Performance of IUCN proxies for generation length

One of the criteria used by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to assess threat status is the rate of decline in abundance over 3 generations or 10 years, whichever is longer. The traditional method for calculating generation length (T) uses age‐specific survival and fecundity, but these data are rarely available. Consequently, proxies that require less information are often used, which introduces potential biases. The IUCN recommends 2 proxies based on adult mortality rate, = α + 1/d, and reproductive life span, = α + z^*RL, where α is age at first reproduction, d is adult mortality rate, RL is reproductive life span, and z is a coefficient derived from data for comparable species. We used published life tables for 78 animal and plant populations to evaluate precision and bias of these proxies by comparing and with true generation length. Mean error rates in estimating T were 31% for and 20% for , but error rates for were 16% when we subtracted 1 year ( ), as suggested by theory; also provided largely unbiased estimates regardless of the true generation length. Performance of depends on compilation of detailed data for comparable species, but our results suggest taxonomy is not a reliable indicator of comparability. All 3 proxies depend heavily on a reliable estimate of age at first reproduction, as we illustrated with 2 test species. The relatively large mean errors for all proxies emphasized the importance of collecting the detailed life‐history information necessary to calculate true generation length. Unfortunately, publication of such data is less common than it was decades ago. We identified generic patterns of age‐specific change in vital rates that can be used to predict expected patterns of bias from applying .     

Using environmental heterogeneity to plan for sea‐level rise

Environmental heterogeneity is increasingly being used to select conservation areas that will provide for future biodiversity under a variety of climate scenarios. This approach, termed conserving nature's stage (CNS), assumes environmental features respond to climate change more slowly than biological communities, but will CNS be effective if the stage were to change as rapidly as the climate? We tested the effectiveness of using CNS to select sites in salt marshes for conservation in coastal Georgia (U.S.A.), where environmental features will change rapidly as sea level rises. We calculated species diversity based on distributions of 7 bird species with a variety of niches in Georgia salt marshes. Environmental heterogeneity was assessed across six landscape gradients (e.g., elevation, salinity, and patch area). We used 2 approaches to select sites with high environmental heterogeneity: site complementarity (environmental diversity [ED]) and local environmental heterogeneity (environmental richness [ER]). Sites selected based on ER predicted present‐day species diversity better than randomly selected sites (up to an 8.1% improvement), were resilient to areal loss from SLR (1.0% average areal loss by 2050 compared with 0.9% loss of randomly selected sites), and provided habitat to a threatened species (0.63 average occupancy compared with 0.6 average occupancy of randomly selected sites). Sites selected based on ED predicted species diversity no better or worse than random and were not resilient to SLR (2.9% average areal loss by 2050). Despite the discrepancy between the 2 approaches, CNS is a viable strategy for conservation site selection in salt marshes because the ER approach was successful. It has potential for application in other coastal areas where SLR will affect environmental features, but its performance may depend on the magnitude of geological changes caused by SLR. Our results indicate that conservation planners that had heretofore excluded low‐lying coasts from CNS planning could include coastal ecosystems in regional conservation strategies.     

中国典型河湖水体铅的水生生物安全基准与生态风险评价

采用物种敏感度排序法(SSR)对我国铅的淡水水生生物安全基准进行推导,并以太湖为例进行了流域水生生物安全基准推导。对于难以获得的本土生物毒性数据,开展了相应的毒性试验。获得了我国国家与太湖流域铅的水生生物安全基准值,基准最大浓度(CMC)分别为63.92、104.26μg·L-1,基准连续浓度(CCC)分别为1.21、4.06μg·L-1。同时,对我国主要河流以及太湖流域进行了铅的生态风险评价,联合概率曲线法显示影响5%水生生物种类的概率分别为66.22%和43.19%,熵值法则显示中国主要河流存在较大的铅暴露风险,因此,我国铅的潜在生态风险较大,主要河流与太湖流域存在铅污染问题。     

Defining and Evaluating the Umbrella Species Concept for Conserving and Restoring Landscape Connectivity

