A roadmap for ladybird conservation and recovery

Ladybirds (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) provide services that are critical to food production, and they fulfill an ecological role as a food source for predators. The richness, abundance, and distribution of ladybirds, however, are compromised by many anthropogenic threats. Meanwhile, a lack of knowledge of the conservation status of most species and the factors driving their population dynamics hinders the development and implementation of conservation strategies for ladybirds. We conducted a review of the literature on the ecology, diversity, and conservation of ladybirds to identify their key ecological threats. Ladybird populations are most affected by climate factors, landscape composition, and biological invasions. We suggest mitigating actions for ladybird conservation and recovery. Short-term actions include citizen science programs and education, protective measures for habitat recovery and threatened species, prevention of the introduction of non-native species, and the maintenance and restoration of natural areas and landscape heterogeneity. Mid-term actions involve the analysis of data from monitoring programs and insect collections to disentangle the effect of different threats to ladybird populations, understand habitat use by taxa on which there is limited knowledge, and quantify temporal trends of abundance, diversity, and biomass along a management-intensity gradient. Long-term actions include the development of a worldwide monitoring program based on standardized sampling to fill data gaps, increase explanatory power, streamline analyses, and facilitate global collaborations.     

Application of adaptive cluster sampling to low-density populations of freshwater mussels

Freshwater mussels appear to be promising candidates for adaptive cluster sampling because they are benthic macroinvertebrates that cluster spatially and are frequently found at low densities. We applied adaptive cluster sampling to estimate density of freshwater mussels at 24 sites along the Cacapon River, WV, where a preliminary timed search indicated that mussels were present at low density. Adaptive cluster sampling increased yield of individual mussels and detection of uncommon species; however, it did not improve precision of density estimates. Because finding uncommon species, collecting individuals of those species, and estimating their densities are important conservation activities, additional research is warranted on application of adaptive cluster sampling to freshwater mussels. However, at this time we do not recommend routine application of adaptive cluster sampling to freshwater mussel populations. The ultimate, and currently unanswered, question is how to tell when adaptive cluster sampling should be used, i.e., when is a population sufficiently rare and clustered for adaptive cluster sampling to be efficient and practical? A cost-effective procedure needs to be developed to identify biological populations for which adaptive cluster sampling is appropriate.     

Payments for Ecosystem Services as a Framework for Community-Based Conservation in Northern Tanzania

Abstract:  Payments for ecosystem services (PES) are an increasingly promoted approach to conservation. These approaches seek to develop financial mechanisms that create economic incentives for the maintenance of ecosystems and associated biodiversity by rewarding those who are responsible for provision of ecological services. There are, however, few cases in which such schemes have been used as a strategy for conserving wildlife in developing countries and very few operational examples of such schemes of any sort in sub-Saharan Africa. In savannah ecosystems, large mammal populations generally depend on seasonal use of extensive areas and are widely declining as a result of habitat loss, overexploitation, and policies that limit local benefits from wildlife. Community-based conservation strategies seek to create local incentives for conserving wildlife, but often have limited impact as a result of persistent institutional barriers that limit local rights and economic benefits. In northern Tanzania, a consortium of tourism operators is attempting to address these challenges through an agreement with a village that possesses part of a key wildlife dispersal area outside Tarangire National Park. The operators pay the community to enforce voluntary restrictions on agricultural cultivation and permanent settlement in a defined area of land. The initiative represents a potentially cost-effective framework for community-based conservation in an ecologically important area and is helping to reconcile historically conflicting local and national interests relative to land tenure, pastoralist livelihoods, and conservation. Wider adaptation of payments for ecosystem services approaches to settings where sustaining wildlife populations depends on local stewardship may help address current challenges facing conservation outside state-protected areas in savannah ecosystems in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the world.     

Ecosystem Services as a Common Language for Coastal Ecosystem-Based Management

Abstract:  Ecosystem-based management is logistically and politically challenging because ecosystems are inherently complex and management decisions affect a multitude of groups. Coastal ecosystems, which lie at the interface between marine and terrestrial ecosystems and provide an array of ecosystem services to different groups, aptly illustrate these challenges. Successful ecosystem-based management of coastal ecosystems requires incorporating scientific information and the knowledge and views of interested parties into the decision-making process. Estimating the provision of ecosystem services under alternative management schemes offers a systematic way to incorporate biogeophysical and socioeconomic information and the views of individuals and groups in the policy and management process. Employing ecosystem services as a common language to improve the process of ecosystem-based management presents both benefits and difficulties. Benefits include a transparent method for assessing trade-offs associated with management alternatives, a common set of facts and common currency on which to base negotiations, and improved communication among groups with competing interests or differing worldviews. Yet challenges to this approach remain, including predicting how human interventions will affect ecosystems, how such changes will affect the provision of ecosystem services, and how changes in service provision will affect the welfare of different groups in society. In a case study from Puget Sound, Washington, we illustrate the potential of applying ecosystem services as a common language for ecosystem-based management.     

