An exotic woody weed in a pastoral landscape provides habitat for many native species,but has no apparent threatened species conservation significance

Exotic woody plants are often used by native organisms, but may also be targets of expensive control justified by nature conservation. We determine the use of a weed of national significance, Gorse (Ulex europaeus L.), by native mammals, birds, reptiles and vascular plants in pastoral areas in an Australian biodiversity hotspot. Large numbers of fauna species were observed using Gorse within our 43 × 1 ha sample sites in riparian, woodland and pasture vegetation. Gorse cover and/or height positively influenced: the detection of mammals as a whole in an interaction with visibility at 50–75 cm above ground, but not their species richness or individual species abundances; bird abundance, but not richness; and, reptile richness but not abundance. In terms of flora, Gorse cover and/or height positively affected: non‐native plant species richness and the height and fecundity, but not the richness, of native grasses and forbs—but Gorse cover negatively influenced the height of native herbs. The only species of conservation significance using Gorse were three mammals, only one of which, the Tasmanian Pademelon (Thylogale billardieri), was sufficiently common to analyse. Its abundance had no relationship with Gorse cover or height. Even in the wider context of complementary work, there is no strong threatened species conservation justification for retaining Gorse thickets in the Northern Midlands pastoral landscape. Equally, expending scarce conservation resources to remove Gorse, as is taking place, is unlikely to achieve any threatened species conservation outcome but may help reduce long‐term loss of native animal and plant species.     

Managing rock outcrops to improve biodiversity conservation in Australian agricultural landscapes

Summary  Rocky outcrops are prominent geological features in agricultural landscapes worldwide. Reptiles are a major component of these habitats and some species are restricted to, and more abundant on, rocky outcrops than in remnant vegetation. Rock outcrops are important to reptiles because they provide resources that are often limited in the surrounding landscape (e.g. micro-gradients in climatic conditions, basking- and retreat-sites). However, there is a knowledge gap in the literature addressing the conservation value of small, rocky outcrops. Management may be necessary to reverse habitat degradation in these systems. We identify four key areas of management that need to be addressed to improve outcrop habitat values and enhance biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes. Specific actions involve: (i) protecting outcrops from processes that cause damage to rock microhabitat, (ii) monitoring and managing changes in vegetation structure to maintain thermally suitable environments, (iii) applying integrated pest animal control and (iv) improving matrix management to enhance inselberg function and landscape connectivity. Further research is required to evaluate the efficacy of different management regimes on outcrop biota. We hope this paper will provide the stimulus for land managers to incorporate rocky outcrops in future biodiversity conservation programmes.     

农业景观非农生境植物多样性及其影响因素

农业景观是人类生活所需资料的最主要来源地和生物多样性保护的重要区域之一。黄河中下游地区是我国最重要的农业区之一,在区域农业景观中,非农生境中各群落植物物种多样性组成特征有何差异?在不同尺度上,景观异质性特征与生境特征对植物物种多样性特征有何影响?在黄河中下游典型区域布点,对区内主要非农生境(次生林、次生灌丛、人工林和农田边缘等)中的植物群落物种多样性进行调查。结果显示:(1)次生灌丛中的物种丰富度和多样性显著高于其他生境,而农田边缘也保育有较多的物种;(2)从物种组成来看,景观尺度上样点间物种多样性差异(β_2)是所有生境中物种丰富度的最主要组成部分,而次生灌丛与次生林两类自然生境中小尺度(α和β1)物种丰富度的贡献相对较高。(3)景观异质性特征指标对物种多样性的影响主要体现在样方尺度上(α_(样方)),而β和γ多样性与之的关系并不甚密切。表征生境特征的群落高度和盖度指标能更好的预测物种多样性的特征。研究发现,常用的表征景观异质性的指数在各尺度上对植物群落物种多样性特征的影响也并不显著,局地群落特征的影响更为直接和重要。在探讨景观异质性特征与生物多样性关系时,常用的多样性指数(Shannon多样性指数、均匀度指数和Simpson指数等)并不合适,而拆分后的物种丰富度会更有效。但景观异质性对生物多样性的影响也不容忽视,它的改变会是影响群落物种多样性及其组成结构的重要潜在因素,在更大尺度上景观异质性会通过对景观组成要素特征(生境组成和构型)的影响进而影响到区域植物物种丰富度的变化。     

