Evaluating Children's Conservation Biology Learning at the Zoo

Millions of children visit zoos every year with parents or schools to encounter wildlife firsthand. Public conservation education is a requirement for membership in professional zoo associations. However, in recent years zoos have been criticized for failing to educate the public on conservation issues and related biological concepts, such as animal adaptation to habitats. I used matched pre‐ and postvisit mixed methods questionnaires to investigate the educational value of zoo visits for children aged 7–15 years. The questionnaires gathered qualitative data from these individuals, including zoo‐related thoughts and an annotated drawing of a habitat. A content analysis of these qualitative data produced the quantitative data reported in this article. I evaluated the relative learning outcomes of educator‐guided and unguided zoo visits at London Zoo, both in terms of learning about conservation biology (measured by annotated drawings) and changing attitudes toward wildlife conservation (measured using thought‐listing data). Forty‐one percent of educator‐guided visits and 34% of unguided visits resulted in conservation biology‐related learning. Negative changes in children's understanding of animals and their habitats were more prevalent in unguided zoo visits. Overall, my results show the potential educational value of visiting zoos for children. However, they also suggest that zoos’ standard unguided interpretive materials are insufficient for achieving the best outcomes for visiting children. These results support a theoretical model of conservation biology learning that frames conservation educators as toolmakers who develop conceptual resources to enhance children's understanding of science. Evaluación del Aprendizaje de Biología de la Conservación por Niños en el Zoológico Jensen     

Impacts of Fire-Suppression Activities on Natural Communities

Abstract:  The ecological impacts of wildland fire-suppression activities can be significant and may surpass the impacts of the fire itself. A recent paradigm shift from fire control to fire management has resulted in increased attention to minimizing the negative effects of suppression. While the philosophy behind minimum-impact suppression tactics has provided a good first step in this direction, increased attention to the ecological effects of suppression is needed, especially in the management of public lands. We reviewed the potential impacts of suppression on land, air, and water resources and the impacts of using fire to help control fire. Effects on land resources include erosion, which is exacerbated by the construction of fire lines, temporary roads, and helicopter pads, and some postfire rehabilitation activities. Although the fire itself is the most obvious source of air pollution, the vehicles used in suppression activities contribute to this problem and to noise pollution. Water resources, including aquatic flora and fauna, may be seriously affected by suppression activities that can increase erosion, sedimentation, turbidity, and chemical contamination. Finally, the use of backburns and burnout operations contributes to the risk of soil and water contamination, increases the total area burned, and promotes more intense fires or more homogeneous burned areas. Although no fire-management strategy should be applied uniformly, some general techniques such as use of natural clearings, natural barriers, and appropriately sized fire lines, "leave no-trace" camping, and careful application of fuels and retardants can be employed to minimize the impacts of suppression.     

水处理光电催化反应器内部结构优化布设机理探讨

光电催化(PEC)反应器内部结构的优化布设对水中污染物的降解效率至关重要.本文采用氧化还原法制备了一种蓝色TiO_2纳米管阵列电极板,探究了PEC反应器内各布设因素对亚甲基蓝(MB)降解效果的影响.结果表明,阳极板与光源中心距离的减小、阳极板旋转角度的减小及阳极板数量的增加均会导致MB降解速率的加快.进一步分析表明,各布设因素对MB的降解影响均可归因为紫外(UV)辐照强度.MB的PEC降解速率与阳极板表面UV辐照强度呈线性正相关,其线性拟合公式的斜率(0.00219)和截距(0.0049)分别反映了UV光子应用于阳极催化氧化和直接光降解MB的相对效果,揭示了各反应对MB降解速率的贡献.此外,不同内径(64、72和80 mm)的PEC反应器对比结果表明,反应器内径越小,MB降解速率越快,但内径为80 mm的反应器降解MB的单位电能消耗(E_(EO))最低(17.24 kWh·m~(-3)·order~(-1)).最后,量化分析了不同内径反应器中阳极催化氧化和直接光降解对MB降解速率的贡献,为PEC反应器的优化设计提供了重要参考.     

Local Participation in Natural Resource Monitoring: a Characterization of Approaches

