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.     

Minimizing opportunity costs to aquatic connectivity restoration while controlling an invasive species

Controlling invasive species is critical for conservation but can have unintended consequences for native species and divert resources away from other efforts. This dilemma occurs on a grand scale in the North American Great Lakes, where dams and culverts block tributary access to habitat of desirable fish species and are a lynchpin of long‐standing efforts to limit ecological damage inflicted by the invasive, parasitic sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus). Habitat restoration and sea‐lamprey control create conflicting goals for managing aging infrastructure. We used optimization to minimize opportunity costs of habitat gains for 37 desirable migratory fishes that arose from restricting sea lamprey access (0–25% increase) when selecting barriers for removal under a limited budget (US$1–105 million). Imposing limits on sea lamprey habitat reduced gains in tributary access for desirable species by 15–50% relative to an unconstrained scenario. Additional investment to offset the effect of limiting sea‐lamprey access resulted in high opportunity costs for 30 of 37 species (e.g., an additional US$20–80 million for lake sturgeon [Acipenser fulvescens]) and often required ≥5% increase in sea‐lamprey access to identify barrier‐removal solutions adhering to the budget and limiting access. Narrowly distributed species exhibited the highest opportunity costs but benefited more at less cost when small increases in sea‐lamprey access were allowed. Our results illustrate the value of optimization in limiting opportunity costs when balancing invasion control against restoration benefits for diverse desirable species. Such trade‐off analyses are essential to the restoration of connectivity within fragmented rivers without unleashing invaders.     

围海造地生态补偿机制探析

为缓解人地矛盾,维持社会经济发展,围海造地已成了许多沿海区域扩增建设用地的首选.但围海造地工程在带来巨大利益的同时,也给海洋生态坏境带来了一系列的负面影响,造成了新的不平衡.本文在围海造地环境影响分析及其生态补偿问题研究的基础上,从环境法的视角出发,对中国围海造地生态补偿制度的构建提出建议,最终达到使中国围海造地生态补偿制度的总体法律体系框架及具体的制度内容得以较为全面的完善与健全的目的.     

Emerging conservation challenges and prospects in an era of offshore hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation

Globally, extensive marine areas important for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functioning are undergoing exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas resources. Such operations are expanding to previously inaccessible deep waters and other frontier regions, while conservation‐related legislation and planning is often lacking. Conservation challenges arising from offshore hydrocarbon development are wide‐ranging. These challenges include threats to ecosystems and marine species from oil spills, negative impacts on native biodiversity from invasive species colonizing drilling infrastructure, and increased political conflicts that can delay conservation actions. With mounting offshore operations, conservationists need to urgently consider some possible opportunities that could be leveraged for conservation. Leveraging options, as part of multi‐billion dollar marine hydrocarbon operations, include the use of facilities and costly equipment of the deep and ultra‐deep hydrocarbon industry for deep‐sea conservation research and monitoring and establishing new conservation research, practice, and monitoring funds and environmental offsetting schemes. The conservation community, including conservation scientists, should become more involved in the earliest planning and exploration phases and remain involved throughout the operations so as to influence decision making and promote continuous monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystems. A prompt response by conservation professionals to offshore oil and gas developments can mitigate impacts of future decisions and actions of the industry and governments. New environmental decision support tools can be used to explicitly incorporate the impacts of hydrocarbon operations on biodiversity into marine spatial and conservation plans and thus allow for optimum trade‐offs among multiple objectives, costs, and risks.     

Water sharing agreements sustainable to reduced flows

By signing a water sharing agreement (WSA), countries agree to release an amount of river water in exchange for a negotiated compensation. We examine the vulnerability of such agreements to reduced water flows. Among all WSAs that are acceptable to riparian countries, we find out the one which is self-enforced under the most severe drought scenarios. The so-called upstream incremental WSA assigns to each country its marginal contribution to its followers in the river. Its mirror image, the downstream incremental WSA, is not sustainable to reduced flow at the source. Self-enforcement problems can be solved by setting water releases and compensations contingent to water flow. We apply our analysis to the Aral Sea Basin. We compute the upstream incremental compensations for the Bishkek agreement and asses its vulnerability with historical flows.     