A roadmap for knowledge exchange and mobilization research in conservation and natural resource management

Scholars across all disciplines have long been interested in how knowledge moves within and beyond their community of peers. Rapid environmental changes and calls for sustainable management practices mean the best knowledge possible is needed to inform decisions, policies, and practices to protect biodiversity and sustainably manage vulnerable natural resources. Although the conservation literature on knowledge exchange (KE) and knowledge mobilization (KM) has grown in recent years, much of it is based on context‐specific case studies. This presents a challenge for learning cumulative lessons from KE and KM research and thus effectively using knowledge in conservation and natural resources management. Although continued research on the gap between knowledge and action is valuable, overarching conceptual frameworks are now needed to enable summaries and comparisons across diverse KE‐KM research. We propose a knowledge‐action framework that provides a conceptual roadmap for future research and practice in KE/KM with the aim of synthesizing lessons learned from contextual case studies and guiding the development and testing of hypotheses in this domain. Our knowledge‐action framework has 3 elements that occur at multiple levels and scales: knowledge production (e.g., academia and government), knowledge mediation (e.g., knowledge networks, actors, relational dimension, and contextual dimension), and knowledge‐based action (e.g., instrumental, symbolic, and conceptual). The framework integrates concepts from the sociology of science in particular, and serves as a guide to further comprehensive understanding of knowledge exchange and mobilization in conservation and sustainable natural resource management.     

Freshwater fish diversity hotspots for conservation priorities in the Amazon Basin

Conserving freshwater habitats and their biodiversity in the Amazon Basin is a growing challenge in the face of rapid anthropogenic changes. We used the most comprehensive fish-occurrence database available (2355 valid species; 21,248 sampling points) and 3 ecological criteria (irreplaceability, representativeness, and vulnerability) to identify biodiversity hotspots based on 6 conservation templates (3 proactive, 1 reactive, 1 representative, and 1 balanced) to provide a set of alternative planning solutions for freshwater fish protection in the Amazon Basin. We identified empirically for each template the 17% of sub-basins that should be conserved and performed a prioritization analysis by identifying current and future (2050) threats (i.e., degree of deforestation and habitat fragmentation by dams). Two of our 3 proactive templates had around 65% of their surface covered by protected areas; high levels of irreplaceability (60% of endemics) and representativeness (71% of the Amazonian fish fauna); and low current and future vulnerability. These 2 templates, then, seemed more robust for conservation prioritization. The future of the selected sub-basins in these 2 proactive templates is not immediately threatened by human activities, and these sub-basins host the largest part of Amazonian biodiversity. They could easily be conserved if no additional threats occur between now and 2050.     

Why telecoupling research needs to account for environmental justice

ABSTRACT

Engaging with normative questions in land system science is a key challenge. This debate paper highlights the potential of incorporating elements of environmental justice scholarship into the evolving telecoupling framework that focuses on distant interactions in land systems. We first expose the reasons why environmental justice matters in understanding telecoupled systems, and the relevant approaches suited to mainstream environmental justice into telecoupled contexts. We then explore which specific elements of environmental justice need to be incorporated into telecoupling research. We focus on 1) the distribution of social-ecological burdens and benefits across distances, 2) power and justice issues in governing distantly tied systems, and 3) recognition issues in information flows, framings and discourses across distances. We conclude our paper highlighting key mechanisms to address injustices in telecoupled land systems.     

