Developing Metapopulation Connectivity Criteria from Genetic and Habitat Data to Recover the Endangered Mexican Wolf

Restoring connectivity between fragmented populations is an important tool for alleviating genetic threats to endangered species. Yet recovery plans typically lack quantitative criteria for ensuring such population connectivity. We demonstrate how models that integrate habitat, genetic, and demographic data can be used to develop connectivity criteria for the endangered Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), which is currently being restored to the wild from a captive population descended from 7 founders. We used population viability analysis that incorporated pedigree data to evaluate the relation between connectivity and persistence for a restored Mexican wolf metapopulation of 3 populations of equal size. Decreasing dispersal rates greatly increased extinction risk for small populations (<150–200), especially as dispersal rates dropped below 0.5 genetically effective migrants per generation. We compared observed migration rates in the Northern Rocky Mountains (NRM) wolf metapopulation to 2 habitat‐based effective distance metrics, least‐cost and resistance distance. We then used effective distance between potential primary core populations in a restored Mexican wolf metapopulation to evaluate potential dispersal rates. Although potential connectivity was lower in the Mexican wolf versus the NRM wolf metapopulation, a connectivity rate of >0.5 genetically effective migrants per generation may be achievable via natural dispersal under current landscape conditions. When sufficient data are available, these methods allow planners to move beyond general aspirational connectivity goals or rules of thumb to develop objective and measurable connectivity criteria that more effectively support species recovery. The shift from simple connectivity rules of thumb to species‐specific analyses parallels the previous shift from general minimum‐viable‐population thresholds to detailed viability modeling in endangered species recovery planning. Desarrollo de Criterios de Conectividad Metapoblacional a Partir de Datos Genéticos y de Hábitat para Recuperar al Lobo Mexicano en Peligro de Extinción     

Implications of different population model structures for management of threatened plants

Population viability analysis (PVA) is a reliable tool for ranking management options for a range of species despite parameter uncertainty. No one has yet investigated whether this holds true for model uncertainty for species with complex life histories and for responses to multiple threats. We tested whether a range of model structures yielded similar rankings of management and threat scenarios for 2 plant species with complex postfire responses. We examined 2 contrasting species from different plant functional types: an obligate seeding shrub and a facultative resprouting shrub. We exposed each to altered fire regimes and an additional, species‐specific threat. Long‐term demographic data sets were used to construct an individual‐based model (IBM), a complex stage‐based model, and a simple matrix model that subsumes all life stages into 2 or 3 stages. Agreement across models was good under some scenarios and poor under others. Results from the simple and complex matrix models were more similar to each other than to the IBM. Results were robust across models when dominant threats are considered but were less so for smaller effects. Robustness also broke down as the scenarios deviated from baseline conditions, likely the result of a number of factors related to the complexity of the species’ life history and how it was represented in a model. Although PVA can be an invaluable tool for integrating data and understanding species’ responses to threats and management strategies, this is best achieved in the context of decision support for adaptive management alongside multiple lines of evidence and expert critique of model construction and output.     

长江经济带人口城镇化与土地城镇化协调发展时空差异研究

长江经济带是我国经济发展的战略区域,人口城镇化和土地城镇化的协调发展是推进新型城镇化发展的战略重点之一。本文以2006-2013年长江经济带126个地级市的人口、土地数据为基础,从长江经济带、区域和市域视角,采用熵值法、发展水平评价模型和均衡发展模型测度人口城镇化和土地城镇化协调发展度,结合空间分析方法对协调发展度进行分析,并使用ArcGIS10.2得出二者协调发展度的空间分布图。研究发现,从整体来看长江经济带2006-2013年人口城镇化与土地城镇化协调发展水平不断提高,并呈现相对平稳增长,2013年总体上达到较高协调发展水平。从区域视角来看,协调发展度呈现阶梯特征即下游地区中游地区上游地区的状态,且自2009年起3大区域协调发展度差距呈扩大趋势。从市域视角分析,长江经济带126个地级市2006-2008年协调发展度的发展速度慢,2009年后发展速度显著提升;在空间上呈现"东北-西南"的空间非均衡性和空间异质性,东北高、西南低,并表现明显的"城市群集聚"发展特征。长江经济带在人口城镇化和土地城镇化进程中应不断推进区域经济发展,加快中上游城市的城镇化进程,充分发挥"城市群"的经济辐射带动作用,同时转变土地财政思想,真正实现地区发展水平的提高,最终实现人口城镇化和土地城镇化协调发展。     

