Keeping pace with technology: drones,disturbance and policy deficiency

This paper analyses regulatory responses to rapid intensification of the use of drones/remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) in the context of wildlife protection. Benefits and disadvantages of the technology to wildlife are examined, before three key limitations in policy and law are identified: failure to address wildlife disturbance in RPA regulation; reliance upon insufficiently comprehensive existing wildlife protection legislation to manage disturbance effects; and limited species-specific research on disturbance. A New Zealand case study further reveals an inconsistent regulatory approach struggling to keep pace with innovation, inadequate regulatory capture of environmental effects due to exemption as “aircraft”, and no recognition that specific geographical locations, such as coastal areas, distinguished by recreational pressures and high numbers of threatened species require special consideration. Recommendations include acknowledging the impact on wildlife in policy, gap analysis of legal arrangements for protection from disturbance (including airspace), and adoption of minimum approach distances to threatened species.     

中压燃气管道泄漏工况下流量扰动幅度模拟分析*

为检测和定位燃气管道泄漏,基于泄漏定位公式,利用模拟软件Pipeline Studio构建等效中压管道模型,模拟不同工况条件下燃气管道泄漏动态。结果表明:泄漏发生后,一定时域内用户端流量将出现扰动,供气压力越高、供气量越大、泄漏孔径越小、管道长度越长,流量扰动持续时间越长;忽略管长影响,泄漏位置越接近气源,流量扰动幅度越易出现先增大后减小趋势,反之易出现单调递减趋势;泄漏端位置距离用户端越近,流量扰动幅度越大,反之越小。研究结果可为燃气管道泄漏检测和定位提供理论依据。     

岷江上游祁连山圆柏群落优势种群间的联结性

应用方差分析X^2-测验、点相关系数和Jaccard指数等技术对岷江上游祁连山圆柏群落中12个优势种群的种间联结性进行了研究．结果表明：①12个优势种群在总体上呈显著的负联结，这跟该群落目前所处的演替状态及十扰造成的环境不稳定有密切的关系．②在66个种对中，经X^2-检验联结性达到显著的有4对，即西南樱桃与多叶飞蓬，腋花马先蒿和甘川紫菀，黄总花与银莲花，多叶飞蓬和甘川紫菀．这4个种对显著的联结性跟物种本身的生物学习性有关．③金花小檗、川西锦鸡儿是该群落逆行演替的代表种，由二者之一参与形成的各种对联结性最弱，这两种植物与群落中的其它物种形成较强的联系，还需要一个过程．图1表5参36     

Does male harassment of females contribute to reproductive synchrony in the grey seal by affecting maternal performance?

We investigated the possibility that male harassment of lactating females differed in relation to time of birth in the grey seal, Halichoerus grypus, on Sable Island, Nova Scotia. This was done by comparing the frequency of male disturbances, maternal performance and pup growth for females that either gave birth during the peak of the pupping season or after the peak. Of the females, 58% gave birth in a 7-day period near the beginning of the pupping period, when the operational sex ratio was 2–4 females per male. Late in the pupping period the operational sex ratio reversed to about 1 female for every 2 males. The relative frequency of disturbances by males was significantly greater for late-pupping mothers than for peak-pupping ones (1.9 vs. 1.4 encounters/h). Females that gave birth late also were disturbed by males 3 times more often than females that gave birth during the peak (3.4 vs. 1.1 % of observation time). Late-pupping mothers spent 22% less time suckling (4.0 vs. 5.1 % of observation time), had 30% slower growing pups (1.7 vs. 2.4 kg/d), and weaned pups that were 16% lighter (45.6 vs. 54.0 kg). The effect of birth time on pup mass gain and weaning mass was not attributable to factors such as maternal mass, pup birth mass or pup sex. We conclude that the reduced maternal performance is likely the result of the increased male harassment. As reduced weaning mass can lead to reduced juvenile survival, male harassment may have contributed to the enhanced reproductive synchrony in this species.     

Effects of Tourists on Behavior and Demography of Olympic Marmots

Abstract:  If changes in animal behavior resulting from direct human disturbance negatively affect the persistence of a given species or population, then these behavioral changes must necessarily lead to reduced demographic performance. We tested for the effects of human disturbance on Olympic marmots ( Marmota olympus ), a large ground-dwelling squirrel that has disappeared from several areas where recreation levels are high. We assessed the degree to which antipredator and foraging behavior and demographic rates (survival and reproduction) differed between sites with high recreation levels (high use) and those with little or no recreation (low use). Compared with the marmots at low-use sites, marmots at high-use sites displayed significantly reduced responses to human approach, which could be construed as successful accommodation of disturbance or as a decrease in predator awareness. The marmots at high-use sites also looked up more often while foraging, which suggests an increased wariness. Marmots at both types of sites had comparable reproductive and survival rates and were in similar body condition. Until now, the supposition that marmots can adjust their behavior to avoid negative demographic consequences when confronted with heavy tourism has been based on potentially ambiguous behavioral data. Our results support this hypothesis in the case of Olympic marmots and demonstrate the importance of considering demographic data when evaluating the impacts of recreation on animal populations.     