湿地生态系统服务价值评价去重复性研究的思考

重复计算一直是困扰湿地生态系统服务价值评价的一个难点问题。湿地生态系统服务的复杂性及其组成分的非线性容易导致在计算湿地生态系统服务价值时容易导致重复计算,如果不能正确的去除湿地生态系统服务价值评价中重复计算的部分,会使评估结果的可信度降低。湿地生态系统服务价值评价的重复性计算主要体现在两个方面,总服务价值评价中的重复计算和部分服务之间的重复计算。湿地生态系统服务由湿地生态系统和生物多样性产生,并为人类福祉做出贡献,在这一过程中,湿地生态系统功能与服务的复杂的关系及服务之间的因果关系容易导致在计算生态系统总的服务价值时重复计算的产生,也就是分类时存在重复计算。部分服务之间的重复计算则主要是由于指标的模糊不清、参数的重复和评价方法的选择导致的。通过分析湿地生态系统服务价值评价重复性计算产生的原因,文章提出了一个具体的解决框架,包括最终服务的确定、指标的明确、模型的构建以及评估方法的选择等。首先,将湿地生态系统服务分成中间服务和最终服务,以最终服务作为最终要评价的服务;其次,针对部分服务中可能存在的重复计算,从指标和参数的明确、评价方法的选择和数学模型的构建等方面进行解决;最后,构建一个优化的湿地生态系统服务价值评价体系。希望通过这些解决办法来降低湿地生态系统服务价值评价中重复计算的可能性,以期更加准确的评估湿地生态系统服务。     

风蚀条件下人类活动对高寒草地水分保持功能影响的定量模拟

青藏高原是我国重要的生态屏障,具有重要的水源涵养功能。高寒草地生态系统退化将严重地影响高原的水源涵养功能。为了定量研究人类活动对青藏高原高寒草地水分保持功能的影响,采用大型风洞实验,模拟人类不同的干扰方式和干扰程度对高寒草地土壤水分保持功能的影响。实验样品采自青藏高原三个草地类型:高寒草甸、草原化草甸和高寒草原。干扰方式包括破坏草地地上部分和根系,干扰程度包括轻干扰、中度干扰、重度干扰和全部破坏。实验结果表明,地上部分破坏后,土壤含水率均有下降,降幅分别为:QZ1为6.9%～9.2%、QZ2为6.8%～10.1%、QZ3为9%～10%;当根系遭到破坏后土壤含水率的降幅则分别为:QZ1为16%～30%,QZ2为17.25～32.1%,QZ3为22%～50%,显然,根系破坏后土壤含水率降幅远大于地表植被破坏后的情形。因此,植被根系是高寒草地水分保持功能的关键。随着干扰程度的加剧,土壤含水率在迅速下降。从试验模拟结果看,三个草地类型中土壤水分保持功能分别是高寒草甸>草原化草甸>高寒草原。     

城市区域生态系统服务功能--以深圳市为例

了解城市中自然生态系统的状态与作用,是进行城市科学管理的基本前提。以深圳市为例,分析城市自然生态系统的主要服务功能,并探讨其对城市居民生活质量的重要性,重点回答关于城市自然生态系统及其服务功能的3个问题:(1)各项生态系统服务功能有助于解决城市的什么问题?(2)哪些生态系统、如何参与这些生态服务?(3)通过深圳市的实例对生态系统服务进行初步量化和评价。     

Policy challenges and approaches for the conservation of mangrove forests in Southeast Asia

Many drivers of mangrove forest loss operate over large scales and are most effectively addressed by policy interventions. However, conflicting or unclear policy objectives exist at multiple tiers of government, resulting in contradictory management decisions. To address this, we considered four approaches that are being used increasingly or could be deployed in Southeast Asia to ensure sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. First, a stronger incorporation of mangroves into marine protected areas (that currently focus largely on reefs and fisheries) could resolve some policy conflicts and ensure that mangroves do not fall through a policy gap. Second, examples of community and government comanagement exist, but achieving comanagement at scale will be important in reconciling stakeholders and addressing conflicting policy objectives. Third, private‐sector initiatives could protect mangroves through existing and novel mechanisms in degraded areas and areas under future threat. Finally, payments for ecosystem services (PES) hold great promise for mangrove conservation, with carbon PES schemes (known as blue carbon) attracting attention. Although barriers remain to the implementation of PES, the potential to implement them at multiple scales exists. Closing the gap between mangrove conservation policies and action is crucial to the improved protection and management of this imperiled coastal ecosystem and to the livelihoods that depend on them.     

