Integrating Paleobiology,Archeology, and History to Inform Biological Conservation

The search for novel approaches to establishing ecological baselines (reference conditions) is constrained by the fact that most ecological studies span the past few decades, at most, and investigate ecosystems that have been substantially altered by human activities for decades, centuries, or more. Paleobiology, archeology, and history provide historical ecological context for biological conservation, remediation, and restoration. We argue that linking historical ecology explicitly with conservation can help unify related disciplines of conservation paleobiology, conservation archeobiology, and environmental history. Differences in the spatial and temporal resolution and extent (scale) of prehistoric, historic, and modern ecological data remain obstacles to integrating historical ecology and conservation biology, but the prolonged temporal extents of historical ecological data can help establish more complete baselines for restoration, document a historical range of ecological variability, and assist in determining desired future conditions. We used the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) fishery of the Chesapeake Bay (U.S.A.) to demonstrate the utility of historical ecological data for elucidating oyster conservation and the need for an approach to conservation that transcends disciplinary boundaries. Historical ecological studies from the Chesapeake have documented dramatic declines (as much as 99%) in oyster abundance since the early to mid‐1800s, changes in oyster size in response to different nutrient levels from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, and substantial reductions in oyster accretion rates (from 10 mm/year to effectively 0 mm/year) from the Late Holocene to modern times. Better integration of different historical ecological data sets and increased collaboration between paleobiologists, geologists, archeologists, environmental historians, and ecologists to create standardized research designs and methodologies will help unify prehistoric, historic, and modern time perspectives on biological conservation. Integración de Paleobiología, Arqueología e Historia para Informar a la Biología de la Conservación     

Applying network theory to prioritize multispecies habitat networks that are robust to climate and land‐use change

Designing connected landscapes is among the most widespread strategies for achieving biodiversity conservation targets. The challenge lies in simultaneously satisfying the connectivity needs of multiple species at multiple spatial scales under uncertain climate and land‐use change. To evaluate the contribution of remnant habitat fragments to the connectivity of regional habitat networks, we developed a method to integrate uncertainty in climate and land‐use change projections with the latest developments in network‐connectivity research and spatial, multipurpose conservation prioritization. We used land‐use change simulations to explore robustness of species’ habitat networks to alternative development scenarios. We applied our method to 14 vertebrate focal species of periurban Montreal, Canada. Accounting for connectivity in spatial prioritization strongly modified conservation priorities and the modified priorities were robust to uncertain climate change. Setting conservation priorities based on habitat quality and connectivity maintained a large proportion of the region's connectivity, despite anticipated habitat loss due to climate and land‐use change. The application of connectivity criteria alongside habitat‐quality criteria for protected‐area design was efficient with respect to the amount of area that needs protection and did not necessarily amplify trade‐offs among conservation criteria. Our approach and results are being applied in and around Montreal and are well suited to the design of ecological networks and green infrastructure for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in other regions, in particular regions around large cities, where connectivity is critically low.     

Michael Soulé (1936–2020) on spirituality,ethics, and conservation biology

Michael Soulé is best known for his scientific contributions and central role in founding the Society for Conservation Biology and its flagship journal. Less well known are his childhood experiences, his affinity for Zen Buddhism and Arne Naess’ deep ecology philosophy, and his contributions as an environmental activist to efforts to protect biodiversity and rewild ecosystems. Also less well known is the extent to which he was an interdisciplinary environmental studies scholar, struggling to understand what promotes and hinders proenvironmental behaviors. In this regard, his life and that of many other conservation scientists provide important clues, but no easy answers. By attempting to integrate the humanities, with its quest for a meaningful and fulfilling human existence, with naturalistic nature spirituality and ecocentric values, as well as the social and natural sciences, Soulé sought to solve the riddle as to why human beings seemed unable to understand, slow, and halt negative anthropogenic environmental change. He thus modeled what interdisciplinary environmental studies is at its best. Those advocating the conservation of biological diversity have much to learn from Michael Soulé, not only from his scientific findings but also from his way of seeing, the questions he asked, and his love of the living world.     

