Heterogeneity-diversity Relationships in Natural Areas of Yunnan,China

Understanding regional environmental heterogeneity(EH)and biodiversity relationships(heterogeneity-diversity relationships:HDRs)is the first step toward coupling environmental variables with biodiversity surrogates into regional systematic conservation planning.However,there is no universal method for determining regional HDRs that considers various environmental variables and biodiversity in different regions.This study selected 32 nature reserves as natural areas in Yunnan,China,to examine regional HDRs in Yunnan.We calculated 17 EH parameters(of soil,topography,and climate)and three(ecosystem,plant,and animal)biodiversity indices in the nature reserves.By examining the explanatory power of each EH parameter and area of the nature reserve,we identified the primary parameters and constructed an optimal model for each biodiversity index.The explanatory powers of these parameters varied for each biodiversity index,and those of climatic parameters were generally higher than soil and topographic heterogeneity ones.Heterogeneity of the temperature annual range,followed by area and heterogeneity of soil type,were important parameters for ecosystem diversity of Yunnan and the optimal model explained 56.9%.Plant diversity was explained 54.5%by its optimal model,consisting of heterogeneity of precipitation of the coldest quarter and annual precipitation.Heterogeneity of temperature annual range was important for animal diversity in Yunnan and explained 29.6%of its optimal model.This study suggests that EH parameters can be an effective surrogate for biodiversity,therefore,we suggested that the significance and role of climatically heterogeneous regions for the conservation of biodiversity in Yunnan should be further studied in the future.

The Evolving Role of Botanical Gardens and Natural Areas:A Floristic Case Study from Royal Botanical Gardens,Canada

As leaders calling for the conservation of the world's plants,botanical gardens protect plants within living collections.Many also study,manage and restore plants in natural habitats.Royal Botanical Gardens(Ontario,Canada) has integrated both horticultural and natural heritage in its mission for decades.Envisioned by municipal leaders in the 1920s as a combination of nature sanctuaries and civic gardens,RBG now includes forests,wetlands and other habitats,gardens and built spaces.Today RBG is Canada's largest botanical garden on the basis of area.In the 1950s RBG began to inventory plant diversity.The checklist of spontaneous vascular plants now exceeds 1 170 species,of which 752 are native.This is 37% of Ontario's native vascular plants and 19% of the native vascular flora of Canada.The RBG nature sanctuaries are among the richest locations in Canada for species-level diversity.We examine the history of floristic exploration within RBG and compare plant species-area relationships among protected natural areas in Ontario.This comparison supports the contention that the nature sanctuaries,and in particular Cootes Paradise,could be considered an important area for plants in Canada,and relative to the nation's flora,a biodiversity hotspot.The fact that a candidate vascular plant hotspot for Canada lies within a major botanical garden presents opportunities for raising public awareness of the importance of plant diversity,as well as focusing attention on the scientific and conservation biology needs of communities and individual species in this area.

Sustainability of Touristic Potential of the Old Van City and Castle of Van in Terms of Cultural, Historical and Natural Values

Tourism has become the world＇s fastest growing sector due to acceleration of technology and information flow in the globalized world of today, development of the modem mass transport system and increase in people＇s disposable income. Upon tourism＇s being considered as a serious development strategy in the developments of the countries, all the countries of the world have begun to accelerate their investments in this area through utilizing the natural and cultural assets of their countries （heritage） with a view to provide revenue to their economy as well as creation of jobs. This situation, which has emerged as a result of the globalization of supply and demand in tourism, has created certain problems in terms of environmental balance and the living conditions of local people as a result of poor management of the utilization of natural and cultural resources. The objective of this paper is to examine the concepts and principles germane to sustainable tourism which has significant contribution to the development of the countries, made at the macro level both in the world and in Turkey. The aim of this paper, at the micro level, is to create awareness incident to the tourism resources of the Van Region and the Old Van province and ensure the utilization of these resources through protection thereof. At the end of the study, the importance of the protection of heritage resources as well as fair use thereof in terms of increasing the competitiveness of Turkey on a global scale in tourism is addressed in the light of the overall evaluations.

