Animal agency in wildlife conservation and management

Wildlife conservation and management (WCM) practices have been historically drawn from a wide variety of academic fields, yet practitioners have been slow to engage with emerging conversations about animals as complex beings, whose individuality and sociality influence their relationships with humans. We propose an explicit acknowledgement of wild, nonhuman animals as active participants in WCM. We examined 190 studies of WCM interventions and outcomes to highlight 3 common assumptions that underpin many present approaches to WCM: animal behaviors are rigid and homogeneous; wildlife exhibit idealized wild behavior and prefer pristine habitats; and human–wildlife relationships are of marginal or secondary importance relative to nonhuman interactions. We found that these management interventions insufficiently considered animal learning, decision-making, individuality, sociality, and relationships with humans and led to unanticipated detrimental outcomes. To address these shortcomings, we synthesized theoretical advances in animal behavioral sciences, animal geographies, and animal legal theory that may help conservation professionals reconceptualize animals and their relationships with humans. Based on advances in these fields, we constructed the concept of animal agency, which we define as the ability of animals to actively influence conservation and management outcomes through their adaptive, context-specific, and complex behaviors that are predicated on their sentience, individuality, lived experiences, cognition, sociality, and cultures in ways that shape and reshape shared human–wildlife cultures, spaces, and histories. Conservation practices, such as compassionate conservation, convivial conservation, and ecological justice, incorporate facets of animal agency. Animal agency can be incorporated in conservation problem-solving by assessing the ways in which agency contributes to species’ survival and by encouraging more adaptive and collaborative decision-making among human and nonhuman stakeholders.     

Characteristics that make trophy hunting of giant pandas inconceivable

In November 1928, Theodore Jr. and Kermit Roosevelt led an expedition to China with the expressed purpose of being the first Westerners to kill the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). The expedition lasted 8 months and resulted in the brothers shooting a giant panda in the mountains of Sichuan Province. Given the concurrent attention in the popular press describing this celebrated expedition, the giant panda was poised to be trophy hunted much like other large mammals around the world. Today, however, the killing of giant pandas, even for the generation of conservation revenue, is unthinkable for reasons related to the species itself and the context, in time and space, in which the species was popularized in the West. We found that the giant panda's status as a conservation symbol, exceptional charisma and gentle disposition, rarity, value as a nonconsumptive ecotourism attraction, and endemism are integral to the explanation of why the species is not trophy hunted. We compared these intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics with 20 of the most common trophy-hunted mammals to determine whether the principles applying to giant pandas are generalizable to other species. Although certain characteristics of the 20 trophy-hunted mammals aligned with the giant panda, many did not. Charisma, economic value, and endemism, in particular, were comparatively unique to the giant panda. Our analysis suggests that, at present, exceptional characteristics may be necessary for certain mammals to be excepted from trophy hunting. However, because discourse relating to the role of trophy hunting in supporting conservation outcomes is dynamic in both science and society, we suspect these valuations will also change in future.     

“Science is Everywhere,but No One Knows It”: Assessing the Cultural Distance to Science of Rural South African Publics

ABSTRACT

In science communication, a prerequisite for reaching different parts of a society is to find out how these publics experience and interpret science. Since rural South African publics are perceived to exhibit a large cultural distance to science, the present exploratory study aimed to know in more detail how rural South Africans perceive and understand science in their local and social contexts. Theoretical notions on cultural distance and the methodological approach of segmentation studies were considered. Semi-structured interviews with rural South Africans were carried out in four towns (n?=?52) that differ with respect to having a large scientific installation in their vicinity, or not. Sensitively comparing local and social contexts helped identifying three different publics who differed regarding their perceptions of science; however, the large scientific installations only made a difference in perceptions for those publics who were generally less exposed to and less knowledgeable about science.     

薄膜扩散梯度技术在重金属生物有效态监测中的应用

重金属生物有效性是评估重金属元素迁移性、生物可利用性和生态影响的关键参数。薄膜扩散梯度技术(DGT)是一种原位被动采样技术,因其具有原位富集性、形态选择性,可提供被监测物质在监测时间段内的平均浓度等优点,可作为生物对重金属摄取的模拟替代物对环境介质中重金属的生物可利用度进行预测,已被广泛应用于环境介质中重金属生物有效性的测定。研究主要介绍了DGT技术的原理、组成和特点,评述了其近年来在水体、土壤、沉积物中重金属生物有效态应用方面的新进展,提出了DGT技术未来要提高抗生物污染能力及寻找可与DGT技术联用的相关技术的观点。     

