美国威斯康辛大学麦迪逊分校Ellen I. Damschen研究小组取得一项新进展。他们通过一项为期18年的实验，发现栖息地的连接能够不断增加植物多样性。2019年9月27日出版的《科学》发表了这项成果。

在一个大型且重复性良好的栖息地碎片化实验中，研究人员发现，与未连接的碎片区域相比，在连接的碎片区域中239种植物的年定植率高5％，而每年的灭绝速度则降低2％。这导致多样性出现稳定、非渐近地增加，近二十年后，相连碎片区域中的物种增加了近14％。

这些结果表明，连接的全部生物多样性价值远比以前估计的要大，而且无法在短时间内有效评估，并且可以通过尽早地连接栖息地来实现最大化。

研究人员表示，目前的研究可能大大低估了栖息地碎片化的有害影响以及连接碎片区域的好处，因为引起生物多样性变化的定居和灭绝速度变化可能需要数十年的时间。

附：英文原文

Title: Ongoing accumulation of plant diversity through habitat connectivity in an 18-year experiment

Author: Ellen I. Damschen, Lars A. Brudvig, Melissa A. Burt, Robert J. Fletcher, Nick M. Haddad, Douglas J. Levey, John L. Orrock, Julian Resasco, Joshua J. Tewksbury

Issue&Volume: Volume 365 Issue 6460

Abstract: 

Deleterious effects of habitat fragmentation and benefits of connecting fragments could be significantly underestimated because changes in colonization and extinction rates that drive changes in biodiversity can take decades to accrue. In a large and well-replicated habitat fragmentation experiment, we find that annual colonization rates for 239 plant species in connected fragments are 5% higher and annual extinction rates 2% lower than in unconnected fragments. This has resulted in a steady, nonasymptotic increase in diversity, with nearly 14% more species in connected fragments after almost two decades. Our results show that the full biodiversity value of connectivity is much greater than previously estimated, cannot be effectively evaluated at short time scales, and can be maximized by connecting habitat sooner rather than later.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aax8992

Source:https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6460/1478