The Canopy Starts at 0.5 m: Predatory Mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) Differ between Rain Forest Floor Soil and Suspended Soil at any Height

Suspended soils in forest canopies are thought to harbor a substantial fraction of canopy biomass and many arboreal specialists, but do forest floor generalist predators with high vagility also use this habitat? We tested the hypothesis of no difference between forest floor and suspended-soil predatory mite faunas (Acari: Mesostigmata) in an Australian rain forest. Our results show that instead of being habitat generalists, many predatory mites partition soil into two main strata: soil suspended aboveground irrespective of height (0.5–20 m) and soil on the ground. Of 53 species of Mesostigmata in suspended soil, 53 percent (28 species) were absent from or rarely found on the ground. This increased to 60 percent (15/25 species) if only common species are considered. Among these 15 ‘suspended-soil specialists’, all but the three least abundant were found throughout the arboreal strata. Moreover, ten species also occurred in litter accumulated on the surface of decaying logs or boulders close to the forest floor. Thus, although the arboreal predatory mite fauna is distinct from that on the forest floor, it is not restricted to the high canopy: even slightly elevated substrate appears acceptable as habitat for these suspended-soil specialists. Our data suggest that a substantial portion of a rain forest's soil and litter fauna is held above the forest floor.     

Reconciling Conservation and Development: Are Landscapes the Answer?

The landscape approach is being used for initiatives that have the dual objectives of conserving biodiversity and alleviating poverty. However, working at such landscape scales greatly expands the level of ambition of conservation organizations and requires them to use skills that differ from those that they have traditionally deployed. Influencing landscape change requires major commitments for long periods of time and since there is still little evidence for the success of such approaches they should be used cautiously. Landscape programmes must be based on a comprehensive understanding of landscape dynamics and of the underlying drivers of social, economic and ecological change. Just as in any other investment in conservation it is important to set objectives in clear and measurable terms. Landscape approaches should therefore complement and not replace more conventional biodiversity conservation measures. They should be guided by scenarios agreed by concerned stakeholders, should be constructivist and in most cases their success will require major changes in the behavior of local people.     

Partitioning the diversity of riverine fish: the roles of habitat types and non-native species

1. Quantifying how biological diversity is distributed in the landscape is one of the central themes of conservation ecology. For this purpose, landscape classifications are being intensively used in conservation planning and biodiversity management, although there is still little information about their efficacy. 2. I used data from 158 running water sites in Hungary to examine the contribution of six a priori established habitat types to regional level diversity of fish assemblages. Three community measures [species richness, diversity (Shannon, Simpson indices), assemblage composition] were examined at two assemblage levels (entire assemblage, the native assemblage). The relative role of non‐native species was quantified to examine their contribution to patterns in diversity in this strongly human influenced landscape. 3. Additive diversity partitioning revealed the primary importance of beta diversity (i.e. among‐site factors) to patterns in species richness. Landscape‐scale patterns in species richness were best explained by between‐habitat type (beta₂: 41.2%), followed by within‐habitat type (beta₁: 37.7%) and finally within‐site (alpha: 21.1%) diversity. Diversity indices showed patterns different from species richness, indicating the importance of relative abundance distributions on the results. Exclusion of non‐natives from the analysis gave similar results to the entire‐assemblage level analysis. 4. Canonical analysis of principal coordinates, complemented with indicator species analysis justified the separation of fish assemblages among the habitat types, although classification error was high. Multivariate dispersion, a measure of compositional beta diversity, showed significant differences among the habitat types. Contrary to species diversity (i.e. richness, diversity indices), patterns in compositional diversity were strongly influenced by the exclusion of non‐natives from the analyses. 5. This study is the first to quantify how running water habitat types contribute to fish diversity at the landscape scale and how non‐native species influence this pattern. These results on riverine fish assemblages support the hypothesis that environmental variability (i.e. the diversity of habitat types) is an indication of biodiversity and can be used in large‐scale conservation designs. The study emphasises the joint application of additive diversity partitioning and multivariate statistics when exploring the contribution of landscape components to the overall biodiversity of the landscape mosaic.     

