快速学习英语生物多样性对维持生态健康至关重要.docVIP

Over the years ecologists have shown how biological diversity benefits the health of small, natural communities. New analysis by ecologists at UC Santa Cruz demonstrates that even higher levels of biological diversity are necessary to maintain ecosystem health in larger landscapes over long periods of time. Think of it as patches on a quilt, says Erika Zavaleta, UCSC associate professor of environmental studies. Each patch may be a diverse habitat of plants, animals, and insects but it is equally important that the landscape "quilt" is made up of a diversity of patches that are different from each other. ? "A mix of meadows, young forest, old forest and?shrub lands（灌木林地）, for example, might provide more benefits than a landscape of continuous young forest, even if that young forest itself has high biodiversity," Zavaleta said. ? Zavaleta and two ecologists who recently received Ph.D.s from UCSC illustrate the importance of landscape diversity in their article "Several scales of bioversity affect ecosystem multifunctionality" published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ? Lead author Jae R. Pasari, who received his Ph.D. in 2011, conceived of the study for his dissertation. He, Zavaleta, and coauthor Taal Levi created simulations based on landmark research conducted by David Tilman, professor of ecology, evolution, and behavior at the University of Minnesota. ? Tilman -- also a co-author -- created 168 plots nine meters square and planted them with randomized combinations of?perennial（多年生的）?grassland species. He was interested in how the plots would fare depending on the combination of species included. ? Pasari, Levi, and Zavaleta took Tilman's data gathered since 1997 to create 7,512 experimental computerized landscapes. The computer simulations are grounded on very real data, Zavaleta said. ? "We used the simulation models to create imaginary landscapes with many kinds of habitats," she said. The team was able to test combinations