生态系统健康与生物多样性*

生态系统健康学是一门研究人类活动、社会组织、自然系统及人类健康的整合性学科,主要探讨资源环境管理对策,以及生态系统健康与人类健康的关系。生态系统健康是人类健康的基础,是人类可持续发展的重要前提,维护生态系统健康,保护生物多样性,也就是维护人类生存的机会。人类健康依附于健康的生态系统功能和服务日益为人们所认识,关注和理解生物多样性、生态系统健康、人类健康之间的相互联系已成为全球可持续发展的必要条件。本文着重综述了生态系统健康的研究内容及全球环境变化背景下生物多样性的变化对生态系统健康的影响效应。     

Linking aboveground and belowground diversity

Aboveground and belowground species interactions drive ecosystem properties at the local scale, but it is unclear how these relationships scale-up to regional and global scales. Here, we discuss our current knowledge of aboveground and belowground diversity links from a global to a local scale. Global diversity peaks towards the Equator for large, aboveground organisms, but not for small (mainly belowground) organisms, suggesting that there are size-related biodiversity gradients in global aboveground-belowground linkages. The generalization of aboveground-belowground diversity relationships, and their role in ecosystem functioning, requires surveys at scales that are relevant to the organisms and ecosystem properties. Habitat sizes and diversity gradients can differ significantly between aboveground and belowground organisms and between ecosystems. These gradients in biodiversity and plant community trait perception need to be acknowledged when studying aboveground-belowground biodiversity linkages.     

Effects of soil and wood depletion on biodiversity

Human depletion of soil and wood resources is dramatically altering the biodiversity of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. This paper provides an overview of the numerous linkages between the depletion of soil and wood resources and the loss of biodiversity. While some of these linkages are well documented, others remain speculative or unexplored. In order to understand the full ramifications of resource depletion on biodiversity, additional research is required.     

Grasshopper （Orthoptera： Acrididae） biodiversity and grassland ecosystems

Interesting results may arise by combining studies on the structure and function of ecosystems with that of biodiversity for certain species. Grasshopper biodiversity is the result of the evolution of grassland ecosystems; however, it also impacts on the structure and the function of those ecosystems. We consider there to be a close relationship between the health of grassland ecosystems and grasshopper biodiversity. The main problems involved in this relationship are likely to include： （i） grasshopper biodiversity and its spatial pattern; （ii） the effect of grasshopper biodiversity on the ecological processes of grassland ecosystems; （iii） the biodiversity threshold of grasshopper population explosions; （iv） the relationship between grasshopper biodiversity and the natural and human factors that affect grassland ecosystems; and （v） grasshopper biodiversity and the health of grassland ecosystems. The solutions to these problems may provide sound bases for controlling disasters caused by grasshoppers and managing grassland ecosystems in the west of China. In this paper, we introduced two concepts for grasshopper biodiversity, that is, ＂spatial pattern＂ and ＂biodiversity threshold＂. It is helpful to understand the action of the spatial pattern of grasshopper biodiversity on the ecological processes of grassland ecosystems and the effect of this spatial pattern on the health of those ecosystems, owing to the fact that, in the west of China, grasslands are vast and grasshoppers are widely distributed. Moreover, we inferred that the change in the level of component richness at each type of grasshopper biodiversity can make an impact on grassland ecosystems, and therefore, there is likely to be a threshold to grasshopper biodiversity for the stability and the sustainability of those ecosystems.     

Indicators for biodiversity and ecosystem services: towards an improved framework for ecosystems assessment

Ecosystem assessment and monitoring requires the development and application of suitable indicators, i.e. they need to be (i) reliable and capable of simplifying complex relationships, (ii) quantifiable and transparent in order to enable an easy communication, and (iii) fit for the purpose of indication. These requirements are scarcely fulfilled in current ecosystem assessment and monitoring efforts to address the requirements of international biodiversity conventions. Here we present and test a set of seven criteria towards an improved framework for ecosystems indication with particular emphasis on the indication of biodiversity and ecosystem services: purpose of indication, indicator type according to the EEA’s Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response scheme, direct/indirect linkages to biodiversity and ecosystem services, spatial scale and scalability across scales, applicability of benchmarks/reference values, availability of data and protocols, and applicability of remote sensing. The criteria are tested using 24 indicators of ecosystem assessment and monitoring at the global, continental and regional scale. Based on the general trends revealed by our evaluation, we present recommendations to streamline and improve ecosystem indication with respect to international biodiversity conventions. The implementation of our recommendations does require concerted international effort, comparable, for instance, to the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in Europe.     