《广西植物志》的编研历程——兼谈广西的植物分类学及相关学科发展愿景

广西位于中国南部,地质复杂地形多样,生物多样性丰富,是我国南方重要生态屏障。广西植物研究所自1935年建所以来一直致力于摸清广西植物资源家底,在全区开展了广泛的野外调查,累计采集植物标本约60万份,建立了全区馆藏量最大的广西植物标本馆(IBK),联合区内外28家单位完成《广西植物志》全部六卷的编研出版工作。该套志书共收录广西维管植物307科、2 073属、9 051种(含种下等级),是首次全面而系统描述广西植物资源的大型志书。该文介绍了《广西植物志》的基本情况和编著特色,系统回顾了该志书编研的曲折历程,并将编研历程分为三个阶段进行描述,最后简要介绍了《广西植物志》在业界同行获得的评价和各类荣誉。回顾历史展望未来,结合当前植物学科的发展趋势,笔者浅谈了广西的植物分类学及相关学科发展愿景,为今后广西植物资源的研究、保护和可持续利用提供借鉴。     

基于栖息地的城市湿地公园生物多样性特征与指标研究

城市湿地公园具有与湿地类似的生态功能和典型特征,对城市地区的生物多样性保护具有重要意义。本文对不同地区的城市湿地公园进行研究,包括不同气候类型、使用年份和面积大小等不同方面,并对野生动物栖息地特别是鸟类栖息地进行了数据统计和分类分析。通过文献研究、数据统计和比较分析,探索城市湿地公园生物多样性保护指标体系的基本组成及其相关性。本文写作目的是建立适当的城市湿地公园栖息地评估标准,支持生态中国建设。     

Assessing the impacts of agricultural intensification on biodiversity: a British perspective

Agricultural intensification is best considered as the level of human appropriation of terrestrial net primary production. The global value is set to increase from 30%, increasing pressures on biodiversity. The pressures can be classified in terms of spatial scale, i.e. land cover, landscape management and crop management. Different lowland agricultural landscapes in Great Britain show differences among these pressures when habitat diversity and nutrient surplus are used as indicators. Eutrophication of plants was correlated to N surplus, and species richness of plants correlated with broad habitat diversity. Bird species diversity only correlated with habitat diversity when the diversity of different agricultural habitats was taken into account. The pressures of agricultural change may be reduced by minimizing loss of large habitats, minimizing permanent loss of agricultural land, maintaining habitat diversity in agricultural landscapes in order to provide ecosystem services, and minimizing pollution from nutrients and pesticides from the crops themselves. While these pressures could potentially be quantified using an internationally consistent set of indicators, their impacts would need to be assessed using a much larger number of locally applicable biodiversity indicators.     

城市公园和郊区公园生物多样性评估的指标

随着城市化进程的加快,城市的生物多样性不可避免地受到城市化的各种影响,城市及其郊区的生物多样性保护越来越受到人们的重视。城市公园与郊区公园中往往具有高度多样化的生境,并保存着某些自然植被片段和动物物种,那里的生物多样性较高。可见,在城市和郊区的生物多样性保护中,公园生物多样性的保护是一个非常关键的环节,而对其生物多样性的评估又是有效保护的基础。目前,我国生物多样性评估方面的研究工作多集中于物种水平,而对生境的研究较少,但实践证明,保护生境比保护物种更为重要。本文介绍了比利时学者Hermy & Cornelis在比利时西佛兰德省的Loppem市立公园的保护实践中构建的一种对城市公园和郊区公园中的生物多样性进行评估的方法。该方法从两个方面展开：生境多样性和物种多样性。在生境水平上,首先对各种生境单元进行分类,这些单元被分为面状、线状和点状要素。针对每种要素,分别计算了Shannon-Wiener多样性指数和饱和度指数。饱和度指数是实际的多样性指数与最大可能的多样性指数之比。在物种水平上,使用了物种数、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数和饱和度指数来评估公园中的高等植物、蝴蝶、两栖动物和饲养的鸟类等物种。这样,就获得了20个生物多样性指标,根据这些指数就可以对Loppem市立公园内的生物多样性进行评估。结合我国生物多样性评估工作的实际要求,文章最后对上述方法进行了讨论,指出该方法对我国公园的生物多样性评估工作具有借鉴意义,但在运用时各地需要结合本地的实际情况。