PARENT SESSION
Symposium 14: Ecological impacts of Asia on global sustainability at multiple scales
Organized by: YD Choi, S Miao, and C Peng
Wednesday, August 10, 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM, Meeting Room 517 B, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal

The feature of biodiversity in arid zone of east Asia and its hotspots.

Zhang, Xinshi^{*,1, 2}, Tang, Haiping², Huang, Yongmei², ¹ Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing² College of Resources & Technology Science, Beijing Normal, Beijing

ABSTRACT- Although biodiversity in arid zone is relatively poor in amount, the extent of endangerments, vulnerability and sensitivity of species and ecosystems to environmental change is much more serious than that of in humid areas of tropical, subtropical and temperate zones. One the other hand, the organism in arid zone has been adapted and selected by the arid environment during the long-term evolutionary process. They have evolved a series of distinct traits of ecophysiological, morphological and physiognomical traits and secondary metabolites, such as ephemerality, tolerance to drought, cold, salinities and alkalinities (even alkalophilic or halophilic), sharp temperature fluctuation, strong radiation, wind erosion and sand burying. These peculiar traits and the gene/genome controlling them, as well as various bio-alkaloid are extremely important and rare resources of gene pool to meet the demands of agricultural breeding, medicine, industrial raw materials etc. in this century. Therefore, arid zone of East Asia has special significance and value due to its temperate xerophytic plants and the co-evolutionary large ungulate herbivores. Dzungaria and Erdos are the two hotspots in arid zone of East Asia.

Key words: biodiversity, arid zone of East Asia, ecosystem function