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Tao Y, Zhou XB, Yin BF, Dimeyeva L, Zhang J, Zang YX, Zhang YM. Combining Multiple Plant Attributes to Reveal Differences in Community Structure in Two Distant Deserts in Central Asia. Plants (Basel) 2023; 12:3286. [PMID: 37765450 PMCID: PMC10537988 DOI: 10.3390/plants12183286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Revised: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
International interest is growing in biodiversity conservation and sustainable use in drylands. Desert ecosystems across arid Central Asia are severely affected by global change. Understanding the changes in a plant community is an essential prerequisite to revealing the community assembly mechanism, vegetation conservation, and management. The knowledge of large-scale spatial variation in plant community structure in different Central Asian deserts is still limited. In this study, we selected the Taukum (TD, Kazakhstan) and the Gurbantunggut (GD, China) deserts as the research area, with similar latitudes despite being nearly 1000 km apart. Thirteen and 15 sampling plots were set up and thoroughly investigated. The differences in community structure depending on multiple plant attributes (individual level: plant height, canopy diameter, and plant volume, and community level: plant density, total cover, and total volume) were systematically studied. TD had a better overall environmental status than GD. A total of 113 species were found, with 68 and 74 in TD and GD, respectively. The number of species and plant attributes was unequally distributed across different families and functional groups between deserts. The values of several plant attributes, such as ephemerals, annuals, dicotyledons, and shrubs with assimilative branches in GD, were significantly lower than those in TD. The Motyka indices of six plant attributes (26.18-38.61%) were higher between the two deserts than the species similarity index (20.4%), indicating a more robust convergence for plant functional attributes. The community structures in the two deserts represented by different plant attribute matrices demonstrated irregular differentiation patterns in ordination diagrams. The most variance in community structure was attributed to soil and climatic factors, while geographic factors had the smallest proportion. Consequently, the community structures of the two distant deserts were both different and similar to an extent. This resulted from the long-term impacts of heterogeneous environments within the same region. Our knowledge is further deepened by understanding the variation in community structure in different deserts on a large spatial scale. This therefore provides valuable insights into conserving regional biodiversity in Central Asia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ye Tao
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Security and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China; (Y.T.); (X.-B.Z.); (B.-F.Y.); (J.Z.); (Y.-X.Z.)
| | - Xiao-Bing Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Security and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China; (Y.T.); (X.-B.Z.); (B.-F.Y.); (J.Z.); (Y.-X.Z.)
| | - Ben-Feng Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Security and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China; (Y.T.); (X.-B.Z.); (B.-F.Y.); (J.Z.); (Y.-X.Z.)
| | - Liliya Dimeyeva
- Institute of Botany and Phytointroduction, Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty 050040, Kazakhstan;
| | - Jing Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Security and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China; (Y.T.); (X.-B.Z.); (B.-F.Y.); (J.Z.); (Y.-X.Z.)
| | - Yong-Xin Zang
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Security and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China; (Y.T.); (X.-B.Z.); (B.-F.Y.); (J.Z.); (Y.-X.Z.)
| | - Yuan-Ming Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Security and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China; (Y.T.); (X.-B.Z.); (B.-F.Y.); (J.Z.); (Y.-X.Z.)
