Effects of Management of Domestic Dogs and Recreation on Carnivores in Protected Areas in Northern California

Abstract: In developed countries dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are permitted to accompany human visitors to many protected areas (e.g., >96% of protected lands in California, U.S.A.), and protected‐area management often focuses on regulating dogs due to concerns about predation, competition, or transmission of disease and conflicts with human visitors. In 2004 and 2005, we investigated whether carnivore species richness and abundance were associated with management of domestic dogs and recreational visitation in protected areas in northern California. We surveyed for mammalian carnivores and human visitors in 21 recreation areas in which dogs were allowed offleash or onleash or were excluded, and we compared our observations in the recreation areas with observations in seven reference sites that were not open to the public. Carnivore abundance and species richness did not differ among the three types of recreation areas, but native carnivore species richness was 1.7 times greater (p < 0.01) and the relative abundances of native coyotes (Canis latrans) and bobcats (Lynx rufus) were over four times greater (p < 0.01) in the reference sites. Abundances of bobcats and all carnivores declined as the number of visitors increased. The policy on domestic dogs did not appear to affect species richness and abundance of mammalian carnivores. But the number of dogs we observed was strongly associated with human visitation (R²= 0.54), so the key factors associated with recreational effects on carnivores appear to be the presence and number of human visitors to protected areas.     

The Novel and Endemic Pathogen Hypotheses: Competing Explanations for the Origin of Emerging Infectious Diseases of Wildlife

Abstract:  Chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis , is an emerging infectious disease implicated in declines of amphibian populations around the globe. An emerging infectious disease is one that has recently been discovered; has recently increased in incidence, geography, or host range; or is newly evolved. For any given outbreak of an emerging disease, it is therefore possible to state two hypotheses regarding its origin. The novel pathogen hypothesis states that the disease has recently spread into new geographic areas, whereas the endemic pathogen hypothesis suggests that it has been present in the environment but recently has increased in host range or pathogenicity. Distinguishing between these hypotheses is important, because the conservation measures needed to slow or stop the spread of a novel pathogen are likely to differ from those needed to prevent outbreaks of an endemic pathogen. Population genetics may help discriminate among the possible origins of an emerging disease. Current evidence suggests chytridiomycosis may be a novel pathogen being spread worldwide by carriers; until we know how much genetic variation to expect in an endemic strain, however, we cannot yet conclude that B. dendrobatidis is a novel pathogen.     

中国和西方国家产业生态学思想与实践的对比分析

产业生态学是最近兴起的一门很有前途的学问,它继承和发展了自然生态系统的理论,并运用它来指导面临危境的工业生产活动。它与我国目前提倡的生态农业有相似的地方,也有很大的不同。本文结合对中西方对产业生态学思想和实践的对比,分析了各自的优势,指出了不足     

校园绿地系统景观生态异质性分析与质量评价

针对南京大学浦口新校园的生态景观实际，依据景观生态异质性原理，对校园绿地系统做出了景观生态定量分析和质量评价，结果表明绿地斑块丰富度不足，景观多样性较差和绿地廊道密度不够是存在的主要生态环境问题，是导致新建校园生态质量不高的主要因子，为了有效解决这些生态问题，本文对南京大学校园绿地系统今后进行优化和改建，提出了建设性的意见和修改方案。     

城市景观生态特点与建设途径——以佛山市为例

城市景观生态设计是城市生态规划的基本内容,以广东省佛山市为例,运用景观生态学原理,分析了佛山市景观生态现状和生态设计内函,对佛山市景观生态建设提出了一些思路与对策。     

Striking a Balance between Biodiversity Conservation and Socioeconomic Viability in the Design of Marine Protected Areas