Assessing macroinvertebrate biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems: advances and challenges in DNA-based approaches

Assessing the biodiversity of macroinvertebrate fauna in freshwater ecosystems is an essential component of both basic ecological inquiry and applied ecological assessments. Aspects of taxonomic diversity and composition in freshwater communities are widely used to quantify water quality and measure the efficacy of remediation and restoration efforts. The accuracy and precision of biodiversity assessments based on standard morphological identifications are often limited by taxonomic resolution and sample size. Morphologically based identifications are laborious and costly, significantly constraining the sample sizes that can be processed. We suggest that the development of an assay platform based on DNA signatures will increase the precision and ease of quantifying biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems. Advances in this area will be particularly relevant for benthic and planktonic invertebrates, which are often monitored by regulatory agencies. Adopting a genetic assessment platform will alleviate some of the current limitations to biodiversity assessment strategies. We discuss the benefits and challenges associated with DNA-based assessments and the methods that are currently available. As recent advances in microarray and next-generation sequencing technologies will facilitate a transition to DNA-based assessment approaches, future research efforts should focus on methods for data collection, assay platform development, establishing linkages between DNA signatures and well-resolved taxonomies, and bioinformatics.     

Towards a Better Integration of Global Health and Biodiversity in the New Sustainable Development Goals Beyond Rio+20

In June 2012, Brazil hosted Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) marking the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit. The Rio+20 outcome document entitled The future we want provides general guidance to shape sustainable development policies, but fell short of providing legally binding agreements or pragmatic goals. Negotiators agreed to develop a process for the establishment of new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), building upon the Millennium Development Goals, and setting the foundation for the post-2015 UN development agenda. Our objective is to argue that discussions beyond Rio+20 and toward the adoption of SDGs offer a critical opportunity to re-assess the major challenges for global health and sustainable development. There is an urgent need to translate the general aspirations put forth by Rio+20 into concrete health outcomes and greater health equity. The way toward the post-2015 SDGs will likely be more effective if it highlights the full gamut of linkages between ecosystem processes, anthropogenic environmental changes (climate change, biodiversity loss, and land use), socio-economic changes, and global health. Negotiations beyond Rio+20 should strongly acknowledge the global health benefits of biodiversity protection and climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, which reduce diseases of poverty and protect the health of the most vulnerable. We argue that health and ecosystems are inextricably linked to all development sectors and that health should remain a critical priority for the upcoming SDGs in the context of global environmental change.     

Time for a paradigm shift toward a restorative culture

The United Nations' recent declaration of a Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030) conveys the immense scales of degradation we face and the urgency of ecological recovery. Yet it speaks predominantly to productivity‐based approaches that may poorly balance conservation and development goals. As a result, it overlooks or distorts the very real potential for the holistic restoration of natural and cultural ecosystems to achieve lasting social and human health and well‐being benefits, and help stem the grotesque loss of biodiversity and ecosystem health in these times. There is need for a profound paradigm shift to address the prevailing economic and political climate that is keeping our world and biosphere on their current ominous trajectory. Such a paradigm shift could be based on the idea of a “restorative culture.” Practically, this could proceed by coupling the foundational philosophies and modus operandi of restoration ecology with public health medicine. The outcome would be an era of more healthy and more science‐ and knowledge‐driven sustainable restoration and local redevelopment. A restorative culture would recognize the fundamental linkages between ecosystems and human health, and consider biodiversity as fundamental to personal, community, and cultural well‐being and resilience. This requires public–private and community and individual partnerships at city, township, and watershed scales, as well as progressive industry champions working in collaboration with governments and the United Nations.     

Regional zooplankton biodiversity provides limited buffering of pond ecosystems against climate change

1. Climate change and other human-driven environmental perturbations are causing reductions in biodiversity and impacting the functioning of ecosystems on a global scale. Metacommunity theory suggests that ecosystem connectivity may reduce the magnitude of these impacts if the regional species pool contains functionally redundant species that differ in their environmental tolerances. Dispersal may increase the resistance of local ecosystems to environmental stress by providing regional species with traits adapted to novel conditions. 2. We tested this theory by subjecting freshwater zooplankton communities in mesocosms that were either connected to or isolated from the larger regional species pool to a factorial manipulation of experimental warming and increased salinity. 3. Compensation by regional taxa depended on the source of stress. Warming tolerant regional taxa partially compensated for reductions in heat sensitive local taxa but similar compensation did not occur under increased salinity. 4. Dispersal-mediated species invasions dampened the effects of warming on summer net ecosystem productivity. However, this buffering effect did not occur in the fall or for periphyton growth, the only other ecosystem function affected by the stress treatments. 5. The results indicate that regional biodiversity can provide insurance in a dynamic environment but that the buffering capacity is limited to some ecosystem processes and sources of stress. Maintaining regional biodiversity and habitat connectivity may therefore provide some limited insurance for local ecosystems in changing environments, but is unable to impart resistance against all sources of environmental stress.     