有冰条件下撇油器回收溢油速率试验研究＊

为评价一种进口多功能撇油器应对渤海冬季溢油的能力,试验分别对刷式、盘式、鼓式三种撇油头在无冰和有冰(冰密集度约5成)条件下进行收油速率测试。试验以100 L油品为基数,测出在各种组合条件下回收油品所需要的时间,并把鼓式撇油头在有冰条件下的泵速提高,再进行试验。结果发现三种撇油方式的回收速率不仅与撇油头类型有关,同时也取决于是否有冰;在有冰条件下,三种撇油头收油效果都受到影响,其中盘式撇油器受影响最大,无法回收溢油;在有冰条件下加大鼓式撇油头泵速会提高总回收速率,但含水率同时提高;对凝固原油,撇油器无能为力。试验结果对正确评估三种类型的撇油头在两种情况下的收油效果和相关单位应具备的清除溢油能力,以及今后引进设备提高应急能力将起到借鉴作用。     

浅谈火电厂烟气脱硫的特许经营模式

介绍了火电厂烟气脱硫特许经营模式（BOOM）发展的必要性和特点,该方式可使国家、火电厂、脱硫公司三方受益。文章还介绍了烟气海水脱硫在国内外的技术进展,列举了火电厂烟气海水脱硫采用BOOM模式的实例。     

2010年渤海海冰灾害特征分析

2010年中国遭遇到近30年来最严重的海冰冰情,因灾直接经济损失高达63.18亿元,占全年海洋灾害总经济损失的47.6%——海冰成为中国2010年海洋灾害中的主要灾种之一。基于区域灾害系统论,运用气象数据、MODIS图像和社会经济统计等资料,对2010年渤海海冰灾害的特征进行了初步分析。结果显示,以莱州湾结冰范围扩大为代表的渤海海冰分布变化是致灾因子区域危险性增大的主要特征,环渤海地区海水养殖面积和产量的增加是承灾体暴露性增大的主要特征,而总体灾情严重则是二者的综合结果。     

2008年初特大冰雪灾害对粤北地区杉木（Cunninghamia lanceolata）人工林土壤理化性质的影响

2008年8月,选择具有代表性的样地（受冰雪灾害较轻、受到冰雪灾害影响、受到冰雪灾害后皆伐清理样地）,用野外调查和室内分析相结合的方法,对广东省天井山林场杉木人工林土壤理化性质进行分析。结果表明：（1）粤北地区杉木人工林在受到冰雪灾害后,0-60 cm的土壤容重比未受到损害的上升8.1%-16.4%,孔隙度下降8.9%-11.9%,自然含水量减少17.1%-28.6%,皆伐清理后,土壤容重比未受到损害的下降1.5%~9.5%;孔隙度上升1.2%~5.9%,自然含水量增加44.2%~68.1%。（2）受损后,土壤pH值未发生变化,浅层（0-40 cm）有机质质量分数比未损样地下降（1.3%-9.4%）,深层（〉40 cm）有机质质量分数提高30.5%;各层土壤全氮、全磷、有效氮、有效磷和有效钾质量分数分别下降13.4%、30.3%、16.7%、37.6%和37.2%,全钾质量分数上升21.0%,且与未损样地的差异显著;土壤交换性钙和交换性镁大幅减少,分别为28.1%和43.4%。进行皆伐清理后,有机质质量分数比未损样地提高207.9%,土壤全氮、全钾、有效氮和有效磷质量分数升高138.7%、10.2%、161.3%和540.0%,全磷、有效钾、交换性钙和交换性镁的质量分数下降2.6%、9.0%、28.7%和24.3%,各土层变化不一致。（3）冰雪灾害的发生使杉木人工林林下土壤紧实度增加,不利于土壤呼吸、空气传导和土壤养分的累积;而经过清理后,土壤变得较为疏松,通透性增强,含水量增加,有利于土壤团粒结构的增强、土壤微生物活动和土壤养分的累积及转化。因此,冰雪灾害后对受损林地进行及时的清理对植被恢复重建尤为重要。     

雷达海杂波统计特性建模研究

介绍了海杂波统计特性建模的幅度特性、多普勒谱及空间相关这三个方面的研究状况,对各种建模的思路和模型效果进行了对比总结。对于幅度均值已有多个较为成熟的模型,但适用范围不同,结果差异也很大。幅度分布建模重点解决拖尾问题,复合建模是趋势。除平均谱外,开始研究短时多普勒谱。空间相关性建模主要建立空间相关长度与雷达及海洋参数间的联系,但是研究还不够全面。总的来看,已由单纯经验建模发展为力图在机理研究指导下有一定物理意义的建模。尽管海杂波建模效果愈来愈接近实际,但建模依然存在诸多问题。