天津湿地蛾类丰富度和多样性及其环境评价

天津海拔较低,在华北属湿地资源比较丰富的地区之一,是亚太地区鸟类迁徙路线的一个重要环节,也是白枕鹤、丹顶鹤等濒危鸟类迁徙过程中的一个重要的停歇地.为了研究清楚天津湿地昆虫的种类及其动态规律,为湿地的研究和保护利用服务,选取了鸭淀、团泊洼、北大港水库、七里海和独流减河大港段为样地以诱集夜间活动的昆虫为主,对天津湿地蛾类的群落生态学进行了研究,取得如下进展:(1)首次全面系统地研究了天津湿地蛾类的多样性,确定天津湿地有蛾类22科186属259种.其中以夜蛾科最多(58属85种),草螟科次之(39属60种),卷蛾科(16属28种)、螟蛾科(20属23种)、尺蛾科(14属15种)的种类也较多,生物多样性丰富.(2)所诱集的蛾类种类及个体数,以微软的Excel列表、计算及作图,进行蛾类群落的种-多度曲线、多样性指数、均匀度与多样性指数的关系以及蛾类群落的聚类(群落系数、欧氏距离)和排序(极点排序、主分量分析)等研究分析,结果表明:鸭淀和七里海的种-多度曲线表现为对数正态分布模型,而团泊洼、北大港水库和独流减河大港段的种-多度曲线多变,但总的趋势比较接近于对数级数模型,即生态位优先占领假说.Shannon-Wiener多样性指数(H′)、种间相遇机率(PIE)、物种丰富度(lnS)均为七里海＞团泊洼＞鸭淀＞北大港水库＞独流减河大港段,而均匀度(E)则为七里海＞鸭淀＞团泊洼＞北大港水库＞独流减河大港段.群落的聚类和排序表明蛾类群落的相似性依次为"七里海-团泊洼-鸭淀-北大港水库-独流减河大港段".通过研究分析得出七里海与鸭淀的湿地环境质量较好,但有退化的趋势.团泊洼、北大港水库、独流减河大港段的湿地环境不稳定,退化严重.并分析了造成这些结果的原因,提出了合理的保护和利用的建议.     

Rarity facets of biodiversity: Integrating Zeta diversity and Dark diversity to understand the nature of commonness and rarity

Measuring commonness and rarity is pivotal to ecology and conservation. Zeta diversity, the average number of species shared by multiple sets of assemblages, and Dark diversity, the number of species that could occur in an assemblage but are missing, have been recently proposed to capture two aspects of the commonness‐rarity spectrum. Despite a shared focus on commonness and rarity, thus far, Zeta and Dark diversities have been assessed separately. Here, we review these two frameworks and suggest their integration into a unified paradigm of the “rarity facets of biodiversity.” This can be achieved by partitioning Alpha and Beta diversities into five components (the Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, and Kappa rarity facets) defined based on the commonness and rarity of species. Each facet is assessed in traditional and multiassemblage fashions to bridge conceptual differences between Dark diversity and Zeta diversity. We discuss applications of the rarity facets including comparing the taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of rare and common species, or measuring species'' prevalence in different facets as a metric of species rarity. The rarity facets integrate two emergent paradigms in biodiversity science to better understand the ecology of commonness and rarity, an important endeavor in a time of widespread changes in biodiversity across the Earth.     

Indices for assessing coral reef fish biodiversity: the need for a change in habits

We present the first representative and quantified overview of the indices used worldwide for assessing the biodiversity of coral reef fishes. On this basis, we discuss the suitability and drawbacks of the indices most widely used in the assessment of coral fish biodiversity. An extensive and systematic survey of the literature focused on coral reef fish biodiversity was conducted from 1990 up to the present. We found that the multicomponent aspect of biodiversity, which is considered as a key feature of biodiversity for numerous terrestrial and marine ecosystems, has been poorly taken into account in coral reef fish studies. Species richness is still strongly dominant while other diversity components, such as functional diversity, are underestimated even when functional information is available. We also demonstrate that the reason for choosing particular indices is often unclear, mainly based on empirical rationales and/or the reproduction of widespread habits, but generally with no clear relevance with regard to the aims of the studies. As a result, the most widely used indices (species richness, Shannon, etc.) would appear to be poorly suited to meeting the main challenges facing the monitoring of coral reef fish biodiversity in the future. Our results clearly show that coral reef scientists should rather take advantage of the multicomponent aspect of biodiversity. To facilitate this approach, we propose general guidelines to serve as a basis for the selection of indices that provide complementary and relevant information for monitoring the response of coral reef fish biodiversity in the face of structuring factors (natural or anthropic). The aim of these guidelines was to achieve a better match between the properties of the selected indices and the context of each study (e.g. expected effect of the main structuring factors, nature of data available).     

