In the latest investigation report 65438 "Status and Protection of Biological Genetic Resources in China" released by the project team 10 in mid-October, scientists first disclosed the serious situation of species loss in China. Since 1970s, China has established an introduction exchange institution in the Institute of Variety Resources of China Academy of Agricultural Sciences. During the period from 1972 to 199 1, China provided nearly 30,000 agricultural germplasm resources 1400 each year. However, the export records of this species became less and less after 1990s, and even disappeared at some stages.
According to a set of data released by the United States, by June 30, 2002, 932 species of plant resources were imported from China, including 20 140 species, including 4,452 species of soybeans, including wild soybeans 168 species. In sharp contrast, there are only 2 177 varieties approved by China official records, and there are no wild soybeans in the list of varieties resources provided to the outside world.
Experts from China Academy of Agricultural Sciences said that, especially after 1993, the introduction and export of species resources were out of control to some extent due to too many visits, receptions and cooperation projects. According to experts' conservative estimation, the biological germplasm resources exported in 20 14 are not only far higher in quantity than the sum of the previous 20 years, but also contain a large number of excellent genes in quality.
"The recorded data is amazing. How did this gap come about? The reason can only be that many species have been quietly lost. " Xue Dayuan further said that as far as agricultural research departments are concerned, there are hundreds of thousands of agricultural researchers in China, and many people go abroad for scientific research cooperation or investigation almost every day, and the amount of resources they bring out is certainly amazing. In this respect, our country is out of control.
Xue Dayuan said that the serious loss of species has attracted great attention of the party and state leaders. In the spring of 2003, the main leaders of the Party and the State respectively issued instructions to strengthen the protection and management of biological species and genetic resources. Since then, the State Council held a special coordination meeting to ensure that the State Environmental Protection Administration coordinated the protection and management of biological species resources throughout the country, and in August 2003, an inter-ministerial joint meeting on biological species resources management composed of 17 ministries was established.
Cai Lei, an official of the Biosafety Office of the State Environmental Protection Administration, confirmed that the national law enforcement inspection on the protection of biological species resources sponsored by the State Environmental Protection Administration is under way. The inspection contents include: the implementation of existing relevant laws and regulations, the loss of biological species resources, the in-situ protection of biological species resources and the threat to the living environment, and the construction and management of ex-situ protection facilities for biological species resources. A new analysis of more than 100 small-scale studies shows that if climate change continues this process, as many as 1/6 species will disappear on the earth.
Researchers pointed out that climate warming will lead to population decline, migration and ecological degradation of some animal and plant species due to various imbalances, and some endangered species will be doomed to extinction.
Doff Sachs, a conservation biologist at Brown University who was not involved in the study, said: "All studies show that if we make the earth hotter, we will lose more species." He said: "From the perspective of formulating policies, this is a very important understanding."
Since the industrial revolution, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted by human industry have caused the global average temperature to rise by about 0.8 degrees Celsius. However, Mark Urban, an ecologist at the University of Connecticut in Stals, pointed out that the relevant research did not reach a * * * understanding of the impact of rising temperatures on global species. Some people estimate that as many as 54% species may eventually become extinct due to climate change, but others think that the impact is not so significant.
Urban believes that such different results may be due to the limitations of some personal studies, perhaps because they are only concentrated in a few species or relatively small geographical areas. And different research teams often use different methods to complete their predictions.
In order to break this limitation, Urban used statistical methods to mix the previous research results, thus using similar comparison to assess the global extinction risk of species.
Urban comprehensively analyzed 13 1 different biodiversity research results, and found that the risk of species extinction increased with the increase of earth temperature, and the risk of extinction was accelerating. South America, Australia and New Zealand have the highest risk of species extinction. Many species in these places have limited habitats and it is difficult for them to migrate to other places.
The United Nations calls on all countries to make joint efforts to control the global temperature rise within 2 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. According to the estimation of researchers at the University of Connecticut, even if the temperature rise is controlled within this range, the global extinction risk will increase from 2.8% to 5.2%.
Urban pointed out that if the earth temperature rises from 2 degrees Celsius to 3 degrees Celsius, the risk of extinction will increase to 8.5%. If countries do not take measures, global warming will keep this trend. By 2 100, global warming will reach 4.3 degrees Celsius, and about16 species will face the risk of extinction. He believes that in order to avoid the accelerated extinction of global species, the international community urgently needs to take measures to prevent further global warming.
The researchers reported the study in the latest issue of Science. This new research will help scientists and decision makers to better evaluate parks and protected areas. Saks stressed that from an ecological point of view, areas reserved for the protection of certain species today may become unsuitable in a few decades. For example, according to the research of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a group of closely related marine reserves or other protected habitats can create migration channels for marine life to cope with climate change.
At the same time, another paper on marine animals published in Science magazine also pointed out that under the background of global warming, some tropical and Antarctic waters are potential high-risk areas for species extinction. Among marine animals, mammals such as whales, dolphins and seals are facing the greatest risk of extinction.
Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, an ecologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, said that Urban "has done a good job in integrating these research results". She said that this research also provides an opportunity for scientists to design future research to fill the current cognitive gap. Sachs agrees: "We have only made a preliminary assessment of these risks."