Will hotspots conserve extra primate and carnivore evolutionary history?

Setting aside biodiversity hotspots would be especially compelling if they contained not just enormous numbers of species but also excessive evolutionary history. A recent study seemed to provide evidence for this incentive for hotspot conservation. Sechrest et al . (2002 ) reported that hotspots contain more endemic phylogenetic diversity (PD) than expected based on the numbers of primate and carnivore species they contain. We extend their analysis and revise some of their claims. For primates and threatened carnivores, we show that the original analysis was driven by a single hotspot (Madagascar) that contains an ancient endemic clade. The remaining hotspots harbour less rather than significantly more endemic PD than expected. Thus, while one hotspot contains an enormous excess of evolutionary history, the remaining hotspots do not. Our analysis reveals that the overriding influence of a single hotspot can create the misleading impression that hotspots generally contain excessive evolutionary history. Justification for the hotspot initiative should be based on robust evidence. We join others in endorsing an increased role for detailed phylogenetic analysis in conservation planning.     

Comparing strategies to preserve evolutionary diversity

The likely future extinction of various species will result in a decline of two quantities: species richness and phylogenetic diversity (PD, or ‘evolutionary history’). Under a simple stochastic model of extinction, we can estimate the expected loss of these quantities under two conservation strategies: An ‘egalitarian’ approach, which reduces the extinction risk of all species, and a ‘targeted’ approach that concentrates conservation effort on the most endangered taxa. For two such strategies that are constrained to experience the same expected loss of species richness, we ask which strategy results in a greater expected loss of PD. Using mathematical analysis and simulation, we describe how the strategy (egalitarian versus targeted) that minimizes the expected loss of PD depends on the distribution of endangered status across the tips of the tree, and the interaction of this status with the branch lengths. For a particular data set consisting of a phylogenetic tree of 62 lemur species, with extinction risks estimated from the IUCN ‘Red List’, we show that both strategies are virtually equivalent, though randomizing these extinction risks across the tip taxa can cause either strategy to outperform the other. In the second part of the paper, we describe an algorithm to determine how extreme the loss of PD for a given decline in species richness can be. We illustrate the use of this algorithm on the lemur tree.     

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION IN CHINA: A VIEW FROM ENTOMOLOGSTS

Abstract China is among the twelve megadiversity countries in the world and one of the two countries with the highest biodiversity and endemism in Asia and South-Pacific region. China has the highest mountain system of the world and different types of environments inhabited by living organisms, ranging from the Palaearctic to Oriental Realms. These characteristics account for the magnificent species diversity and high level of endemism. Insects of 45 000 species have been recorded in China by now. The total endemic elements are obviously much more than the neighbouring countries. Especially in the south-west mountainous region and tropical areas the endemic elements occupy high proportions. The human disturbances, original habitat losses due to reclamation, deforestation, pollution, etc., are driving undetermined number of species to be endangered or extinct. Recommendations of China's insect conservation are hereon presented: identifying conservation priorities, investigating the biology and ecology of endangered species, monitoring habitat and diversity losses, compiling the "Red List" and the database of rare and endangered species, establishing reserves for insect conservation, and developing techniques of insect farming and ranching.     

中国生物多样性与保护:昆虫学家的观点(英文)

中国是世界12个生物多样性巨丰的国家之一,也是亚洲及太平洋地区生物多样性和特有性最高的两个国家之一。中国具有世界最高的山系和许多不同的生物栖息环境,跨古北和东洋两界。这些特征可用来说明其丰富的物种多样性和高特有性,迄今中国已报道的昆虫种类约为45000种。特有成分明显多于周边国家。特别是西南山地和热带地区,特有成分比例很高。人类干扰,栖息地丧失、森林减少和污染等迫使未知数目的种类处于濒危状态或已灭绝。本文提出了中国昆虫保护的建议,包括：鉴别优先保护对象,开展濒危物种的生物学和生态学研究,监测栖息地和多样性的丧失,编制珍稀和濒危物种“红色名录”和数据库,建立昆虫保护区,开发昆虫人工饲养和繁殖技术。     

