Ants as a Measure of Effectiveness of Habitat Conservation Planning in Southern California

Abstract: In the United States multispecies habitat conservation plans were meant to be the solution to conflicts between economic development and protection of biological diversity. Although now widely applied, questions exist concerning the scientific credibility of the conservation planning process and effectiveness of the plans. We used ants to assess performance of one of the first regional conservation plans developed in the United States, the Orange County Central‐Coastal Natural Community Conservation Plan (NCCP), in meeting its broader conservation objectives of biodiversity and ecosystem‐level protection. We collected pitfall data on ants for over 3 years on 172 sites established across a network of conservation lands in coastal southern California. Although recovered native ant diversity for the study area was high, site‐occupancy models indicated the invasive and ecologically disruptive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) was present at 29% of sites, and sites located within 200 m of urban and agricultural areas were more likely to have been invaded. Within invaded sites, native ants were largely displaced, and their median species richness declined by more than 60% compared with uninvaded sites. At the time of planning, 24% of the 15,133‐ha reserve system established by Orange County NCCP fell within 200 m of an urban or agricultural edge. With complete build out of lands surrounding the reserve, the proportion of the reserve system vulnerable to invasion will grow to 44%. Our data indicate that simply protecting designated areas from development is not enough. If habitat conservation plans are to fulfill their conservation promise of ecosystem‐level protection, a more‐integrated and systematic approach to the process of habitat conservation planning is needed.     

非热等离子体结合CuO催化剂或Ca(OH)2吸收剂去除氮氧化物

采用非热等离子体结合催化或现场化学吸收的2种方法来去除气流中的NO_x.结果表明,非热等离子体结合催化,反应器内的CuO催化剂能有效地促进NO的还原反应;相对于催化还原NO而言,脉冲电晕作用下能有效地降低NO催化还原的反应温度.当催化剂为CuO,脉冲电压为18kV,反应温度为200℃,还原剂为1%CO及NO进口浓度为719 mg/m³条件下,NO的去除率达到了100%.非热等离子体结合现场化学吸收方法,是一种在常温下从气流中净化氮氧化物的有效方法,NO的去除率远远高于反应器内没有吸收剂的情况.可以认为反应器内的Ca(OH)₂吸收剂通过与NO的氧化产物NO₂或NO₃的吸收反应促进了NO的去除.当反应器内有Ca(OH)₂吸收剂存在时,在脉冲电压为18kV,O₂浓度为2%及NO进口浓度为1 050 mg/m³条件下,NO的去除率达到了100%.