Insights into plant biodiversity conservation in large river valleys in China: A spatial analysis of species and phylogenetic diversity

Large river valleys (LRVs) are heterogeneous in habitat and rich in biodiversity, but they are largely overlooked in policies that prioritize conservation. Here, we aimed to identify plant diversity hotspots along LRVs based on species richness and spatial phylogenetics, evaluate current conservation effectiveness, determine gaps in the conservation networks, and offer suggestions for prioritizing conservation. We divided the study region into 50 km × 50 km grid cells and determined the distribution patterns of seed plants by studying 124,927 occurrence points belonging to 14,481 species, using different algorithms. We generated phylogenies for the plants using the “V. PhyloMaker” R package, determined spatial phylogenetics, and conducted correlation analyses between different distribution patterns and spatial phylogenetics. We evaluated the effectiveness of current conservation practices and discovered gaps of hotspots within the conservation networks. In the process, we identified 36 grid cells as hotspots (covering 10% of the total area) that contained 83.4% of the species. Fifty‐eight percent of the hotspot area falls under the protection of national nature reserves (NNRs) and 83% falls under national and provincial nature reserves (NRs), with 42% of the area identified as conservation gaps of NNRs and 17% of the area as gaps of NRs. The hotspots contained high proportions of endemic and threatened species, as did conservation gaps. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the layout of current conservation networks, establish micro‐nature reserves, conduct targeted conservation priority planning focused on specific plant groups, and promote conservation awareness. Our results show that the conservation of three hotspots in Southwest China, in particular, is likely to positively affect the protection of biodiversity in the LRVs, especially with the participation of the neighboring countries, India, Myanmar, and Laos.     

Environmental and topographic drivers of amphibian phylogenetic diversity and endemism in the Iberian Peninsula

Understanding the ecological and evolutionary processes driving biodiversity patterns and allowing their persistence is of utmost importance. Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain spatial diversity patterns, including water-energy availability, habitat heterogeneity, and historical climatic refugia. The main goal of this study is to identify if general spatial drivers of species diversity patterns of phylogenetic diversity (PD) and phylogenetic endemism (PE) at the global scale are also predictive of PD and PE at regional scales, using Iberian amphibians as a case study. Our main hypothesis assumes that topography along with contemporary and historical climate are drivers of phylogenetic diversity and endemism, but that the strength of these predictors may be weaker at the regional scale than it tends to be at the global scale. We mapped spatial patterns of Iberian amphibians' phylogenetic diversity and endemism, using previously published phylogenetic and distribution data. Furthermore, we compiled spatial data on topographic and climatic variables related to the water-energy availability, topography, and historical climatic instability hypotheses. To test our hypotheses, we used Spatial Autoregressive Models and selected the best model to explain diversity patterns based on Akaike Information Criterion. Our results show that, out of the variables tested in our study, water-energy availability and historical climate instability are the most important drivers of amphibian diversity in Iberia. However, as predicted, the strength of these predictors in our case study is weaker than it tends to be at global scales. Thus, additional drivers should also be investigated and we suggest caution when interpreting these predictors as surrogates for different components of diversity.     

Safeguarding sloths and anteaters in the future: Priority areas for conservation under climate change

Sloths and anteaters form the monophyletic order Pilosa, which is currently represented by only 16 extant species distributed exclusively in the Neotropics. This present-day low species richness is an inheritance of the Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions, where over 65 Pilosa species known from the fossil record went extinct. The large number of species lost in the recent past suggests that this group is greatly vulnerable to extinction. Here, we propose long-term priority conservation areas for the order Pilosa, considering different future climate change scenarios, biotic stability, and the multiple dimensions of the group's biodiversity, such as species richness, species endemism, and phylogenetic diversity. Projections of species distribution for future scenarios show increased fragmentation and clear habitat loss as the Amazon Forest is replaced by savanna-like habitats. Conservation solutions were highly congruent for the different dimensions of biodiversity, with priority areas emerging mainly in the Atlantic Forest, Amazonian wetlands, highlands of Ecuador, and the Central American isthmus. Expanding the currently protected areas network by 6% with the proposed priority areas, independently of which future climatic scenario is considered, can increase sloths and anteaters' coverage in the future by 12%. As a group of high phylogenetic and ecological importance, future conservation planning should deliberately aim to protect areas favorable to Pilosa, especially given the current scenario of environmental dismantling and neglect of critical Neotropical biomes.     

