Beta diversity patterns of fish and conservation implications in the Luoxiao Mountains, China.

Jiajun Qin,Xiongjun Liu,Shan Ouyang,Yang Xu,Xiaoping Wu

doi:10.3897/zookeys.817.29337

Abstract

The Luoxiao Mountains play an important role in maintaining and supplementing the fish diversity of the Yangtze River Basin, which is also a biodiversity hotspot in China. However, fish biodiversity has declined rapidly in this area as the result of human activities and the consequent environmental changes. Beta diversity was a key concept for understanding the ecosystem function and biodiversity conservation. Beta diversity patterns are evaluated and important information provided for protection and management of fish biodiversity in the Luoxiao Mountains. The results showed that the spatial turnover component was the main contributor to beta diversity of Hemiramphidae, Amblycipitidae, Catostomidae, Clariidae, Balitoridae and Percichthyidae in the Luoxiao Mountains, which indicated that a number of protected areas would be necessary to conserve fish biodiversity and that these families would need conservation measures. Most protected areas are currently limited to some regions; therefore, in order to protect fish diversity, conservation efforts must target an increase in the number of protected areas which should be spread across each of the regions.

Highlights

Biodiversity patterns and their formation mechanisms have been one of the hot issues, and it is an important foundation for conservation (Kennedy and Norman 2005; Sutherland et al 2009)
Beta diversity is an important tool for conservation planning (Anderson et al 2006); knowledge on beta diversity patterns can aid the decision on the number of protected areas needed and their sizes (Margules and Pressey 2000; Wiersma and Urban 2005)
Knowledge of beta diversity patterns can go beyond the systematic conservation planning method that only considers the location of protected area in relation to natural physical and biological patterns (Margules and Pressey 2000; Wiersma and Urban 2005)

Summary

Introduction

Biodiversity patterns and their formation mechanisms have been one of the hot issues, and it is an important foundation for conservation (Kennedy and Norman 2005; Sutherland et al 2009). Beta diversity can be decomposed into species turnover (species replacement) and nestedness (richness difference; Baselga 2010; Carvalho et al 2012). If species turnover is the main component of beta diversity, a larger number of protected areas would be necessary to conserve regional biodiversity (Baselga 2010; Carvalho et al 2012). If the nestedness is the main component of beta diversity, one large protected area comprising a high species richness could be sufficient (Baselga 2010; Carvalho et al 2012)

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Conclusion