美国和墨西哥科学家在新一期美国《国家科学院院刊》（PNAS）上联合发表论文，推选出全球20处水生哺乳动物的重点保护区域。
美国斯坦福大学和墨西哥国立自治大学的研究人员，按照生物多样性和独特性的标准，分析全球水生哺乳动物的栖息地分布情况。
他们最终列出两类重点保护区域，并呼吁相应的保护措施能够跟进。
科学家将美国夏威夷群岛一带、中国长江流域、俄罗斯贝加尔湖和地中海等9个区域划为“不可代替性保护区域”，这些区域栖息着某些珍稀水生哺乳动物。
此外，他们将美国东部、日本、阿根廷、澳大利亚等11个地区和国家的沿海区域列入“生物多样性保护区域”，这些区域集中了世界上84%的海洋哺乳动物种类。
受过度捕捞、水质污染和气候变暖等因素影响，近年来全球水生哺乳动物种类、数量急剧下降。此前有研究表明，超过三分之一的水生哺乳动物物种濒临灭绝。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
doi:10.1073/pnas.1101525108
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Global distribution and conservation of marine mammals
Pompa, Sandra; Ehrlich, Paul R.; Ceballos, Gerardo
We identified 20 global key conservation sites for all marine (123) and freshwater (6) mammal species based on their geographicranges. We created geographic range maps for all 129 species and a Geographic Information System database for a 46,184 1°x 1° grid-cells, ?10,000-km2. Patterns of species richness, endemism, and risk were variable among all species and species groups. Interestingly, marinemammal species richness was correlated strongly with areas of human impact across the oceans. Key conservation sites in theglobal geographic grid were determined either by their species richness or by their irreplaceability or uniqueness, becauseof the presence of endemic species. Nine key conservation sites, comprising the 2.5% of the grid cells with the highest speciesrichness, were found, mostly in temperate latitudes, and hold 84% of marine mammal species. In addition, we identified 11irreplaceable key conservation sites, six of which were found in freshwater bodies and five in marine regions. These key conservationsites represent critical areas of conservation value at a global level and can serve as a first step for adopting global strategieswith explicit geographic conservation targets for Marine Protected Areas.
