Boosting freshwater fish conservation with high-resolution distribution mapping across a large territory

The lack of high-resolution distribution maps for freshwater species across large extents fundamentally challenges biodiversity conservation worldwide. We devised a simple framework to delineate the distributions of freshwater fishes in a high-resolution drainage map based on stacked species distribution models and expert information. We applied this framework to the entire Chinese freshwater fish fauna (>1600 species) to examine high-resolution biodiversity patterns and reveal potential conflicts between freshwater biodiversity and anthropogenic disturbances. The correlations between spatial patterns of biodiversity facets (species richness, endemicity, and phylogenetic diversity) were all significant (r = 0.43–0.98, p < 0.001). Areas with high values of different biodiversity facets overlapped with anthropogenic disturbances. Existing protected areas (PAs), covering 22% of China's territory, protected 25–29% of fish habitats, 16–23% of species, and 30–31% of priority conservation areas. Moreover, 6–21% of the species were completely unprotected. These results suggest the need for extending the network of PAs to ensure the conservation of China's freshwater fishes and the goods and services they provide. Specifically, middle to low reaches of large rivers and their associated lakes from northeast to southwest China hosted the most diverse species assemblages and thus should be the target of future expansions of the network of PAs. More generally, our framework, which can be used to draw high-resolution freshwater biodiversity maps combining species occurrence data and expert knowledge on species distribution, provides an efficient way to design PAs regardless of the ecosystem, taxonomic group, or region considered.     

松花江野生鱼类重金属残留分析与评价

以松花江流域的野生鱼类为研究对象,在松花江流域选取松林、大顶子山、佳木斯3个具有代表性的点位,在2014—2016年的每年5月底6月初采集鲤鱼和鲫鱼样品,3年内共制备45个鲤鱼单样,44个鲤鱼混样,30个鲫鱼混样,共计119个。采用电感耦合等离子体-质谱法对鱼类肌肉组织中残留的As、Cd、Cr、Pb、Hg 5种重金属进行检测。检测结果显示,As、Cd、Cr、Pb、Hg 5种重金属全部检出,检测结果全部达标,达标率为100%。根据检测结果采用单因子指数法和金属污染指数法等评价了松花江流域鱼体重金属残留状况及食用安全性,评价结果为松花江流域鱼类重金属残留量相对较少,鱼体健康,食用安全。     

Understanding the distribution of bushmeat hunting effort across landscapes by testing hypotheses about human foraging

Mitigating the massive impacts of defaunation on natural ecosystems requires understanding and predicting hunting effort across the landscape. But such understanding has been hindered by the difficulty of assessing the movement patterns of hunters in thick forests and across complex terrain. We statistically tested hypotheses about the spatial distribution of hunting with circuit theory and structural equation models. We used a data set of >7000 known kill locations in Guyana and hunter movement models to test these methods. Comparing models with different resistance layers (i.e., different estimates of how terrain and land cover influence human movement speed) showed that rivers, on average, limited movement rather than serving as transport arteries. Moreover, far more kills occurred close to villages than in remote areas. This, combined with the lack of support for structural equation models that included latent terms for prey depletion driven by past overhunting, suggests that kill locations in this system tended to be driven by where hunters were currently foraging rather than by influences of historical harvest. These analyses are generalizable to a variety of ecosystems, species, and data types, providing a powerful way of enhancing maps and predictions of hunting effort across complex landscapes.     

滇池几种鱼体汞含量与δ13C、δ15N特征

鱼体是人体摄入甲基汞的重要暴露途径。对滇池几种重要鱼类的总汞、甲基汞和13 C、15 N进行了测定,结果发现:滇池中鱼体总汞和甲基汞含量范围(平均值)分别为5.6~287ng/g(74±59ng/g)和2.7~400ng/g(73±67ng/g)。总汞和甲基汞含量存现显著的相关关系,(R2=0.65,p0.001),且甲基汞占总汞的平均比例大于80%,表明鱼体中的汞主要以甲基汞的形态存在。滇池几种鱼类的δ13 C平均值为-20.5±4.2‰,范围为-29.0‰~-15.1‰,δ15 N平均值为17.1±4.3‰,范围为5.9‰~25.8‰。同位素比值与鱼体汞含量之间没有显著的相关性,可能是由于滇池中采集的黄颡鱼和白鱼与其他鱼类不属于同一种食物源,因此对13 C和15 N的分馏不同。另外,采集的鱼类大小和年龄不均一,也可能是造成13 C和15 N异常分馏的原因之一。     

大型河流大面积死鱼应急监测案例分析研究

以湖南湘江干流大面积死鱼突发环境事件为例,详细阐述了该事件开展应急监测的全过程,并就河流大面积死鱼突发环境事件应急监测方案、监测指标确定、原因分析等内容进行探讨。溶解氧低是死鱼的主要原因,而大体量低溶解氧污染团的形成与持续高温干旱天气、暴雨以及特殊的开闸放水方式有关。所分析的案例为死鱼事件应急监测工作提供借鉴和参考。     

Using vertebrate environmental DNA from seawater in biomonitoring of marine habitats

