Species richness and biodiversity significance of alpine micro-waterbody systems in Gaoligong Mountain, Northwest Yunnan, China

作     者：LIU Shuo-Ran Davide FORNACCA YANG Dao-De TAN Lu LI Xian-Fu REN Guo-Peng SUN Jun HE Xiao-Yang YANG Wen-Shu CAI Qing-Hua XIAO Wen LIU Shuo-Ran;Davide FORNACCA;YANG Dao-De;TAN Lu;LI Xian-Fu;REN Guo-Peng;SUN Jun;HE Xiao-Yang;YANG Wen-Shu;CAI Qing-Hua;XIAO Wen

作者机构：Institute of Wildlife ConservationCentral South University of Forestry and TechnologyChangsha 410004China Institute of Materia MedicaDali UniversityDali 671003China Collaborative Innovation Center for Biodiversity and Conservation in the Three Parallel Rivers Region of ChinaDali 671003China Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity ResearchDali UniversityDali 671003China State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and BiotechnologyInstitute of HydrobiologyChinese Academy of SciencesWuhan 430072China Gong-shan Administration BureauGao-li-gong Mountain National Nature ReserveNujiang 67350China 

出 版 物：《Journal of Mountain Science》 (山地科学学报（英文）)

年 卷 期：2020年第17卷第4期

页      面：907-918页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 07[理学] 071004[理学-水生生物学] 

基　　金：funded by the National Natural Science Foundation Program of P.R.China[31760126,U1602262,31960255,31472021] supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program(STEP),Grant No.SQ2019QZKK2002 the provincial innovation team of biodiversity conservation and utility of the three parallel rivers region from Dali University the“Key Laboratory of Yunnan State Education Department on Er’hai Lake Basin Protection and the Sustainable Development Research” 

主　　题：Habitat connectivity High mountain Extreme fine scale Cascaded water system Richness maintenance Polarized dispersal 

摘      要：Water quality, size, connectivity and other physical properties of hydrological systems might have different functions in the formation and maintenance of biodiversity, but this remains mostly unclear due to the lack of undisturbed sites for experimental modelling. Alpine freshwater habitats such as micro-waterbodies(MWB) represent a kind of natural system suitable for biodiversity research. In order to assess potential linkages between environmental factors, connectivity of MWBs and aquatic species richness, we conducted a pilot study in two separated MWB systems located in Gaoligong Mountain, northwest Yunnan province, China. A total of 27 MWBs have been analyzed, including 22 connected and 5 isolated bodies. 13 conventional environmental factors were tested while all kinds of aquatic macro-organisms were collected and classified. Results showed a high environmental heterogeneity among MWBs and significant differences between the two systems but only a few environmental variables such as the depth of soil bottom, total Nitrogen and altitude were related to species richness and the formation of the community structure. As a benefit from the high environmental heterogeneity, the cascaded MWB systems provided divergent habitats able to support species richness at a higher level than the same number of randomly selected MWBs. This finding supports the idea that habitat connectivity matters also in extremely small aquatic ecosystems. Moreover, although still a preliminary result, a polarization effect within connected chains where edge MWBs host higher taxa and endemic taxa richness as well as larger populations, was detectable. This study gives interesting insights on the spatial processes driving community structure and a new prospective for biodiversity conservation. Since alpine MWBs have significant effects on the maintenance of watershed biodiversity, further research on such small and crucial ecosystems is encouraged.