack of recent easily accessible data for species and habitats and the definition of practical boundaries. We believe that this study will provide scientific support for future biodiversity monitoring, protection planning, policy making in the region.