Restoration goals: Why are fauna still overlooked in the process of recovering functioning ecosystems and what can be done about it?

Despite the evidence that fauna play complex and critical roles in ecosystems (e.g. pollination and nutrient cycling) and the knowledge that they need to be considered in restoration, fauna often remain poorly represented in restoration goal setting, monitoring and assessments of restoration success. Fauna clearly are integral to the aspirations of achieving full ecosystem recovery. However, over‐reaching assumptions about the unassisted return of fauna to restored sites, low investment in fauna monitoring, and minimal consideration of the requirements for fauna monitoring in regulatory guidance and standards appear to have led to the historically vegetation‐centric approaches to rehabilitation and ecological restoration. We argue that ecological complexities render assumptions of unassisted fauna return inappropriate in many situations and may represent a missed opportunity to enhance ecological outcomes and improve restoration trajectories. We advocate for greater consideration of fauna as facilitators of ecological restoration and, particularly for well‐funded projects, for monitoring to place greater emphasis on examining the behaviour and resilience of restored fauna communities. There is a clear need for both industry and regulators to recognise that fauna can be crucial facilitators of restoration and appreciate that the return and monitoring of functional faunal communities can be costly, challenging and may require detailed study across a wide range of taxonomic groups. Failure to advance from business as usual models may risk leaving a legacy of ostensibly functional, but biodiversity‐depauperate, restored ecosystems.     

Accounting for multiple ecosystem services in a simulation of land‐use decisions: Does it reduce tropical deforestation?

Conversion of tropical forests is among the primary causes of global environmental change. The loss of their important environmental services has prompted calls to integrate ecosystem services (ES) in addition to socio‐economic objectives in decision‐making. To test the effect of accounting for both ES and socio‐economic objectives in land‐use decisions, we develop a new dynamic approach to model deforestation scenarios for tropical mountain forests. We integrate multi‐objective optimization of land allocation with an innovative approach to consider uncertainty spaces for each objective. These uncertainty spaces account for potential variability among decision‐makers, who may have different expectations about the future. When optimizing only socio‐economic objectives, the model continues the past trend in deforestation (1975–2015) in the projected land‐use allocation (2015–2070). Based on indicators for biomass production, carbon storage, climate and water regulation, and soil quality, we show that considering multiple ES in addition to the socio‐economic objectives has heterogeneous effects on land‐use allocation. It saves some natural forest if the natural forest share is below 38%, and can stop deforestation once the natural forest share drops below 10%. For landscapes with high shares of forest (38%–80% in our study), accounting for multiple ES under high uncertainty of their indicators may, however, accelerate deforestation. For such multifunctional landscapes, two main effects prevail: (a) accelerated expansion of diversified non‐natural areas to elevate the levels of the indicators and (b) increased landscape diversification to maintain multiple ES, reducing the proportion of natural forest. Only when accounting for vascular plant species richness as an explicit objective in the optimization, deforestation was consistently reduced. Aiming for multifunctional landscapes may therefore conflict with the aim of reducing deforestation, which we can quantify here for the first time. Our findings are relevant for identifying types of landscapes where this conflict may arise and to better align respective policies.     