Die Bedeutung der Zeit

The consideration of time in environmental research allows new insights into the fundamentals of environmental research and new pathways for perceiving and answering questions which might arise in environmental research. In order to take this all into account, one must realize that ecological systems have a history and that both the spatial aspects and the chronological expansion of these systems must be taken into consideration. Considering temporalities, rhythms and time scales as well as their interdependencies in environmental research and environmental protection enables us to obtain a better understanding. The significance of relationships and functions in ecological systems can be perceived better as well. The impact of pollutants as well as the outcome of human actions in ecology, and in economics and politics, is consequently mandatory for not only a spatial, but also for the involved temporal scales.     

基于LandsatTM影像的武汉市热岛效应研究

采用定量遥感与GIS相结合的方法,利用武汉市2006年TM遥感影像,定量分析武汉市植被指数和热岛效应的关系和空间分布。在空间剖面上,研究了植被指数（NDVI）与地表辐射温度的关系并对植被指数（NDVI）与地表辐射温度进行了回归拟合。在此基础上,研究了武汉市热岛空间分布,解释了武汉市热岛等级空间分布的特点。研究结果表明：植被指数（NDVll与地表辐射温度存在着明显的负相关性;随着植被覆盖的变化,城市建设用地的地表辐射温度明显比其他土地类型敏感;城市中工业区和人口活动密集的商业区热岛强度高;水体和绿地对于分割城市热岛和缓解热岛效应有显著作用。该研究可为城市生态规划、用地合理布局等提供参考。     

Spatial modeling in ecology: the flexibility of eigenfunction spatial analyses

Recently, analytical approaches based on the eigenfunctions of spatial configuration matrices have been proposed in order to consider explicitly spatial predictors. The present study demonstrates the usefulness of eigenfunctions in spatial modeling applied to ecological problems and shows equivalencies of and differences between the two current implementations of this methodology. The two approaches in this category are the distance-based (DB) eigenvector maps proposed by P. Legendre and his colleagues, and spatial filtering based upon geographic connectivity matrices (i.e., topology-based; CB) developed by D. A. Griffith and his colleagues. In both cases, the goal is to create spatial predictors that can be easily incorporated into conventional regression models. One important advantage of these two approaches over any other spatial approach is that they provide a flexible tool that allows the full range of general and generalized linear modeling theory to be applied to ecological and geographical problems in the presence of nonzero spatial autocorrelation.     

Graphical spatial models: a new view on interpreting spatial pattern

Graphical models provide an important tool for facilitating communication between scientists, decision-makers, and statisticians—many complicated ecological processes can be described in terms of “box-and-arrow” conceptual diagrams (e.g., Shipley in Cause and correlation in biology: a user’s guide to path analysis, structural equations and causal inferences, Cambridge Universtiy Press, Cambridge, 2000; Clark and Gelfand TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution 21:375–380, 2006). In particular, problems in landscape ecology often involve modeling relationships among multiple physical and/or biological variables that may operate on differing spatial scales (e.g., Rossi et al. in Ecol Monographs 62:277–314, 1992; Legendre et al. in Ecography 25:601–615, 2002; Overmars et al. in Ecol Model 164:257–270, 2003; Brown and Spector in J Appl Ecol 45:1639–1648, 2008; Koniak and Noy-Meir in Ecol Model 220:1148–1158, 2008). These problems are inherently multivariate, though researchers commonly rely on univariate methods, such as spatial regression models, to address them. In this paper, we introduce a multivariate method—graphical spatial models—that extends path analysis to incorporate spatial autocorrelation in one or more variables in a directed graph. We show how both exogenous and endogenous ecological processes as defined by Legendre et al. (Ecography 25:601–615, 2002) and Lichstein et al. (Ecol Monographs 72:445–463, 2002) can be represented in a graph. Most importantly, we show how to translate graphs representing these ecological processes into statistically estimable models. We motivate our theoretical results using an example of stream health data from the Willamette Valley, Oregon. For these data we are interested in the spatial pattern within both riparian land use and an index of stream health, and whether there is an association between land use and stream health, after accounting for these spatial patterns. We use a graphical spatial model to address these ecological questions simultaneously. We find that the health of a stream decreases as the percent of developed land within a 120-m riparian buffer increases; interestingly, there is only evidence of spatial pattern within land use.     

