摘要：In ethnic areas, plant utilization is an essential component of traditional ecological knowledge and an important intersection between biodiversity and cultural diversity. Multipurpose plants play an important role in diversity of plant utilization and can be used as an indicator of regional biocultural diversity. Different uses of the same multipurpose plant correspond to different gathering methods and have different impacts on plant resources. Although important in both daily life and scientific studies, multipurpose plants are rarely specifically studied. In this study, multipurpose plant utilization by Miao and Buyi people in Guizhou, China, was investigated using semi-structured interviews. Plant uses were classified into eight categories: food, medicine, timber, fuel, technological, recreation, ornamental and symbolic. Three indices, Joint Plant and Use (JPU), Joint Uses (JU), and Joint Index (JI), were proposed to analyze overall utilization for multipurpose plants and the relationships among their different uses. A total of 58 species of non-cultivated multipurpose plants and 140 corresponding JPUs were recorded. With the decrease in use number, the corresponding species number of multipurpose plants increased. Two-use plants were most common among multipurpose plants, and food-medicinal plants were most frequent among two-use plants. Moreover, medicinal use and food use have the highest JI value, representing the close relationship between these two uses. Multipurpose plants are essentially determined from the attributes of plants themselves. Trees tend to have more uses than herbaceous plants. Different uses of the same plant represent different cultural or economic values, which determine the importance of a specific use. Socio-economic conditions and policies also have impacts on multipurpose plant utilization. While socio-economic conditions, policies, and plant resources vary, people might choose among different uses; hence, some key multipurpose plants and their JPUs will reflect the variations. The JPU used in this study can be regarded as a basic biocultural diversity unit. Using JPU, JU or JI allows multipurpose plants and their uses to be analyzed quantitatively. Multipurpose plants should be valued in research and management and, for further research, it is important to establish a standard plant use categorization.

摘要：Managing multiple ecosystem services (ESs) in a win-win manner is a necessary and challenging task. However, our understanding of the spatial interactions among ESs is relatively limited, particularly in mountainous areas. Using the global biodiversity hotspot known as the Three Parallel Rivers Region in Southwest China as a case study, this paper systematically investigated the spatial trade-offs and synergies among 8 ESs (i.e. crop production, livestock-raising, water supply, carbon storage, carbon sequestration, soil retention, habitat support and nature recreation). We mapped the township-level distributions of the 8 ESs and measured their relationships using Spearman's rank correlation coefficients and overlap analyses of ES hotspots/coldspots. Four types of ES bundles were identified by applying the K-means clustering analysis to the 8 ESs. Our results revealed high to moderate levels of interactions among most pairs of ESs. Most provisioning services showed trade-offs with ESs of the other categories, whereas most regulating services demonstrated synergies with other ESs. The ES bundles presented a reasonable set of ecological zones that were characterized by the provisions of different ESs. The spatial patterns of ESs and their interactions corresponded well to the regional socio-ecological gradients in topography, climate and human activities. Our results should have important applications in regional decision makings on economic development and environmental conservation. This study also provides a good case for demonstrating the complex relationships among ESs in a typical mountainous biodiversity hotspot.

摘要：The present study highlighted the state of climate change induced social vulnerability of the districts of Arunachal Pradesh. For the purpose of assessment of one of the most fragile ecosystems of the eastern Himalaya, the 'Integrated Vulnerability Assessment Approach' and IPCC's definition of vulnerability were utilized. The assessment was based on various secondary data, like socio-economic and biophysical indicators, collected from several authenticated sources; and the respective weightage of these indicators was assigned by using 'Principal Component Analysis'. Vulnerability was calculated as the net effect of exposure and sensitivity on the adaptive capacity. Anjaw district of eastern Arunachal Pradesh was found to be the most vulnerable district, while Tawang district of western Arunachal Pradesh happened to be the least vulnerable. This net effect was found negative in 7 out of 12 districts viz. Anjaw, Upper Siang, West Siang, Lower Dibang Valley, East Siang, East Kameng and Kurung Kurmey. This net negative effect could be construed as an alarming situation. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

