Abstract
China is one of the world’s richest countries for biodiversity (China EPA 1998; Xu et al. 1999a,b), with more than 34,984 species of higher plants and 6,445 species of vertebrates (Ministry of Environmental Protection of China 2011), including numerous endemic species. Biodiversity provides significant ecosystem goods and services (Costanza et al. 1997) and generates considerable economic benefits (Balmford et al. 2002), which play an important role in building a harmonious society for China (Xu et al. 2008, 2009). China has launched a large number of initiatives for biodiversity conservation and has already had remarkable achievements, including the world’s fastest growth in forest resources and ongoing improvement in the integrity of marine ecosystems (Xu et al. 2009). Despite these successes, the decline in most of China’s biodiversity resource remains unchecked. The loss of biodiversity threatens an irreversible change in ecosystems, ultimately preventing China from realizing its strategic targets to build a well-off society and to construct an ecological civilization.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Balmford A, Bruner A, Cooper P et al. (2002) Economic reasons for conserving wild nature. Science 297:950–953
China EPA (1998) Biological diversity in China: a country study. Chinese Environmental Science Press, Beijing
China EPA (2005) China’s third national report to implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity. China Environmental Science Press, Beijing
Costanza R, d’Arge R, de Groots et al. (1997) The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387:253–260
Ministry of Environmental Protection of China (2011) China’s strategies and action plan for biodiversity conservation. Chinese Environmental Science Press, Beijing
Xu HG, Gao ZN, Xue DY et al (1999a) China national biodiversity information query system. J Environ Manage 56(1):45–59
Xu HG, Wang DH, Sun XF (1999b) Biodiversity conservation in China: legislation, plans and measures. Biodivers Conserv 8(6):819–837
Xu HG, Wu J, Liu Y, Ding H, Zhang M, Wu Y, Xi Q, Wang LL (2008) Biodiversity congruence and conservation strategies: a national test. BioScience 58:632–639
Xu HG, Tang XP, Liu JY, Ding H, Wu J et al (2009) China’s progress toward the significant reduction of the rate of biodiversity loss. BioScience 59(10):843–852
Acknowledgments
The National Key Technologies Research and Development Program supported this research (grants 2008BAC39B06 and 2008BAC39B01).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Xu, H., Ding, H., Wu, J. (2012). Introduction to Ecological and Biodiversity Monitoring in China. In: Nakano, Si., Yahara, T., Nakashizuka, T. (eds) The Biodiversity Observation Network in the Asia-Pacific Region. Ecological Research Monographs. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54032-8_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54032-8_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo
Print ISBN: 978-4-431-54031-1
Online ISBN: 978-4-431-54032-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)