Abstract: The establishment of marine protected areas is often viewed as a conflict between conservation and fishing. We considered consumptive and nonconsumptive interests of multiple stakeholders (i.e., fishers, scuba divers, conservationists, managers, scientists) in the systematic design of a network of marine protected areas along California's central coast in the context of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative. With advice from managers, administrators, and scientists, a representative group of stakeholders defined biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic goals that accommodated social needs and conserved marine ecosystems, consistent with legal requirements. To satisfy biodiversity goals, we targeted 11 marine habitats across 5 depth zones, areas of high species diversity, and areas containing species of special status. We minimized adverse socioeconomic impacts by minimizing negative effects on fishers. We included fine‐scale fishing data from the recreational and commercial fishing sectors across 24 fisheries. Protected areas designed with consideration of commercial and recreational fisheries reduced potential impact to the fisheries approximately 21% more than protected areas designed without consideration of fishing effort and resulted in a small increase in the total area protected (approximately 3.4%). We incorporated confidential fishing data without revealing the identity of specific fisheries or individual fishing grounds. We sited a portion of the protected areas near land parks, marine laboratories, and scientific monitoring sites to address nonconsumptive socioeconomic goals. Our results show that a stakeholder‐driven design process can use systematic conservation‐planning methods to successfully produce options for network design that satisfy multiple conservation and socioeconomic objectives. Marine protected areas that incorporate multiple stakeholder interests without compromising biodiversity conservation goals are more likely to protect marine ecosystems.     

Factors Determining the Choice of Hunting and Trading Bushmeat in the Kilombero Valley,Tanzania

Regulation of illegal bushmeat trade is a major conservation challenge in Africa. We investigated what factors are most likely to induce actors in the bushmeat trade to shift to an alternative occupation by conducting a choice experiment with 325 actors in the bushmeat trade in the Kilombero Valley, Tanzania. Specifically, we asked respondents to choose between hunting or trading bushmeat and alternative salary‐paying work, in a set of hypothetical scenarios where the attributes of these alternatives were varied and included measures of command and control, price of substitute meat, daily salary in the work option, and whether or not cows were donated to the respondent. We modeled the choice contingent on socioeconomic characteristics. The magnitude of fines and patrolling frequency had a significant but very low negative effect on the probability of choosing to engage in hunting or trading bushmeat compared with the salary of an alternative occupation. Donation of livestock and the price of substitute meats in the local market both affected the choice significantly in a negative and a positive direction, respectively. The wealthier a household was the more likely the respondent was to choose to continue hunting or trading bushmeat. On the margin, our results suggest that given current conditions in the Kilombero Valley on any given day 90% of the respondents would choose salary work at US$3.37/day over their activities in the bushmeat trade, all else equal. Factores que Determinan la Elección de Cazar y Vender Carne de Caza en el Valle Kilombero, Tanzania     

Costs and Benefits of the Presence of Leopards to the Sport‐Hunting Industry and Local Communities in Niassa National Reserve,Mozambique

Sport hunting is often proposed as a tool to support the conservation of large carnivores. However, it is challenging to provide tangible economic benefits from this activity as an incentive for local people to conserve carnivores. We assessed economic gains from sport hunting and poaching of leopards (Panthera pardus), costs of leopard depredation of livestock, and attitudes of people toward leopards in Niassa National Reserve, Mozambique. We sent questionnaires to hunting concessionaires (n = 8) to investigate the economic value of and the relative importance of leopards relative to other key trophy‐hunted species. We asked villagers (n = 158) the number of and prices for leopards poached in the reserve and the number of goats depredated by leopard. Leopards were the mainstay of the hunting industry; a single animal was worth approximately U.S.$24,000. Most safari revenues are retained at national and international levels, but poached leopard are illegally traded locally for small amounts ($83). Leopards depredated 11 goats over 2 years in 2 of 4 surveyed villages resulting in losses of $440 to 6 households. People in these households had negative attitudes toward leopards. Although leopard sport hunting generates larger gross revenues than poaching, illegal hunting provides higher economic benefits for households involved in the activity. Sport‐hunting revenues did not compensate for the economic losses of livestock at the household level. On the basis of our results, we propose that poaching be reduced by increasing the costs of apprehension and that the economic benefits from leopard sport hunting be used to improve community livelihoods and provide incentives not to poach. Costos y Beneficios de la Presencia de Leopardos para la Industria de la Caza Deportiva y las Comunidades Locales en Niassa, Reserva Nacional, Mozambique     