Conserving or restoring landscape connectivity between patches of breeding habitat is a common strategy to protect threatened species from habitat fragmentation. By managing connectivity for some species, usually charismatic vertebrates, it is often assumed that these species will serve as conservation umbrellas for other species. We tested this assumption by developing a quantitative method to measure overlap in dispersal habitat of 3 threatened species—a bird (the umbrella), a butterfly, and a frog—inhabiting the same fragmented landscape. Dispersal habitat was determined with Circuitscape, which was parameterized with movement data collected for each species. Despite differences in natural history and breeding habitat, we found substantial overlap in the spatial distributions of areas important for dispersal of this suite of taxa. However, the intuitive umbrella species (the bird) did not have the highest overlap with other species in terms of the areas that supported connectivity. Nevertheless, we contend that when there are no irreconcilable differences between the dispersal habitats of species that cohabitate on the landscape, managing for umbrella species can help conserve or restore connectivity simultaneously for multiple threatened species with different habitat requirements. Definición y Evaluación del Concepto de Especie Paraguas para Conservar y Restaurar la Conectividad de Paisajes     

Potential Negative Ecological Effects of Corridors

Despite many studies showing that landscape corridors increase dispersal and species richness for disparate taxa, concerns persist that corridors can have unintended negative effects. In particular, some of the same mechanisms that underlie positive effects of corridors on species of conservation interest may also increase the spread and impact of antagonistic species (e.g., predators and pathogens), foster negative effects of edges, increase invasion by exotic species, increase the spread of unwanted disturbances such as fire, or increase population synchrony and thus reduce persistence. We conducted a literature review and meta‐analysis to evaluate the prevalence of each of these negative effects. We found no evidence that corridors increase unwanted disturbance or non‐native species invasion; however, these have not been well‐studied concerns (1 and 6 studies, respectively). Other effects of corridors were more often studied and yielded inconsistent results; mean effect sizes were indistinguishable from zero. The effect of edges on abundances of target species was as likely to be positive as negative. Corridors were as likely to have no effect on antagonists or population synchrony as they were to increase those negative effects. We found 3 deficiencies in the literature. First, despite studies on how corridors affect predators, there are few studies of related consequences for prey population size and persistence. Second, properly designed studies of negative corridor effects are needed in natural corridors at scales larger than those achievable in experimental systems. Third, studies are needed to test more targeted hypotheses about when corridor‐mediated effects on invasive species or disturbance may be negative for species of management concern. Overall, we found no overarching support for concerns that construction and maintenance of habitat corridors may result in unintended negative consequences. Negative edge effects may be mitigated by widening corridors or softening edges between corridors and the matrix. Other negative effects are relatively small and manageable compared with the large positive effects of facilitating dispersal and increasing diversity of native species. Efectos Negativos Potenciales de los Corredores     

Improving invasive species management by integrating priorities and contributions of scientists and decision makers

Managing invasive species is a major challenge for society. In the case of newly established invaders, rapid action is key for a successful management. Here, we develop, describe and recommend a three-step transdisciplinary process (the “butterfly model”) to rapidly initiate action for invasion management. In the framing of a case study, we present results from the first of these steps: assessing priorities and contributions of both scientists and decision makers. Both scientists and decision makers prioritise research on prevention. The available scientific knowledge contributions, however, are publications on impacts rather than prevention of the invasive species. The contribution of scientific knowledge does thus not reflect scientists’ perception of what is essentially needed. We argue that a more objective assessment and transparent communication of not only decision makers’ but also scientists’ priorities is an essential basis for a successful cooperation. Our three-step model can help achieve objectivity via transdisciplinary communication.     

Use of Congeneric Assessment to Reveal the Linked Genetic Histories of Two Threatened Fishes in the Murray‐Darling Basin,Australia

Abstract: The intensely regulated Murray‐Darling Basin in southeastern Australia is the nation's most extensive and economically important river system, and it contains fragmented populations of numerous fish species. Among these is the Murray hardyhead (Craterocephalus fluviatilis), a species listed as endangered (International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List) in the mid‐1990s prior to its acute decline with the progression of a severe drought that began in 1997. We compared the genetic structure of Murray hardyhead with 4 congeneric species (Darling hardyhead[C. amniculus], Finke hardyhead[C. centralis], Lake Eyre hardyhead[C. eyresii], and unspecked hardyhead[C. stercusmuscarum]), selected on the basis of their taxonomic or biological similarity to Murray hardyhead, in order to affirm species boundaries and test for instances of introgressive hybridization, which may influence species ecology and conservation prospects. We used allozyme (52 loci) and mtDNA markers (1999 bp of ATPase and cytochrome b) to provide a comparative genetic assessment of 139 Murray hardyhead, which represented all extant and some recently extirpated populations, and 71 congeneric specimens from 12 populations. We confirmed that Murray hardyhead and Darling hardyhead are taxonomically distinct and identified a number of potential conservation units, defined with genetic criteria, in both species. We also found allozyme and mtDNA evidence of historic genetic exchange between these 2 allopatric species, apparently involving one population of each species at the geographic edge of the species’ ranges, not in the most proximate populations sampled. Our results provide information on species boundaries and offer insight into the likely causes of high genetic diversity in certain populations, results which are already being used to guide national recovery planning and local action. Given the prevalence of incorrect taxonomies and introgression in many organismal groups, we believe these data point to the need to commence genetic investigations of any threatened species from an initially broad taxonomic focus.     

