Alien species as a driver of recent extinctions

We assessed the prevalence of alien species as a driver of recent extinctions in five major taxa (plants, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals), using data from the IUCN Red List. Our results show that alien species are the second most common threat associated with species that have gone completely extinct from these taxa since AD 1500. Aliens are the most common threat associated with extinctions in three of the five taxa analysed, and for vertebrate extinctions overall.     

南岭哺乳类和鸟类物种丰富度空间分布格局及其影响因子

作为华南地区的最大山脉和重要自然地理界线, 南岭是物种丰富度研究的热点区域之一。但是已有的物种丰富度相关研究集中在局部区域和单个生物类群, 缺乏对于整个南岭区域哺乳类和鸟类物种丰富度空间分布格局及其影响因子的研究。本研究利用南岭区域123种哺乳类和524种鸟类的地理分布数据, 构建了整个南岭山脉的哺乳类和鸟类的物种丰富度空间分布格局。此外, 我们利用路径分析和空间误差模型, 探讨多种环境因子(气候、生产力、人类活动、生境异质性和海拔)对南岭哺乳类和鸟类物种丰富度空间分布格局的影响。南岭地区哺乳类和鸟类物种丰富度空间分布格局差异较大: 哺乳类物种丰富度热点区域在南岭地区的西南部山地, 丰富度空间分布格局总体自西向东递减; 鸟类物种丰富度热点区域在南岭地区的东南部低地, 丰富度空间分布格局总体自东南向西北递减。路径分析和空间误差模型显示, 温度相关因子对于南岭哺乳类和鸟类物种丰富度空间分布格局影响最大。在温度相关的两个因子中, 年均温与哺乳类物种丰富度呈负相关, 与鸟类却呈正相关; 气温年较差与哺乳类呈正相关, 与鸟类却呈负相关。年均温和气温年较差对哺乳类和鸟类影响的差异可能是由哺乳类和鸟类在生理适应性和行为策略上的差异所导致。     

一种基于公众科学数据的区域性鸟类多样性评价方法

鸟类是理想的生物多样性指示类群。中国观鸟记录中心(以下简称“记录中心”)是目前中国最大的鸟类监测公众科学数据平台, 其记录覆盖94%的全国鸟种和94.3%的县级行政区。本研究基于公众科学数据, 参考《区域生物多样性评价标准》(HJ 623-2011)中的受胁物种丰富度指数, 构建了鸟类丰富度指数(R_{B_A})和珍稀濒危鸟类丰富度指数(R_{TB_A}), 继而提出一种对区域鸟类多样性进行评价的新方法。本研究计算了自2014年起, 各省级、地级、县级行政区(不含市辖区)每年在记录中心的累积记录鸟种数对官方发布鸟种数的覆盖率和省级行政区记录的累积珍稀濒危鸟种数对官方发布数据的覆盖率, 并计算了自2018年起各级行政区每年的R_{B_A}和R_{TB_A}, 以了解各地鸟类丰富度指数的逐年变化情况, 并分析记录中心数据集的发展趋势和两个指数的敏感性。分析结果表明, 记录中心数据对全国各级行政区的鸟种覆盖率自2014年起逐年增加, 在2023年分别有94.1%的省级、59.0%的地级和49.0%的县级行政区(不含市辖区)的鸟种覆盖率超过90%; 记录中心的累积珍稀濒危鸟种数据在省级行政区的覆盖率亦呈上升趋势, 但略低于所有鸟种覆盖率。自2020年起, 全国每年观测到的鸟种数量呈逐年增加趋势, 但其中部分省份每年观测到的鸟种总数在2022年出现下降。自2020年起, 各省级行政区的R_{B_A}和R_{TB_A}整体呈现上升趋势。R_{B_A}范围为0.50-0.96, R_{TB_A}范围为0.45-0.98, 显示R_{TB_A}更为敏感。本研究结果表明, R_{B_A}和R_{TB_A}在本地用户提交记录数量充足的地区有较大的应用价值, 可作为生物多样性评价指标应用。R_{TB_A}对于鸟类多样性的变化更为敏感, 更能体现在地鸟类保护状况。随着记录中心等公众科学平台的发展, 以R_{B_A}和R_{TB_A}为代表的基于公众科学的评价指数在物种多样性评估和物种监测方面有巨大的应用潜力。     

Does plant richness influence animal richness?: the mammals of Catalonia (NE Spain)

Although it has long been held that plant diversity must influence animal diversity, the nature of this relationship remains poorly understood at large spatial scales. We compare the species richness patterns of vascular plants and mammals in north‐eastern Spain using a 100‐km² grain size to examine patterns of covariation. We found that the total mammal richness pattern, as well as those of herbivores and carnivores considered separately, only weakly corresponded to the pattern of plants. Rather, mammal richness was best described by climatic variables incorporating water inputs, and after adding these variables to multiple regression models, plant and mammal richness were virtually independent. We conclude that the observed association, although weak, is explained by shared responses of both groups to climate, and thus, plant richness has no influence on the richness pattern of Catalan mammals.     