Patterns of development and succession of vegetated hummocks in slacks of the Alexandria coastal dune field, South Africa

Dune hummocks (small aeolian dunes formed by sand deposition in and around pioneer plants) are the smallest vegetated dune unit; they occur along the entire South African coastline but are poorly studied. Structural properties and distribution of the two main hummock-forming plants:Arctotheca populifolia (a pioneer species with fast growth rate and rapid turnover) andGazania rigens (a later colonizer with slower growth) were investigated. A marked vegetation succession exists across the floor of the slack as a result of the migration of transverse dune ridges across the slack.Arctotheca hummocks were initiated on the newly exposed eastern margin of the slack, and were replaced about midway across the width of the slack byGazania hummocks. Hummocks increased in size with distance from the eastern side of the slack.Gazania hummocks attain a greater vegetation height, support a greater vegetation complexity and mass, and attain a larger maximum size thanArctotheca hummocks. Succession, defined as both the replacement of plant species as well as site modification within the plants over time, was evident. Since the growth form and dynamics determine (1) the ability of plants to trap wind-borne soil and detritus, (2) the shape of the hummocks, and (3) the habitat complexity available to spiders and insects, the ecology of the hummocks is probably determined largely by the vegetation characteristics of the hummock-forming plants.     

长江流域洪灾与生态破坏的关系浅析:Ⅰ经济发展与生态变化

５０ 年代以来,由于社会经济迅速发展的压力,加上保护不力,使长江流域上中游生态环境趋于恶化。对长江流域各省市生态环境破坏状况的调研表明,与长江流域洪灾加剧紧密相关的生态破坏主要是：森林过度采伐,植被破坏严重;坡地盲目开垦,水土流失加重;湖泊消亡加剧,蓄洪容量减小;泥沙大量淤积,河道泄洪能力下降。     

广东省外来物种入侵现状及其生态环境影响调查

广东省外来物种种类多数量大，截止到2000年主要外来入侵种的入侵总面积达108．12万hm^2，造成的直接经济损失高达20．71亿元。文章在大量调查的基础上，对广东省外来入侵种的种类、分布、入侵面积及其造成的生态环境影响进行了研究，分析了外来物种入侵规律，并提出外来种入侵的防治对策。     

苏北地区土壤-水稻系统重金属分布及其食物安全风险评价

2004年在对苏北地区6个县市(丰县、沛县、铜山、睢宁、楚州和东海)采用网格法采样的基础上,随机选择了该区域2种主要土壤类型上98个土样及其上所产水稻籽粒样品,采用原子吸收分光光谱仪和原子荧光光谱仪分别测定了其中的Cu、Zn、Pb、Cd、Cr、Ni、As和Hg 8种重金属的全量.分别以国家绿色食品生产基地标准、无公害农产品生产基地标准以及20世纪80年代的地区背景值为参照依据,分析评价了所研究土壤的重金属污染程度和大米的重金属安全水平,并进一步依据USEPA和WHO推荐的RfD值,结合我国居民平均食物消费结构评估了该地区土壤所产大米对人体的重金属暴露风险.结果显示,该地区的土壤重金属环境质量总体上符合建设绿色食品生产基地的要求,属于总体未明显污染土壤;不过,黄潮土上所产大米中Ni以及砂礓黑土上所产大米中Ni、Pb含量存在超出国家食品卫生安全标准的现象. 依据USEPA的RfD值计算所得结果表明,供试地区所有土壤上所产大米中As、Cr具有明显的食物安全风险,部分地区的大米中Cd存在风险,由于Cd/Zn比值较低,因此基本上仍属安全.为了进一步保障农产品食用安全,一方面需要制订更严格的土壤环境质量标准,控制土壤污染,另一方面可能还需要着力改善大气环境质量.     

