Six decades of changes in vascular hydrophyte and

Authors: Sihai Wang Juan Wang Maobiao Li Fan Du Yuming Yang James P Lassoie Mohd Z Hassan

Publish Date: 2013/11/06

Volume: 22, Issue: 13-14, Pages: 3197-3221

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Abstract

Biodiversity in the plateau lakes of Yunnan China has decreased significantly over the past decades To better understand this degradation we analyzed the processes and characteristics of changes in vascular hydrophytes and fish species in three of Yunnan’s largest lakes Dianchi Erhai and Fuxian We reviewed primary literature reporting the occurrence of such species between the 1950s and 2000s During this period 463  of native hydrophytes and 840  of native fish species in Dianchi Lake had gone locally extinct compared to 214 and 588  in Erhai and 118 and 417  in Fuxian respectively In Dianchi alien species comprised 154  of total hydrophytes and 875  of total fish species compared to 57 and 708  in Erhai and 118 and 650  in Fuxian respectively The extinction of endemic fish species was particularly serious The proportion of endemic fish species extinct was 900  in Dianchi 750  in Erhai and 636  in Fuxian Homogenization of fish assemblages calculated Jaccard indices across the lakes increased during the study period in parallel with the extinction of endemics and introduction of alien species Results showed that lacustrine conditions determined the observed changes of hydrophytes and fish species likely reflecting anthropogenic disturbances associated with rapid economic development around the lakes In a developing region like the plateau of Yunnan which is rich in endemic freshwater species the challenge is how to balance economic growth with habitat protectionThis work was financially supported by the Joint Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and of Yunnan Province No U0933601 and the Middle Aged Academic and Technical Leader Project of Yunnan Province Grant 2010CI016 and China’s National Basic Research Program No 2010CB434807

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