Abstract: The monitoring of trends in the status of species or habitats is routine in developed countries, where it is funded by the state or large nongovernmental organizations and often involves large numbers of skilled amateur volunteers. Far less monitoring of natural resources takes place in developing countries, where state agencies have small budgets, there are fewer skilled professionals or amateurs, and socioeconomic conditions prevent development of a culture of volunteerism. The resulting lack of knowledge about trends in species and habitats presents a serious challenge for detecting, understanding, and reversing declines in natural resource values. International environmental agreements require signatories undertake systematic monitoring of their natural resources, but no system exists to guide the development and expansion of monitoring schemes. To help develop such a protocol, we suggest a typology of monitoring categories, defined by their degree of local participation, ranging from no local involvement with monitoring undertaken by professional researchers to an entirely local effort with monitoring undertaken by local people. We assessed the strengths and weaknesses of each monitoring category and the potential of each to be sustainable in developed or developing countries. Locally based monitoring is particularly relevant in developing countries, where it can lead to rapid decisions to solve the key threats affecting natural resources, can empower local communities to better manage their resources, and can refine sustainable‐use strategies to improve local livelihoods. Nevertheless, we recognize that the accuracy and precision of the monitoring undertaken by local communities in different situations needs further study and field protocols need to be further developed to get the best from the unrealized potential of this approach. A challenge to conservation biologists is to identify and establish the monitoring system most relevant to a particular situation and to develop methods to integrate outputs from across the spectrum of monitoring schemes to produce wider indices of natural resources that capture the strengths of each.     

Demographic Characteristics of Extinction in a Small, Insular Population of House Sparrows in Northern Norway

Abstract:  In conservation ecology there is an urgent need for indicators that can be used to predict the risk of extinction of populations. Identifying extinction-prone populations has been difficult because few data sets on the demographic characteristics of the final stage to extinction are available and because of problems in separating out stochastic effects from changes in the expected dynamics. We documented the demographic changes that occurred during the period prior to extinction of a small island population of House Sparrows ( Passer domesticus ) after the end of permanent human settlement. A mark-recapture analysis revealed that this decline to extinction was mainly due to increased mortality after closure of the last farm that resulted in a negative long-term-specific growth rate. No change occurred in either the structural composition (breeding sex ratio and age distribution) of the population or in female recruitment. No male, however, recruits were produced on the island after the farm closure. Based on a simple, stochastic, density-dependent model we constructed a population prediction interval (PPI) to estimate the time to extinction. The 95% PPI slightly overestimated the time to extinction with large uncertainty in predictions, especially due to the influence of demographic stochasticity and parameter drift. Our results strongly emphasize the importance of access to data on temporal variation that can be used to parameterize simple population models that allow estimation of critical parameters for credible prediction of time to extinction.     

The Ecological Future of the North American Bison: Conceiving Long-Term, Large-Scale Conservation of Wildlife

Abstract:  Many wide-ranging mammal species have experienced significant declines over the last 200 years; restoring these species will require long-term, large-scale recovery efforts. We highlight 5 attributes of a recent range-wide vision-setting exercise for ecological recovery of the North American bison ( Bison bison ) that are broadly applicable to other species and restoration targets. The result of the exercise, the "Vermejo Statement" on bison restoration, is explicitly (1) large scale, (2) long term, (3) inclusive, (4) fulfilling of different values, and (5) ambitious. It reads, in part, "Over the next century, the ecological recovery of the North American bison will occur when multiple large herds move freely across extensive landscapes within all major habitats of their historic range, interacting in ecologically significant ways with the fullest possible set of other native species, and inspiring, sustaining and connecting human cultures." We refined the vision into a scorecard that illustrates how individual bison herds can contribute to the vision. We also developed a set of maps and analyzed the current and potential future distributions of bison on the basis of expert assessment. Although more than 500,000 bison exist in North America today, we estimated they occupy <1% of their historical range and in no place express the full range of ecological and social values of previous times. By formulating an inclusive, affirmative, and specific vision through consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, we hope to provide a foundation for conservation of bison, and other wide-ranging species, over the next 100 years.     

Contrasting Global Trends in Marine Fishery Status Obtained from Catches and from Stock Assessments

Abstract: There are differences in perception of the status of fisheries around the world that may partly stem from how data on trends in catches over time have been used. On the basis of catch trends, it has been suggested that about 70% of all stocks are overexploited due to unsustainable harvesting and 30% of all stocks have collapsed to <10% of unfished levels. Catch trends also suggest that over time an increasing number of stocks will be overexploited and collapsed. We evaluated how use of catch data affects assessment of fisheries stock status. We analyzed simulated random catch data with no trend. We examined well‐studied stocks classified as collapsed on the basis of catch data to determine whether these stocks actually were collapsed. We also used stock assessments to compare stock status derived from catch data with status derived from biomass data. Status of stocks derived from catch trends was almost identical to what one would expect if catches were randomly generated with no trend. Most classifications of collapse assigned on the basis of catch data were due to taxonomic reclassification, regulatory changes in fisheries, and market changes. In our comparison of biomass data with catch trends, catch trends overestimated the percentage of overexploited and collapsed stocks. Although our biomass data were primarily from industrial fisheries in developed countries, the status of these stocks estimated from catch data was similar to the status of stocks in the rest of the world estimated from catch data. We conclude that at present 28–33% of all stocks are overexploited and 7–13% of all stocks are collapsed. Additionally, the proportion of fished stocks that are overexploited or collapsed has been fairly stable in recent years.