Conservation of biodiversity: spatio-temporal dynamics of canopy microarthropods

影响群落中物种的组织、分布和多样性的因素是生态学研究的中心问题。古代雨林的温带森林树冠被定义为森林中所有树冠的总和，并提供了一个理想的研究系统来阐述与观察到的物种丰富度和丰度在空间和时间上的模式有关的解释。在这些森林生态系统中，节肢动物是最多样化的生物，是许多生态系统过程的组成部分。尽管热带树冠上物种丰富的群落仍在继续被探索，但不列颠哥伦比亚省温带古雨林树冠中的多样性和动物群落几乎是未知的，关于这些群落的信息也是缺乏的。这些温带针叶森林生态系统是否包含加拿大生物多样性热点的独特栖息地？鉴于维持生物多样性的众多保护理由，总结栖息物种多样性的经验模式是非常可取的。我的树冠节肢动物研究的结果继续支持这样的观察，即存在一个独特的古代森林节肢动物群落，许多未描述的物种专属于这些森林树冠内的微生境。这一观察结果对栖息在离地面约60米的悬浮土壤中的甲虫最明显。在高高的树冠中，有几个物种与碎屑为基础的食物网有关，它们已经进化成一个独立的树栖群落。我的树冠研究仍然是加拿大对古代针叶林树冠的唯一研究，其结果正被用于形成全球树冠研究国际网络的组成部分，该网络涉及记录与树冠的栖息地特征相关的生物，如悬浮土壤和地衣堆积。这项研究将超越对群落多样性的简单描述，以及主要涉及预测作为斑块之间距离的函数的独立生境中物种组成变化的模式的测试理论。

Factors that influence the organization, distribution, and diversity of species in communities are central issues of ecological studies. The temperate forest canopy of an ancient rainforest is defined as the sum of all tree crowns in a forest stand and provides an ideal study system to formulate explanations concerned with observed patterns of species richness and abundance in space and time.  In these forest ecosystems arthropods are the most diverse organisms and are integral components of many ecosystem processes.  While species-rich communities in tropical canopies continue to be explored,the diversity and faunal associations in the canopies of temperate ancient rainforests of British Columbia are virtually unknown and information concerning these communities is lacking.  These temperate coniferous forest ecosystems contain unique habitats that are hotspots of Canadian biodiversity. Summarizing empirical patterns of resident species diversity is highly desirable given the numerous conservation reasons that have been adopted for maintaining biodiversity.  Results from my canopy arthropod studies continue to add support to the observation that a unique ancient forest arthropod community exists, with many undescribed species that are specific to the microhabitats contained within these forest canopies.  This observation is most pronounced for the oribatid beetle mites that inhabit suspended soils some 60 metres from the ground.  In the high canopy there are several species associated with detritus-based food webs that have evolved to form a separate arboreal community. My canopy studies continue to be the only Canadian research in ancient coniferous forest canopies and results are being used to form an integral part of an international network on global canopy studies that are concerned with documenting the organisms that are associated with habitat features of the canopy such as suspended soils and lichen accumulations.  This research will move beyond simple descriptions of community diversity and test theories primarily concerned with predicting the pattern of changing species composition in separated patches of habitat as a function of the distance between patches.