Estimating abundance without recaptures of marked pallid sturgeon in the Mississippi River

Abundance estimates are essential for assessing the viability of populations and the risks posed by alternative management actions. An effort to estimate abundance via a repeated mark‐recapture experiment may fail to recapture marked individuals. We devised a method for obtaining lower bounds on abundance in the absence of recaptures for both panmictic and spatially structured populations. The method assumes few enough recaptures were expected to be missed by random chance. The upper Bayesian credible limit on expected recaptures allows probabilistic statements about the minimum number of individuals present in the population. We applied this method to data from a 12‐year survey of pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) in the lower and middle Mississippi River (U.S.A.). None of the 241 individuals marked was recaptured in the survey. After accounting for survival and movement, our model‐averaged estimate of the total abundance of pallid sturgeon ≥3 years old in the study area had a 1%, 5%, or 25% chance of being <4,600, 7,000, or 15,000, respectively. When we assumed fish were distributed in proportion to survey catch per unit effort, the farthest downstream reach in the survey hosted at least 4.5–15 fish per river kilometer (rkm), whereas the remainder of the reaches in the lower and middle Mississippi River hosted at least 2.6–8.5 fish/rkm for all model variations examined. The lower Mississippi River had an average density of pallid sturgeon ≥3 years old of at least 3.0–9.8 fish/rkm. The choice of Bayesian prior was the largest source of uncertainty we considered but did not alter the order of magnitude of lower bounds. Nil‐recapture estimates of abundance are highly uncertain and require careful communication but can deliver insights from experiments that might otherwise be considered a failure.     

Identifying and modeling key trade-offs between hydrogen fuel cell and electric vehicles

Through a sensitivity analysis, the trade-off between vehicle range and CO₂ emissions is investigated as a function of electric emissions coefficient. Various powertrains were analysed for use in a small crossover sport utility vehicle. Gasoline, gasoline electric hybrid, diesel, fuel cell and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were considered. Using various upstream fuel pathways and a model for vehicle performance, emissions and energy use were estimated. The hydrogen fuel cell vehicle was found preferable to BEVs under conditions of high CO₂ emissions per kW-hr and a high vehicle range requirement. The BEV was preferable for all other conditions.     

Population viability and harvest sustainability for Madagascar lemurs

Subsistence hunting presents a conservation challenge by which biodiversity preservation must be balanced with safeguarding of human livelihoods. Globally, subsistence hunting threatens primate populations, including Madagascar's endemic lemurs. We used population viability analysis to assess the sustainability of lemur hunting in Makira Natural Park, Madagascar. We identified trends in seasonal hunting of 11 Makira lemur species from household interview data, estimated local lemur densities in populations adjacent to focal villages via transect surveys, and quantified extinction vulnerability for these populations based on species-specific demographic parameters and empirically derived hunting rates. We compared stage-based Lefkovitch with periodic Leslie matrices to evaluate the impact of regional dispersal on persistence trajectories and explored the consequences of perturbations to the timing of peak hunting relative to the lemur birth pulse, under assumptions of density-dependent reproductive compensation. Lemur hunting peaked during the fruit-abundant wet season (March–June). Estimated local lemur densities were roughly inverse to body size across our study area. Life-history modeling indicated that hunting most severely threatened the species with the largest bodies (i.e., Hapalemur occidentalis, Avahi laniger, Daubentonia madagascariensis, and Indri indi), characterized by late-age reproductive onsets and long interbirth intervals. In model simulations, lemur dispersal within a regional metapopulation buffered extinction threats when a majority of local sites supported growth rates above the replacement level but drove regional extirpations when most local sites were overharvested. Hunt simulations were most detrimental when timed to overlap lemur births (a reality for D. madagascariensis and I. indri). In sum, Makira lemurs were overharvested. Regional extirpations, which may contribute to broad-scale extinctions, will be likely if current hunting rates persist. Cessation of anthropogenic lemur harvest is a conservation priority, and development programs are needed to help communities switch from wildlife consumption to domestic protein alternatives.     