摘要：The expansion of large-scale plantations has a major impact on landscapes in the Tropics and Subtropics. Crops like soy bean, oil palm and rubber have led to drastic changes in land cover over the past decades, thereby altering ecosystem functions and services (ESS). Associated shifts in ESS such as climate regulation, erosion and water cycles, biodiversity as well as soil fertility or the provisioning of raw materials have been assessed through several models and software solutions (InVEST, ARIES, MIMES). However, suitable methods for the integration of a range of biodiversity assessments in agricultural landscapes are scarce. With this study, we introduce a methodology for incorporating multiple levels of species diversity into models to allow an integrated evaluation of ESS. We collected data sets from both published and unpublished sources on the distribution of vascular plants, selected pollinator groups, ground beetles, ungulates as well as amphibians, mammals, reptiles and birds in rubber-dominated landscapes, with a focus on our study sites in Southwest China and Thailand. Based on this information, we developed a common classification scheme that enables the integration of different facets of biodiversity (species diversity and functional diversity) to complement an interdisciplinary ESS assessment. Species diversity data were normalized against the most divers habitats reported (using habitat scores) to assess the impact of rubber cultivation on multiple levels of biodiversity. This resulted in a comparable matrix of different land use types and their suitability as habitat for the respective species groups allowing the aggregation of very diverse indicators. The findings were applied to two alternative land use scenarios in southern China to highlight the potential effects of land use and management decisions on species and functional diversity. Our results highlighted that the conservation oriented scenario did score higher for habitat suitability in both total species (+5%) as well as IUCN Red List species (+6%) assessments compared to the current state or business as usual scenarios (-2% and 3% compared to current state). The process presented here allows for an application within established ESS software programs, in our case InVEST, using aggregated indices while additionally providing enhanced opportunities for comparable, spatially explicit assessments of the expected impact of the analyzed scenarios on specific species groups. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

摘要：Dendrochronological methods have been used to reconstruct insect outbreaks, yet the application has been scarce in the high Asia. We compiled tree-ring data from 4 host (Larix potaninii) and 4 non-host (Abies and Picea) sites in the central Hengduan Mountains, southwestern China. We assessed site-specific growth-climate responses and applied two methods to detecting larch insect defoliation events during the past 250 years. Compared with the non-host chronologies, larch trees (host) showed periodic reduction in radial growth, which may be associated with outbreaks of a larch defoliator. Synchronously, growth reductions was found for three low-elevation sites, such as during 1783-1790, 1846-1850, 1860-1865, 1873-1878, 1900-1909, 1939-1945, 1965-1970 and 1981-1986. However, these periods of outbreaks differ from those of a high-elevation site. With spectral analyses, we found 11-13 years frequency domains for three low-elevation larch chronologies, while 7-9 year peaks presented one high elevation site. Contrastively, no significant frequency domains within the same periodicity were found in ring-width chronologies of co-occurring non-host species. We provide tree-ring evidence that larch trees growing in the central Hengduan Mountains have been infected by insect defoliators repeatedly. We suggest that appropriate approaches should be applied to correct insect-defoliation signals when using larch tree-ring data as a climatic proxy. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