Conservation and management of marine biodiversity depends on biomonitoring of marine habitats, but current approaches are resource-intensive and require different approaches for different organisms. Environmental DNA (eDNA) extracted from water samples is an efficient and versatile approach to detecting aquatic animals. In the ocean, eDNA composition reflects local fauna at fine spatial scales, but little is known about the effectiveness of eDNA-based monitoring of marine communities at larger scales. We investigated the potential of eDNA to characterize and distinguish marine communities at large spatial scales by comparing vertebrate species composition among marine habitats in Qatar, the Arabian Gulf (also known as the Persian Gulf), based on eDNA metabarcoding of seawater samples. We conducted species accumulation analyses to estimate how much of the vertebrate diversity we detected. We obtained eDNA sequences from a diverse assemblage of marine vertebrates, spanning 191 taxa in 73 families. These included rare and endangered species and covered 36% of the bony fish genera previously recorded in the Gulf. Sites of similar habitat type were also similar in eDNA composition. The species accumulation analyses showed that the number of sample replicates was insufficient for some sampling sites but suggested that a few hundred eDNA samples could potentially capture >90% of the marine vertebrate diversity in the study area. Our results confirm that seawater samples contain habitat-characteristic molecular signatures and that eDNA monitoring can efficiently cover vertebrate diversity at scales relevant to national and regional conservation and management.     

Impacts of rural to urban migration,urbanization, and generational change on consumption of wild animals in the Amazon

For the first time in history, more people live in urban areas than in rural areas. This trend is likely to continue, driven largely by rural-to-urban migration. We investigated how rural-to-urban migration, urbanization, and generational change affect the consumption of wild animals. We used chelonian (tortoises and freshwater turtles), one of the most hunted taxa in the Amazon, as a model. We surveyed 1356 households and 2776 school children across 10 urban areas of the Brazilian Amazon (6 small towns, 3 large towns, and Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon Basin) with a randomized response technique and anonymous questionnaires. Urban demand for wild meat (i.e., meat from wild animals) was alarmingly high. Approximately 1.7 million turtles and tortoises were consumed in urban areas of Amazonas during 2018. Consumption rates declined as size of the urban area increased and were greater for adults than children. Furthermore, the longer rural-to-urban migrants lived in urban areas, the lower their consumption rates. These results suggest that wild meat consumption is a rural-related tradition that decreases as urbanization increases and over time after people move to urban areas. However, it is unclear whether the observed decline will be fast enough to conserve hunted species, or whether children's consumption rate will remain the same as they become adults. Thus, conservation actions in urban areas are still needed. Current conservation efforts in the Amazon do not address urban demand for wildlife and may be insufficient to ensure the survival of traded species in the face of urbanization and human population growth. Our results suggest that conservation interventions must target the urban demand for wildlife, especially by focusing on young people and recent rural to urban migrants. Article impact statement: Amazon urbanite consumption of wildlife is high but decreases with urbanization, over time for rural to urban migrants, and between generations. Impactos de la Migración del Campo a la Ciudad, la Urbanización y del Cambio Generacional sobre el Consumo de Animales Silvestres en el Amazonas     

金沙江上游赠曲的鱼类与裸腹叶须鱼的食性

2013年5月和9月对金沙江上游支流赠曲的鱼类资源和裸腹叶须鱼的食性特征进行了调查研究。结果表明,赠曲现有鱼类10种,隶属2目3科5属,其中鲤科鱼类7种,占70%;鮡科2种,占20%;鳅科1种,占10%。赠曲裸腹叶须鱼的食物组成包括53种(属)的浮游藻类、原生动物和节肢动物等。硅藻门是出现率百分比、相对重要性指数和数量百分比最高的饵料生物;水生昆虫是质量百分比最大的饵料生物。裸腹叶须鱼的摄食强度存在较明显的季节差异,雨季末期的摄食强度较低。食物中植物性饵料相对重要性随着裸腹叶须鱼体长的增长而增加。综合而言,赠曲的鱼类组成较为简单,鲤科鱼类是优势类群;裸腹叶须鱼属杂食性鱼类,且摄食强度存在季节性差异。为保护赠曲鱼类,建议在赠曲梯级水力开发过程中做好鱼类栖息地保护或再造等生态补偿措施。     

洪泛区林地的开发对鱼类栖息地面积的影响模拟

洪泛区的开发利用,必然会导致洪泛区林地糙率的改变。河漫滩也是河流洪泛区的一部分。洪泛区糙率的减小,会使河水流速增大,从而减小鱼类可用栖息地面积。因此,在洪水发生时,为了给鱼类提供避险场所,保护有效栖息地面积,需研究洪泛区林地的开发对鱼类的影响。利用River 2D软件模拟在一定频率的洪水条件下,不同的河漫滩糙率对应的鱼类栖息地加权可用面积(WUA),分析了糙率的改变对河流鱼类栖息地的影响。结果表明:随着河漫滩糙率的降低,加权可用面积(WUA)逐渐减小,河漫滩范围内WUA的变化幅度比较大,河漫滩的特性对鱼类栖息地面积的影响很大。洪泛区植被的砍伐,会使鱼类栖息地面积减小。因此,应防止洪泛区的过度开发,保护河流生态环境。