Assessing the conservation priority of freshwater lake sites based on taxonomic, functional and environmental uniqueness

Aim: We propose a novel approach that considers taxonomic uniqueness, functional uniqueness and environmental uniqueness, and show how it can be used in guiding conservation planning. We illustrate the approach using data for lake biota and environment. Location: Lake Puruvesi, Finland. Methods: We sampled macrophytes and macroinvertebrates from the same 18 littoral sites. By adapting the original ‘ecological uniqueness’ approach, we used distance‒based methods to calculate measures of taxonomic (LCBD‒t), functional (LCBD‒f) and environmental (LCEH) uniqueness for each site. We also considered the numbers and locations of the sites needed to protect up to 70% of total variation in taxonomic, functional or environmental features in the studied part of the lake. Results: Relationships between taxonomic (LCBD‒t), functional (LCBD‒f) and environmental (LCEH) uniqueness were generally weak, and only the relationship between macrophyte LCBD‒t and LCBD‒f was statistically significant. Overall,...研究目的：本研究提出一种整合分类学独特性、功能独特性与环境独特性的全新分析框架，并阐明其在保护规划指导中的应用路径，同时以湖泊生物群落与环境数据为例对该方法进行实证阐释。 研究区域：芬兰普鲁韦西湖（Lake Puruvesi）。 研究方法：本研究在18处相同的沿岸样点采集大型水生植物与大型底栖无脊椎动物样本。通过改良原始的“生态独特性”分析方法，我们采用基于距离的分析手段，计算各样点的分类学（LCBD-t）、功能学（LCBD-f）与环境学（LCEH）独特性指标。此外，我们还针对研究湖区内分类学、功能学或环境特征的总变异量，分析了为保护其中70%所需保护的样点数量与空间分布位置。 研究结果：分类学（LCBD-t）、功能学（LCBD-f）与环境学（LCEH）独特性三者间的相关性普遍较弱，仅大型水生植物的LCBD-t与LCBD-f之间的相关性具有统计学显著性。总体而言，...