Inland hypersaline lakes and the brine shrimp Artemia as simple models for biodiversity analysis at the population level

Biodiversity can be measured at different hierarchical levels, from genetic diversity within species to diversity of ecosystems, though policy-makers tend to use species richness. The 2010 goal of reducing biodiversity loss, agreed by the subscribers to the Convention on Biological Diversity, requires simple and reliable protocols to evaluate biodiversity at any level in a given ecosystem. Stakeholders, particularly policy makers, need to understand how ecosystem components interact to produce social and economic benefits on the long run, whilst scientists are expected to fulfil this demand by testing and modelling ideally simple (low diversity) ecosystems, and by monitoring key species. This work emphasizes the unique opportunity offered by inland, isolated salt lakes and the brine shrimp Artemia, an example of biodiversity contained at the intra-specific level, as simple models to understand and monitor biodiversity, as well as to assess its predicted positive association with ecosystem stability. In addition to having well identified species and strains and even clones, that allow to test reproductive effects (sexual versus asexual), Artemia benefits from the possibility to set up experimental testing at both laboratory scale and outdoor pond systems, for which a comprehensive cyst bank with sufficient amount of samples from all over the world is available.     

Examining the Links between Biodiversity and Human Health: An Interdisciplinary Research Initiative at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment, the agency seeks to conduct research on the structure and function of ecosystems and to improve our understanding of the processes that contribute to the sustained health of the nation’s ecosystems and the well-being of human populations. Changes in biodiversity can profoundly impact the ability of ecosystems to provide clean water, energy, food, recreation, and other services that contribute to human well-being. In addition, changes in biodiversity can affect the transmission of infectious disease to humans, particularly vectorborne diseases such as malaria and Lyme disease. The Environmental Protection Agency’s new initiative supports interdisciplinary research to characterize the mechanisms that link biodiversity and human health and to use this knowledge to develop integrative tools and approaches for quantifying and predicting these relationships. Research on these links can have an important impact on our view of biodiversity and how we manage resources to protect human and ecosystem health. Disclaimer: This work was funded in part under Grant #CX3-832328 with the American Association for the Advance of Science (AAAS). The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the Environmental Protection Agency.     

Quantifying associations of large vertebrates with salmon in riparian areas of British Columbia streams by means of camera-traps,bait stations,and hair samples

The importance of transfers of marine derived nutrients (MDN) in salmon between stream ecosystems and terrestrial riparian systems is a subject of much recent research which has established that MDN subsidies support populations of many animal species, affect riparian zone productivity and may control the biodiversity of riparian plant communities. Numerous biophysical processes are involved in the transfer of MDN between aquatic and riparian zones of streams but, the largest proportion of MDN transport across the aquatic-terrestrial interface appears to depend on the actions of a predator–scavenger complex (PSC) that in British Columbia includes at least 23 species of mammals and birds. Consequently, the role of salmon in maintaining riparian ecosystem integrity depends not only on spatial and temporal variations in salmon abundance but also on variations in the composition and strength of linkages between salmon and other PSC species. Measuring these linkages with traditional methods using direct observation would be prohibitively expensive and time consuming. In the current paper laser activated camera systems, salmon carcass manipulation and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis of hair samples were employed to (1) identify large vertebrate members of the PSC of riparian zone ecosystems and (2) quantify the strength of linkages of these PSC vertebrates to spatial and temporal changes in salmon abundance. Techniques developed and applied here to gain insights into the salmon PSC have several advantages over traditional survey methods. These include semi-automated capture of large volumes of data, identification of diurnally and nocturnally active PSC members, ready inclusion of experiments in field survey design, reduced impacts of unintentional human interference on survey results, and greatly reduced cost relative to direct observational studies. Results reported here confirm black bears (Ursus americanus), pine marten (Martes americana), cougar (Felis concolor), wolverine (Gulo luscus), eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), ravens (Corvus corox), and vultures (Cathartes aura) as large vertebrate members of the regional salmon PSC. However, the composition and strength of linkages between salmon and these PSC members vary so much in space and time that most appear unsuitable as generally useful indicators of the potential magnitude of salmon-dependent, MDN-transport from aquatic to riparian-zone ecosystems. Black bears however, given their high relative abundance, broad geographic distribution, and strong linkages to salmon represent a superior candidate for further development in combination with salmon, as indicators of the maintenance of MDN transport potential in future assessments of riparian ecosystem integrity of salmon bearing streams.     

