One Hundred Questions of Importance to the Conservation of Global Biological Diversity

Abstract:  We identified 100 scientific questions that, if answered, would have the greatest impact on conservation practice and policy. Representatives from 21 international organizations, regional sections and working groups of the Society for Conservation Biology, and 12 academics, from all continents except Antarctica, compiled 2291 questions of relevance to conservation of biological diversity worldwide. The questions were gathered from 761 individuals through workshops, email requests, and discussions. Voting by email to short-list questions, followed by a 2-day workshop, was used to derive the final list of 100 questions. Most of the final questions were derived through a process of modification and combination as the workshop progressed. The questions are divided into 12 sections: ecosystem functions and services, climate change, technological change, protected areas, ecosystem management and restoration, terrestrial ecosystems, marine ecosystems, freshwater ecosystems, species management, organizational systems and processes, societal context and change, and impacts of conservation interventions. We anticipate that these questions will help identify new directions for researchers and assist funders in directing funds.     

Use of the Kit Fox field data to analyze dense gas dispersion modeling issues

The 1995 Kit Fox dense gas field data set consists of 52 trials where short-duration CO₂ gas releases were made at ground level over a rough surface during neutral to stable conditions. The experiments were intended to demonstrate the effects on dense gas clouds of relatively large roughnesses typical of industrial process plants. Fast response concentration observations were made by 80 samplers located on four downwind lines (25, 50, 100, and 225 m), including profile observations on three towers on each of the closest three arcs. Detailed meteorological measurements were made on several towers within and outside of the roughness arrays. The data analysis emphasized the variation of maximum concentration with surface roughness, the dependence of cloud advection speed on cloud depth, the variation of the three components of dispersion with ambient turbulence, and the dependence of vertical entrainment rate on ambient friction velocity and cloud Richardson number. The Kit Fox data were used to evaluate a specific dense gas dispersion model (HEGADAS 3+), with emphasis on whether it would be able to account for the increased roughness. The model was able to satisfactorily simulate the observed concentrations, with a mean bias of about 5% and with about 90% of the predictions within a factor of two of the observations.     

Genetically informed captive breeding of hybrids of an extinct species of Galapagos tortoise

Hybridization poses a major challenge for species conservation because it threatens both genetic integrity and adaptive potential. Yet, hybridization can occasionally offer unprecedented opportunity for species recovery if the genome of an extinct taxon is present among living hybrids such that selective breeding could recapture it. We explored the design elements for establishing a captive-breeding program for Galapagos tortoises (Chelonoidis spp.) built around individuals with admixed ancestry involving an extinct species. The target individuals were hybrids between the extinct species from Floreana Island, C. niger, and an extant species, C. becki, which were recently found in the endemic range of C. becki, from Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island. We combined genotypic data from 35 tortoises with high ancestry from C. niger with forward-in-time simulations to explore captive breeding strategies that maximized overall genetic diversity and ancestry from C. niger while accommodating resource constraints, species biology, and the urgency to return tortoises to Floreana Island for facilitating ecosystem restoration. Overall genetic diversity was maximized when in the simulation tortoises were organized in relatively small breeding groups. Substantial amounts of the C. niger genome were captured despite limited resources available for selectively breeding tortoises in captivity. Genetic diversity was maximized when captive-bred offspring were released to the wild rather than being used as additional breeders. Our results provide genetic-based and practical guidance on the inclusion of hybrids with genomic representation from extinct taxa into species restoration programs and informs the ongoing debate on the value of hybrids in biodiversity conservation.     

Rice and Bricks: Environmental Issues and Mapping of the Unusual Crop Rotation Pattern in the Kathmandu Valley,Nepal

The Kathmandu Valley in Nepal has experienced a very rapid increase in population resulting in considerable land use/land cover change and also a series of environmental problems. One of the results of the population increase is an expansion of brick manufacturing within the Valley because most structures are brick. The brick kilns are intense in several locations of the Valley and have an interesting pattern of using the same lands for bricks during the dry season and then conversion to rice during the wet, summer monsoon months. The increase in brick production has contributed to environmental problems including decreased soil productivity, lowered ground water levels, and particularly air pollution. Brick manufacturing has little, if any, effective regulation. There is a lack of current, accurate data on brick production that could be resolved by remote sensing methods. Controls should be established and more information acquired on the location and impacts of brick production.     

Behaving safely under pressure: The effects of job demands,resources, and safety climate on employee physical and psychosocial safety behavior

Introduction: Previous research has shown that employees who experience high job demands are more inclined to show unsafe behaviors in the workplace. In this paper, we examine why some employees behave safely when faced with these demands while others do not. We add to the literature by incorporating both physical and psychosocial safety climate in the job demands and resources (JD-R) model and extending it to include physical and psychosocial variants of safety behavior. Method: Using a sample of 6230 health care employees nested within 52 organizations, we examined the relationship between job demands and (a) resources, (b) safety climate, and (c) safety behavior. We conducted multilevel analyses to test our hypotheses. Results: Job demands (i.e., work pressure), job resources (i.e., job autonomy, supervisor support, and co-worker support) and safety climate (both physical and psychosocial safety climate) are directly associated with, respectively, lower and higher physical and psychosocial safety behavior. We also found some evidence that safety climate buffers the negative impact of job demands (i.e., work–family conflict and job insecurity) on safety behavior and strengthens the positive impact of job resources (i.e., co-worker support) on safety behavior. Conclusions: Regardless of whether the focus is physical or psychological safety, our results show that strengthening the safety climate within an organization can increase employees' safety behavior. Practical implication: An organization's safety climate is an optimal target of intervention to prevent and ameliorate negative physical and psychological health and safety outcomes, especially in times of uncertainty and change.     