汾河中上游湿地植被β多样性

探讨和揭示群落构建机制(生态位理论和中性理论)是生态学和生物地理学研究的热点和难点之一。研究β多样性格局及其与空间距离和环境异质性的关系为解释群落构建机制提供了一定的理论依据,以往群落β多样性的研究主要集中于物种组成的差异性,对种间在进化关系和功能属性方面的差异则关注较少。在野外调查的基础上,分析了汾河中上游湿地植被Tβ(taxonβ-diversity)、Pβ(phylogeneticβ-diversity)和Fβ(functionalβ-diversity)多样性格局及其与空间距离和生境异质性的关系。结果表明:(1)随着样地间距离的增加,Tβ、Pβ和Fβ整体上表现出逐渐增加的趋势,即表现出群落的距离衰减效应。(2)土壤因子中,TP是影响样地间Tβ、Pβ和Fβ的主要因子(P0.05);p H、TOC和TN对Tβ、Pβ和Fβ的影响均未达到显著水平(P0.05)。(3)由于受到空间扩散限制和生境异质性的影响,样地间β多样性表现出较大的差异,Tβ(0.66—1)、Pβ(0.42—0.85)和Fβ(0.51—0.94)。(4)尽管Tβ、Pβ和Fβ反映了多样性的不同方面,但三者之相关性极显著(P0.01);(5)对Tβ、Pβ和Fβ多样性格局及其与空间距离和生境异质性的关系进行研究,表明环境因子和扩散限制共同决定着β多样性的格局,即群落的构建机制由生态位理论和中性理论共同主导。     

A synthetic phylogeny of freshwater crayfish: insights for conservation

Phylogenetic systematics is heading for a renaissance where we shift from considering our phylogenetic estimates as a static image in a published paper and taxonomies as a hardcopy checklist to treating both the phylogenetic estimate and dynamic taxonomies as metadata for further analyses. The Open Tree of Life project (opentreeoflife.org) is developing synthesis tools for harnessing the power of phylogenetic inference and robust taxonomy to develop a synthetic tree of life. We capitalize on this approach to estimate a synthesis tree for the freshwater crayfish. The crayfish make an exceptional group to demonstrate the utility of the synthesis approach, as there recently have been a number of phylogenetic studies on the crayfishes along with a robust underlying taxonomic framework. Importantly, the crayfish have also been extensively assessed by an IUCN Red List team and therefore have accurate and up-to-date area and conservation status data available for analysis within a phylogenetic context. Here, we develop a synthesis phylogeny for the world''s freshwater crayfish and examine the phylogenetic distribution of threat. We also estimate a molecular phylogeny based on all available GenBank crayfish sequences and use this tree to estimate divergence times and test for divergence rate variation. Finally, we conduct EDGE and HEDGE analyses and identify a number of species of freshwater crayfish of highest priority in conservation efforts.     

Yeast diversity and killer activity dispersed in fecal pellets from marsupials and rodents in a Brazilian tropical habitat mosaic

Yeasts with counts of above 10⁶ g⁻¹ wet weight and high diversity were found in the fecal pellets of rodents and marsupials from a mosaic of forest fragments, grasslands, cultivated fields and pasture in Rio de Janeiro. The most frequently isolated yeasts were Debaryomyces hamsenii, Pichia membranaefaciens and Issatchenkia orientalis (and its anamorph Candida krusei ), probably reflecting a high fruit content in the diet of these animals. The opportunistic pathogens Candida albicans, Candida glabrata and Candida tropicalis were isolated at lower frequency. Some Pichia anomala and P. membranaefaciens cultures had killer activity affecting many of the other isolates. These animals can be involved in dispersal of yeasts.     

试论农业生态系统的多样性

探讨农业生态系统多样性的概念和性质,建立农业生态系统多样性研究的农业生态系统分类方法,研究描述农业生态系统多样性特征的一些指标,提出进一步加强农业生态系统多样性研究的建议。