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CForBio: a network monitoring Chinese forest biodiversity

  • Review
  • Life & Medical Sciences
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Science Bulletin

Abstract

China harbors a rich variety of forest types and forest-associated biodiversity, linked to both historical and contemporary environmental factors. However, being a country with a large population and rapid economic development, its diverse forest is facing unprecedent challenges. The Chinese Forest Biodiversity Network (CForBio) was initiated 12 years ago to study the maintenance of biodiversity in China’s forest ecosystems. In this review, we first summarize research progress in CForBio, and then give suggestions for future research. In the past 12 years, the research based on CForBio mainly focused on local ecological factors, such as environment filtering, biotic interactions and small-scale dispersal limitation. We suggest that future studies in CForBio should (1) continue research on trees, but expand more on insects, birds, mammals, microbes and other organism groups; (2) investigate the effects of widespread defaunation on forest biodiversity, structure and functioning; (3) evaluate the diverse effects of climate change on forest composition, structure and functioning; (4) include new technologies, such as remote sensing, to better monitor and study forest biodiversity change and maintenance.

摘要

中国具有极为丰富的森林类型及森林生物多样性。为了更好地监测与 研究其动态变化与维持机制, 中国森林生物多样性监测网络 (CForBio) 于 2004 年启动建设。然而, CForBio 在过去12 年的研究主要集中在局部因子对 树木群落结构的影响, 如生境过滤、种间关系及局部扩散。因此, 我们建议 CForBio 未来需要: 1) 在坚持对树木群落研究的同时, 进一步开展对其他生物 类群的研究; 2) 研究动物丧失对森林生物多样性、群落结构及功能的影响; 3) 评估气候变化对森林群落组成、结构及功能的影响; 4) 利用遥感等新技术更好 的监测与研究森林生物多样性动态及维持机制。

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Chinese Scholarship Council (201204910187) for the support to GF. GF was also funded by the Starting Funding for Scientific Research from Inner Mongolia University. JCS was funded by the European Research Council (ERC-2012-StG-310886-HISTFUNC) and the Danish Council for Independent Research | Natural Sciences (12-125079).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010021, China

    Gang Feng & Frank Yonghong Li

  2. Section for Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    Gang Feng & Jens-Christian Svenning

  3. State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China

    Xiangcheng Mi & Keping Ma

  4. Monitoring and Planning Institution of Inner Mongolia Forestry Administration, Hohhot, 010021, China

    Hui Yan

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  1. Gang Feng
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  2. Xiangcheng Mi
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  3. Hui Yan
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  5. Jens-Christian Svenning
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Correspondence to Gang Feng.

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Feng, G., Mi, X., Yan, H. et al. CForBio: a network monitoring Chinese forest biodiversity. Sci. Bull. 61, 1163–1170 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-016-1132-9

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