Assessing the effects of long-term recreational activities on landscape changes in Abant Natural Park,Turkey

Natural, protected areas offer many possibili- ties for recreation in rural areas such as camping, one of the most popular activities. The system established for pro- tected areas in Turkey aims to provide a foundation for conserving areas for recreation. One such area, Abant Natural Park, is convenient for visits from Turkey＇s two most populated metropolitan areas, Istanbul and Ankara. It also attracts tourists from other regions and countries. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the vegetation loss and land cover changes due to picnic/camping, transhu- mance, and construction over 40 years （1966-2004） in the park using data on visitor numbers, vegetation patches, corridors and connectivity. For evaluating landscape vari- ables, remote sensing data and aerial photos were used. When aerial photos were imported into the ERDAS Imagine program, ground control points identified, and individual images orthorectified, land degradation was not found in the use of camping areas. Moreover, manmade areas （road, car park and hotel） observably increased, thus decreasing the forest lands. The findings show that the land use types that have had the greatest ecological impact are transhumance and construction of hotels, which also require infrastructure development. The intensity of the ecological effects mandates precautions to lessen the impacts and the need for continuing assessment to ensure sustainable use of the area.

Ecological and habitat ranges of orchids in the northernmost regions of their distribution areas:A case study from Ural Mountains,Russia

The Orchidaceae,which is one of the most interesting families of angiosperms,contains a large number of rare species.Despite their acknowledged importance,little attention has been paid to the study of orchids distributed in northern territories.In this study,we determined the syntaxonomical diversity and ecological parameters of orchid habitats in two of Europe's largest protected areas,the Pechoro-Ilychsky Reserve and the Yugyd Va National Park(northeastern European Russia),and then compared our findings to those in other parts of orchid distribution ranges.For this purpose,we studied 345 descriptions of plant communities(releves) containing species from Orchidaceae and defined habitat parameters using Ellenberg indicator values with the community weight mean approach,nonmetric multidimensional scaling(NMS),and relative niche width.We found that orchids were distributed in eight habitat types and 97 plant associations.The largest number of orchid species is found in forest communities.Half of the orchid species under study occur in the mires and rock habitats with open vegetation.Several orchids consistently occur in areas disturbed by human activity.In addition,our study indicates that the main drivers of orchid distribution across the vegetation types are light and soil nitrogen.Our analysis of the ecological parameters of orchid habitats indicates that some orchid species can be classified as habitat specialists that are confined to a relatively narrow ecological niche in the Urals(e.g.,Goodyera repens,Cypripedium guttatum and Dactylorhiza maculata).Several other species(e.g.Neottia cordata and Dactylorhiza fuchsia) grow under diverse ecological parameters.

Natural conditions and cropping regionalization of rice area in China

The formation of rice distribution is based on certain natural ecological conditions and social economic environments. In China, rice cropping is distributed in a vast area extending across 5 tempera ture belts, the northernmost of rice growing area in the world being in China. Distribution of rice cropping is characterized by a gradual decrease from south to north, from large and concentrated regions in Southeast to small and separated areas in Northwest. Natural conditions in rice regions differ in China with a varied topography, high in the west and low in the east. Rice fields in the west are mostly distributed on flatlands on plains, valleys among mountains, tablelands in river valleys, yellow-soil plains and basins in low valleys, alluvial plains, plains in river valleys, while those in the east are mainly distributed on alluvial plains, hilly areas among low mountains, coastal plains, along rivers and lakes and in basins among mountains.

Overview of China’s national park system reform process

Having experienced a high economic growth rate,China is entering into a low one as the country needs to carry out policy reforms for better governance.In recent years,the national park system reform has been one of the pilot policies that has attracted great attention from local governments and the public.The central government established corresponding management systems during the institutional restructuring in 2018,and five out of ten pilots were selected due to their good performance on policy reform in 2021.This paper provides an overview of the policy background,a general introduction to the system,and a discussion of policy implementations.Our research suggests that China’s national parks need to improve their laws and regulations and establish an eco-compensation mechanism to encourage residents to participate in conservation and receive increasing benefits through green development.

STUDIES ON THE ENVIRONMENT STRUCTURE OF NATURAL NIDI AND EPIDEMIC AREAS OF HEMORRHAGIC FEVER WITH RENAL SYNDROME IN CHINA

The environment structure of natural nidi and epidemic areas of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) possesses characteristics of topography, hydrology, climate, soil, vegetation, and animals. The natural nidi and epidemic areas of HFRS are distributed mainly in plain and hilly regions under 500 meters above the sea level; in plentiful-water zones and transitional zones; in temperate zone and subtropical zone of the eastern monsoon region; in the abundant-aluminum soil region and the sial soil region; in the eastern China damp forest region (agricultural districts and northeast forest districts); in the eastern Asia dampness-prefering animal geographic region. Apodemus agrarius and Rattus norvegicus are the thriving animal population, predominant species or common species as well as the main reservoir hosts and sources of infection in the natural nidi and epidemic areas of HFRS.