澳门鸟类资源调查报告

1989～2009年在澳门山林和沿海滩涂湿地对鸟类进行了调查和记录,共记录鸟类297种,加上文献中记录的3种,整理出澳门鸟类名录共300种,隶属17目56科.其中非雀形目有30科160种,占澳门鸟类总种数的53.33%;雀形目有26科140种,占澳门鸟类种数46.67%.就数量来看,澳门鸟类中的优势种有9种,常见种44种,偶见种96种,稀有种则有151种.白腹海雕Haliaeetus leucogaster属于国家Ⅰ级重点保护野生鸟类.属于国家Ⅱ级重点保护的鸟类有33种.澳门鸟类属于<濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约,2007>公约附录Ⅰ的有游隼Falco peregrinus peregrinus、小青脚鹬Tringa guttifer和小杓鹬Numenius minutus 3种,属于公约附录Ⅱ的有29种.勺嘴鹬Eurynorhynchus pygmeus被世界自然保护联盟(2009)列入极危(CR)鸟类,黑脸琵鹭Platalea minor和小青脚鹬被列入濒危(EN)鸟类.易危(VU)鸟类有4种,近危(NT)鸟类有5种.本文成果可为今后长期监测和保护澳门鸟类资源提供依据.     

Generic species richness and body mass in North American mammals: Support for the inverse relationship of body size and speciation rate

Generic species richness, the number of species per genus, is examined as a function of mean generic body mass for extant North American mammals. Species richness decreases as an inverse power function with increased mass, and the Spearman rank correlation coefficient of the logio transformed data is significant (r_s= ‐0.37). When the data are partitioned by trophic level, the relationship is not statistically significant for carnivores but strengthens for herbivores (r_s= ‐0.46). This interesting but incidental effect is due to the negligible number of diminutive and excessively large carnivores, which is in turn determined by foraging strategies. Alternate hypotheses for the “right‐skewed”; size distribution of modern North American mammals, such as disproportionate extinction of large species, differential species longevity, and a geographical scaling function, are rejected in favor of the proposition that elevated levels of speciation are restricted to animals of small body mass, as originally proposed by Gould and Eldredge (1977). This phenomenon is explained as a function of habitat restriction and particularly in herbivores, limited home range size. Aquatic mammals, regardless of body size, speciate rarely. Cope's Rule, the tendency of many animal groups to evolve towards large size, is understood as a probabilistic statement reflecting the phylogenetic tendencies of a disproportionately high number of small species alive at any given point in time.     

The macrofauna distribution in brackish inland waters in relation to chlorinity and other factors

The macrofauna of small isolated brackish waters on a barrier island in the Dutch Wadden Sea was sampled qualitatively. An attempt was made to correlate species composition and species richness to chlorinity characteristics and to data on the water regime of the localities studied.It is shown that the observed differences in the macrofauna cannot be explained by differences in chlorinity only. Present and former connections to other water bodies seem equally important.     

Ecological impact of tobacco farming in miombo woodlands of Urambo District, Tanzania

This paper examines the ecological threat of tobacco farming in Urambo District, the leading producer of flue‐cured tobacco in Tanzania with other major producers being Tabora, Iringa and Chunya Districts. Structured interviews were conducted in four villages while 39 Modified‐Whittacker plots were laid in tobacco fallow lands for inventory of woody species to ascertain ecological performance and the impact of tobacco on species diversity, richness and standing stock functions. There was higher than expected species richness with a total of 115 tree and shrub species identified. Tobacco farming showed no significant negative effect on the floristic composition and stem density. However, the significantly reduced biomass and change in vegetation structure illustrate the potential loss in ecological function of the woodlands. Land clearing for tobacco planting account to an annual deforestation of 3.5% while on average a farmer requires 23 m³ of stacked wood only for curing per season which adds another 3% of deforestation. Shifting cultivation is no longer sustainable given the shortened fallow periods of 4 years. Improved barn structures, alternative sources of fuel like coal, tree planting, mixed cropping and cash crops that are environment friendly are recommended for ecological restoration.     

Area and the latitudinal diversity gradient for terrestrial birds

We tested the hypothesis that area represents the primary explanation for the latitudinal diversity gradient using breeding terrestrial birds of North America, the northern Palearctic, Australia and the Afrotropics as our focal group. We tested two propositions inherent to the area hypothesis: (1) tropical biomes are larger than extra-tropical biomes, and (2) there is a significant species-area relationship for birds at the biome scale of resolution. Using a more realistic definition of biomes which incorporates the effects of both energy and water, we find no support for either proposition, leading us to conclude that the area per se does not explain terrestrial latitudinal diversity gradients.