Tentacular diversity in deep-sea deposit-feeding holothurians: implications for biodiversity in the deep sea

The tentacles of deep-sea holothurians show a wide range of morphological diversity. The present paper examines gross tentacle morphology in surface deposit feeding holothurians from a range of bathymetric depths. Species studied included the elasipods: Oneirophanta mutabilis, Psychropotes longicauda and Benthogone rosea and the aspidochirotids: Paroriza prouhoi, Pseudostichopus sp., Bathyplotes natans and Paroriza pallens. The sympatric abyssal species Oneirophanta mutabilis, Psychropotes longicauda and Pseudostichopus sp. show subtle differences in diet and the structure and filling patterns of the gut that suggest differences in feeding strategies which may represent one mechanism to overcome competition for food resources in an environment where nutrient resources are considered to be, at least periodically, limiting. Interspecific differences in tentacle functional morphology and digestive strategies, which reflects taxonomic diversity could be explained in terms of Sanders'; Stability–Time Hypothesis. Since different tentacle types will turn over sediments to different extents, their impact on sedimentary communities will be enormous so that high diversity in meiofaunal communities may be explained most simply by Dayton and Hessler's Biological Disturbance Hypothesis.     

Integrating conservation and development: effective trade-offs between biodiversity and cost in the selection of protected areas

Strategies are needed for reconciling competing demands at the regional level when areas are to be selected for protection and there are associated costs, possibly equivalent to forgone development opportunties. As an alternative to the fixed scaling (or weighting) of costs and benefits required by cost-benefit analysis, multi-criteria analyses allow the exploration of alternative weightings and a summary trade-off curve to determine preferred solutions. For alternative sets of areas, total cost could be plotted against total represented biodiversity, but a more consistent approach should look at trade-off space at the level of individual areas. For a given weighting, an area is assigned protection if and only if its contribution to total biodiversity, CB, exceeds its equivalent cost, EC (in biodiversity units). Because CB for a given area depends on which other areas are also protected, it can be more or less than EC. Here we develop an iterative strategy for selecting areas, such that, for a given weighting, an area is in the final protected set if and only if its final CB value is greater than its EC value. Sensitivity analysis is used to identify those areas that: (1) are assigned protection even when low weight is given to biodiversity, or (2) are not assigned protection even when high weight is given to biodiversity. This approach is applicable in principle to any surrogate measure for biodiversity; here examples are presented in which environmental data are summarized as an environmental space.     

Linking political and scientifically derived targets for global biodiversity conservation: implications for the expansion of the global network of protected areas

Despite the global network of protected areas covers 12% of the world's land surface, its performance is still unsatisfactory. Although political and scientifically sound conservation targets usually portray different pictures of the task ahead, we show that in terms of priority areas for expanding the global network of reserves, there is much agreement between the political targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the scientifically derived goals endorsed by international conservation organizations. Here we analyse four global databases to identify priority areas for fulfilling the CBD target of representing 10% of every ecological region within protected areas, and compare the distribution of priority regions for fulfilling that political target, with the distribution of the priority areas for global biodiversity conservation identified by Conservation International, the WWF, and the Wildlife Conservation Society on scientific basis. For 63% (549) of the world's terrestrial ecoregions the CBD 10% target is still not met; fulfilling it requires protecting another 4.6% of the Earth's land surface (6,239,894 km²). Yet, at least 78% of the priority regions for fulfilling that target lay within priority regions for the main global conservation strategies. By pursuing the political target set by the CBD much ancillary gains in terms of other global conservation objectives can be obtained.     