Taking the Conservation Biology Perspective to Secondary School Classrooms

Abstract: The influence of conservation biology can be enhanced greatly if it reaches beyond undergraduate biology to students at the middle and high school levels. If a conservation perspective were taught in secondary schools, students who are not interested in biology could be influenced to pursue careers or live lifestyles that would reduce the negative impact of humans on the world. We use what we call the ecology‐disrupted approach to transform the topics of conservation biology research into environmental‐issue and ecology topics, the major themes of secondary school courses in environmental science. In this model, students learn about the importance and complexity of normal ecological processes by studying what goes wrong when people disrupt them (environmental issues). Many studies published in Conservation Biology are related in some way to the ecological principles being taught in secondary schools. Describing research in conservation biology in the language of ecology curricula in secondary schools can help bring these science stories to the classroom and give them a context in which they can be understood by students. Without this context in the curriculum, a science story can devolve into just another environmental issue that has no immediate effect on the daily lives of students. Nevertheless, if the research is placed in the context of larger ecological processes that are being taught, students can gain a better understanding of ecology and a better understanding of their effect on the world.     

The amino acid and sugar composition of diatom cell-walls

The cell walls of diatoms consist of a silica frustule encased in an organic coating. Biochemical characterization of this coating should allow insight into: (1) the mechanism of silicification; (2) taxonomy and evolution of diatoms; (3) preservation of fossil frustules. The amino acid and sugar composition of cell walls from 6 diatom species have been elucidated. When compared to cellular protein, cell-wall protein is enriched in serine plus threonine and glycine, and depleted in acidic, sulfur-containing and aromatic amino acids. The sugars of the cell-wall carbohydrates are quite variable and fucose tends to replace glucose in estuarine species. Condensation of silicic acid, in epitaxial order, on a protein template enriched in serine and threonine, is suggested as the Si-depositing mechanism in diatoms. The nature of this template and the polysaccharides in the cell wall may determine the solubility of diatom frustules in various environments. There is sufficient variability in cell-wall amino acids to warrant further investigation of their taxonomic utility. The sugars appear to be related to environmental factors, but they may also serve in biosystematic studies.Contribution No. 2928 from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. This work was supported by a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Postdoctoral Fellowship to R. E. Hecky, a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to P. Kilham, and a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Fellowship to K. Mopper.     

中国环境基准研究重点方向探讨

环境基准是环境标准的科学依据,在国家环境质量评价和风险管理体系中处于基础地位。它主要是依据特定对象在环境介质中的暴露数据,以及与环境要素的剂量效应关系数据,通过科学判断得出的,涉及环境化学、毒理学、生态学、流行病学、生物学和风险评估等前沿学科领域。国家环境基准研究是一个长期的系统工程,本文基于环境基准研究的学科特点和国际前沿,结合国家科技需求和相关领域的研究现状,综合分析并提出了未来中国环境基准研究的重点研究方向:1)环境基准的理论与方法学;2)环境基准基础数据库;3)基准目标污染物的筛选甄别和优先排序技术;4)水体营养物基准;5)生物测试与毒性评价技术;6)人体暴露评价理论与相关技术;7)环境基准的审核和校对;8)环境基准与标准转化理论及其对环境管理支撑技术。本文从环境基准学科发展的角度,阐述了与环境基准研究紧密相关的8个重点研究方面的国内外研究进展、关键科学问题以及未来重点研究内容。同时指出,这些重要的研究方向是环境基准研究的根本,未来环境基准的长期战略发展必将是建立在各个重要方向长足发展的基础之上,环境基准研究也必带动这些方向的共同蓬勃发展,为环境地球化学、毒理学、生态学等学科领域发展注入活力。     

