Biocomplexity key to eco-challenges
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-05-29 00:23

A Sino-US workshop on biocomplexity and ecosystem services was held recently to try and work out new ideas to promote sustainable development and deal with many other environmental challenges facing human beings, reports Chen Zhiyong.

Ecological systems are dynamic, complex and evolving.

The multidisciplinary approach to studying such systems has recently been brought under an over-arching concept of ``biocomplexity.''

Integrating approaches of ecology and complexity science, biocomplexity is an emerging focus of research in the biological field.

Especially, more and more countries are becoming aware of the necessity to improve the understanding of biocomplexity, which is believed to be a key to sustainably protecting and managing biodiversity and controlling environmental pollution and epidemic diseases, as well as to providing sufficient food for human beings.

On Monday and Tuesday (May 24-25), Chinese researchers from national and regional research institutes exchanged their cutting-edge ideas with their colleagues from the United States at a workshop on biocomplexity and ecosystem services.

The series of discussions was designed to establish a network for international collaboration and exchange.

The joint workshop is one of the feature results of the Joint Sino-US Collaboration Project on Ecological Complexity and Ecosystem Services, which was initiated by the two countries in 2002.

The United States was the first country in the world to start biocomplexity research. It did so four years ago, with US$700 million in funding from the US National Science Foundation.

Since then, American scientists have accumulated a lot of valuable experience, trying to understand the intricate inter-relatedness of biotic and a-biotic components of the environment.

Ecosystem services include a wide array of direct and indirect benefits to society and human economy, for instance, water purification, pollination research, climatic stabilization, flood mitigation, and maintenance of soil fertility, according to James Elser, from the School of Life Sciences with Arizona State University and co-ordinator of the Sino-US joint research programme.

Scientists as well as the general public are becoming increasingly aware that human beings are tapping the ever-shrinking reservoir of evolutionary capital -- Mother Nature, and researchers must work to understand how particular human impacts threaten the future of the earth.

"Conserving ecosystem services and preserving biological diversity in concert with the expansion of human populations and with desired enhancements of human welfare are daunting but not necessarily conflicting imperatives,'' Elser said.

``Indeed, if enhanced human welfare is to be sustained in the long run, the value of key ecosystem services must somehow begin to be factored into the complex calculus of the human endeavour," Elser said.

In China, a significant number of programmes related to environmental research are making headway and the joint research programme has offered chances for the Chinese and American scientists to develop novel approaches, such as focusing on ecological complexity and the impacts on ecosystem services, according to Elser.

During the workshop, the Chinese and American researchers focused on the general theme of biocomplexity in the environment and its applications in understanding the key role of ecosystem services in diverse environments.

Biological issue pressing

China, though undergoing rapid economic development, is encountering very serious problems.

According to Zhang Zhibin, head of the Institute of Zoology with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China is suffering from serious ecosystem degradation and as a result, there has been a reduction in what Nature can offer humanity in the country.

The degradation has manifested itself in various forms, sand storms, soil erosion and water shortages in the north and west; floods, lake pollution and eutrophication in the south; and agricultural soil pollution and contaminated food supplies.

Meanwhile, biological invasions have become a significant threat to the Chinese ecosystem and its economies.

The outbreaks of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and bird flu in the past two years might be indicators of increasingly serious biological degradation, Zhang said.

Owing to the ever-increasing population pressures and rapid industrial development, the biological issue in China has been becoming more and more pressing.

To deal with these challenges a deeper understanding of biocomplexity will be required, Zhang said.

"Without looking at these issues from the biological point of view and without introducing multi-disciplinary approaches, it will be really very difficult to get at the root of these problems,'' Zhang said.

However, Zhang and other Chinese researchers pointed out that government officials and the public still lack understanding of biocomplexity, which has led to subjective decision-making in managing the biosystem.

For example, during the process of converting farm land to forest, simply planting one or several species will not help restore the local ecological system.

"The biosystem service we enjoy now is in fact not based on biocomplexity. Trees are believed to have biological functions, so people simply plant trees, neglecting the fact that to accomplish their function they need the support of other species," said Xie Yan, a research associate professor of ecology with the Institute of Zoology, CAS.

A single species ecosystem is fragile and much more likely to be destroyed by insect pests, drought, and fire, thus it offers only a deficient biological service, Xie added.

Present agricultural production basically adopts the pattern of single crop planting, spreading lots of insecticides and chemical fertilizers, Xie said.

But by applying the technical means of biological agriculture, which observes the principle of biodiversity, farmers will eliminate or significantly reduce the need for the use of insecticides and chemical fertilizers.

Xie said that applying the techniques of biological agriculture will greatly improve productivity while reducing pollution.

"It is urgent in China to unite different disciplines to carry out research on biocomplexity and introduce its concepts into the management practices of concerned State departments," said Zhang.

Invasion of alien species

During the workshop, researchers also discussed basic science research issues with biocomplexity themes.

Dong Ming, a research professor with the Institute of Botany, CAS, said biological invasions have become a significant threat to the global environment, since non-native plants have dramatically altered landscapes, reduced biodiversity, and impacted regional economies.

Dong and his colleagues have identified 126 invasive non-native plant species in China. The preliminary findings in their research support their hypothesis that clonality of the invasive species may contribute significantly to the seriousness of their impact.

Dong pointed out that the United States is the primary geographical origin of invasive non-native plant species in China, especially those that have had a critical impact.

The researchers also find that socio-economic factors (such as human population density and GDP) correlate directly with the number of major invasive species in China.

"Unfortunately, to date there is no consensus on invasion mechanisms and predictive models," Dong said.

David Lodge, University of Notre Dame, US, said that he believed invasive species are causing some of the most damaging and expensive environmental changes worldwide.

He also argued that one of the most urgent challenges in the scientific study of alien species and public policy in dealing with them is identifying and preventing potentially invasive alien species from entering commerce or being introduced unintentionally.

"New developments in the risk analysis of alien species are making it possible to identify the pathways by which species travel, the species that are likely to be harmful, the likely costs of new introductions, and how better to decide what resources to invest in different prevention and control options," said Lodge.

Habitat modification and biological invasions are prime contributors to the global decline in biodiversity, yet the consequences of these declines are poorly understood.

Recently, a scientific consensus has emerged, one that sheds light on how to best understand the ecological and environmental significance of biodiversity loss, according to Shahid Naeem, from Columbia University.

This consensus suggests that ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services can change in the face of biodiversity loss, especially when biodiversity is reduced to extremely low levels such as those typical of many agricultural landscapes.

"Through the transformation of ecosystem functioning to ecosystem services, we might better understand the restoration, management, and policy implications of such changes," suggested Naeem.

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