Understanding implications of consumer behavior for wildlife farming and sustainable wildlife trade

Unsustainable wildlife trade affects biodiversity and the livelihoods of communities dependent upon those resources. Wildlife farming has been proposed to promote sustainable trade, but characterizing markets and understanding consumer behavior remain neglected but essential steps in the design and evaluation of such operations. We used sea turtle trade in the Cayman Islands, where turtles have been farm raised for human consumption for almost 50 years, as a case study to explore consumer preferences toward wild‐sourced (illegal) and farmed (legal) products and potential conservation implications. Combining methods innovatively (including indirect questioning and choice experiments), we conducted a nationwide trade assessment through in‐person interviews from September to December 2014. Households were randomly selected using disproportionate stratified sampling, and responses were weighted based on district population size. We approached 597 individuals, of which 37 (6.2%) refused to participate. Although 30% of households had consumed turtle in the previous 12 months, the purchase and consumption of wild products was rare (e.g., 64–742 resident households consumed wild turtle meat [i.e., 0.3–3.5% of households] but represented a large threat to wild turtles in the area due to their reduced populations). Differences among groups of consumers were marked, as identified through choice experiments, and price and source of product played important roles in their decisions. Despite the long‐term practice of farming turtles, 13.5% of consumers showed a strong preference for wild products, which demonstrates the limitations of wildlife farming as a single tool for sustainable wildlife trade. By using a combination of indirect questioning, choice experiments, and sales data to investigate demand for wildlife products, we obtained insights about consumer behavior that can be used to develop conservation‐demand‐focused initiatives. Lack of data from long‐term social–ecological assessments hinders the evaluation of and learning from wildlife farming. This information is key to understanding under which conditions different interventions (e.g., bans, wildlife farming, social marketing) are likely to succeed.     

600 MW机组低压转子叶片裂纹分析

针对某台600 MW亚临界参数汽轮机低压转子的末三级叶片(2Cr12NiMo1W1V钢)出汽侧裂纹进行了宏观形貌观察、化学成分分析、金相组织分析、室温冲击韧性试验、硬度试验，并对断口进行了扫描电镜及能谱分析。结果表明：此次开裂的低压转子叶片，是由于其化学成分Mo元素含量低于标准要求，导致材料的KISCC降低，以及硬度偏低造成裂纹扩展所需的外界启动应力降低，进而在运行过程中拉应力和湿蒸汽的氧化腐蚀共同作用下，发生了应力腐蚀开裂。     

京津冀地区一次污染过程的星载地基激光雷达联合观测分析

针对2018年3月9—15日京津冀地区的一次空气重污染过程,进行了基于地基颗粒物激光雷达组网的星载-地基联合观测分析。颗粒物激光雷达观测到污染前期为局地污染累积过程,中期有明显的污染物区域传输过程,北京受太行山沿线城市污染输送影响较大。风廓线激光雷达观测结果表明:此次污染过程近地面主要为偏南风且风力较弱,冷空气到来时风向转为较强东北风,导致污染消散。微波辐射计观测到保定在污染过程中出现持续6 d的逆温层,同时在污染过程中近地面相对湿度较高,逆温层被打破后污染开始消散。在污染过程的各个阶段中,污染团的空间分布与变化特征均被很好地反映出来,可见地天联合观测对污染物的累积与输送研究有较大的意义,能对京津冀及周边地区的大气污染联防联控提供有力支持。     

Progress and challenges in consolidating the management of Amazonian protected areas and indigenous territories

Effective management refers to the ability of a protected area or indigenous territory to meet its objectives, particularly as they relate to the protection of biodiversity and forest cover. Effective management is achieved through a process of consolidation, which among other things requires legally protecting sites, integrating sites into land‐use planning, developing and implementing management and resource‐use plans, and securing long‐term funding to pay for recurrent costs. Effectively managing all protected areas and indigenous territories in the Amazon may be needed to avoid a deforestation tipping point beyond which regional climatic feedbacks and global climate change interact to catalyze irreversible drying and savannization of large areas. At present, protected areas and indigenous territories cover 45.5% (3.55 million km²) of the Amazon, most of the 60–70% forest cover required to maintain hydrologic and climatic function. Three independent evaluations of a long‐term large‐scale philanthropic initiative in the Amazon yielded insights into the challenges and advances toward achieving effective management of protected areas and indigenous territories. Over the life of the initiative, management of sites has improved considerably, particularly with respect to management planning and capacity building, but few sites are effectively managed and many lack sufficient long‐term financing, adequate governance, support of nongovernmental organizations, and the means to withstand economic pressures. The time and money required to complete consolidation is still poorly understood, but it is clear that philanthropic funding is critical so long as essential funding needs are not met by governments and other sources, which could be on the order of decades. Despite challenges, it is encouraging that legal protection has expanded greatly and management of sites is improving steadily. Management of protected areas in other developing countries could be informed by improvements that have occurred in Amazonian countries.     

