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).     

Spatial interactions in habitat conservation: Evidence from prairie pothole easements

We examine the role of spatial interactions in conservation easements placed on prairie pothole habitat in western Canada. One of the goals of the conservation easement program we study is to protect contiguous habitat. We identify endogenous spatial interactions among conservation easements and government protected land, independent of spatially correlated landscape features and local economic shocks that influence easement enrollment. We present evidence that easements increase the likelihood of subsequent easements on neighboring land. Government-protected land appears to have little effect on the location of conservation easements. These results imply that conservation agencies have leveraged past conservation investment to enroll more contiguous habitat in permanent easements through a combination of targeting and positive social interactions among neighboring landowners.     

Efficacy of created and restored nesting sites for the conservation of colonial Laridae in the South of France

By rapidly modifying key habitat components, habitat restoration is at risk of producing attractive cues for animals without providing habitats of sufficient quality. As such, individual fitness components, such as reproduction, could be reduced and restored habitats could become ecological traps. This risk notably appears by using artificial constructions in restoration projects, yet few studies have evaluated their efficacy in a robust way. We investigated this by analyzing 154 islets that were created or restored to improve the conservation status of 7 colonial Laridae species in the South of France. From 2007 to 2016, we compared occupancy dynamics and breeding parameters of these species between the restored sites and 846 unmanaged nesting sites. We also explored species’ preference for different nesting site characteristics and their respective effect on breeding parameters. Restored nesting sites were 2–9 times as attractive as unmanaged sites for all species except the Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus). Colonization probability was up to 100 times higher in sites already used by other species the previous year and increased with distance to the shore until >0.2 when distance was over 250 m. Abandonment probability was 29–70% lower when breeding was successful the previous year in all species except the Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis). Productivity and breeding success probability were 2 times higher on managed sites. Distance from the shore was an important attractive characteristic of artificial nesting sites in all species. Other nesting site characteristics had species-specific effects on colonization, abandonment, and breeding success. Our results indicate that managed nesting sites are successful conservation tools for colonial Laridae in the Mediterranean and do not act as ecological traps. Our study showed that testing the ecological trap hypothesis is a robust way to evaluate the success of restoration projects of breeding habitats.     

广西邦亮东黑冠长臂猿栖息地的气候资源分析

气候资源是影响动物行为、发育、存活、繁殖与分布等的重要因子。为了探明广西邦亮东黑冠长臂猿栖息地的气候环境特征,对其栖息地附近县(乡)的主要气象要素进行统计与分析。结果表明:广西邦亮东黑冠长臂猿栖息地年均日照时数为1 521.8小时,月变幅为25.44%;年均气温为19.1℃,最冷月平均气温为11.0℃,最热月平均气温为25.0℃;年均降雨量为1 606.3 mm,月变幅为86.05%;年均蒸发量为1 507.1 mm,月变幅为28.06%;年均相对湿度为80%,月变幅为2.60%;年均风速为1.5 m/s,月变幅为15.4%。     

湖滨湿地恢复方案研究综述

在查阅国内外湖滨湿地恢复资料的基础上,以恢复湿地水质净化和野生动物栖息地功能为双重目的,整理形成了适用于我国富营养湖泊湖滨湿地的恢复方案,从恢复湿地的设计、恢复的前期处理、恢复过程中的植物种植与管理、恢复后的维护管理和生态监测等5个阶段进行了恢复技术的综述与探讨。     

Integrated assessment of river health based on water quality, aquatic life and physical habitat

The health conditions of Liao River were assessed using 25 sampling sites in April 2005, with water quality index, biotic index and physical habitat quality index. Based on the method of cluster analysis (CA) for water quality indices, it revealed that heavily polluted sites of Liao River are located at estuary and mainstream. The aquatic species surveyed were attached algae and benthic invertebrates. The result showed that the diversity and biomass of attached algae and benthic index of biotic integrity (B-IBI) were degrading as the chemical and physical quality of water bodies deteriorating. Physiochemical parameters, BOD5, CODCr, TN, TP, NH3-N, DO, petroleum hydrocarbon and conductivity, were statistically analyzed with principal component analysis and correlation analysis. The statistical results were incorporated into the integrated assessing water quality index, combining fecal coliform count, attached algae diversity, B-IBI and physical habitat quality score. A comprehensive integrated assessing system of river ecological health was established. Based on the systimetic assesment, the assessed sites are categorized into 9 “healthy” and “sub-healthy” sites and 8 “sub-sick” and “sick” sites.     

乌梁素海湿地鸟类栖息地生态服务功能评估探讨

本文通过收集近30年鸟类种类及种群数据变化的资料,分析乌粱素海不同鸟类栖息环境的栖息地服务功能,从而评估鸟梁素海湿地鸟类栖息地的综合生态服务功能。评估结果表明：乌梁素海湿地鸟类栖息地综合生态服务功能为不好。     

淀山湖入湖水质净化的生态工程实践研究

作为上海境内最大的天然淡水湖泊以及黄浦江上游重要的水源保护地,淀山湖的水质状况对上海市饮用水水源安全起着举足轻重的作用。文章运用生物治理与工程措施相结合的手段,在淀山湖大朱厍港实施了净化人湖水质的生态工程试验。研究表明工程示范区域存在风浪大、水位较深、水流较急等特点,是水生植被尤其是沉水植物恢复的重要限制因素。通过选择...     

城市绿地结构与鸟类栖息生境的营造

城市化对城市鸟类多样性产生了诸多不利影响。城市绿地结构是鸟类栖息生境选择的重要因素之一。在分析公园面积、连通性、岛屿化等影响城市鸟类多样性的城市绿地结构特征基础上,提出通过优化绿地结构营造鸟类栖息生境的原则,探讨了保护城市自然保留地、建设环城绿化带、构建河岸带与道路绿色廊道、复层植物群落配置、特殊空间绿化等途径作为鸟类生境营造的方法。     

Effects of pond salinization on survival rate of amphibian hosts infected with the chytrid fungus

The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has been implicated in the decline and extinction of amphibian populations worldwide, but management options are limited. Recent studies show that sodium chloride (NaCl) has fungicidal properties that reduce the mortality rates of infected hosts in captivity. We investigated whether similar results can be obtained by adding salt to water bodies in the field. We increased the salinity of 8 water bodies to 2 or 4 ppt and left an additional 4 water bodies with close to 0 ppt and monitored salinity for 18 months. Captively bred tadpoles of green and golden bell frog (Litoria aurea) were released into each water body and their development, levels of B. dendrobatidis infection, and survival were monitored at 1, 4, and 12 months. The effect of salt on the abundance of nontarget organisms was also investigated in before and after style analyses. Salinities remained constant over time with little intervention. Hosts in water bodies with 4 ppt salt had a significantly lower prevalence of chytrid infection and higher survival, following metamorphosis, than hosts in 0 ppt salt. Tadpoles in the 4 ppt group were smaller in length after 1 month in the release site than those in the 0 and 2 ppt groups, but after metamorphosis body size in all water bodies was similar . In water bodies with 4 ppt salt, the abundance of dwarf tree frogs (Litoria fallax), dragonfly larvae, and damselfly larvae was lower than in water bodies with 0 and 2 ppt salt, which could have knock‐on effects for community structure. Based on our results, salt may be an effective field‐based B. dendrobatidis mitigation tool for lentic amphibians that could contribute to the conservation of numerous susceptible species. However, as in all conservation efforts, these benefits need to be weighed against negative effects on both target and nontarget organisms.