In the current state of knowledge, the Earth is the only planet to host life and, therefore, to be covered by plants [...]

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Biodiversity and Conservation of Vascular Flora: A Challenge for the Survival of Humans on Earth

Abstract detailed analyses of specific taxonomic groups at finer geographic scales to identify and prioritize biodiversity hotspots is a prominent method for optimizing conservation efforts, especially for the uneven species richness. The ecological suitability prediction and analysis of representative species provide vital references for conservation planning. Yet, in predicting suitability for multi-species or groups by species distribution models (SDMs) under a highly heterogeneous environment, species bias may occur cause of the unequal protection status and the spatial autocorrelation processing of occurrence data. For this, diversity, and protection hotspots were mapped in the south of the Hengduan Mountains, a significant site for global biodiversity. Specifically, creating a network of 1 km 2 grid cells spanning the region, counting the orchid species, quantifying the protection value, and classifying attributes by the Jenks. And 5 km and 10 m buffer zone for each grid containing attributes compose the diversity and protection hotspot layers and were compared with the orchid suitability map modeled by SDMs. Results showed that even though there were extensively suitable habitats for orchids, the model results cannot completely cover whole the diversity and protection hotspots at any scale. Based on the map attributes, multi-scenario conservation planning was proposed. This study identifies the critical areas of suitability, diversity, and protection of orchids in this region, providing a meaningful reference for regional biodiversity conservation planning and producing a migrated method for biogeographic analysis in global biodiversity hotspots not just orchids. Besides, the results will supply crucial regional information for global biodiversity conservation. 

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Solving the “species bias” to facilitate orchid multi-scenario conservation planning in the south of the Hengduan Mountains

Abstract While human perception can play a role in influencing public support for species conservation, the mechanisms underlying human perception remain poorly understood. Some previous studies on perception have focused on a few specific taxa, which makes the understanding of the public perception of species at large a resource- and time-intensive task. Here, we introduce the World Archives of Species Perception project that consists of an animal survey and a plant survey to construct the first systematic database to study the human perception of the floral and faunal diversity at a global scale. We provide a description of our survey method, species selection, survey implementation and a discussion of the potential uses of our databases in multidisciplinary research. In the animal survey, we cover 1980 International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)–evaluated species, representing 25 classes, 192 orders, 1037 families and 1705 genera. In the plant survey, we cover 2000 IUCN-evaluated species, representing 13 classes, 93 orders, 386 families and 1968 genera. Data from the survey will be collected and made available 24 months after the publication of the article. Database URL http://wasp-project.net/

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WASP: the World Archives of Species Perception

Plants are the bedrock of life on Earth but are increasingly threatened with extinction. The most cost-effective way of conserving plant diversity is through Protected Areas (PAs). However, the locality, size, and management of PAs are crucial for effectively maintaining diversity and have been criticized as currently inadequate. Using Armenia as our study site and orchids as our study taxa, we sought to (1) identify spatial patterns of orchid diversity hotspots and corresponding PA network sites; (2) examine if the current PA network is effective at capturing orchid species richness and diversity and (3) explore the relationship between the range of area suitability of species and level of protection. We used data collected from herbarium, field visits and GBIF occurrence records. Using freely available mapping software, we created heatmaps of observations and species richness. We compared PA sites based on the number of species (species richness) and diversity (Shannon–Weiner Index). Species range was developed using the MaxEnt model and a correlation analysis was performed against the proportion of the range within PA. We found that 57% of PA sites have a representation of at least one species of orchid, but some threatened species are not presented within any PA site. The Tavush and Syunik province not only held the highest species richness (>10 species), but the PA network within also held high orchid diversity (2.5 diversity index value for Dilijan National Park). We did not find a significant relationship between the range of area suitability for orchids and protection; however, all our target species had less than 30% of their range under protection. Our study highlights important challenges related to the limitations of available data, and we discuss these implications towards effective conservation outcomes for orchids for the region.

Astghik Papikyan

Papers

Exploring Effective Conservation of Charismatic Flora: Orchids in Armenia as a Case Study