Why is ecological corridor a good way to solve the problem of animal inbreeding?

Ecological corridor? Although this word rarely appears in some animal science articles, it is very important for wild animals, especially under the premise that most of the habitats of modern wild animals have been destroyed and the population has declined seriously, ecological corridors are particularly important, which is a good way to solve the problem of animal inbreeding.

We are basically aware of the harm of inbreeding, the main impact is that the genetic diversity is low, the physical quality of species declines, the risk of various genetic diseases increases, and even the whole species may disappear when the environment changes suddenly in the future.

Artificial ecological corridor

Ecological corridor is a concept in biology. As the name implies, it refers to species diffusion, migration and exchange between isolated ecosystems. From the perspective of biological protection, ecological corridor can be narrowly defined as a narrow strip of vegetation for wild animals to walk around, with the aim of protecting biodiversity.

Why can a small ecological corridor solve the problem of inbreeding of wild animals? Next, the importance of ecological corridor is expounded from the perspective of combining examples with theory.

According to the main structure and function, the types of ecological corridors can be divided into three categories: belt-shaped ecological corridors, linear ecological corridors and river corridors, but generally they can be divided into two categories: artificial corridors and natural corridors. As we all know, man-made corridors are artificially built and deliberately created by human beings to support biodiversity. The purpose is to connect two independent ecological environments. The most common forms are passages under roads, long and narrow vegetation areas crossing human living areas, and so on.

Schematic diagram of ecological corridor

Due to the development of the human world, many wildlife habitats have become fragmented and lumpy, and all habitats are scattered around the human world, just like isolated islands, which are not connected with each other. The purpose of artificial corridor is to reduce or slow down the impact of human beings on wild animals, connect two or more isolated environments with each other, and enable wild animals to migrate and communicate again through this corridor, thus achieving the purpose of ecological improvement and biodiversity protection.

For example, the overpass in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada is a good example. The culvert below is open to traffic, and the top is covered with vegetation for wild animals to walk. This has two advantages:

Connect the natural environment on both sides of the road, so that the original road can be divided into two independent ecosystems and reconnected; Reduce? Road killing? Harm to wildlife, with the development of road network, many animals are prone to traffic accidents when passing through the road. For example, the Iberian lynx, in the season when rabbits are scarce, has to go to further areas to hunt, which has increased? Road killing? Probability, and man-made corridors can well reduce this risk. Some famous artificial corridors

With the arrival of human beings, the living space of wild animals has become broken. After raising the awareness of environmental and animal protection, people began to try their best to make up for the harm caused to wild animals, among which building artificial ecological corridors is a common practice. At present, there are many artificial corridors in the world, among which the famous ones are:

European green belt, a long and narrow green belt from Finland to Greece, connecting northern Europe and the Mediterranean; Bridges and tunnels of Christmas Island in Australia Christmas Island is the habitat of red crabs. They cross the bridges and roads on the island every year to lay eggs and breed in the ocean. In order to protect these crabs from being crushed by vehicles, people built tunnels to let crabs pass under the bridge. A bridge on the highway in Banff National Park, Canada, is to induce deer, bears and other wild animals to walk on it, thus reducing the occurrence of car accidents; On the wildlife road in Montana, people built 4 1 structures, including culverts and bridges, on a highway of more than 90 kilometers in Montana for wildlife to cross; Burnham Wildlife Corridor is a green belt, which is located in the lakeside area of Chicago, and is mainly used for migratory birds to rest and take refuge. Natural corridors are habitat corridor that are naturally formed and have no artificial decoration. The most common forms are mountains, rivers, and undeveloped spaces left after artificial division, such as landscape belts and green belts around human living areas, which are used for landscape needs.

For example, a long and narrow mountain range extending from yamuna river in the west to Bagmati River in the east is a very typical natural corridor where wild animals live and pass. Of course, the riparian zone in the environment is also a common and important natural corridor. Compared with the plain, the riparian zone is rich in water resources and has more kinds and quantities of plants, which can provide good protection for the migration of wild animals from one ecology to another.

Wildlife corridors in India and Nepal

If you want to be rich in the importance of ecological corridors, build roads first? This is a truth that many people know. For wild animals, if the population wants to develop and the race wants to grow, the ecological corridor can play a huge role, especially when the habitats are independent and unconnected.

Expanding Habitat: The biggest function of ecological corridors is to make scattered ecosystems more cohesive, but they are also independent ecosystems, such as mountains and rivers in natural corridors, which are very suitable places for wildlife to survive. So from this perspective, another function of ecological corridor is to expand the habitat of living things, which is also very important for wildlife.

When in an isolated ecosystem, the living space and food of wild animals are limited. The emergence of ecological corridors gives them more living space, which can expand the scope of finding food, thus alleviating the pressure of life.

