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.

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.

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.

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.

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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