Key ecological research questions for Central European forests

Forests are under pressure from accelerating global change. To cope with the multiple challenges related to global change but also to further improve forest management we need a better understanding of (1) the linkages between drivers of ecosystem change and the state and management of forest ecosystems as well as their capacity to adapt to ongoing global environmental changes, and (2) the interrelationships within and between the components of forest ecosystems. To address the resulting challenges for the state of forest ecosystems in Central Europe, we suggest 45 questions for future ecological research. We define forest ecology as studies on the abiotic and biotic components of forest ecosystems and their interactions on varying spatial and temporal scales. Our questions cover five thematic fields and correspond to the criteria selected for describing the state of Europe’s forests by policy makers, i.e. biogeochemical cycling, mortality and disturbances, productivity, biodiversity and biotic interactions, and regulation and protection. We conclude that an improved mechanistic understanding of forest ecosystems is essential for the further development of ecosystem-oriented multifunctional forest management in the face of accelerating global change.     

Biodiversity and ecosystem stability across scales in metacommunities

Although diversity–stability relationships have been extensively studied in local ecosystems, the global biodiversity crisis calls for an improved understanding of these relationships in a spatial context. Here, we use a dynamical model of competitive metacommunities to study the relationships between species diversity and ecosystem variability across scales. We derive analytic relationships under a limiting case; these results are extended to more general cases with numerical simulations. Our model shows that, while alpha diversity decreases local ecosystem variability, beta diversity generally contributes to increasing spatial asynchrony among local ecosystems. Consequently, both alpha and beta diversity provide stabilising effects for regional ecosystems, through local and spatial insurance effects respectively. We further show that at the regional scale, the stabilising effect of biodiversity increases as spatial environmental correlation increases. Our findings have important implications for understanding the interactive effects of global environmental changes (e.g. environmental homogenisation) and biodiversity loss on ecosystem sustainability at large scales.     

Indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem services: a synthesis across ecosystems and spatial scales

According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, common indicators are needed to monitor the loss of biodiversity and the implications for the sustainable provision of ecosystem services. However, a variety of indicators are already being used resulting in many, mostly incompatible, monitoring systems. In order to synthesise the different indicator approaches and to detect gaps in the development of common indicator systems, we examined 531 indicators that have been reported in 617 peer‐reviewed journal articles between 1997 and 2007. Special emphasis was placed on comparing indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem services across ecosystems (forests, grass‐ and shrublands, wetlands, rivers, lakes, soils and agro‐ecosystems) and spatial scales (from patch to global scale). The application of biological indicators was found most often focused on regional and finer spatial scales with few indicators applied across ecosystem types. Abiotic indicators, such as physico‐chemical parameters and measures of area and fragmentation, are most frequently used at broader (regional to continental) scales. Despite its multiple dimensions, biodiversity is usually equated with species richness only. The functional, structural and genetic components of biodiversity are poorly addressed despite their potential value across habitats and scales. Ecosystem service indicators are mostly used to estimate regulating and supporting services but generally differ between ecosystem types as they reflect ecosystem‐specific services. Despite great effort to develop indicator systems over the past decade, there is still a considerable gap in the widespread use of indicators for many of the multiple components of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and a need to develop common monitoring schemes within and across habitats. Filling these gaps is a prerequisite for linking biodiversity dynamics with ecosystem service delivery and to achieving the goals of global and sub‐global initiatives to halt the loss of biodiversity.     

Research needs for incorporating the ecosystem service approach into EU biodiversity conservation policy

Using a range of different methods including extensive reviews, workshops and an electronic conference, 70 key research recommendations and 12 priority research needs to integrate the ecosystem services approach into biodiversity conservation policy and funding were identified by a cross-disciplinary group of over 100 scientists and 50 stakeholders, including research funders and policy-makers. These recommendations focus on the ecological underpinning of ecosystem services, drivers that affect ecosystems and their services, biological traits and ecosystem services, the valuation of ecosystem services, spatial and temporal scales in ecosystem service assessment, indicators of ecosystem services, and habitat management, conservation policy and ecosystem services. The recommendations in this paper help steer the research agenda on ecosystem services into policy-relevant areas, agreed upon by funders, researchers and policy-makers. This research agenda will only succeed with increased collaboration between researchers across disciplines, thereby providing a challenge to the research community and research funders to work in new, interdisciplinary ways.     