Patterns and biases of climate change threats in the IUCN Red List

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessments rely on published data and expert inputs, and biases can be introduced where underlying definitions and concepts are ambiguous. Consideration of climate change threat is no exception, and recently numerous approaches to assessing the threat of climate change to species have been developed. We explored IUCN Red List assessments of amphibians and birds to determine whether species listed as threatened by climate change display distinct patterns in terms of habitat occupied and additional nonclimatic threats faced. We compared IUCN Red List data with a published data set of species’ biological and ecological traits believed to infer high vulnerability to climate change and determined whether distributions of climate change‐threatened species on the IUCN Red List concur with those of climate change‐threatened species identified with the trait‐based approach and whether species possessing these traits are more likely to have climate change listed as a threat on the IUCN Red List. Species in some ecosystems (e.g., grassland, shrubland) and subject to particular threats (e.g., invasive species) were more likely to have climate change as a listed threat. Geographical patterns of climate change‐threatened amphibians and birds on the IUCN Red List were incongruent with patterns of global species richness and patterns identified using trait‐based approaches. Certain traits were linked to increases or decreases in the likelihood of a species being threatened by climate change. Broad temperature tolerance of a species was consistently related to an increased likelihood of climate change threat, indicating counterintuitive relationships in IUCN assessments. To improve the robustness of species assessments of the vulnerability or extinction risk associated with climate change, we suggest IUCN adopt a more cohesive approach whereby specific traits highlighted by our results are considered in Red List assessments. To achieve this and to strengthen the climate change‐vulnerability assessments approach, it is necessary to identify and implement logical avenues for further research into traits that make species vulnerable to climate change (including population‐level threats).     

时间因素对钻屑瓦斯解吸指标K1值测定的影响分析

针对时间因素对钻屑瓦斯解吸指标K1测定结果的影响，采用恒温瓦斯放散试验深入分析钻屑瓦斯解吸指标K1测定理论的准确性，总结因时间因素导致K1值测定误差所带来的现场问题。研究结果表明:K1值的测定误差与时间关系密切，测定启动时间越晚，误差越大；测定启动时间由第1 min延后至第2 min，绝对误差和相对误差最大值分别增加0.081 cm3/(g·min1/2)和2.20%；高瓦斯压力条件矿井或煤层的局部高瓦斯压力区域、构造煤发育区的钻屑瓦斯解吸指标K1值测定结果偏低，测定误差偏大。研究结果可为煤与瓦斯突出预测水平的提升提供技术支撑。     

Potential bioremediation of mercury-contaminated substrate using filamentous fungi isolated from forest soil

The use of filamentous fungi in bioremediation of heavy metal contamination has been developed recently. This research aims to observe the capability of filamentous fungi isolated from forest soil for bioremediation of mercury contamination in a substrate. Six fungal strains were selected based on their capability to grow in 25 mg/L Hg2+-contaminated potato dextrose agar plates. Fungal strain KRP1 showed the highest ratio of growth diameter, 0.831, thus was chosen for further observation.Identification based on colony and cell morphology carried out by 18S rRNA analysis gave a 98%match to Aspergillus flavus strain KRP1. The fungal characteristics in mercury(Ⅱ) contamination such as range of optimum pH, optimum temperature and tolerance level were 5.5–7 and 25–35℃ and 100 mg/L respectively. The concentration of mercury in the media affected fungal growth during lag phases. The capability of the fungal strain to remove the mercury(Ⅱ) contaminant was evaluated in 100 mL sterile 10 mg/L Hg2+-contaminated potato dextrose broth media in 250 mL Erlenmeyer flasks inoculated with 108spore/mL fungal spore suspension and incubation at 30℃ for 7 days. The mercury(Ⅱ) utilization was observed for flasks shaken in a 130 r/min orbital shaker(shaken) and nonshaken flasks(static) treatments. Flasks containing contaminated media with no fungal spores were also provided as control. All treatments were done in triplicate. The strain was able to remove 97.50%and 98.73% mercury from shaken and static systems respectively. A. flavus strain KRP1 seems to have potential use in bioremediation of aqueous substrates containing mercury(Ⅱ) through a biosorption mechanism.     

