生物谷报道：今年4月中科院武汉植物园研究人员同美国研究人员合作在美国《生物科学》（BioScience）杂志上发表的一篇文章指出，高速发展的经济使物种入侵在中国进一步加剧。
作为生物多样性热区之一，中国正面临超过400多种入侵物种的威胁。据估计，在中国每年由外来昆虫和植物造成的经济损失达145亿美元。
入侵物种通过有意或无意的人类活动而被引入到一个非本源地区域，会对环境造成破坏。来自中国和美国的研究小组指出，中国外来动物入侵物种的数量从1990年到2003年增加了30%，达到76种，而植物入侵物种在1995年至2003年翻了三倍。
生物入侵已经成为一个世界性难题。在中国，由于检疫和检查机制尚不完善，加上国家工业和交通等基础设施建设的快速发展，使得一些有害物种快速扩散。比如，巨大的三峡大坝就有可能给物种入侵带来机会。在大坝的排水域，已发现的入侵物种达55种，其中包括水葫芦。水葫芦最初作为一种便宜的动物饲料被引进，现在由于大面积扩散可能堵塞大坝水管，给水力发电带来威胁。
文章主要作者、中科院武汉植物园的丁建清指出，高速发展的交通网络，比如青藏铁路的建设，会帮助入侵物种深入到偏远地区。同样，2008年的北京奥运会也会帮助物种入侵。2002年至2004年，北京为建设绿色奥运，引进大量不同品种的外国物种。这些物种尽管其本身不带有侵略性，但它们有可能成为外来病虫害进入中国的媒介。
“与中国面临的物种入侵的严重性相比，政府和人们的重视程度还很有限。”丁建清同时还指出：“我们需要有严格的法律法规来限制和控制入侵物种，而更迫切的是要提高人们对生物入侵危害性的认识。”（来源：科学与发展网络 Chen Weixiao）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
BioScience March 27, 2008
China’s Economic Boom Sparks Biological Invasions
The rapid growth of China’s industrial and transportation infrastructure is helping to establish nonnative species throughout that country and “setting the stage for potentially rampant environmental damage,” according to an article in the April 2008 issue of BioScience. The article, by a Chinese-US team, describes how more than 400 alien plants and animals are now considered invasive in China, including some that are causing serious harm even though they were first documented in the country only a few years ago.
The authors of the article are Jianqing Ding and Mingxun Ren of the Wuhan Institute of Botany, Richard N. Mack of Washington State University, Hongwen Huang of the South China Institute of Botany, and Ping Lu of the Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China. Many factors are contributing to the developing problems, including an increase in the number of ports of entry, the number of travelers, and the amount of imported goods. An expanding network of express highways and more domestic air travel also make it easier for organisms to “hitchhike” into and around the country.
Many invasive plants were brought to China as ornamental or fodder species. Canada goldenrod was brought in as an ornamental and was distributed via the domestic nursery and garden industries; it has now invaded more than 20 provinces. Insects have spread even faster: the American vegetable leaf miner, first detected in China in 1993, now occurs throughout the country.
Ecosystem disturbance around major construction projects such as the Three Gorges Dam has stimulated biological invasions of damaging plants such as broadleaf fleabane as well as alligator weed and water hyacinth, both of which were once cultivated for animal fodder with official encouragement. The recently completed Quinghai-Tibet railway is also thought likely to accelerate the spread of invasives.
Even the preparations for the 2008 Beijing “Green Olympics” pose a threat: nonnative grass seed and other plants continue to be imported as part of an effort to beautify the urban landscape. These plants could serve as carriers for insect pests.
One preliminary estimate puts China's annual economic losses from invasive insects and plants at $14.5 billion. The article includes a call for “enhanced research, public education, and governmental attention” to the problem of invasive species in China.