Biodiversity, productivity and stability in real food webs

The global biodiversity crisis has motivated new theory and experiments that explore relationships between biodiversity (species richness and composition in particular), productivity and stability. Here we emphasize that these relationships are often bi-directional, such that changes in biodiversity can be both a cause and a consequence of changes in productivity and stability. We hypothesize that this bi-directionality creates feedback loops, as well as indirect effects, that influence the complex responses of communities to biodiversity losses. Important, but often neglected, mediators of this complexity are trophic interactions. Recent work shows that consumers can modify, dampen or even reverse the directionality of biodiversity-productivity-stability linkages inferred from the plant level alone. Such consumer mediation is likely to be common in many ecosystems. We suggest that merging biodiversity research and food-web theory is an exciting and pressing frontier for ecology, with implications for biodiversity conservation.     

Linking bioprospecting with sustainable development and conservation: the Panama case

The limited international resources for economic aid and conservation can only mitigate poverty and losses of biodiversity. Hence, developing nations must establish the capacity to resolve their problems. Additionally, policy-makers and donors need to obtain scientific input on issues such as global change and ecosystem services. We propose that for nations rich in biodiversity, ecosystem services derived from bioprospecting, or drug discovery, could contribute to economic development. In the case where unstudied samples are shipped abroad for research, the chances of obtaining royalties are infinitesimally small. Therefore developing nations will only realize benefits from bioprospecting through in-country research on their own biodiversity. Policy-makers and donors have failed to appreciate the value of this approach. In order to provide an example of the inherent links between conservation and sustainable economic development, we initiated a drug discovery effort in Panama that emphasizes local benefit. As much of the drug discovery process as possible is conducted in Panamanian laboratories, providing jobs dependent on intact biodiversity and enhancing local research and training. In short, research, plus the spin-offs from research, provide immediate and long-lasting benefits to Panama. The connection between conservation and development has been highlighted in publicity about the project in Panama’s urban media. This provides a constructive alternative to the perception the among the urban populace that economic development inevitably competes with conservation. In summary, our program uses biodiversity to promote human health as well as to support research capacity, economic development and conservation within Panama. The program provides an example of the widely recognized but little developed concept of bioprospecting research as an ecosystem service.     

Experience of initiating collaboration of traditional healers in managing HIV and AIDS in Tanzania

Given the increased use of traditional medicines, possibilities that would ensure its successful integration into a public health framework should be explored. This paper discusses some of the links between biodiversity and traditional medicine, and addresses their implications to public health. We explore the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services to global and human health, the risks which human impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity present to human health and welfare.     

Human transformation of ecosystems: Comparing protected and unprotected areas with natural baselines

Protected areas serve as reserves of biological diversity and conserve the naturalness of characteristic regional ecosystems. Numerous approaches have been applied to estimate the level of transformation of ecosystems and to compare trends inside and outside of protected areas. In this study, we apply aggregate indicators of anthropogenic pressures on ecosystems and biodiversity in a fine-scale spatial analysis to compare the level of human influence within protected and unprotected areas. The actual state of ecosystems is compared to a natural baseline that is intact or potential natural state. The results show that in a non-protected Central-European landscape, humans appropriate a considerable share of natural ecosystem productivity and carbon stocks, and significantly reduce natural biodiversity and ecosystem services. Human appropriation of net primary production reached more than 60% in total, humans reduced original biodiversity levels by 69%, and net carbon storage was considerably decreased by intensive types of land use. All three indicators significantly differed between protected areas and unprotected areas, suggesting that protected areas maintain higher biodiversity levels, store more carbon and are in total less influenced by human exploitation than average non-protected landscape. Furthermore, we bring evidence that human appropriation of net primary production is negatively related both to biodiversity and ecosystem services indicated by mean species abundance and net carbon storage at the national level. Our results contribute to the quantitative evidence of the impacts of anthropogenic transformation of natural ecosystems on the ecosystem condition, supporting the hypothesis that protected areas significantly reduce anthropogenic pressures and contribute to maintaining critical ecosystem services and biodiversity.