Water Ecology Team, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
PLoS One. 2012;7(6):e40018. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040018. Epub 2012 Jun 26.
One of the most debated problems in conservation biology is the use of indicator (surrogate) taxa to predict spatial patterns in other taxa. Cross-taxon congruence in species richness patterns is of paramount importance at regional scales to disclose areas of high conservation value that are significant in a broader biogeographical context but yet placed in the finer, more practical, political context of decision making. We analysed spatial patterns of diversity in six arthropod taxa from the Turkish fauna as a regional case study relevant to global conservation of the Mediterranean basin. Although we found high congruence in cross-taxon comparisons of species richness (0.241<r<0.645), hotspots of different groups show limited overlap, generally less than 50 per cent. The ability of a given taxon to capture diversity of other taxa was usually modest (on average, 50 percent of diversity of non-target taxa), limiting the use of hotspots for effective conservation of non-target groups. Nevertheless, our study demonstrates that a given group may partially stand in for another with similar ecological needs and biogeographical histories. We therefore advocate the use of multiple sets of taxa, chosen so as to be representative of animals with different ecological needs and biogeographical histories.
在保护生物学中，最具争议的问题之一是使用指示（替代）分类群来预测其他分类群的空间模式。在区域尺度上，分类群丰富度模式的跨分类群一致性对于揭示具有高保护价值的区域至关重要，这些区域在更广泛的生物地理背景下具有重要意义，但在更精细、更实际的决策制定政治背景下。我们分析了土耳其动物区系的六个节肢动物分类群的多样性空间模式，作为与地中海盆地全球保护相关的区域案例研究。虽然我们发现物种丰富度的跨分类群比较具有高度一致性（0.241<r<0.645），但不同组的热点区域重叠有限，通常不到 50%。给定分类群捕获其他分类群多样性的能力通常较为适中（平均而言，非目标分类群的 50%多样性），限制了热点在非目标群体的有效保护中的应用。然而，我们的研究表明，具有相似生态需求和生物地理历史的给定组可能部分代表另一个组。因此，我们主张使用多组分类群，选择具有不同生态需求和生物地理历史的动物作为代表。