卫星遥感洞庭湖主汛期水体时空变化特征及影响因子分析

基于1989~2011年的长时间序列卫星遥感数据,利用综合水体信息提取方法提取了洞庭湖区6~9月主汛期的水体信息,通过较高分辨率卫星遥感数据验证,水体面积提取精度达到90%以上。洞庭湖年平均径流入湖量、NCEP再分析资料计算的湖体上空和流域累计月平均降水量分别与水体面积变化的关系进行分析,结果表明: 1989~2011年间洞庭湖水体面积最大值主要分布在7和8月,这两个月也是洞庭湖区域发生洪涝灾情的高风险期;洞庭湖水体面积与年平均径流入湖水量的相关系数为0.67(置信度为95%);2003年以前,洞庭湖主汛期间水体面积波动比较大,2003年三峡水库运行后,洞庭湖的面积波动有所减少;洞庭湖上空累计月平均降水量对于水体面积存在正相关性,相关系数为0.68(置信度为99%);2003年以前,洞庭湖流域累计月平均降水量和水体面积相关系数为0.50(置信度为90%),2003年三峡水库运行后,两者相关性有所减弱。     

东莞市大气亚微米粒子PM1及其中水溶性无机离子的污染特征

2011年8月—2012年7月期间,利用中流量(100 L·min-1)大气采样器对东莞市A和B两点(A:生活区,B:工业区)进行PM1、PM1~2.5、PM2.5~10采样,并定量分析颗粒物上F-、Cl-、NO-3、SO2-4、NH+4、Na+、K+、Ca2+、Mg2+等9种水溶性无机离子.分析结果显示,工业区B点的细粒子污染较生活区A点严重,B点PM1质量浓度年均值为48μg·m-3,其浓度是A点的1.2倍.A、B两点PM1对PM2.5和PM10的质量贡献率无明显差异,平均贡献率分别高达69%和45%.二次离子SO2-4、NO-3、NH+4及与燃烧行为有关的K+、Cl-等5种离子在细粒子PM1上富集,这5种离子对PM1质量的贡献率分别为18.82%~19.76%、4.98%~5.47%、3.98%~4.12%、2.03%~2.27%和3.39%~3.78%.而其他4种离子,Ca2+、Mg2+、F-和Na+积聚在粗粒子PM2.5~10上.PM10/PM2.5/PM1三种粒子中,PM1粒子酸性值AE/CE(阴离子当量浓度/阳离子当量浓度)比值和硫转化率SOR、氮转化率NOR值均是最高.     

Chemopreventive effects of ellagic acid against genotoxicity induced by benzo(a)pyrene

Benzo(a)pyrene (B(a)P) is a commonly used indicator for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contamination. The use of certain phytochemicals and some polyphenolic compounds proved to be effective in blocking PAH-induced effects. The aim of the present study was to examine the possible inhibitory effects of ellagic acid (EA), present in berries and nuts, against B(a)P-mediated toxicity using in vitro and in vivo test systems. In vitro method included the Ames test, using Salmonella typhimurium tester strain TA100. In vivo experiments were based on mouse bone marrow micronucleus (MN) assay and immunoblotting. EA produced a decrease in the number of revertant colonies against B(a)P in the Ames assay. Further, there was a reduction in the mean number of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in the presence of EA in the co-treatment protocol of the MN test. Western blotting results showed downregulation of CYP450 isoform CYP1A1 which prevented bioactivation of B(a)P. Thus, the present study demonstrates antimutagenic role played by EA against the mutagenic activity of B(a)P in both in vitro and in vivo systems.