Small patches are hotspots for biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes

In the past two decades, the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China has experienced dramatic habitat loss and fragmentation, and patches of remaining grassland have formed. However, it is still unclear how to prioritize biodiversity conservation in the remaining grassland patches in this fragmented...

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Autores principales:	Yongzhi Yan, Scott Jarvie, Qing Zhang, Shuangshuang Zhang, Peng Han, Qingfu Liu, Pengtao Liu
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Agro-pastoral ecotone Beta diversity Conservation priority Ecological uniqueness Fractal dimension Small patch Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2dc73fd90ce14fcf9fe8151f7a5bae77
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:2dc73fd90ce14fcf9fe8151f7a5bae77
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2dc73fd90ce14fcf9fe8151f7a5bae772021-12-01T04:58:56ZSmall patches are hotspots for biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes1470-160X10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.108086https://doaj.org/article/2dc73fd90ce14fcf9fe8151f7a5bae772021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X21007512https://doaj.org/toc/1470-160XIn the past two decades, the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China has experienced dramatic habitat loss and fragmentation, and patches of remaining grassland have formed. However, it is still unclear how to prioritize biodiversity conservation in the remaining grassland patches in this fragmented landscape. Here, we investigated 84 remaining grassland patches in the Tabu River Basin, a typical area of agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China. To determine the conservation priorities of these remaining grassland patches, we used a new conservation criterion called ecological uniqueness based on beta diversity. We further explored the impact of local habitat, dispersal process, and patch characteristics on ecological uniqueness. Our results showed that turnover was the dominant component of regional beta diversity (accounting for 81.9%). We identified 13 hotspots patches with high conservation priority due to their significant ecological uniqueness, 9 of which were small patches (<5 ha). Local habitat explained more variation of the ecological uniqueness than dispersal process and patch characteristics, with local precipitation heterogeneity the key influencing factor. We also found a positive correlation between patch fractal dimension and ecological uniqueness. Our study suggests that small remaining grassland patches are hotspots of regional biodiversity conservation in the fragmented landscape of agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China. We highlight that it is necessary to focus on the habitat heterogeneity and patch shape of these small patches to determine conservation prioritization.Yongzhi YanScott JarvieQing ZhangShuangshuang ZhangPeng HanQingfu LiuPengtao LiuElsevierarticleAgro-pastoral ecotoneBeta diversityConservation priorityEcological uniquenessFractal dimensionSmall patchEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcological Indicators, Vol 130, Iss , Pp 108086- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Agro-pastoral ecotone Beta diversity Conservation priority Ecological uniqueness Fractal dimension Small patch Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Agro-pastoral ecotone Beta diversity Conservation priority Ecological uniqueness Fractal dimension Small patch Ecology QH540-549.5 Yongzhi Yan Scott Jarvie Qing Zhang Shuangshuang Zhang Peng Han Qingfu Liu Pengtao Liu Small patches are hotspots for biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes
description	In the past two decades, the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China has experienced dramatic habitat loss and fragmentation, and patches of remaining grassland have formed. However, it is still unclear how to prioritize biodiversity conservation in the remaining grassland patches in this fragmented landscape. Here, we investigated 84 remaining grassland patches in the Tabu River Basin, a typical area of agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China. To determine the conservation priorities of these remaining grassland patches, we used a new conservation criterion called ecological uniqueness based on beta diversity. We further explored the impact of local habitat, dispersal process, and patch characteristics on ecological uniqueness. Our results showed that turnover was the dominant component of regional beta diversity (accounting for 81.9%). We identified 13 hotspots patches with high conservation priority due to their significant ecological uniqueness, 9 of which were small patches (<5 ha). Local habitat explained more variation of the ecological uniqueness than dispersal process and patch characteristics, with local precipitation heterogeneity the key influencing factor. We also found a positive correlation between patch fractal dimension and ecological uniqueness. Our study suggests that small remaining grassland patches are hotspots of regional biodiversity conservation in the fragmented landscape of agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China. We highlight that it is necessary to focus on the habitat heterogeneity and patch shape of these small patches to determine conservation prioritization.
format	article
author	Yongzhi Yan Scott Jarvie Qing Zhang Shuangshuang Zhang Peng Han Qingfu Liu Pengtao Liu
author_facet	Yongzhi Yan Scott Jarvie Qing Zhang Shuangshuang Zhang Peng Han Qingfu Liu Pengtao Liu
author_sort	Yongzhi Yan
title	Small patches are hotspots for biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes
title_short	Small patches are hotspots for biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes
title_full	Small patches are hotspots for biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes
title_fullStr	Small patches are hotspots for biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes
title_full_unstemmed	Small patches are hotspots for biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes
title_sort	small patches are hotspots for biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/2dc73fd90ce14fcf9fe8151f7a5bae77
work_keys_str_mv	AT yongzhiyan smallpatchesarehotspotsforbiodiversityconservationinfragmentedlandscapes AT scottjarvie smallpatchesarehotspotsforbiodiversityconservationinfragmentedlandscapes AT qingzhang smallpatchesarehotspotsforbiodiversityconservationinfragmentedlandscapes AT shuangshuangzhang smallpatchesarehotspotsforbiodiversityconservationinfragmentedlandscapes AT penghan smallpatchesarehotspotsforbiodiversityconservationinfragmentedlandscapes AT qingfuliu smallpatchesarehotspotsforbiodiversityconservationinfragmentedlandscapes AT pengtaoliu smallpatchesarehotspotsforbiodiversityconservationinfragmentedlandscapes
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Small patches are hotspots for biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes

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