隧道与横通道交叉角对火灾烟气蔓延影响机制研究

为探索隧道与横通道交叉角对火灾烟气蔓延的影响机制，采用FDS数值模拟，研究横通道与隧道不同交叉角情况下火灾烟气温度、浓度、烟气层高度等的变化规律，建立开启火源下风向横通道时隧道内烟气最高温度修正公式，提出烟气纵向蔓延恢复长度的概念，并探讨其影响规律。 结果表明:隧道和横通道交叉角越小，隧道内同一位置烟气层高度越高，当交叉角由90°降低到30°时，烟气层高度最大增加32%；烟气纵向蔓延恢复长度与交叉角及通风速率呈正相关，而与火源功率几乎无关。研究结果对隧道通风排烟系统设计及相关标准的制定具有参考意义。     

汽车道路试验安全管理体系建设研究

为了保障汽车道路试验安全、提高安全管理水平,设计提出汽车道路试验安全管理体系(SMS)总方案。根据OHSAS 18001和安全标准化规范的特点分析,论证了融合两种体系建立道路试验SMS的适用性。并从政策与目标、风险管理、安全保证和安全促进四个模块阐述了该体系的搭建思路、框架内容和搭建步骤。最后,以某自主品牌车企研发中心道路试验的应用情况为例进行效果评估,结果表明:汽车道路试验SMS能有效防控风险、提升试验安全管理水平。     

基于稳健统计方法对实验室比对中土壤汞的质量控制指标研究

利用稳健四分位间距法和迭代法2种稳健统计方法,通过对全国31个省、自治区、直辖市范围内共334家环境监测单位开展土壤中汞的实验室间比对,对比对测定结果和质控数据进行统计分析,系统性地研究了土壤中汞的质量控制指标。建议实际监测工作中土壤汞的实验室间相对标准偏差范围为7%～19%,相对误差控制指标为±8%,低浓度水平下可适当放宽至±10%,加标回收率控制范围为81%～109%,为日常监测开展土壤汞的质量控制工作提供了评价依据,具有广泛的应用价值和较好的指导作用。     

超前支架迈步过程稳定控制方法研究

为提高巷道超前支架迈步前移过程的稳定性和安全性,建立一种基于液压油液体积平均释放原则的迈步稳定控制方法。用软件仿真及样机实测的方法,检验所提出控制方法的控制效果。结果表明,与传统的直线、对数曲线、指数曲线的阀芯位移控制方法相比,应用所建立的方法,设备迈步过程支撑力波动最小,稳定过程耗时最短,为2.2 s,顶板变形量最小,最大值约为4.74 mm。而采用对数曲线控制方式效果最差,稳定过程耗时3.8 s,顶板变形量最大值达到9.48 mm。     

Evaluation of ecotourism development in rural regions of China

The current status of ecotourism in rural China was analyzed in this paper.Empirical surveys covering the whole country indicate that ecotourism in rural China has attracted a large number of tourists who,however,didn’t generate revenues that can match the number.Although the environmental quality of those rural ecotourism destinations is high with little negative impacts,several problems have already appeared,suggesting a need to monitor those areas.The current practice of interpretation in most rural ecotourism destinations did not provide environmental education opportunities to the tourists.And local communities need more effective ways to decide on the prospects of local ecotourism development by themselves.Finally,a few recommendations for improving the sustainability of ecotourism destinations were provided.     

Road traffic injuries among riders of electric bike/electric moped in southern China

Objective: Electric bike/moped-related road traffic injuries have become a burgeoning public health problem in China. The objective of this study was to identify the prevalence and potential risk factors of electric bike/moped-related road traffic injuries among electric bike/moped riders in southern China.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was used to interview 3,151 electric bike/moped riders in southern China. Electric bike/moped-related road traffic injuries that occurred from July 2014 to June 2015 were investigated. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews and analyzed between July 2015 and June 2017.

Results: The prevalence of electric bike/moped-related road traffic injuries among the investigated riders was 15.99%. Electric bike/moped-related road traffic injuries were significantly associated with category of electric bike (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.36, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01–1.82), self-reported confusion (AOR = 1.77, 95% CI, 1.13–2.78), history of crashes (AOR = 6.14, 95% CI, 4.68–8.07), running red lights (AOR = 3.57, 95% CI, 2.42–5.25), carrying children while riding (AOR = 1.96, 95% CI, 1.37–2.85), carrying adults while riding (AOR = 1.68, 95% CI, 1.23–2.28), riding in the motor lane (AOR = 2.42, 95% CI, 1.05–3.93), and riding in the wrong traffic direction (AOR = 1.63, 95% CI, 1.13–2.35). In over 77.58% of electric bike/moped-related road traffic crashes, riders were determined by the police to be responsible for the crash. Major crash-causing factors included violating traffic signals or signs, careless riding, speeding, and riding in the wrong lane.

Conclusion: Traffic safety related to electric bikes/moped is becoming more problematic with growing popularity compared with other 2-wheeled vehicles. Programs need to be developed to prevent electric bike/moped-related road traffic injuries in this emerging country.