摘要
The current loss of biodiversity requires long-term monitoring of the distribution of living organisms, particularly in regions, such as mountains, which are highly sensitive to climatic and environmental changes. In 2007, three alpine parks in N-W Italy started a field program to determine the factors which influence animal biodiversity and identify the most appropriate methods for periodically repeatable monitoring. Twelve altitudinal transects (from montane to alpine belt) were chosen, each composed of 4–7 sampling units, for a total of 69 monitored plots. In each station, five taxonomic groups (carabids, butterflies, spiders, staphylinids, birds) were systematically sampled and topographic, environmental and micro-climatic variables were recorded. The aim was to assess the distribution of different taxa along altitudinal gradients and the relative influence of geographical, environmental and climatic factors. The data showed that species richness and community composition of invertebrates are mainly determined by altitude and microclimatic conditions, whereas birds are more sensitive to habitat structure. For invertebrates, the strong relationship with temperature suggests their potential sensitivity to climatic variations. The analysis of biodiversity patterns across vegetation belts indicated that the alpine belt hosts few species but a high percentage of endemic and vulnerable species, highlighting its importance for conservation purposes. This work offers a representative sample of the northwestern Italian Alps and it is a first step of a monitoring effort that will be repeated every five years to highlight the response of alpine biodiversity to climate and land-use changes.
摘要译文
当前生物多样性的丧失需要对生物体的分布进行长期监测，尤其是在对气候和环境变化高度敏感的山区等地区。 2007年，意大利西北部的三个高山公园启动了一项野外计划，以确定影响动物生物多样性的因素，并确定用于定期重复监测的最合适方法。选择了十二个高空样带（从山地带到高山带），每个样带由4-7个采样单元组成，总共监测了69个样地。在每个站点中，系统地对五个分类组（甲虫，蝴蝶，蜘蛛，葡萄球菌，鸟类）进行了采样，并记录了地形，环境和微气候变量。目的是评估不同类别沿高度梯度的分布以及地理，环境和气候因素的相对影响。数据表明，无脊椎动物的物种丰富度和群落组成主要由海拔和微气候条件决定，而鸟类对生境结构更敏感。对于无脊椎动物，与温度的强烈关系表明它们对气候变化的潜在敏感性。对横跨植被带的生物多样性模式的分析表明，高寒带中的物种很少，但特有和脆弱物种的百分比很高，突出了其对保护目的的重要性。这项工作提供了意大利西北部阿尔卑斯山的代表性样本，这是监测工作的第一步，将每五年重复进行一次，以强调高山生物多样性对气候和土地利用变化的响应。
R. Viterbi[1];C. Cerrato[2];B. Bassano[1];R. Bionda[3];A. von Hardenberg[1];A. Provenzale[2];G. Bogliani[4]. Patterns of biodiversity in the northwestern Italian Alps: a multi-taxa approach[J]. Community Ecology, 2013,14(1): 18-30