集合生态系统研究15年回顾与展望

Meta-ecosystem: Achievements in the first 15 years and the perspectives

集合生态系统(meta-ecosystem)由法国的Loreau教授等于2003年提出,是指"由跨生态系统边界的物质流、能量流和生物体流所连接起来的一系列生态系统的集合",是对只关注生物体(organism)迁移交换的集合种群(meta-population)和集合群落(meta-community)概念的外推,也是为了给生态系统空间异质性研究提供一个重要的分析路径,对研究和理解生态系统的结构、过程、功能和异质性具有重要意义。通过对相关文献的梳理分析,简述了集合生态系统研究的基本状况,分析了对集合生态系统概念的狭义和广义两种理解,指出了探讨集合生态系统结构的两个方向,构建了分析集合生态系统研究的六维整体框架,综述了研究集合生态系统的两类方法,探讨了经验化的集合生态系统(empirical meta-ecosystem)的3种空间结构和两种构建路径。将集合生态系统概念和理论引入流域复合生态系统(integrated watershed ecosystem)的分析,为流域生态学研究提供新的概念框架。

In 2003, Loreau, Mouquet, and Holt from France proposed the meta-ecosystem concept as a natural extension of the meta-population and meta-community concepts. A meta-ecosystem is defined as a set of ecosystems connected by spatial flows of energy, materials, and organisms across ecosystem boundaries. This concept provides a useful theoretical framework toward better understanding and exploring the structures, processes, functions, and heterogeneity of ecosystems. In this paper, we initially introduce the backgrounds of the meta-ecosystem concept, then, describe the development of meta-ecosystem studies, recapitulate the understandings of the meta-ecosystem concept in the current literature, summarize the frameworks for understanding the structure of meta-ecosystems, construct a six-dimensional general framework for describing a meta-ecosystem study, delineate two approaches to studying meta-ecosystems, and describe three spatial structures in empirical meta-ecosystems and two methods for constructing empirical meta-ecosystems. Finally, we explore the frameworks from a meta-ecosystem perspective, that might help future studies of integrated watershed ecosystems. We hope that 1） the review on meta-ecosystems could provide an overall framework for understanding the meta-ecosystem concept and meta-ecosystem studies, and then promote studies using the meta-ecosystem concept and theory; and 2） combining the meta-ecosystem theory and an integrated watershed ecosystem framework could provide a useful conceptual framework for watershed ecosystem studies and watershed ecology, and then support the sustainable development and ecological civilization at the watershed scale.