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Fashing PJ, Nguyen N, Demissew S, Gizaw A, Atickem A, Mekonnen A, Nurmi NO, Kerby JT, Stenseth NC. Ecology, evolution, and conservation of Ethiopia's biodiversity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2206635119. [PMID: 36490314 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2206635119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Ethiopia is home to one of the richest and most unique assemblages of fauna and flora on the African continent. Contained within its borders are two major centers of endemism, the mesic Roof of Africa (also known as the Ethiopian Highlands) and the arid Horn of Africa, resulting from the country's varied topography and consequent geographic isolation. These centers of endemism are crucial to global conservation as evidenced by their classification within the Eastern Afromontane and Horn of Africa biodiversity hotspots, respectively. Ethiopia's diverse ecosystems and the biodiversity they contain are increasingly threatened by climate change and the growing impacts of Africa's second largest human and largest livestock populations. In this paper, we focus on several key areas of recent and ongoing research on Ethiopian biodiversity that have broadened our understanding of nature and its conservation in Africa. Topics explored include the behavioral ecology of Ethiopia's large social mammals, the ecology and conservation of its unique coffee forests, and Ethiopian approaches to community conservation, fortress conservation, and nature-based solutions. We also highlight the increasing prominence of Ethiopian scientists in studies of the country's biodiversity in recent decades. We suggest promising avenues for future research in evolutionary biology, ecology, systematics, and conservation in Ethiopia and discuss how recent and ongoing work in Ethiopia is helping us better understand and conserve nature in the human-dominated landscapes of Africa and other tropical regions today.
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Allan JR, Kormos C, Jaeger T, Venter O, Bertzky B, Shi Y, Mackey B, van Merm R, Osipova E, Watson JEM. Gaps and opportunities for the World Heritage Convention to contribute to global wilderness conservation. Conserv Biol 2018; 32:116-126. [PMID: 28664996 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2016] [Revised: 03/29/2017] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Wilderness areas are ecologically intact landscapes predominantly free of human uses, especially industrial-scale activities that result in substantial biophysical disturbance. This definition does not exclude land and resource use by local communities who depend on such areas for subsistence and bio-cultural connections. Wilderness areas are important for biodiversity conservation and sustain key ecological processes and ecosystem services that underpin planetary life-support systems. Despite these widely recognized benefits and values of wilderness, they are insufficiently protected and are consequently being rapidly eroded. There are increasing calls for multilateral environmental agreements to make a greater and more systematic contribution to wilderness conservation before it is too late. We created a global map of remaining terrestrial wilderness following the established last-of-the-wild method, which identifies the 10% of areas with the lowest human pressure within each of Earth's 62 biogeographic realms and identifies the 10 largest contiguous areas and all contiguous areas >10,000 km2 . We used our map to assess wilderness coverage by the World Heritage Convention and to identify gaps in coverage. We then identified large nationally designated protected areas with good wilderness coverage within these gaps. One-quarter of natural and mixed (i.e., sites of both natural and cultural value) World Heritage Sites (WHS) contained wilderness (total of 545,307 km2 ), which is approximately 1.8% of the world's wilderness extent. Many WHS had excellent wilderness coverage, for example, the Okavango Delta in Botswana (11,914 km2 ) and the Central Suriname Nature Reserve (16,029 km2 ). However, 22 (35%) of the world's terrestrial biorealms had no wilderness representation within WHS. We identified 840 protected areas of >500 km2 that were predominantly wilderness (>50% of their area) and represented 18 of the 22 missing biorealms. These areas offer a starting point for assessing the potential for the designation of new WHSs that could help increase wilderness representation on the World Heritage list. We urge the World Heritage Convention to ensure that the ecological integrity and outstanding universal value of existing WHS with wilderness values are preserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- James R Allan
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Cyril Kormos
- WILD Foundation, 717 Poplar Avenue, Boulder, CO 80304, U.S.A
| | - Tilman Jaeger
- World Commission on Protected Areas, IUCN Headquarters, Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland
| | - Oscar Venter
- Ecosystem Science and Management Program, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC V2N4M7, Canada
| | - Bastian Bertzky
- International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Via Enrico Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra (VA), Italy
| | - Yichuan Shi
- International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland
- United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (IUCN and UNEP-WCMC), 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0DL, UK
| | - Brendan Mackey
- Climate Change Response Program, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Queeensland 4221, Australia
| | - Remco van Merm
- International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland
| | - Elena Osipova
