Biodiversity: Luxury or necessity
Biodiversity: Luxury or necessity
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生物多样性：奢侈还是必需品
DOI：
10.1016/s0959-3780(02)00089-4
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发表时间：
2003
影响因子：
1
通讯作者：
D. D. Groot
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
P. Martens;J. Rotmans;D. D. Groot
生物多样性——生物多样性的缩略语——乍一看似乎是一个简单的概念，即从遗传水平到生态系统的生物变异的总和。然而，仔细研究就会发现，这个概念更为复杂；它用来表示物种的多样性、物种内的多样性和生态系统的多样性。两个重要的方面是生物多样性的质量和数量。数量可以用种群的大小、不同物种的丰度以及一个地区的面积和生态系统的数量来表示。质量（或完整性）与遗传多样性和物种、生态系统或自然区域的活力或恢复力有关。一个核心问题是全球生物多样性的持续丧失，但我们对生物多样性的了解仍然相对有限（Loreau et al., 2001; Martens and Rotmans, 2002）。生物多样性的第一个问题是，我们的自然模型是分层构建的，即从分子水平到生态系统水平。在这种结构中，我们区分逻辑类，如个体、种群、物种、群落和生态系统，并假设某个类的每个成员都可以与其他成员区分开来。然而，在现实中，例如亚种之间和生态系统之间的“边界”往往是不明确的，而且实际上不可能详尽地列出所有物种及其位置，更不用说在较低的等级水平上命名所有种群或个体了。此外，生物和非生物过程之间的相互作用以及个体、种群、物种和生态系统之间的相互依赖关系难以绘制。然而，这就是生物多样性的意义所在。我们希望探索一种我们永远无法完全研究或完全描绘的现象。因此，我们将不得不接受这样一个事实：由于我们缺乏知识，生物多样性的研究将永远被结构上的不确定性所包围。第二个问题是，对于许多生态系统来说，很难确定当前系统可以处理哪些基因/种群/物种/生态系统的损失，从而继续存在，或者哪些损失导致系统发展成不同的系统或消失。有时，即使大多数常见物种已经灭绝，生态系统仍能继续发挥作用，至少部分发挥作用。另一方面，从达尔文时代（1859年）就已经知道，物种的多样性对生态系统的生产力和稳定性有积极的影响（Loreau et al., 2001）。
Biodiversity—a contraction of biological diversity—appears at first sight to be a simple concept, ie the total sum of biotic variation, ranging from the genetic level to ecosystems. On closer examination, however, the concept is more complex; it is used to indicate the diversity of species, the diversity within species, and the diversity of ecosystems. Two important aspects are the quality and the quantity of biodiversity. The quantity can be expressed in terms of the size of the population, the abundance of different species, as well as the surface area and number of ecosystems in an area. Quality (or integrity) relates to the genetic diversity and the vitality or resilience of a species, ecosystem or natural area. A central problem is a continuing loss of biodiversity around the globe, but our knowledge about biodiversity is still relatively limited (Loreau et al., 2001; Martens and Rotmans, 2002). The first problem with biodiversity is that our model of nature is constructed hierarchically, ie from the molecular level up to the ecosystem level. Within this construction, we distinguish logical classes, such as individuals, populations, species, communities and ecosystems, with the presumption that each member of a certain class can be distinguished from every other member. However, in reality ‘boundaries’ between, for example, sub-species and between ecosystems are often unclear, and it is practically not possible to exhaustively list all the species and their location, let alone to name all the populations or individuals at a lower hierarchical level. Furthermore, the interactions between biotic and abiotic processes, and the mutual dependencies between individuals, populations, species and ecosystems are difficult to map. Nevertheless, this is what biodiversity is all about. We wish to explore a phenomenon that we can never fully examine or map fully. We will, therefore, have to accept that—as a result of our lack of knowledge—the study of biodiversity will always be surrounded by structural uncertainty.A second problem is that for many ecosystems it is difficult to determine which loss of genes/populations/species/ecosystems the current system can handle and, therefore, continue to exist, or which loss causes the system to develop into a different system or to disappear. Sometimes, ecosystems can continue to function, at least partially, even though a majority of the common species have become extinct. On the other hand, it has been known since Darwin’s time (1859) that a large variety of species has a positive influence on the productivity and stability of ecosystems (Loreau et al., 2001).