During the Iran-Iraq war in the late 20th century, Sulaymaniyah planted tens of thousands of mines. Now, what is this area? My belt? It makes the local people miserable, but for the Persian leopard, it is a paradise for survival. People are afraid of the power of the mine and dare not rashly enter. Near the 38th parallel, there is also a long and narrow one. My belt? A large number of wild animals thrive here; There is also an ecological corridor connecting the northern end of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, which has become the last habitat of some endangered animals and birds.

Persian leopard

Increase biodiversity: After entering the19th century, human beings have been hunting and destroying the environment without restraint, which poses a great threat to natural biodiversity. Although the awareness of environmental protection and animal protection has been improved, the situation of fragmentation and isolation of wildlife habitats has been formed, and many animals have been affected, especially those animals that rely on vast habitats and have a great demand for playground area, such as large mammals.

The appearance of ecological corridor is tantamount to connecting many isolated small habitats and turning them into larger habitats again, which is of great benefit to the spread of cubs and the return of species.

Schematic diagram of ecological corridor function

Cure habitat fragmentation: Now, from a global perspective, the biggest harm to wildlife is not poaching and poaching, but habitat destruction. For example, African lions seem to be distributed in the vast African continent, but due to the influence of human activities, African lions only exist in a few areas of sub-Saharan Africa, and the habitats of various groups are isolated from each other, and the populations cannot communicate with each other;

Another example is China's Huabei Leopard, which is the only subspecies of leopard only distributed in China, so it is also called China Leopard. Although it is only distributed in Shanxi, Henan, Hebei and northern Shaanxi, it is widely distributed in history, and it is also widely distributed in Beijing. But it was later killed by people, and the population fell to extinction. Now the ecological environment in Beijing has been greatly improved, but it can't be restored because there are no leopards.

Cat League? what's up Take the leopard home? What the project wants to do is to rebuild the ecological corridor connecting Shanxi, Hebei and Beijing, so that Huabei leopard can avoid the threat of poaching and road killing, and through this ecological corridor, along Taihang Mountain and Yanshan Mountain Range, it will eventually spread to Beijing's hometown, so as to achieve? Take the leopard home? Purpose. Therefore, the importance of ecological corridor is self-evident, and it is a good way to eradicate habitat fragmentation.

Take the leopard home? Project drawings

Ecological corridors can reduce inbreeding of animals. Many rare and endangered animals in the world are basically facing a huge problem, that is, inbreeding, whether it is Siberian tiger or Asian lion, because of its small base and serious inbreeding, which has affected species.

Compared with before, the weight of the Siberian tiger has dropped seriously. Before 1950s, the average weight of the wild Amur tiger was 2 15.3kg, but after 1970s, the average weight of the wild Amur tiger had dropped to 176.4kg, and the upper limit was only close to 222.3kg. ..

The reason for weight loss is not only the decrease of prey caused by illegal poaching, but also serious inbreeding. Similarly, there are Asian lions, because now more than 600 Asian lions are descendants of 1908 Asian lions, and their inbreeding makes them much worse than African lions in size and genetic diversity.

Siberian tiger

There are many lion subspecies in Africa, with a wide range of habitats, and the phenomenon of inbreeding is not so serious, but it does not mean that it does not exist. In fact, many lions in Africa have inbreeding, and lions are in a relatively isolated environment, and the problem is gradually becoming prominent.

In fact, whether it is a lion or a tiger, in addition to the small number of individuals, there is also an important reason that there is no connection between habitats and there is a lack of opportunities for communication between populations.

Severely broken African lion habitat

Ecological corridors can connect isolated habitats, so wildlife populations can pass through these? Corridor? Mutual? Drop in. Communicate, and then mate and reproduce. Tiger is a cat with remarkable exploration behavior and high mobility, especially the male tiger, which will spread to a wider range as much as possible when he grows up, so it is very important for tiger gene transmission.

Without the ecological corridor, no matter how mobile the male tiger is, he will be confined to a small environment. Once the ecological corridor appears, he can follow. Corridor? If it spreads to a wider range, inbreeding can be well avoided.

Northeast Tiger Walking in the Snow

With the establishment of China Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, it marks that the protection of Northeast Tiger and Leopard in China has entered a new era. Now, the environment of the reserve has been greatly improved. In addition, ungulates released in batches have successfully propagated in the wild. It can be said that a large number of Siberian tigers have already been prepared on the vast Linhai snowfield, but why is the number of Siberian tigers in China still very small, with only 27 last year?

In addition to the low fertility of tigers, there are only 2-3 tigers in each nest, and the mortality rate is high. The most important reason is that the ecological corridor connecting Northeast China and Siberia is not perfect, which is also the place where China and Russia actively contribute at present. Once this ecological corridor is opened, the increasingly saturated Siberian tiger in Primorsky Territory will continue to spread to China Nature Reserve, which is very important for the protection of the Siberian tiger in China and the development of the Siberian tiger population in the world.