The key elements of a comprehensive global mammal conservation strategy

A global strategy is necessary to achieve the level of coordination, synergy and therefore optimization of resources to achieve the broad goal of conserving mammals worldwide. Key elements for the development of such a strategy include: an institutional subject that owns the strategy; broad conservation goals, quantitative targets derived from them and appropriate indicators; data on the distribution of species, their threats, the cost-effectiveness of conservation actions; and a set of methods for the identification of conservation priorities. Previous global mammal research investigated phylogeny, extinction risk, and the species and areas that should be regarded as global conservation priorities. This theme issue presents new key elements: an updated Red List Index, a new list of evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species, new high-resolution mammal distribution models, a global connectivity analysis and scenarios of future mammal distribution based on climate and land-cover change. Area prioritization schemes account for mammalian phylogeny, governance and cost-benefit of measures to abate habitat loss. Three discussion papers lay the foundations for the development of a global unifying mammal conservation strategy, which should not be further deterred by the knowledge gaps still existing.     

云南省香格里拉大峡谷藏族神山在自然保护中的意义

位于云南省西北部迪庆藏族自治州境内的香格里拉大峡谷拥有独特的自然人文景观和丰富的生物多样性。藏族作为当地最重要的原住民族,他们的文化对当地的自然环境具有重要的影响。为了解藏族传统文化中的神山崇拜对香格里拉大峡谷地区自然环境的影响,本文应用民族生态学、植物生态学和文化人类学的研究方法,结合文献资料的分析,对香格里拉大峡谷的藏族神山进行了调查和研究,并对处于不同保护状态下（神山与非神山）的两个典型植物群落即高山松(Pinus densata)群落和云南黄果冷杉(Abies ernestii var. salouenensis)群落进行了比较。结果显示,在相同的样地面积内（20 m×20 m）,神山植物群落在物种数量（20,14）和群落盖度（100%,85%）方面都明显高于非神山植物群落（11,2;70%,60%）。结合入户调查资料,发现广泛分布于香格里拉大峡谷的藏族神山构成了一个“自下而上”的乡土保护体系,它不仅在保护生物多样性、维护当地脆弱的生态环境等方面发挥着重要的作用,而且还可以提供多种非林产品,实现多种生态功能。文章探讨了发挥乡土保护体系的保护功效及应用传统文化知识以促进自然保护的重要性,建议应当尊重和保护原住民的传统文化,发掘其中优秀的自然保护知识和经验,引导其发挥更加有效的自然保护功能,使民族传统保护体系成为现代自然保护体系的有力补充。     

Shades of irreplaceability: towards a measure of the contribution of sites to a reservation goal

In most regions there are many possible ways of combining numbers of sites into reserve systems that represent a range of natural feasures. The irreplaceability of a site is operationally defined as the percentage of these alternative systems in which it occurs. This is a fundamental measure of the conservation value of the site in terms of its potential contribution to the achievement of a reservation goal or, alternatively, the options for reservation that are lost if the site is lost. The measure allows decisions to be made on the future of individual sites in the context of their value, in combination with other sites, to the conservation of the full range of natural features in a region. It also provides a logical framework for the design of whole systems of reserves, with decisions proceeding from the most to the least irreplaceable. Irreplaceability can be measured directly for small data sets but must be predicted for regional data sets. A promising approach to prediction is discussed that requires validation with more extensive trials. The irreplaceability of a site depends on a specific reservation target and changes as some of the site's features become progressively represented in reserves elsewhere. The concept of irreplaceability undermines notions of conservation value that are static or based on a single static system of sites to achieve a reservation goal.     

关于IUCN和WWF联合植物保护研究计划工作的成就和今后的任务

植物是人类和动物生活所必需,由于缺乏长远规划的目标,无计划的滥用已导致许多植物灭绝或陷入濒临灭绝的境地。为此,IUCN—WWF联合建立了“植物保护研究计划”,并把其列入他们各自工作的重点。主要工作内容有下列各项:1)传播信息宣传群众;2)建立必要的植物保护的工作条件:3)植物遗传资源的保护:4)野生经济植物的保护:5)加强植物园开展植物保护的工作条件:6)促进植物丰富的国家开展植物保护工作。     

水獭的研究与保护现状

目前世界上水獭数量的急剧下降已引起广泛关注.从水獭的分布、生境选择、食性以及种群动态方面综述了近年来世界有关水獭的生态学与保护研究进展,探讨了水獭的保护现状及存在的问题,并结合实际情况提出了对水獭保护的建议.     