不同生态恢复方式下生态系统服务与生物多样性恢复效果的整合分析

全球范围内关键生态系统服务的减少使人类社会面临巨大的威胁,生物多样性是生态系统提供各种产品和服务的基础。生态恢复工程对退化的生态系统服务和生物多样性进行修复,对于缓解人类环境压力具有非常重要的意义。长期的理论和实践工作形成了多种生态恢复措施:(1)单纯基于生态系统自我设计的自然恢复方式,(2)人为设计对环境条件进行干预,反馈影响生态系统的自我设计,(3)人为设计对目标种群和生态系统进行直接干预和重建。这3类恢复方式可以在不同程度上定向的影响生态系统的恢复进程,反映了人类对生态系统的低度、中度和高度介入。哪种恢复方式和介入程度能够实现更好的恢复效果,是生态恢复学中的一个关键问题,但到目前为止,虽广有争议,却无定量的分析和结论。针对这个空白,通过对ISI Web of Knowledge数据库中生态恢复相关文献的整合分析,基于数学统计的方法定量比较在不同条件下低度介入(自然恢复)、中度介入(环境干预)和高度介入(直接干预)3种恢复方式对生态系统服务与生物多样性的恢复效果。论文从4个方面展开研究:(1)低度、中度、高度介入生态恢复方式的划分,(2)比较3大类介入方式对生态系统服务和生物多样性恢复效果的差异,(3)不同气候条件、生态系统类型和恢复时间等背景因素的影响,(4)生物多样性恢复和生态系统服务恢复之间的关系。研究结果揭示了不同生态恢复方式的适用条件,以及对生物多样性和生态系统恢复相互关系的作用,对生态恢复实践中恢复方式的选择有指导作用。对未来的研究也有启示意义,如针对特定生态系统服务或具体研究问题进一步探索低度、中度和高度介入生态恢复方式的作用规律和机制;将地区的社会经济水平、生态系统的受损程度等因素纳入生态恢复方式的考察,以最优化生态恢复成本-效率等。     

Developing strategies and methods for rehabilitating degraded pastures using native grasses

Summary   The purpose of this comment paper is to highlight the need for more research that aims to develop strategies and methods for establishing and maintaining native grasses in degraded pastures. Clues to finding the best strategies are linked to the vigorous debate concerning the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function, which has resonated in ecological research for more than 20 years. Studies aimed at investigating the operational validity of the 'sampling effect' hypothesis vs. the 'niche complementarity' hypothesis could provide valuable direction on how to successfully re-establish healthy and stable native pasture communities, including the number of species and functional groups needed. Once strategies have been developed, then practical methods on grazing management and sowing are also needed. In the long run, research initiatives in this direction could act to benefit the conservation of native grass diversity, while at the same time, sustain important ecological (and economic) functions such as production, nutrient cycling and resistance to invasion.     

城市生物多样性分布格局研究进展

城市生物多样性分布格局由自然生态环境和城市化过程所决定;其动态和机理与自然生态系统迥然不同.城市生物多样性为城市生态系统提供了诸多生态系统功能和服务,对改善城市环境、维持城市可持续发展有着重要的意义和作用.城市化过程深刻改变了城市的生物多样性分布格局,导致了诸如本地物种多样性降低、外来物种多样性增加、物种同质化等一系列问题.近年来,城市生物多样性受到学界高度关注,大量研究结果既回答了一些关键性问题,又提出了诸多新的论题和挑战.分析了当前城市生物多样性分布格局研究的若干热点问题,总结了影响城市生物多样性格局的主要因素,探讨了城市生物多样性格局研究方法的关键问题,指出了未来城市生物多样性研究的发展方向,特别强调了城市生物多样性的生态系统功能研究在未来城市生物多样性研究中的重要地位.     

生物多样性和生态系统功能研究综述

生物多样性和生态系统功能之间关系 ,是生态学和环境科学的热门话题。围绕这一主题 ,文章系统回顾了近 2 0年来的研究历史及学术界的不同观点 ,全面展示了目前在理论和实验领域的主要工作结果和研究进展 ,并对今后的发展趋势和面临的挑战作了展望。理论和实验研究都表明 ,生物多样性趋于与生态系统功能 (稳定性 )呈正相关性 ,但是多样性并非是这种关系的直接驱动力。生态系统功能 (稳定性 )潜在地依赖于物种之间相互作用的强度 ,物种的功能反应特性以及生态系统的类型和尺度等。在生物多样性和生态系统功能的研究中 ,重要的不只是结论 ,还应包括其中所隐含的机制。     

