Lu Limin, Zhao Lina, Hu Haihua, Liu Bing, Yang Yuchang, You Yichen, Peng Danxiao, Barrett Russell L, Chen Zhiduan
State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Fundam Res. 2022 Aug 24;3(6):939-950. doi: 10.1016/j.fmre.2022.08.008. eCollection 2023 Nov.
Establishment of a national park protection system in China, including the latest target proposed to protect at least 30% of the land area, calls for a comprehensive exploration of conservation priorities incorporating multiple diversity facets. We herein evaluate the spatial distribution of Chinese flowering plants from the perspectives of richness, uniqueness, vulnerability, and evolutionary history, by integrating three mega-phylogenies and comprehensive distribution data. We detect significantly high consistency among hotspots of different diversity measures for Chinese flowering plants, suggesting that multiple facets of evolutionary diversity are concentrically distributed in China. Affording legal protection to these areas is expected to maximize positive conservation outcomes. We propose two integrative diversity indices by incorporating three richness-based and three phylogeny-based measures, respectively. Both methods identify areas with high species richness, but the integrative phylogeny-based index also locates key areas with ancient and unique evolutionary histories (e.g., Ailao-Wuliang Mts, Dabie Mts, Hainan rainforest, Karst area of Yunnan-Guizhou-Guangxi, Nanling Mts, and southeast coastal regions). Of all the diversity indices explored, phylogenetic endemism maximizes the incidental protection of other indices in most cases, emphasizing its significance for conservation planning. Finally, 42 priority areas are identified by combining the 5%-criterion hotspots of two integrative indices and the minimum area to protect all threatened species analyzed. These priorities cover only 13.3% of China's land area, but host 97.1% of species richness (23,394/24,095), 96.5% of endemic species (11,841/12,274), 100% of threatened species (2,613/2,613), and 99.3% of phylogenetic diversity for flowering plants involved in this study. These frameworks provide a solid scientific basis for national park planning in China.
中国国家公园保护体系的建立，包括提出保护至少30%陆地面积这一最新目标，需要全面探索纳入多种多样性层面的保护重点。在此，我们通过整合三个大型系统发育树和全面的分布数据，从丰富度、独特性、脆弱性和进化历史的角度评估中国开花植物的空间分布。我们发现中国开花植物不同多样性指标的热点之间存在显著的高度一致性，这表明进化多样性的多个层面在中国呈同心分布。对这些区域给予法律保护有望使保护成果最大化。我们分别通过纳入三种基于丰富度的指标和三种基于系统发育的指标，提出了两个综合多样性指数。两种方法都能识别出物种丰富度高的区域，但基于系统发育的综合指数还能定位具有古老而独特进化历史的关键区域（如哀牢山-无量山、大别山、海南热带雨林、滇黔桂喀斯特地区、南岭和东南沿海地区）。在所有探索的多样性指数中，系统发育特有性在大多数情况下能最大程度地附带保护其他指数，这凸显了其在保护规划中的重要性。最后，通过结合两个综合指数的5%标准热点和保护所有受威胁物种所需的最小面积，确定了42个优先区域。这些优先区域仅占中国陆地面积的13.3%，但涵盖了本研究中97.1%的物种丰富度（23,394/24,095）、96.5%的特有物种（11,841/12,274）、100%的受威胁物种（2,613/2,613）以及99.3%的开花植物系统发育多样性。这些框架为中国国家公园规划提供了坚实的科学依据。
