| Autor: |
Lin, Lele1 (AUTHOR) linlele@bjfu.edu.cn, He, Jian1 (AUTHOR), Lyu, Rudan1 (AUTHOR), Luo, Yike1 (AUTHOR), Yao, Min1 (AUTHOR), Xie, Lei1 (AUTHOR) xielei@bjfu.edu.cn, Cui, Guofa1 (AUTHOR) fa6716@163.com |
| Abstrakt: |
[Display omitted] • Conserving China's native white pine species—considering the group as a whole. • Cytoplasmic genetic markers inferred white pine phylogeographic structure. • Current and future suitable habitats compared with protected areas assessed protection effectiveness. • White pine conservation priority areas were recognized by Marxan. • Targeted conservation management was proposed based on the integrated analyses. White pines (Pinus subsect. Strobus) are important in many Northern Hemisphere forest ecosystems, and white pine species are often narrowly distributed or even endangered in China. In this study, we integrated phylogeography, ecological niche modeling, and conservation gap analysis to assess conservation priorities for the white pine species in China, and subsequently provided valuable insights for their effective conservation. First, to infer their phylogeographic structure, DNA sequence data were obtained for three plastid and two mitochondrial regions from 87 individuals representing all 12 natural species in China. Then, the effectiveness of existing protected areas (PAs) in China was evaluated by overlapping 1372 PAs to the current and future suitable habitats identified by MaxEnt. We also used the software Marxan to assess irreplaceable planning units (IPUs) and conservation priority areas. Our results revealed that the plastid and mitochondrial data generated different phylogenetic relationships, indicating historical introgressions among the white pine species. Additionally, half of the species in China, including endangered species such as P. dabeshanensis , P. wangii , and P. kwangtungensis , are poorly protected with low percentages (<10%) of suitable habitats held within the current PAs. We also identified 73,390 IPUs representing 201 conservation priority areas for the white pine species. Those IPUs, as well as priority areas, are also poorly protected especially in southern China. Our results demonstrated large conservation gaps for white pines in southern China that need to be filled by creating more nature reserves. Given these findings, we concluded that white pine species in China urgently need targeted conservation management to ensure effective protection and to maintain the species' overall genetic diversity. Such management should include in situ and ex situ conservation, ground protection, and assisted migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
Full Text from ScienceDirect