系统保护规划的理论、方法及关键问题

为了减缓生物多样性丧失的趋势、将有限的保护资源用于关键区域,Margules等提出了系统保护规划(Systematic Conservation Planning)概念和方法,目前该方法已成为国际主流保护规划方法。与传统基于专家决策的保护体系规划方法不同,系统保护规划拥有量化的保护目标、保护成本,并综合考虑保护体系连通性、人为干扰因素,使用优化算法计算,从而获得空间明晰的生物多样性保护体系。在阐述规划理念、规划流程与方法的基础上,重点评述了生物多样性替代指标的选择、保护规划成本的计算、保护目标的设置、规划结果的可靠性评估等关键问题,并结合我国的具体情况,探讨了该方法在我国的应用前景,以期为推进我国生物多样性与生态服务功能的保护做出贡献。     

自然保护区体系构建方法研究进展

面对越来越严重的野生生物的生境丧失和生境破碎化威胁,如何构建科学的自然保护区体系成为自然保护区学领域研究的热点问题.本文在对国内外自然保护区体系构建文献分类整理的情况下,具体介绍了保护空缺分析、保护优先区分析和生态区保护规划分析等自然保护区合理布局方法,以及生境廊道规划设计方法.对各种方法的优缺点和适用条件进行了分析,提出了目前自然保护区体系构建方法研究中存在的问题,并探讨了未来的研究方向,以期对自然保护区体系构建的研究和实践提供一定的参考,促进自然保护区事业的发展.     

Characterization of sequence variability in nucleosome core histone folds

The three-helix, approximately 65-residue histone fold domain is the most structurally conserved part of the core histones H2A, H2B, H3, and H4. However, it evinces a notable degree of sequence variation within and between histone classes. We used two approaches to characterize sequence variation in these histone folds, toward elucidating their structure/function relationships and evolution. On the one hand we asked how much of the sequence variation seen in structure-based alignments of the folds maintains physicochemical properties at a position, and on the other, whether conservation correlates to structural importance, as measured by the number of residue-to-residue contacts a position makes. Strong physicochemical conservation or correlation of conservation to contacts would support the idea that functional constraints, rather than genetic drift, determines the observed range of variants at a given position. We used an 11-state table of physicochemical properties to classify each position in the core histone fold (CHF) alignments, and a public website (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/thornton-srv/databases/cgi-bin/valdar/scorecons_server.pl) to score conservation. We found that, depending on histone class, from 38 to 77% of CHF positions are maximally conserved physicochemically, and that for H2B, H3, and H4 the degree to which a position is conserved correlates positively to the number of contacts made by the residue at that position in the crystal structure of the nucleosome core particle. We also examined the correlation between conservation and the type of contact (e.g., inter- or intrachain, histone-histone, or histone-DNA, etc.). For H2B, H3, and H4 we found a positive correlation between conservation and number of interchain protein contacts. No such correlation or statistical significance was found for DNA or intrachain contacts. This suggests that variations in the CHF sequences could be functionally constrained by requirements to make sufficient interchain histone contacts. We also suggest that inventory of histone residue variants can augment functional studies of histones. An example is presented for histone H3.     

云南野生稻资源及其保护

云南野生稻生态类型丰富,且具有抗白叶枯病、抗稻瘟病、耐旱、耐寒等栽培稻不具有或已经消失的遗传基因,是水稻品种改良的优良基因库。然而,随着人类社会经济活动对生态环境影响的加剧,这一宝贵的战略性生物资源正面临着快速消失的危险。为了加强云南野生稻资源的保护,近年来,我们对云南野生稻资源开展了原生境保护(物理隔离方式和主流化方式)及非原生境保护(种质库、种质圃、细胞库和DNA库)等保护技术研究,明确了各种保护方法的优缺点和适用性,保护了云南野生稻的多样性和丰富度,为改良栽培稻储备了丰富的基因源。     