广东鹤山林-果-草-鱼复合生态系统生态服务功能价值评估

鹤山丘陵地“林-果-草-鱼”复合农林生态系统是1986年建立在退化丘陵地,利用物质与能量循环流动等生态学原理,进行构建和恢复而成功的实例,本文采用物质量和价值量相结合的评价方法,首次选取复合农林业系统进行评价,首次对广东鹤山林-果-草-鱼复合农林生态系统的生态服务功能进行价值评估。结果表明,广东鹤山林-果-草-鱼复合生态系统总体指标显著优越,其服务价值功能达2397.9783万元,在维持大气平衡、固土保肥、涵养水源等方面具有重要的作用。其间接生态服务功能价值远远大于直接生态服务功能价值,比值约为31∶1。而维持大气平衡服务价值是鹤山林-果-草-鱼复合生态系统的主要部分,占总体服务价值的96.626%,而木材生产等直接经济价值仅占总价值的3.135%。由此,直接经济价值并不是其服务价值的主要部分,应充分发挥鹤山林-果-草-鱼复合生态系统的其他生态服务功能,加强对间接生态服务功能价值的理解和保护,从长远策划和开发土地来达到长远而合理的利益收获。     

大连市森林生态系统服务功能评估

为客观度量森林生态系统服务功能,依据2003年大连市土地利用图形数据,参照国家林业局发布的《森林生态系统服务功能评估规范》(LY/T1721-2008)标准中的评估方法,基于G IS技术对大连市森林生态系统服务功能及其空间差异性进行定量评价。结果表明:(1)大连市森林生态系统服务功能的经济价值总计为197.91亿元/a,其中涵养水源、保育土壤、固碳释氧、净化大气4种生态服务功能的经济价值比例分别为35.3%、16.7%、43.0%、5.0%;(2)大连市的生态屏障庄河市、普兰店市和瓦房店市具有显著的森林生态系统服务功能,其价值比例分别为32.6%、21.8%和25.8%,而长海县、金州区、旅顺口区、甘井子区、沙河口区、中山区、西岗区森林生态系统服务功能的经济价值比例分别为0.9%、7.8%、5.7%、3.9%、0.2%、0.5%和0.7%。     

Increasing the impact of collective incentives in payments for ecosystem services

Collective payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs make payments to groups, conditional on specified aggregate land-management outcomes. Such collective contracting may be well suited to settings with communal land tenure or decision-making. Given that collective contracting does not require costly individual-level information on outcomes, it may also facilitate conditioning on additionality (i.e., conditioning payments upon clearly improved outcomes relative to baseline). Yet collective contracting often suffers from free-riding, which undermines group outcomes and may be exacerbated or ameliorated by PES designs. We study impacts of conditioning on additionality within a number of collective PES designs. We use a framed field-laboratory experiment with participants from a new PES program in Mexico. Because social interactions are critical within collective processes, we assess the impacts from conditioning on additionality given: (1) group participation in contract design, and (2) a group coordination mechanism. Conditioning on above-baseline outcomes raised contributions, particularly among initially lower contributors. Group participation in contract design increased impact, as did the coordination mechanism.     

Selection and characterization of eight freshwater green algae strains for synchronous water purification and lipid production

The objective of this study is to select and characterize the candidate for synchronous water purification and lipid production from eight freshwater microalgae strains (Chlorella sp. HQ, C. emersonii, C. pyrenoidosa, C. vulgaris, Scenedesmus dimorphus, S. quadricauda, S. obiquus, Scenedesmus sp. LX1). The strains Chlorella sp. HQ, C. pyrenoidesa, and S. obliquus showed superiority in biomass accumulation, while the top biomass producers did not correspond to the top lipid producers. S. quadricauda achieved higher lipid content (66.1%), and Chlorella sp. HQ and S. dimorphus ranked down in sequence, with lipid content above 30%. Considering nutrient removal ability (total nitrogen (TN): 52.97%; total phosphorus (TP): 84.81%), the newly isolated microalga Chlorella sp. HQ was the possible candidate for water purification coupled with lipid production. To further investigate the lipid producing and nutrient removal mechanism of candidate microalga, the ultra structural changes especially the lipid droplets under different water qualities (different TN and TP concentrations) were characterized. The results elucidate the nutrient-deficiency (TN: 3.0 mg·L^–1; TP: 0.3 mg·L^–1) condition was in favor of forming lipid bodies in Chlorella sp. HQ at the subcellular level, while the biomass production was inhibited due to the decrease in chloroplast number which could further suppress the nutrient removal effect. Finally, a twophase cultivation process (a nutrient replete phase to produce biomass followed by a nutrient deplete phase to enhance lipid content) was conducted in a photo-bioreactor for Chlorella sp. HQ to serve for algae-based synchronous biodiesel production and wastewater purification.     