自然保护区学研究与景观生态学基本理论

本文尝试把景观生态学思想融于自然保护区理论中，较系统地论述了以景观结构与功能原理、景观异质性理论、景观格局理论、等级—尺度理论、干扰学说、生物多样性原理以及景观稳定性理论等景观生态学的基本理论为基础的自然保护区学的研究     

南极菲尔德斯半岛空气微生物含量初报

南极菲尔德斯半岛外空气微生物的采样站分作３种类型，类型Ｉ．科考站及附近区域，类型Ⅱ．大型动物出没区，类型Ⅲ大型动物少，且保持荒凉状态区，结果显示，Ｉ类型区室外空气微生物含量明显高于Ⅲ类型区，平均Ｉ区有４９９４ｃｆｕ．ｍ＾－３，Ⅲ区仅１６ｃｕｆ．ｍ＾－３，结果提示，菲尔德斯半岛空气微生物已受到人类活动的干扰。     

APM对小麦根尖分生组织细胞异常有丝分裂的诱导

探讨了不同浓度（c／μmol．L－1）和不同处理时间（t／h）下APM对小麦根尖分生组织细胞有丝分裂的影响．实验结果表明，在c（APM）＝1～4μmol／L、处理t＜5h可明显提高有丝分裂指数，对前期和中期细胞分裂的促进作用更为明显；但c（APM）的增加与有丝分裂指数的提高无明显线型关系；APM可促使间期细胞微核形成、中期细胞染色体聚合现象和扰乱纺锤丝的功能．纺锤丝功能上的扰乱可引起细胞的“不均等分裂”和“多极化分裂”形成上述两种细胞异常有丝分裂的临界浓度和处理时间分别为c＝5μmol／L和t＞5h．     

Modeling the Hydroclimatic Disturbance of Soil Landscapes in the Southern Canadian Plains: The Problems of Scale and Place

The sensitivity of soil landscapes to climatic variability andhydroclimatic events can be expressed as a landscape change safety factor, the ratio of potential disturbance to resistance to change. The use of a geographic information system (GIS) enables the spatially-explicit modeling of landscape sensitivity, but also raises the risk of violating the characteristic scales of disturbance and resistance, because the GIS technically simplifies the extrapolation of models, and associated concepts, to landscapes and scales notrepresented by the digital data base. Embedding landscape sensitivity into hierarchy theory, the formal analysis of the hierarchical structure of complex systems, provides a conceptual framework for the transfer of models and variablesamong landscape scales. In the subhumid southern Canadian plains, major hydroclimatic events (strong winds, intense rain,rapid snow melt) cause much of the physical disturbance of soillandscapes and terrestrial ecosystems. Prolonged dry or wet weather influences the resistance of soil and vegetation to these events. The potential disturbance of soil landscapes therefore can be derived from the probabilities of extreme events and seasonal conditions, as recorded in instrumental and proxy climate records. This time series analysis can belinked to the modeling of landscape sensitivity by establishingthe probabilities of hydroclimatic events and climatic conditions which may exceed or lower the resistance of individual soil landscapes.     

水电工程干扰下澜沧江典型段的水温时空特征

以澜沧江流域漫湾库尾至大朝山坝下的水电工程干扰典型段为研究区域,利用1978～2005年建坝前后的水温实测资料,采用相关分析、线性回归的方法分析表层水温、下泄水温的时空分布特征.结果表明,水电工程建设后库区蓄水对表层水温有着明显的增温效应,坝前表层水温仅5～8月低于气温,其余所有月份坝前表层水温均高于建坝前的天然表层水温,时间分异性减弱.库区出水温度一般冬季(干季)高于气温和天然表层水温,而夏季(雨季)则相反,与天然水温和气温的变化趋势有2个月的滞后性.从库尾到坝前,表层水温与天然气温逐渐接近,水温/气温比与距离大坝距离之间存在正相关关系,漫湾库区下泄水对大朝山库区的水温具有一定的累积效应.本研究结果表明水电工程对澜沧江典型河段的水温时空分布存在显著效应.