Assessing conservation practices in Amalacaxco Gorge (Izta-Popo National Park, Central Mexico) using fallout 137Cs and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL)

This study aims to assess conservation practices in Izta-Popo National Park(Central Mexico) by evaluating the mechanisms of sediment transfer. We applied a methodology based on fallout ^(137)Cs and optically stimulated luminescence(OSL) analysis. This was tested in the upper catchment of Amalacaxco Gorge, selected for being one of the sectors of the park in which man-made actions have been implemented in last decades to favor forest growth in the alpine grassland and to reduce the effect of water runoff. We quantified the ^(137)Cs activity using gamma and beta spectrometry of fine sediment grains extracted from the surface of parcels of 0.4 m2 in areas of natural forest, natural alpine grassland, alpine grassland with conservation practices, ravines and trails. In general, ^(137)Cs values increases as local slope decreases as it was expected. The natural forest is the most stable area in terms of soil erosion and sediment accumulation and, mean ^(137)Cs activity was taken as reference to assess cumulative zones, with higher ^(137)Cs values and erosive, with lower. We found that trails are accumulative surfaces but in other areas, erosion predominates. Man-made ditches, trenches and afforestation in the alpine grassland have higher ^(137)Cs values than thenatural grassland, which indicates that conservation practices are limiting the sediment transfer from hillslopes to channels, however, soil retention is less than in the natural grassland. Additionally, we evaluated the luminescence(OSL) values obtained from samples extracted from the sediment transported in ravines that are cutting into different sectors of the study area to assess the grade of resetting of fluvial materials. These luminescence results indicated that the sediment transported in ravines that are cutting into the natural forest and alpine grassland is bleached more efficiently than the sediment transported in the alpine grassland with conservation practices. Results of fallout ^(137)Cs and luminescence strongly suggest that man-made actions in this part of the Izta-Popo National Park are dramatically modifying the natural mechanisms of sediment transfer and favoring soil erosion. We conclude that made ditches, trenches and afforestation are not an effective conservation practice in Amalacaxco Gorge because they are promoting soil erosion instead of reducing it.

Species and Plant Community Reorganization in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt under Climate Change Conditions

This study analyzes six vegetation communities in relation to current climatic parameters and eight climate change scenarios along an elevation gradient extending from 2,710 m to 4,210 m in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The projected movements of 25 plant species with the current restricted or wide altitudinal distributions were also modeled. To relate climatic parameters to the species and communities, a Precipitation/Temperature （P/T） index was used both for the current and the different climate-change scenarios. The temperatures are expected to increase by 1.1℃ to 1.7℃ by 2020 and by 2℃ to 3℃ by 2o5o. A decrease of 4% to 13% in the annual precipitation is expected for the 2020 horizon, and a reduction between 3% and 20% is expected for 2050. The reductions in water availability were projected for all altitude levels and plant communities. The most marked reduction was under the HADLEY- A2 scenario, in which the lower limit of the altitudinal range increased from 2,71o to 3,31o m （2050 horizon） with reductions in the P/T index between 36% and 39% compared to the current climate. Most plant species tended to shift their distribution from 20o to 300 m upward in the 2020 temporal horizon scenarios. The Pinus hartwegii, Alnus jorullensis and Pinus montezumae communities would have a shorter altitudinal range as they move upward and merge with the remaining species at the higher altitudinal range. For the 2o5o temporal horizon, 3o% of the species, primarily those from the higher altitudinal range, would disappear because their P/Tindex values would be above the limit of plant survival （〉4,210 m）.

Comprehensive Evaluation Method of Urban Remnant Natural Area: A Case study of Shanghai, China

Urban remnant natural area (URNA), located in the urban or suburb area, less disturbed by dwellers in the process of urbanization, is an important part of complex urban ecosystem and provides significant opportunity for urban sustainable development. Despite that there is a considerable amount of scientific researches on the urban nature in urban and suburb area, the comprehensive research of URNA is still rare. After analyzing the concept and value of URNA, this paper presented a methodology for comprehensive evaluation of URNA by adopting methods of document analysis, prior-selection process, analytic hierarchy process and vector resemblance-degree. As a result, the comprehensive evaluation index of URNA includes target level A, rule level B(ecological environment value, ecological recreation value, social culture value, scientific research value), index level C( diversity,singularity,nature,area,stability,recreation,landscape element,aesthetics,history,scientific), and index level D(20 items). Each index weight of comprehensive evaluation system of URNA of Shanghai was confirmed finally.

The biggest natural monkey area in China

Last summer vacation some of my classmates and I visited Mount Emei, one of the most famous mountains in the world. It is a folded mountain, a forested mountain and a heaven-kissing mountain with its highest peak covered with snow most of the year. Landscape on Mount Emei."

An Ample and Vigorous Forestry and Nature Protection Community Area

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