摘要：Questions: Does the plant species composition of Thandiani sub Forests Division (TsFD) correlate with edaphic, topographic and climatic variables? Is it possible to identify different plant communities in relation to environmental gradients with special emphasis on indicator species? Can this approach to vegetation classification support conservation planning? Location: Thandiani sub Forests Division, Western Himalayas. Methods: Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of species along with environmental variables were measured using a randomly stratified design to identify the major plant communities and indicator species of the Thandiani sub Forests Division. Species composition was recorded in 10 x 2.5 x 2 and 0.5 x 0.5 m square plots for trees, shrubs and herbs, respectively. GPS, edaphic and topographic data were also recorded for each sample plot. A total of 1500 quadrats were established in 50 sampling stations along eight altitudinal transects encompassing eastern, western, northern and southern aspects (slopes). The altitudinal range of the study area was 1290 m to 2626 m above sea level using. The relationships between species composition and environmental variables were analyzed using Two Way Cluster Analysis (TWCA) and Indicator Species Analysis (ISA) via PCORD version 5. Results: A total of 252 plant species belonging to 97 families were identified. TWCA and ISA recognized five plant communities. ISA additionally revealed that mountain slope aspect, soil pH and soil electrical conductivity were the strongest environmental factors (p <= 0.05) determining plant community composition and indicator species in each habitat. The results also show the strength of the environment-species relationship using Monte Carlo procedures. Conclusions: An analysis of vegetation along an environmental gradient in the Thandiani sub Forests Division using the Braun-Blanquet approach confirmed by robust tools of multivariate statistics identified indicators of each sort of microclimatic zones/vegetation communities which could further be used in conservation planning and management not only in the area studied but in the adjacent regions exhibit similar sort of environmental conditions. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

摘要：The species distribution model (SDM), which is used to spatially predict species distributions, can also identify the probable causes of the location of certain species (i.e. the mathematical description of habitat requirements). Therefore, SDM has the potential to guide resource management and biodiversity conservation. In the topographically complex terrain, SDMs are often Complicated by the lack of environmental data; however, the first information that is typically obtained for these analyses is a topographic map. Here, the possibility of using 16 predictor variables derived from the digital elevation model (DEM) to model the distributions of Abies faxoniana and Quercus aquifolioides in the mountainous upstream catchment basin of the Min River (UCBM) in southwest China was investigated. In particular, with the ensemble modeling approach based on eight niche models and nine model-training and-testing datasets, changes in model performance and shifts in the explanatory power of the predictor variable over five different levels of spatial resolution (30 m, 90 m, 120 m, 240 m, 900 m) were assessed. Almost all models succeed in predicting the distributions of both species, although predictive accuracies differed significantly among spatial scales and model classes. On average, model accuracies increased to the highest level at the meso-scale (120 m and 240 m for A. faxoniana and Q, aquifolioides, respectively) and then decreased as resolution became coarser, indicating that high spatial resolution does not imply a better model. The relative importance rankings for each topographical variable were consistent across all spatial scales, but their explanatory powers did differ significantly among spatial scales. Elevation and terrain-distributed solar radiation for growing season (SRG) drive the distributions of A. faxoniana and Q, aquifolioides with a much higher level of confidence than other predictors across all spatial scales; the former tended to decrease, and the latter tended to increase when spatial resolution became coarse. Our findings confirm that DEM can be used exclusively and effectively to predict species distribution. Multi-scale analysis is needed to detect highly subtle variations in species habitat requirements, and to select the spatial scale that corresponds to known spatial characteristics of the species habitat. This has broad implications for distribution modeling of species in rugged terrain. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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摘要：To evaluate the potential health hazards caused by extensive vanadium-titanium magnetite mining, bioavailability and bioaccessibility of metals were assessed in the pluralistic mining-agriculture-residential city of Panzhihua, China. Intensive mining and related heavy traffic may have contributed to Ni, Cr, and Zn contamination and Mn and V accumulation in soils and road dusts. The metal bioavailability estimated by water extraction was significantly lower than metal bioaccessibility on the basis of the simple bioaccessibility extraction test. The bioaccessible metal concentrations were significantly and positively correlated with soil/dust total metal concentrations (p<.05). However, bioavailable metal concentrations exhibited no relationship with total metal concentrations except for V. The bioaccessibility of metals significantly varied and exhibited the following order: Pb>Zn>Mn>Ni >V>Cr. Health risk assessment indicated that the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks posed by these metals were at an acceptable level, but Cr in soils of the mining area and V in surface soils along the Jinsha River were close to the safe level for children. Therefore, the potential health risk attributed to the exposure of children to metals in surface soils and roaddusts in such areas should not be overlooked.