Biodiversity surrogate groups and conservation priority areas: birds of the Brazilian Cerrado

The choice of surrogates of biodiversity is an important aspect in conservation biology. The quantification of the coincidence in the spatial patterns of species richness and rarity between different groups and the vulnerability of groups are different approaches frequently considered to accomplish this task. However, a more appropriate approach is to verify the efficiency of priority networks selected using information from one group of organisms to capture the biodiversity of other groups. Using a deconstructive approach, the main purposes of this study were to evaluate the performance of some orders and families of birds in the Cerrado biome (a savanna-like biome) as surrogates of other bird groups, in a pairwise analysis, and to investigate the characteristics of these groups that predict the efficiency in representation of other groups. We used biogeographical data on bird orders or families with more than 10 species that occur in the Brazilian Cerrado. The best surrogate group was the Thamnophilidae. Moreover, this group is not the most specious, favouring further survey efforts that are necessary to verify the conservation value of areas at suitable scales. The majority of the species from this family are dependent on forest habitats, one of the characteristics that most influenced representativeness level, probably due to the spatial distribution of these habitats throughout the Brazilian Cerrado. Beta diversity patterns of the different groups also affected representativeness, and our analyses showed that the networks selected by a surrogate group will be more effective in the representation of other groups of species if their patterns of beta diversity (not richness) are correlated.     

In search of the best correlates for local organismal biodiversity in cultivated areas

Based on a transect consisting of 19 identical trap stations in cultivated areas and seminatural habitats, the correlation of species numbers of higher taxonomic groups with total species numbers of flowering plants and arthropods per trap site was calculated. A total of 191214 invertebrate specimens and 2221 species of plants and animals were analysed. Considering the value of the correlation coefficient R2 as well as the effort for sorting and identification, a top twenty list of indicator groups favours Heteroptera, flowering plants, Symphyta and aculeate Hymenoptera as the best choice for biodiversity evaluation. In general, flight traps rated better than pitfall traps. In most taxonomic groups, diversity indices such as the Shannon and the Simpson index were only weakly correlated with local species diversity.     

Improving the use of environmental diversity as a surrogate for species representation

The continuous p‐median approach to environmental diversity (ED) is a reliable way to identify sites that efficiently represent species. A recently developed maximum dispersion (maxdisp) approach to ED is computationally simpler, does not require the user to reduce environmental space to two dimensions, and performed better than continuous p‐median for datasets of South African animals. We tested whether maxdisp performs as well as continuous p‐median for 12 datasets that included plants and other continents, and whether particular types of environmental variables produced consistently better models of ED. We selected 12 species inventories and atlases to span a broad range of taxa (plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians), spatial extents, and resolutions. For each dataset, we used continuous p‐median ED and maxdisp ED in combination with five sets of environmental variables (five combinations of temperature, precipitation, insolation, NDVI, and topographic variables) to select environmentally diverse sites. We used the species accumulation index (SAI) to evaluate the efficiency of ED in representing species for each approach and set of environmental variables. Maxdisp ED represented species better than continuous p‐median ED in five of 12 biodiversity datasets, and about the same for the other seven biodiversity datasets. Efficiency of ED also varied with type of variables used to define environmental space, but no particular combination of variables consistently performed best. We conclude that maxdisp ED performs at least as well as continuous p‐median ED, and has the advantage of faster and simpler computation. Surprisingly, using all 38 environmental variables was not consistently better than using subsets of variables, nor did any subset emerge as consistently best or worst; further work is needed to identify the best variables to define environmental space. Results can help ecologists and conservationists select sites for species representation and assist in conservation planning.     

Partitioning the variation in a plot‐by‐species data matrix that is related to n sets of explanatory variables

Abstract. Variation partitioning by (partial) constrained ordination is a popular method for exploratory data analysis, but applications are mostly restricted to simple ecological questions only involving two or three sets of explanatory variables, such as climate and soil, this because of the rapid increase in complexity of calculations and results with an increasing number of explanatory variable sets. The existence is demonstrated of a unique algorithm for partitioning the variation in a set of response variables on n sets of explanatory variables; it is shown how the 2n– 1 non‐overlapping components of variation can be calculated. Methods for evaluation and presentation of variation partitioning results are reviewed, and a recursive algorithm is proposed for distributing the many small components of variation over simpler components. Several issues related to the use and usefulness of variation partitioning with n sets of explanatory variables are discussed with reference to a worked example.     