生态茶园建设与病虫害综合防治

综述了在茶树病虫害综合防治中生态学原理和农田生态系统科学理论的运用。强调以生态防治，即农业防治和生物防治为主，借助于各种农业技术和现代生物科学手段，在综合防治中尽量少用化学农药，以减少对环境的污染、农药残留及对天敌的伤害，维持茶园生态平衡。     

Optimizing the design of giant scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) spat collectors: field experiments

Field experiments were carried out in 1991 and 1992 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Québec, Canada) to examine the influence of various structural components of spat collectors on recruitment of the giant scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) and associated species. Components considered were monofilament diameter, heterogeneity (presence of knots), mesh size of external bags combined with monofilament density, and spatial arrangement of monofilament inside collectors. P. magellanicus spat were more abundant in collectors made with bags of intermediate mesh size (0.4x0.5 cm) containing low densities (2030 cm²) of monofilament than in other types of collectors. significant variations in spat numbers were, however, observed with other taxa such as Mytilidae, Hiatella arctica, Cerastoderma pinnulatum, Mya arenaria, Anomia simplex, Tellina sp., Veneridae, Dacrydium vitreum, Mactridae, Buccinidae, Littorina sp., Ostracoda and Foraminifera. Abundance of scallop spat did not vary significantly with spatial arrangement, diameter and heterogeneity of monofilament.Contribution to the program of GIROQ (Groupe Interuniversitaire de Recherches Océanographiques du Québec) and REPERE (Recherche sur le Pétoncle à des fins d'Élevage et de Repeuplement).     

Relations between Species Rarity,Vulnerability, and Range Contraction for a Beetle Group in a Densely Populated Region in the Mediterranean Biodiversity Hotspot

Rarity is often considered an indication of species extinction risk, and it is frequently used to obtain measures of species vulnerability. However, there is no strong evidence of a correlation between species vulnerability and threat. Moreover, there is no consensus about how rarity should be measured. I used a multidimensional characterization of species rarity to calculate a vulnerability index for tenebrionid beetles inhabiting an Italian region in the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot. I used different metrics to examine 3 dimensions of rarity: species range, ecology, and population. Species with rarity values below the median were scored as rare for each dimension. I combined rarity scores into a vulnerability index. I then correlated species vulnerability with range trends (expanded vs. contracted). Different measures of the same rarity dimension were strongly correlated and produced similar vulnerability scores. This result indicates rarity‐based vulnerability estimates are slightly affected by the way a certain rarity dimension is measured. Vulnerability was correlated with range trends; species with the highest vulnerability had the strongest range contraction. However, a large number of common species also underwent range contraction in the last 50 years, and there was no clear relation between range contraction and their ecology. This indicates that in general human‐induced environmental changes affected species irrespective of their assumed vulnerability and that focusing only on rare species may severely bias perceptions of the extent of species decline. Relaciones entre Rareza de Especies, Vulnerabilidad y Contracción de Distribución Geográfica para un Grupo de Escarabajos en una Región Densamente Poblada en el Hotspot de Biodiversidad del Mediterráneo     

Clarifying values,risk perceptions,and attitudes to resolve or avoid social conflicts in invasive species management

Decision makers and researchers recognize the need to effectively confront the social dimensions and conflicts inherent to invasive species research and management. Yet, despite numerous contentious situations that have arisen, no systematic evaluation of the literature has examined the commonalities in the patterns and types of these emergent social issues. Using social and ecological keywords, we reviewed trends in the social dimensions of invasive species research and management and the sources and potential solutions to problems and conflicts that arise around invasive species. We integrated components of cognitive hierarchy theory and risk perceptions theory to provide a conceptual framework to identify, distinguish, and provide understanding of the driving factors underlying disputes associated with invasive species. In the ISI Web of Science database, we found 15,915 peer‐reviewed publications on biological invasions, 124 of which included social dimensions of this phenomenon. Of these 124, 28 studies described specific contentious situations. Social approaches to biological invasions have emerged largely in the last decade and have focused on both environmental social sciences and resource management. Despite being distributed in a range of journals, these 124 articles were concentrated mostly in ecology and conservation‐oriented outlets. We found that conflicts surrounding invasive species arose based largely on differences in value systems and to a lesser extent stakeholder and decision maker's risk perceptions. To confront or avoid such situations, we suggest integrating the plurality of environmental values into invasive species research and management via structured decision making techniques, which enhance effective risk communication that promotes trust and confidence between stakeholders and decision makers. Clarificar los Valores, Percepciones de Riesgo y Actitudes para Resolver o Evitar Conflictos Sociales en el Manejo de Especies Invasoras     