Horizontal movements of Atlantic blue marlin (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Makaira nigricans</Emphasis>) in the Gulf of Mexico

We examined movements of Atlantic blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) from the Gulf of Mexico based upon 42 pop-up archival transmitting (PAT) tags. Long deployments (including one 334-day track) revealed diverse movement patterns within the Gulf of Mexico. North–south seasonal changes in blue marlin distribution showed strong correspondence with established seasonal patterns of sea surface temperature and primary production. During the summer spawning season, blue marlin utilized outer shelf and shelf edge waters in the northern Gulf of Mexico, and longer duration tracks indicated overwintering habitats in the Bay of Campeche. Egress occurred throughout the year and was difficult to determine because some tracks ended in the Straits of Florida (n = 3) while other tracks recorded movement through it or the Yucatan Channel (n = 4). Our results indicate that Atlantic blue marlin have a more restricted geographic range of habitats than previously recognized and that the Gulf of Mexico provides spatially dynamic suitable habitat that is utilized year-round through seasonal movements.     

流域水质目标管理的风险识别与对策研究

以水质目标为约束和核心的管理将逐步完善、补充和强化当前的总量控制模式,成为我国中长期流域水环境管理的重要内容.流域水质目标管理是一个"响应→调控"并不断反馈调整的过程,但由于流域系统的非线性和不确定性,流域污染减排并不能完全确保水质目标的实现.本文将这种由不确定性而引致的流域水质目标的不完全可达性界定为风险,并在分析流域水质目标管理框架思路的基础上,识别并实证了水质目标管理中的主要风险来源,主要包括:1在"响应"层面,由于水质响应与负荷削减等措施间的非线性、时滞性、指标不协同等不对应关系带来的风险;2在"调控"层面,由于水环境管理缺乏适应性的调控和反馈机制而产生的水质达标风险.在此基础上,提出了流域水质目标风险管理的转变途径及其定量表征方法,以期为流域水质目标风险管理提供借鉴.     

Equivalency of Galápagos Giant Tortoises Used as Ecological Replacement Species to Restore Ecosystem Functions

Loss of key plant–animal interactions (e.g., disturbance, seed dispersal, and herbivory) due to extinctions of large herbivores has diminished ecosystem functioning nearly worldwide. Mitigating for the ecological consequences of large herbivore losses through the use of ecological replacements to fill extinct species’ niches and thereby replicate missing ecological functions has been proposed. It is unknown how different morphologically and ecologically a replacement can be from the extinct species and still provide similar functions. We studied niche equivalency between 2 phenotypes of Galápagos giant tortoises (domed and saddlebacked) that were translocated to Pinta Island in the Galápagos Archipelago as ecological replacements for the extinct saddlebacked giant tortoise (Chelonoidis abingdonii). Thirty‐nine adult, nonreproductive tortoises were introduced to Pinta Island in May 2010, and we observed tortoise resource use in relation to phenotype during the first year following release. Domed tortoises settled in higher, moister elevations than saddlebacked tortoises, which favored lower elevation arid zones. The areas where the tortoises settled are consistent with the ecological conditions each phenotype occupies in its native range. Saddlebacked tortoises selected areas with high densities of the arboreal prickly pear cactus (Opuntia galapageia) and mostly foraged on the cactus, which likely relied on the extinct saddlebacked Pinta tortoise for seed dispersal. In contrast, domed tortoises did not select areas with cactus and therefore would not provide the same seed‐dispersal functions for the cactus as the introduced or the original, now extinct, saddlebacked tortoises. Interchangeability of extant megaherbivores as replacements for extinct forms therefore should be scrutinized given the lack of equivalency we observed in closely related forms of giant tortoises. Our results also demonstrate the value of trial introductions of sterilized individuals to test niche equivalency among candidate analog species. Equivalencia de Tortugas Gigantes de las Galápagos Utilizadas como Especie de Reemplazo Ecológico para Restaurar las Funciones de los Ecosistemas     

Towards more detailed determination of third party impact on risk on natural gas pipelines: Influence of population density

The paper presents a refined way to quantify the effects of third party interference on risk that is posed on people by transmission pipelines for natural gas. The main focus is set on the influence of population density on risk. Using the interdisciplinary approach, the presented study combines the knowledge from relevant risk assessment recommendations, physical consequences of hazardous events, existing history databases of hazardous event frequencies and urban planning. A quantitative boundary between two most populated types of area was established. A flexible risk coefficient was determined for a suburban type of populated area that is dependent on average population density. Consequently, a new approach for determination of a hazard distance from the pipeline and area boundaries for calculation of average population density was presented. This differs from the established methods described in some guidelines, but is based on results of applied quantitative risk assessment. The final result is more accurate determination of risk levels in suburban areas. Described methods may serve as a supplement to the existing models for quantitative risk assessment on pipelines used in natural gas transportation and may be used by pipeline operators as well as policy- and decision makers.