长江口邻近海域沉积物中厌氧氨氧化细菌分布特征研究

海洋生态系统氮素循环对维持海洋生态收支平衡具有重要意义,由厌氧氨氧化细菌(anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria,ANAMMOX Bacteria)推动的厌氧氨氧化过程是海洋氮素移除的重要途径.本研究采用荧光定量PCR(q PCR)技术,并结合环境理化因子,分析了2011年夏季长江口邻近海域沉积物中厌氧氨氧化细菌的种群丰度分布特征.结果表明,厌氧氨氧化细菌的种群丰度在长江口邻近海域的空间分布与环境因子密切相关,总有机碳含量、盐度、铵盐浓度对长江口邻近海域沉积物中厌氧氨氧化细菌的种群丰度具有重要调控作用.厌氧氨氧化细菌的丰度分布与总有机碳含量呈显著正相关关系(P0.01,r=0.69),同时又随亚硝酸盐浓度、溶解氧浓度的升高而降低,而盐度对厌氧氨氧化细菌丰度分布的影响较为复杂.     

粤桂水源地有机氯农药的污染特征及生态风险

利用固相萃取-气相色谱-质谱联用技术(SPE-GC-MS)检测了粤桂水源地7个采样点水样中16种有机氯农药(OCPs)的浓度,分析了研究区OCPs的污染特征;利用BurrⅢ型分布构建了8种OCPs的物种敏感度分布曲线,并计算出不同OCPs对淡水水生生物的HC5(hazardous concentration for 5%species)值,最后应用安全阈值法评价了OCPs对水生生物的生态风险.结果表明,OCPs的浓度在6.64~34.19 ng·L~(-1)之间,平均值为16.76 ng·L~(-1),HCHs和DDTs及其降解产物在污染物中的贡献比例较大.HCHs主要来自家庭杀虫剂中的林丹,DDTs主要来自三氯杀螨醇的污染或历史残留.脊椎动物对OCPs的耐受性高于无脊椎动物,α-硫丹对水生植物和微生物的影响较大,p,p'-DDT对脊椎动物和无脊椎动物的影响较大.粤桂水源地OCPs对水生生物没有显著的生态风险,但DDTs和α-硫丹对水生生物存在较高的潜在风险,应加以重视.     

两个CANON污水处理系统中氨氧化古菌的丰度和多样性研究

近期,氨氧化古菌(ammonia-oxidizing archaea,AOA)在各类环境中的发现,打破了人们原来认为氨氧化主要是由氨氧化细菌(ammonia-oxidizing bacteria,AOB)完成的观点.但是在全程自养脱氮(completely autotrophic nitrogen removal over nitrite,CANON)污水处理系统中关于AOA的研究却鲜有提及.利用PCR、克隆、实时荧光定量PCR(quantitative real time PCR,q PCR)等分子生物学技术,对1个小试(lab-scale,L)和1个中试(pilot-scale,P)CANON系统中的生物膜和活性污泥絮体两种形态的污泥进行AOA数量和种属特征的研究.结果表明:1系统L和P中,AOA的amo A基因数量平均值(以dry sludge计)分别为2.42×106copies·g-1和6.51×106copies·g-1;2 AOA的amo A基因丰度随污泥形态不同数量相差很大:L系统中,生物膜AOA amo A丰度约为活性污泥絮体的11.1~15.1倍;P系统中,污泥絮体AOA amo A数量是生物膜中的2.8倍;3多样性方面:P系统的AOA多样性较低,仅出现一个OTU,该OTU属于Nitrosopumilus subcluster 5.2类群;L系统AOA多样性较高,共有8个OTU出现,分别属于Nitrososphaera subcluster 9、subcluster 8.1、subcluster 4.1、subcluster 1.1和Nitrosopumilus subcluster 5.2这5个类群.总之,在同一个CANON系统中,污泥形态不同,AOA的丰度和群落结构相差较大;AOA可能发挥着氨氧化的作用.