Clustering algorithms for identifying core atom sets and for assessing the precision of protein structure ensembles

An important open question in the field of NMR-based biomolecular structure determination is how best to characterize the precision of the resulting ensemble of structures. Typically, the RMSD, as minimized in superimposing the ensemble of structures, is the preferred measure of precision. However, the presence of poorly determined atomic coordinates and multiple "RMSD-stable domains"--locally well-defined regions that are not aligned in global superimpositions--complicate RMSD calculations. In this paper, we present a method, based on a novel, structurally defined order parameter, for identifying a set of core atoms to use in determining superimpositions for RMSD calculations. In addition we present a method for deciding whether to partition that core atom set into "RMSD-stable domains" and, if so, how to determine partitioning of the core atom set. We demonstrate our algorithm and its application in calculating statistically sound RMSD values by applying it to a set of NMR-derived structural ensembles, superimposing each RMSD-stable domain (or the entire core atom set, where appropriate) found in each protein structure under consideration. A parameter calculated by our algorithm using a novel, kurtosis-based criterion, the epsilon-value, is a measure of precision of the superimposition that complements the RMSD. In addition, we compare our algorithm with previously described algorithms for determining core atom sets. The methods presented in this paper for biomolecular structure superimposition are quite general, and have application in many areas of structural bioinformatics and structural biology.     

Restoring species diversity: assessing capacity in the U.S. native plant industry

Large quantities of diverse and appropriately adapted native plant germplasm are required to facilitate restoration globally, yet shortages can prevent restorations from attaining desired species diversity and structure. An extensive native plant industry has developed in the United States to help meet these demands, yet very little is known about its capacity to support germplasm needs. To better understand current capacity and germplasm availability, we report results of the first comprehensive and quantitative assessment of the native plant industry in the United States, which includes at least 841 vendors nationwide and the species they make available for restoration. We synthesized lists of commercially available species from native plant vendors across the United States and identified gaps in species availability to inform germplasm research, development, and production. Of the approximately 25,000 vascular plant taxa native to the United States, 26% are sold commercially, with growth form, conservation status, distribution, and taxonomy significantly predicting availability. In contrast, only 0.07% of approximately 3,000 native nonvascular taxa are sold commercially. We also investigated how demand for germplasm to support high‐quality restoration efforts is met by vendors in the Midwestern tallgrass prairie region, which has been targeted extensively by restoration efforts for decades. In this well‐developed native plant market, 74% of more than 1,000 target species are commercially available, often from vendors that advertise genetically diverse, locally sourced germplasm. We make recommendations to build on the successes of regional markets like the tallgrass prairie region, and to fill identified gaps, including investing in research to support production, ensuring more consistent and clear demand, and fostering regional collaboration.     

Genetic variation and population structure in a threatened species,the Utah prairie dog Cynomys parvidens: the use of genetic data to inform conservation actions

The Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens), listed as threatened under the United States Endangered Species Act, was the subject of an extensive eradication program throughout its range during the 20th century. Eradication campaigns, habitat destruction/fragmentation/conversion, and epizootic outbreaks (e.g., sylvatic plague) have reduced prairie dog numbers from an estimated 95,000 individuals in the 1920s to approximately 14,000 (estimated adult spring count) today. As a result of these anthropogenic actions, the species is now found in small isolated sets of subpopulations. We characterized the levels of genetic diversity and population genetic structure using 10 neutral nuclear microsatellite loci for twelve populations (native and transplanted) representative of the three management designated “recovery units,” found in three distinct biogeographic regions, sampled across the species' range. The results indicate (1) low levels of genetic diversity within colonies (H_e = 0.109–0.357; H_o = 0.106‐ 0.313), (2) high levels of genetic differentiation among colonies (global F_ST = 0.296), (3) very small genetic effective population sizes, and (4) evidence of genetic bottlenecks. The genetic data reveal additional subdivision such that colonies within recovery units do not form single genotype clusters consistent with recovery unit boundaries. Genotype cluster membership support historical gene flow among colonies in the easternmost West Desert Recovery Unit with the westernmost Pausaugunt colonies and among the eastern Pausaugunt colonies and the Awapa Recovery unit to the north. In order to maintain the long‐term viability of the species, there needs to be an increased focus on maintaining suitable habitat between groups of existing populations that can act as connective corridors. The location of future translocation sites should be located in areas that will maximize connectivity, leading to maintenance of genetic variation and evolutionary potential.