Linguistic diversity and biodiversity: Hotspots and conservation priorities

对生态系统、物种、文化和语言多样性的影响的理解尚处于早期阶段。然而，越来越多的指标表明，生物多样性和文化语言多样性都面临灭绝危机。语言学家预测，世界上6,900种语言中的50%到90%可能很快就会灭绝。全球生物多样性也受到威胁，每年动植物物种的损失估计比历史背景速度高出1 000倍或更多。虽然生物多样性下降和语言消失的直接和间接原因极其复杂，但由于类似的威胁，物种和语言都有在同一个地方灭绝的危险。最大的语言多样性是在土著人民居住的生物多样性最丰富的一些生态系统中发现的，他们占世界人口的4%左右，但至少使用6，900种或更多语言中的60%。生物多样性和语言多样性在空间分布上的重叠模式表明，有必要将生物优先事项与语言优先事项结合起来，以确定高度多样性和高风险的地区，以便将资源用于这些地区。该研究将利用GIS（全球信息系统）制图的最新进展，将新提供的关于语言和物种的全球数据集汇集到一个新的跨学科框架中，以确定语言多样性和生物多样性发生率最高的全球“热点”。这将通过绘制语言数量与34个生物多样性热点和5个高生物多样性荒野地区中发现的总维管植物，哺乳动物，鸟类，两栖动物和爬行动物物种的数量来完成，这些地区被保护国际确定为包含在其他地方发现的物种异常高的地区。大约75%的语言集中在大约26%的地球表面。语言可能比物种面临更大的风险，因为位于高生物多样性地区的许多语言只有相对较少的人使用，并且是这些地方所特有的。小型语言的消失速度可能比大型语言快得多，因为在快速变化的世界中，小型群体容易受到外部压力的影响。资源开采、机械化农业的推广和发展项目破坏了环境，同时也使人们从他们传统上赖以获得食物、住所、文化习俗和精神福祉的地方流离失所并处于边缘地位。由于生物多样性高的地区也代表着对维持地球语言和文化多样性相当重要的地区，促进社区经济和文化福祉的保护战略也可能维持语言多样性。由于需要以太少的资源迅速完成许多工作，因此最重要的是确定切合实际的优先事项，以便及时、集中和协作地努力维护人类和非人类的多样性。确定最需要采取行动保护生物多样性的优先领域以及语言，可以在地方、区域和国际各级以综合方式指导政策和规划。研究结果还可以建立基线，据以监测综合热点的未来状况，并为进一步研究提供基础，以便更好地了解威胁和维持热点的因素。研究结果将在一本研究专著中传播，该专著将由保护国际出版，世界上最大和最受尊敬的组织之一，致力于提高对环境问题的认识，并与世界各地的许多政府、非政府组织和当地社区参与了各种保护项目。这增加了研究结果将超越学术界受众，到达保护实践者、规划者和决策者的可能性。

Understanding of the ramifications of diversity in ecosystems, species, cultures and languages is in its early stages. Nevertheless, a growing number of indicators points to an extinction crisis in both biological and cultural-linguistic diversity. Linguists predict that 50% to 90% of the world's 6,900 languages may soon become extinct. Global biodiversity is also threatened, with annual losses of plant and animal species estimated at 1000 times or more greater than historic background rates. Although the direct and indirect causes of biodiversity declines and the disappearance of languages are extremely complex, both species and languages are in danger of becoming extinct in the same places due to similar threats. The greatest linguistic diversity is found in some of the ecosystems richest in biodiversity inhabited by indigenous peoples, who represent around 4% of the world's population, but speak at least 60% of its 6,900 or more languages. The overlapping pattern in the spatial distribution of biological and linguistic diversity indicates a need for integrating biological priorities with linguistic ones to identity areas of high diversity and great risk in order to target resources to those areas. The research will use the most recent advances in GIS (global information system) mapping to bring together newly available global datasets on languages and species into a new interdisciplinary framework to identify global 'hotspots', where the highest incidence of linguistic diversity and biodiversity co-occur. This will be done by plotting the number of languages against total vascular plant, mammal, bird, amphibian, and reptile species found in 34 biodiversity hotspots and 5 high buodiversity wilderness areas identified by Conservation International as regions containing exceptionally high occurrences of species found nowhere else. Approximately 75% of all languages are concentrated into about 26% of earth's surface. Languages may be at even greater risk than species because many of the languages located in high biodiversity areas are spoken by relatively few people and are unique to those places. Small languages can disappear much faster than larger ones due to the vulnerability of small groups to external pressures in a rapidly changing world. Resource extraction, the spread of mechanized agriculture and development projects damage the environment at the same time as they displace and marginalize people from places they traditionally relied on for their food, shelter, cultural practices and spiritual well-being. Because regions containing high biological diversity also represent areas of considerable importance to maintaining earth's linguistic and cultural diversity, conservation strategies that promote a community's economic and cultural well-being will be likely to sustain linguistic diversity as well. With much needing to be done quickly with too few resources, setting realistic priorities is paramount in order to direct timely, focused, collaborative efforts towards maintaining human and non-human diversity. Pinpointing priority areas most in need of action to conserve biodiversity as well as languages can guide policy and planning in a holistic way at local, regional and international levels. The results can also establish baselines from which to monitor the future status of combined hotspots and prime further research targeted at understanding better the factors threatening and sustaining hotspots.The findings will be disseminated in a research monograph to be published by Conservation International, one of the world's largest and most highly respected organizations involved in raising awareness of environmental issues and engaged in partnership with a number of governments, NGOs, and local communities around the world in various conservation projects. This increases the likelihood that the results will reach beyond academic audiences to conservation practitioners, planners and policy makers.