- International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland
| | - James E M Watson
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia
- Wildlife Conservation Society, Global Conservation Program, Bronx, NY 10460, U.S.A
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Mathibela MK, Egan BA, Du Plessis HJ, Potgieter MJ. Socio-cultural profile of Bapedi traditional healers as indigenous knowledge custodians and conservation partners in the Blouberg area, Limpopo Province, South Africa. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 2015; 11:49. [PMID: 26048038 PMCID: PMC4468808 DOI: 10.1186/s13002-015-0025-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2014] [Accepted: 04/26/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Bapedi traditional healers of Blouberg are custodians of indigenous knowledge on medicinal plants of this region. They provide primary health care to a large number of people in the Blouberg area of South Africa. There is concern that this profession is dying out, which may be detrimental to the Blouberg community and to biodiversity conservation in the area. METHODS Thirty two healers and 30 community members were interviewed between March 2011 and July 2013 around Blouberg Mountain in the Blouberg Municipality. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to elucidate socio-cultural and demographic variables and healing customs of practicing healers. Attitudes to sustainable management of medicinal plants were captured. A second semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather information on community members' views of traditional healers and their practices. RESULTS Sixty seven percent of interviewed community members visited traditional healers. Female traditional healers dominated (80%) the profession. Sixty four percent of the healers have no formal education, with only 4% having secondary school education. Seventy nine percent of healers see between 15 and 20 patients per month. Clinics and a hospital in the vicinity have resulted in a shift by the community from using tradition-based healing to that of allopathic health care. Most interviewed traditional healers (71%) are in favour of conservation actions to prevent over-harvesting, as 86% believe that indiscriminate collecting is compromising the flora of the area. Most (93%) are willing to use cultivated plants. CONCLUSIONS State health care has negatively influenced the practice of traditional healing as patients now first consult government health centres before turning to traditional healers. In the past, traditional healing has been ignored because, as an oral history, it could not be included in school curricula or government policy documents. Those traditional healers who learn to write will have the skills to document and safeguard their own knowledge. This can help to prevent the erosion of knowledge around Blouberg's medicinal plants and support the conservation of natural resources in the area. Adult learning programmes might therefore be worth implementing amongst healers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malehu K Mathibela
- Department of Biodiversity, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, University of Limpopo, Private Bag X 1106, Sovenga, 0727, South Africa.
| | - Bronwyn A Egan
- Department of Biodiversity, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, University of Limpopo, Private Bag X 1106, Sovenga, 0727, South Africa.
| | - Helena J Du Plessis
- Department of Biodiversity, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, University of Limpopo, Private Bag X 1106, Sovenga, 0727, South Africa.
| | - Martin J Potgieter
- Department of Biodiversity, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, University of Limpopo, Private Bag X 1106, Sovenga, 0727, South Africa.
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Woodroffe R, Frank LG, Lindsey PA, ole Ranah SMK, Romañach S. Livestock husbandry as a tool for carnivore conservation in Africa’s community rangelands: a case–control study. Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation 2006. [DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4020-6320-6_28] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Conflict between people and wildlife is a major issue in both wildlife conservation and rural development. In African rangelands, species such as African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), lions (Panthera leo), leopards (Panthera pardus), and spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) may kill livestock and are therefore themselves killed by local pastoralists. Such conflict has led to the extirpation of these species from many areas, and also impacts the livelihoods of local livestock farmers. To investigate the possibilities for coexistence of people, livestock, and large predators in community rangelands, we measured the effectiveness of traditional livestock husbandry in reducing depredation by wild carnivores, using a case–control approach. Different measures were effective against different predator species but, overall, the risk of predator attack by day was lowest for small herds, accompanied by herd dogs as well as human herders, grazing in open habitat. By night, the risk of attack was lowest for herds held in enclosures (‘bomas’) with dense walls, pierced by few gates, where both men and domestic dogs were present. Unexpectedly, the presence of scarecrows increased the risks of attack on bomas. Our findings suggest that improvements to livestock husbandry can contribute to the conservation and recovery of large carnivores in community rangelands, although other measures such as prey conservation and control of domestic dog diseases are also likely to be necessary for some species.
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