Subterranean freshwater gastropod biodiversity and conservation in the United States and Mexico

Many taxonomic groups successfully exploit groundwater environments and have adapted to a subterranean (stygobiotic) existence. Among these groups are freshwater gastropods (stygosnails), which represent a widespread and taxonomically diverse component of groundwater ecosystems in North America. However, owing to sampling difficulty and lack of targeted study, stygosnails remain among the most understudied of all subterranean groups. We conducted a literature review to assess the biodiversity and geographic associations of stygosnails, along with the threats, management activities, and policy considerations related to the groundwater systems they inhabit. We identified 39 stygosnail species known to occur in a range of groundwater habitats from karst regions in the United States and Mexico. Most stygosnails exhibit extreme narrow-range endemism, resulting in a high risk of extinction from a single catastrophic event. We found that anthropogenically driven changes to surface environments have led to changes in local hydrology and degradation of groundwater systems inhabited by stygosnails such as increased sedimentation, introduction of invasive species, groundwater extraction, or physical collapse of water-bearing passages. Consequently, 32 of the 39 described stygosnail species in the United States and Mexico have been assessed as imperiled under NatureServe criteria, and 10 species have been assessed as threatened under International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria. Compared with surface species of freshwater snails, stygosnail conservation is uniquely hindered by difficulties associated with accessing subterranean habitats for monitoring and management. Furthermore, only three species were found to have federal protection in either the United States or Mexico, and current laws regulating wildlife and water pollution at the state and federal level may be inadequate for protecting stygosnail habitats. As groundwater systems continue to be manipulated and relied on by humans, groundwater-restricted fauna such as stygosnails should be studied so unique biodiversity can be protected.     

A fungal perspective on conservation biology

Hitherto fungi have rarely been considered in conservation biology, but this is changing as the field moves from addressing single species issues to an integrative ecosystem‐based approach. The current emphasis on biodiversity as a provider of ecosystem services throws the spotlight on the vast diversity of fungi, their crucial roles in terrestrial ecosystems, and the benefits of considering fungi in concert with animals and plants. We reviewed the role of fungi in ecosystems and composed an overview of the current state of conservation of fungi. There are 5 areas in which fungi can be readily integrated into conservation: as providers of habitats and processes important for other organisms; as indicators of desired or undesired trends in ecosystem functioning; as indicators of habitats of conservation value; as providers of powerful links between human societies and the natural world because of their value as food, medicine, and biotechnological tools; and as sources of novel tools and approaches for conservation of megadiverse organism groups. We hope conservation professionals will value the potential of fungi, engage mycologists in their work, and appreciate the crucial role of fungi in nature. Una Perspectiva Micótica de la Biología de la Conservación     

Parks versus PES: Evaluating direct and incentive-based land conservation in Mexico

Protected areas (PAs) and payments for ecosystem services (PES) are the top two mechanisms available for countries to achieve international REDD agreements, yet there are few empirical comparisons of their effects. We estimate the impacts of PAs and PES on forest conservation, poverty reduction, and population change at the locality level in Mexico in the 2000s. Both policies conserved forest, generating an approximately 20–25% reduction in expected forest cover loss. PES created statistically significant but small poverty alleviation while PAs had overall neutral impacts on livelihoods. Estimates by individual policy type for the same level of deforestation risk indicate that biosphere reserves and PES balanced conservation and livelihood goals better than strict protected areas or mixed-use areas. This suggests that both direct and incentive-based instruments can be effective, and that policies combining sustainable financing, flexible zoning, and recognition of local economic goals are more likely to achieve conservation without harming livelihoods.     

The occurrence and need for conservation of metallophytes on mine wastes in Europe

Metalliferous substrates are important in the distribution of various plants such asArmeria maritima, Minuartia verna, Thlaspi alpestre, Silene maritima andCochlearia officinalis, in parts of the United Kingdom. Metalliferous substrates are similarly important for a slightly different assemblage of metallophytes in the Aachen-Liège orefield in Belgium and Germany. The significance of metalliferous substrates in the distribution of the metallophytes varies from orefield to orefield and this is investigated. Certain sites, by virtue of their environmental and species diversity, are outstanding as habitats for the metallophytes and some of these are described. Observations on the importance and problems of the conservation of the metallophyte habitats are included.