基于生物多样性的樟江流域自然保护地空间优化

优化生态保护空间格局是我国生态文明建设的重要内容,也是国际保护生态学研究的前沿方向。评估资源禀赋、识别并确定优先次序和预测保护区对保护和管理濒危物种至关重要。樟江流域内已占11.9%流域面积的保护区仍出现77.9%流域面积的生境显著退化,发展与保护亟待合理平衡。Zonation4GUI软件以互补性非穷尽式算法为基础,在优化已有保护网络并表征稀有性和独特性方面结果较为理想,以此展开樟江流域自然保护地空间整合优化路径研究。先人工预处理物种栖息地分布格局、物种保护权重、规划单元,并迭代选择输入性生境退化条件图层、保护代价图层,结合人工干扰情况提出三种不同情景下的优化方案。结果表明:保护优先区对代理物种栖息地有良好的覆盖效果,生态完整性优先情景和最小社会经济和土地资源代价的保护优化情景均呈现扩建小于8%的一级优先区域,所有保护对象均受到保护;加入27%左右的所有优先区域,两种优化方案覆盖所有保护对象栖息地的比例提升70.0%和59.0%。虽然生态完整性优先的优化情景优于最小社会经济和土地资源代价下的优化情景,但保护代价更高。人为干扰强烈的抢救优先的优化情景中, 90.7%的保护对象栖息地覆盖范...     

The conservation of declining butterfly populations in Britain and Europe: priorities, problems and successes

The status, ecology and conservation of butterflies in Europe and Britain are reviewed, as a background to the National Trust's past and future contribution to British conservation. Britain has a poor butterfly fauna by European standards, the main areas of endemism and species richness being in the Alps and southern Europe. To date, the main declines among European butterfly populations have occurred across central-northern Europe, with slightly higher extinction rates in mainland countries than in Britain. The main causes of decline are biotope destruction, the loss of certain species' habitats within surviving semi-natural biotopes due to changed land management, and a failure by several species to track the patches of their habitat that are still being generated in modern fragmented landscapes. Until recently, most conservation programmes failed to take account of the latter two factors, resulting in many local extinctions of rare butterfly species even in conservation areas. Recent measures have been much more successful; many were first tested on National Trust properties.     

三峡库区生态系统服务功能重要性评价

在RS与GIS技术支持下,选择研究区比较重要的生物多样性保护、土壤保持、水源涵养和营养物质保持四个生态系统服务功能,建立生态系统服务功能重要性评价模型与方法,对三峡库区重庆段生态系统服务功能进行综合研究,定量揭示了研究区生态系统服务功能重要性程度及其空间分布规律.结果表明:(1)生物多样性保护高度重要以上地区的面积比达到了15％以上;极重要地区主要呈斑块状分布在东北部、中部和东南部.(2)土壤保持极重要区占据绝对优势地位,面积比为68.80％;土壤保持极重要区主要分布在万州及其东北部地区.(3)水源涵养一般重要区面积最大,其次为极重要地区;极重要区沿江河呈带状分布,高度重要区主要分布在极重要区两侧沿江河呈环带状分布.(4)营养物质保持一般重要区面积最大;其次是极重要区;极重要区基本呈条带形分布在植被覆盖较好的山脉及江河两侧.(5)生态系统服务功能极重要和高度重要区的面积占到了研究区总面积的近50％;极重要区基本沿主要江河两侧第一层分水岭和西部平行岭谷区的山脊呈条带形分布;高度重要区基本分布在极重要区两侧层环带形分布,少部分零散分布.     

长果秤锤树保护现状的初步研究

本文从自然环境、种群分布、数量、种群结构、人为破坏、保护及管理等方面分析了湖南石门长果秤锤树的就地保护现状,并从种子繁殖、扦插繁殖、栽培、试管保存及开发利用潜力等方面总结了武汉植物所近年来对长果秤锤树进行迁地保护研究的初步成果,并提出了相应的保护措施。     

Changing attitudes in nature conservation: the Nature Conservancy and Nature Conservancy Council

An official organization responsible for ecological research and nature conservation was formed in 1949. This paper traces its development and vicissitudes, first as an independent Nature Conservancy, then as a part of the Natural Environment Research Council, and finally as the Nature Conservancy Council. Much has been achieved: ecology is now a household word; there is a strong voluntary tide for nature conservation in the country; and there have been notable achievements in practical conservation. But the dangers to nature in Britain have proved to be much greater than anticipated.     