重庆市内环货车错时限行对空气质量的影响

在分析货车实施错时限行后内环车流量时段分布变化基础上,通过对PM_(2.5)、NO_2等指标的ADMS模型模拟和实际监测数据对比分析,探讨了内环货车错时限行对环境空气质量的影响。结果表明,货车错时限行后主城区环境空气中PM_(2.5)、NO_2小时平均质量浓度分别降低了9.4%和6.0%,峰值浓度明显降低,晚上出现峰值时间往后推移了2~3 h。经ADMS模型模拟计算,内环高峰时段机动车排放对主城区NO_2、PM、VOCs的浓度贡献分别降低了54.1%、56.3%、17.5%,CO浓度贡献不大。内环货车错时限行措施对重庆市主城区空气质量的改善有一定的积极作用。     

土地城镇化与人口城镇化的非协调性和互动关系

土地城镇化与人口城镇化失调是我国目前城镇化进程中的一个突出问题。但对各地区土地城镇化与人口城镇化的非协调性进行全面系统分析的研究相对较少。此外,鲜有研究对土地城镇化与人口城镇化之间的互动关系进行实证检验。本研究利用我国2005—2013年间的省级面板数据考察各省级行政区土地城镇化与人口城镇化的非协调性,并通过构建和估计面板向量自回归模型探究土地城镇化与人口城镇化之间的互动关系。研究发现,土地城镇化与人口城镇化的非协调性存在着显著的时空差异。在样本期的后半段(2009—2013年),多个省级行政区人口城镇化滞后于土地城镇化的程度有所加深。根据全样本期内土地城镇化与人口城镇化非协调性的严重程度,可将各省级行政区划分为5个等级。城镇常住人口变化对建成区面积变化具有显著的正向影响;建成区面积变化对城镇常住人口变化的影响方向虽然为正,但该影响不具有统计显著性。从而表明人口城镇化对土地城镇化起到了推动作用,但土地城镇化却未能有效地带动和促进人口城镇化。此外,第二、三产业增加值变化对城镇常住人口变化具有显著的正向影响。研究从改革新增建设用地指标分配方式、抑制城市空间粗放扩张及推动户籍制度改革和基本公共服务均等化等方面提出了促进土地城镇化和人口城镇化协调发展的政策建议。     

The influence of Chinese population policy change on resources and the environment

Universal two-child policy has been implemented since the end of 2015 in China. This policy is anticipated to bring a significant increase in the total population, with profound influences on the resources and environment in the future. This paper analyzes the changing dynamics of urban and rural population, and forecasts urban and rural population from 2016 to 2030 at national and provincial scale using a double log linear regression model. Drawing upon the results of these two predictions, the impact of the population policy change on Chinese resources consumption and environmental pollution are predicted quantitatively. Given the future total population maintains current levels on resources consumption and environmental emission, the additional demand of resources and environment demand for the new population is forecasted and compared against the capacity on supply side. The findings are as follows: after implementing the universal two-child policy, China’s grain, energy consumption, domestic water demand, and pollutant emissions are projected to increase at different rates across provinces. To meet the needs arising from future population growth, food and energy self-sufficiency rate will be significantly reduced in the future, while relying more on imports. Stability of the water supply needs to be improved, especially in Beijing, Henan, Jiangsu, Qinghai, and Sichuan where the gap in future domestic water demand is comparatively larger. Environmental protection and associated governing capability are in urgent need of upgrade not least due to the increasing pressure of pollution.     

Mapping shifts in spatial synchrony in grassland birds to inform conservation planning

Spatial synchrony, defined as the correlated fluctuations in abundance of spatially separated populations, can be caused by regional fluctuations in natural and anthropogenic environmental population drivers. Investigations into the geography of synchrony can provide useful insight to inform conservation planning efforts by revealing regions of common population drivers and metapopulation extinction vulnerability. We examined the geography of spatial synchrony and decadal changes in these patterns for grassland birds in the United States and Canada, which are experiencing widespread and persistent population declines. We used Bayesian hierarchical models and over 50 years of abundance data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey to generate population indices within a 2° latitude by 2° longitude grid. We computed and mapped mean local spatial synchrony for each cell (mean detrended correlation of the index among neighboring cells), along with associated uncertainty, for 19 species in 2, 26-year periods, 1968–1993 and 1994–2019. Grassland birds were predicted to increase in spatial synchrony where agricultural intensification, climate change, or interactions between the 2 increased. We found no evidence of an overall increase in synchrony among grassland bird species. However, based on the geography of these changes, there was considerable spatial heterogeneity within species. Averaging across species, we identified clusters of increasing spatial synchrony in the Prairie Pothole and Shortgrass Prairie regions and a region of decreasing spatial synchrony in the eastern United States. Our approach has the potential to inform continental-scale conservation planning by adding an additional layer of relevant information to species status assessments and spatial prioritization of policy and management actions. Our work adds to a growing literature suggesting that global change may result in shifting patterns of spatial synchrony in population dynamics across taxa with broad implications for biodiversity conservation.