生态系统多功能性的测度方法

生物多样性与生态系统多功能性(biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality, BEMF)之间的关系是目前生态学研究的一个热点, 其中, 生态系统多功能性(EMF)的测度方法是研究该问题的技术关键。由于缺乏统一的认识, 目前存在多个多功能性的测度方法, 这使人们对生物多样性与生态系统多功能性之间关系的理解复杂化。本文介绍了国际上常用的单功能法、功能-物种替代法、平均值法、单阈值法、多阈值法、直系同源基因法和多元模型法的原理及其特点, 并对其中较难理解的多阈值法进行了举例说明, 希望能对理解EMF的测度方法有所帮助。本文按不同的EMF测度方法对已发表的有关文章进行了归类, 以期帮助读者更好地选择EMF的测度方法。由于缺乏相对统一的、代表各个层次的生态系统功能的测度方法, 导致不同的研究结果难以相互比较, 严重限制了生物多样性与生态系统多功能性研究的发展; 所以, 研发新的、具有普遍适用性的EMF测度方法已成为当务之急。     

生态系统服务网及其生态学意义

生态系统服务概念的提出将人类福祉与生态环境更直接地联系起来,有助于认识和解决发展与保护的难题。从生态系统服务网络的视角出发,可以更好的理解生态系统服务供给、流动和需求等相关复杂问题。(1)生态系统服务网将不同生态过程与服务有机联系起来,为生态系统服务交互研究提供参考。(2)不同尺度下生态系统服务间的交互作用以及自然-社会的互动是网络体系的重要组成部分,按服务网络间联系方式可以划分为网状层次、关系模块和对象模块。(3)生态系统服务在生物、生境网络中形成,受自然因素和人为因素的双重影响,服务网络间的联系与转化受生态系统服务流和网络关系的制约。(4)景观异质性、生物多样性和生态循环分别是生态系统服务网络形成的基础、核心和形成机制。(5)生态系统服务网络便于生态系统服务价值评估、空间制图,是提高人类对环境认知的重要手段。(6)人类福祉与生态系统服务间的非线性关系适宜用网络来表达,景观优化实质上是生态系统服务网调控的动态过程。     

农业景观异质性对生物多样性与生态系统服务的影响研究进展

农业景观是人类生活所需资料的最主要来源地,农业景观及其提供的生物多样性和生态系统服务是影响人类福祉的最主要因素之一。系统梳理了景观异质性变化对生物多样性和生态系统服务影响的相关研究,总结指出:(1)农业景观格局变化会强烈的影响着区域生物多样性和生态系统服务,但总体上更关注了空间异质性,对于时间和功能异质性的研究仍需加强;(2)尺度效应、大尺度上景观背景的差异、种间差异、营养级联效应等会对景观异质性和生物多样性、生态系统服务间的关系产生显著的、综合的、交互的影响效应。未来区域农业景观中如何通过景观构建和管理措施的施行来确保生物多样性与生态系统服务供给的持续稳定仍需进一步加强以下内容的研究:景观异质性变化在时间上和功能上的影响效应及其阈值的探讨;跨尺度、多因素、多物种类群与多生态系统服务的综合及其交互作用;不同生物类群和不同生态系统服务间的权衡;景观异质性提高与有效生境面积下降及其引起的生物随机丧失间的权衡等问题。     

基于植物多样性的生态系统恢复动力学原理

生态系统恢复动力学是生态学的重要问题.本研究利用岛屿生物地理学、植物群落演替、生物多样性维持机制及生态系统功能等有关理论,推导了生态系统恢复动力学模型,并用半湿润常绿阔叶林次生演替阶段数据作了初步验证.基于动力学模型讨论了动力学原理.结果表明,生态系统恢复的动力学过程决定于生态系统恢复力F1、干扰力F2和环境阻力F3的综合作用.植物多样性恢复速度的变率与植物种丰富度呈反比,与生态系统恢复总动力F呈正比.生态系统恢复力F1和环境阻力F3是初始物种丰富度s0、特定地理区域资源环境状况的函数.干扰力是干扰强度系数b和物种丰富度s的函数.当生态系统存在有害干扰的条件下,物种丰富度不能达到生态系统最高物种丰富度sm.动力学模型显示,初始物种丰富度s0越小,生态系统恢复过程越具有逻辑斯蒂性.建立了生态系统恢复力、环境阻力和干扰力的计算模型和植物多样性、干扰对生态系统恢复的作用模型.生态系统恢复动力模型显示,植物多样性能增加生态系统恢复力,促进生态系统稳定性.