Photography: conservation and restoration problems of archives

Summary The more and more numerous photographs witnessing the past are often kept, or better, forgotten and confined to the attics and cellars and are thus running the risk of an irreparable deterioration or worse, of an impending and probable destruction. The study of photograph production systems, the analysis of components and thus the chemico-physical investigations are of extreme importance. Nonetheless the aerobiological research is essential for the daily management of archives.     

Modelling of fossil and contemporary data suggest the Broad-toothed rat (Mastacomys fuscus) currently occupies a small part of its available climatic niche: Implications of paleontological data for conservation of a threatened species

We use fossil, sub-fossil and contemporary records of the Broad-toothed rat, Mastacomys fuscus, to model changes in its range over the last 21 thousand years. Mastacomys fuscus was exposed to, and flourished in, a much broader range of environmental conditions in the recent past than it occupies today. It also currently occupies a much smaller range than it did in the Late Pleistocene. Apart from a weak response to sea-level rise in the Holocene, the decline of M. fuscus does not correlate with known climate change. Instead, the contraction of the species' distribution on mainland Australia to high-elevation areas occurred recently and rapidly. Small changes in the 1000 year BP and present-day projected distributions imply some contraction of the area of suitable climate to higher elevations of the mainland subspecies M. f. mordicus, up to 2200 m above sea level. However, M. f. mordicus also persists near sea level at Cape Otway (southwestern Victoria) and from sea level to 1500 m above sea level at Barrington Tops (eastern New South Wales, Australia). This suggests suitable habitat may still exist in coastal Victoria and the central Tablelands/Blue Mountains areas. This research highlights the importance and value of using sub-fossil data to understand changes in the distribution and niche occupation of threatened species as the basis for conservation planning.     

A new species of Acantholimon Boiss. (Plumbaginaceae) from Turkey

A new species, Acantholimon avanosicum Dogan & Akaydin in the Plumbaginaceae is described and illustrated. The species grows on argillaceous slopes in Central Anatolia, Turkey. The diagnostic morphological characters that distinguish it from closely related taxa are discussed. A revised key to Acantholimon species in Turkey with densely distichous simple spikes is presented. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 138 , 365–368.     

黄淮海地区湿地系统生物多样性保护格局构建

以黄淮海地区为研究对象,首先分析了区域现有湿地保护状况,再基于湿地类型、保护状况和目标保护物种分布,综合考虑GDP、人口密度等社会经济因素,以湿地生物多样性保护为目标,运用系统保护规划的理论和方法,以Marxan作为空间优化模型,进行多目标的湿地系统保护预案设计,构建区域湿地不同保护水平的保护空缺和不可替代性格局,确定合理的湿地系统保护格局。研究结果表明:现有的湿地保护体系仅覆盖了区域17%左右的湿地,尚有许多重要生境游离于现有保护区系统外。为完善黄淮海地区湿地保护体系,需要对黄海海区域内28个保护区进行功能区划调整或者保护等级提升,并在山东(5个县)和河北(4个县),河南、江苏和安徽(各3个县),北京和天津(各1个县)等20个县市内建立新的保护区,与现有湿地保护系统有机整合,最终形成一个黄淮海地区湿地生物保护网络合理格局。结果表明:同其他相关研究方法对比,系统保护规划方法在区域大尺度生物多样性保护方面更具有意义;同时也表明该方法在中国的应用前景广阔。     

辽宁省生态系统服务重要性评价

采用层次分析法和综合指标法对辽宁省生态系统服务重要性进行了定量评价,分析了辽宁省生态系统生物多样性保护、水源涵养、土壤保持、沙漠化控制和营养物质保持重要性及其空间分布特征,在此基础上进行了辽宁省生态系统服务重要性及其区域分异规律的综合评价。结果表明:辽宁省生态系统服务均处于比较重要以上;其中极重要地区比重最大,占全省国土面积的60.66%;中等重要地区比较多,占全省国土面积的37.01%;其它少数地区为比较重要地区,占全省国土面积的2.33%。