Spatial patterns reveal negative density dependence and habitat associations in tropical trees

Understanding how plant species coexist in tropical rainforests is one of the biggest challenges in community ecology. One prominent hypothesis suggests that rare species are at an advantage because trees have lower survival in areas of high conspecific density due to increased attack by natural enemies, a process known as negative density dependence (NDD). A consensus is emerging that NDD is important for plant-species coexistence in tropical forests. Most evidence comes from short-term studies, but testing the prediction that NDD decreases the spatial aggregation of tree populations provides a long-term perspective. While spatial distributions have provided only weak evidence for NDD so far, the opposing effects of environmental heterogeneity might have confounded previous analyses. Here we use a novel statistical technique to control for environmental heterogeneity while testing whether spatial aggregation decreases with tree size in four tropical forests. We provide evidence for NDD in 22% of the 139 tree species analyzed and show that environmental heterogeneity can obscure the spatial signal of NDD. Environmental heterogeneity contributed to aggregation in 84% of species. We conclude that both biotic interactions and environmental heterogeneity play crucial roles in shaping tree dynamics in tropical forests.     

土地利用/覆被变化（LUCC）与土壤重金属积累的关系研究进展（Research Review of the Relationship between Land Use/Cover Change and Heavy Metal Accumulation in Soil）

土壤重金属污染是世界性环境问题之一.土地利用/覆被变化(LUCC)是最主要的环境演变驱动因子之一.为明晰LUCC对土壤重金属积累和污染的影响,根据前人研究,从场地、县域和流域/区域尺度总结了LUCC和土壤重金属污染的关系.研究发现,三个尺度上土地利用方式和覆被类型/格局是控制土壤重金属空间积累和分布的重要因子,土地利用/覆被可以直接吸纳或吸附重金属,亦能通过改变土壤物理、化学和生物性质从而控制重金属在土壤中的移动性和活性,造成土壤中重金属的积累直至污染.此外,论文阐明了LUCC在土壤重金属污染风险预测、规避和污染土壤修复中的重要作用,最后提出了在实践中通过调整土地利用/覆被类型进行污染土壤修复的建议.寓景观生态学思想于土壤重金属污染防治过程是一种新的有效途径.     

基于投影寻踪的广东省资源环境绩效评估与分析

采用基于投影寻踪的资源环境综合绩效指数（REPIPP）,对2007年广东省各市的资源环境绩效进行了评估与分析。研究结果表明,全省资源环境绩效水平空间差异明显,呈现珠江三角洲地区高于东西两翼和粤北地区、沿海城市高于内陆城市的特点,与广东省的区域经济发展格局基本一致;在各项指标中,工业固废排放绩效的权重较大,落后地区应特别注意加强环境保护和发展循环经济,减少工业固废排放;REPIPP与人均GDP具有一定的正相关关系,但并不完全由人均GDP决定,必须通过优化经济结构、增强科技创新水平和管理水平、加强环境保护等综合措施来提高资源环境绩效水平。     

城市生态学基本原理的探讨

城市生态学是一门正在发展中的生态学分支,因其产生历史较短,而尚未形成一套成熟的理论体系和研究方法.本文试图应用生态学基本原理来探讨城市生态系统的性质和特点,初步提出了城市生态学的一些原理和研究城市生态系统的指导原则,并提出了环境承载力—人类社会行为和生态环境之间的界面在城市生态系统研究的地位和作用.