The global significance of biodiversity science in China: an overview

Abstract

Biodiversity science in China has seen rapid growth over recent decades, ranging from baseline biodiversity studies to understanding the processes behind evolution across dynamic regions such as the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We review research, including species catalogues; biodiversity monitoring; the origins, distributions, maintenance and threats to biodiversity; biodiversity-related ecosystem function and services; and species and ecosystems' responses to global change. Next, we identify priority topics and offer suggestions and priorities for future biodiversity research in China. These priorities include (i) the ecology and biogeography of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and surrounding mountains, and that of subtropical and tropical forests across China; (ii) marine and inland aquatic biodiversity; and (iii) effective conservation and management to identify and maintain synergies between biodiversity and socio-economic development to fulfil China's vision for becoming an ecological civilization. In addition, we propose three future strategies: (i) translate advanced biodiversity science into practice for biodiversity conservation; (ii) strengthen capacity building and application of advanced technologies, including high-throughput sequencing, genomics and remote sensing; and (iii) strengthen and expand international collaborations. Based on the recent rapid progress of biodiversity research, China is well positioned to become a global leader in biodiversity research in the near future.

Keywords: biodiversity inventory; biodiversity maintenance; biodiversity monitoring; biodiversity origins; biodiversity-ecosystem functioning.

Figure 1.

(A) The number of papers on China's biodiversity by China's scholars in each year between 2000 and 2019 published in science citation index (SCI) journals (searched on Web of Science using ‘biodiversity’ and ‘China’ as the topic and ‘China’ as address); (B) its ratio to the number of papers on biodiversity by global scholars (‘biodiversity’ as the topic); and (C) the number of papers on China's biodiversity by China's scholars published in high-profile journals (Nature, Science, PNAS and Nature Communications).

Figure 2.

Research highlights of China's biodiversity science in three main areas, including 10 key research topics. The map on the left shows the elevation ranges in China. The lines with different colours in the map divide the country into eight vegetation regions [19]: cold-temperate deciduous needle-leaved forests; temperate mixed-needle and broad-leaved forests; warm-temperate deciduous broad-leaved forests; subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests; tropical monsoon rain forests and rain forests; temperate grassland; temperate desert; Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau alpine vegetation. Digital elevational model (DEM) data at 10 arcmin spatial resolution were downloaded from WorldClim [20]. The four pictures present the iconic species Ginkgo biloba (copyright Yunpeng Zhao), Rhinopithecus roxellanae (copyright Sheng Li), Ailuropoda melanoleuca (copyright Yibo Hu) and Chrysolophus pictus (copyright Sheng Li). The map of China is from http://bzdt.ch.mnr.gov.cn/.

Figure 3.

Trends in IUCN listings of threatened species in China. (A) Changes in the threatened ranks of gymnosperms, angiosperms, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals in China. The numbers at the end of bars were the numbers of species assessed. (B) Red List Index for gymnosperms, angiosperms, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals in China. The first assessment was in 2004, and the second in 2013 for plant species and 2015 for animal species. Red List Index is an indicator of overall extinction risk for a set of species. It is used to track meaningful trends in biodiversity status simply by looking at overall changes in threat status of the same set of species between updates [31].

Figure 4.

An illustration of how Sino-BON is organized from sites (Qianjiangyuan National Park, GTS) to subnetwork (CForBio) and national-scale network (Sino-BON) for monitoring dynamics of species and ecosystems, and multiple trophic interactions through cooperation among the 10 subnetworks. Top left panel: structure of Sino-BON (Chinese Biodiversity Monitoring and Research Network) including a synthesis centre and zoological, botanical and microbial sub-centres. The Zoological sub-centre includes six subnetworks (ObNet): Mammal, Bird, Amphibian and Reptile, Fish, Insect and Soil Invertebrate. The Botanical sub-centre includes three subnetworks: CForBio (Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network), Steppe and Desert, and Forest Canopy. The microbial sub-centre includes only the microbial subnetwork. Top right panel: 20 large forest dynamics plots along latitude in Eastern China. Bottom right panel: 1 km × 1 km grids in four zones of Qianjiangyuan National Park. Bottom left panel: biodiversity monitoring at the Park from top to bottom: drone for near-surface remote sensing, forest crane for canopy biodiversity, infrared-triggered camera for mammals and birds, automated acoustic recording device for songbirds, phylogeny of woody species with molecular data, dendrometer measuring the growth of trees, seed rain trap, seedling plot, insect nest trap. The map of China is from http://bzdt.ch.mnr.gov.cn/.

Figure 5.

Relationships between species-specific CNDD effect and pathogenic and EcM fungus accumulation rates demonstrating that species coexistence in subtropical forests depends on the interplay between mutualistic and pathogenic fungi [110]. Solid lines and dashed lines indicate significant and non-significant effects at P < 0.05, respectively. Each point represents a tree species with different mycorrhizal associations.