黄土高原沙棘灌丛资源保护和发展问题

沙棘适合于在干旱瘠溥的黄土高原地区生长，在黄土高原生态恢复、环境治理和经济发展中成效显著，近年来沙棘灌丛资源发展迅速。但由于在沙棘灌丛资源保护和发展中还存在不少问题，使黄土高原区域整体效益并不理想。文章研究了黄土高原地区沙棘灌丛资源的类型，共有6个群系；分析了黄土高原沙棘灌丛资源的现状和效益，其在工矿废弃地治理、砒砂岩区治理、沙化土地治理、水土保持等方面作用明显，对当地畜牧业、食品工业、医药业起到促进作用；探讨了存在的主要问题，一是资源发展问题，二是保护问题，三是管理问题，四是科学技术问题；最后从多个方面提出了黄土高原沙棘灌丛资源保护与发展的对策，     

Identifying 120 years of decline in ecosystem structure and maturity of Great South Bay, New York using the Ecopath modelling approach

Mass balanced models yield valuable information regarding ecological function and delivery of ecosystem services, but often rely on data collected well before many species were reduced to fractions of their original abundance. Lagoonal systems, such as Great South Bay (GSB), NY, sit on the interface of terrestrial and marine ecosystems and are prone to anthropogenic stressors but proximity to land also makes the presence of data regarding historic populations and structure more likely. To quantify over a century of ecosystem change, Ecopath models were developed for GSB at each of four time periods where commercial and scientific data exist: 1880s, 1930s, 1980s and 2000s. The results indicated that the GSB has experienced a decline in ecosystem maturity, loss of top keystone predators, a decline in connectivity to the ocean though the reduction of migratory species and increasing dominance of low trophic level organisms. These changes undermine the delivery of ecosystem services, increase conflicts over limited resources and suggest that present day restoration targets fail to recognize appropriate baselines. We discuss the role of stochastic events, which result in state changes that could be defined as regime shifts, and ecosystem connectivity to the long-term stability of lagoonal systems.     

Ten years of contested enforcement of the Forest Law in Salta,Argentina. The role of land-change science and political ecology

ABSTRACT

In this study, we present a critical account of the enforcement of the Forest Law in the Province of Salta, Argentina. We discuss whether the objectives of this law were accomplished and we analyze the role that some technical tools, coupled with specific theoretical approaches, could play in its future enforcement. We illustrate our analysis with data from a case study in the Chaco region of this Province. We identified, mapped and analyzed land claims by indigenous communities and small-scale agricultural producers, and large-scale land acquisitions, and we discuss how these two variables could be used to improve the technical accuracy and the social legitimacy of the zoning map required by the Forest Law. We conclude that a balanced combination of land-change science methods and political ecology can be useful to improve the fairness of decision-making processes and the sustainability of social-environmental governance in agricultural frontiers.     

Quantifying the extent of protected‐area downgrading,downsizing, and degazettement in Australia

The use of total area protected as the predominant indicator of progress in building protected area (PA) networks is receiving growing criticism. Documenting the full dynamics of PA networks, both in terms of the gains and losses in protection, provides a much more informative approach to tracking progress. To this end, documentation of PA downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement (PADDD) has increased. Studies of PADDD events generally fail to place these losses in the context of gains in protection; therefore, they omit important elements of PA network dynamics. To address this limitation, we used a spatially explicit approach to identify every parcel of land added to and excised from the Australian terrestrial PA network and PAs that had their level of protection changed over 17 years (1997–2014). By quantifying changes in the spatial configuration of the PA network with time‐series data (spatial layers for nine separate time steps), ours is the first assessment of the dynamics (increases and decreases in area and level of protection) of a PA network and the first comprehensive assessment of PADDD in a developed country. We found that the Australian network was highly dynamic; there were 5233 changes in area or level of protection over 17 years. Against a background of enormous increases in area protected, we identified over 1500 PADDD events, which affected over one‐third of the network, which were largely the result of widespread downgrading of protection. We believe our approach provides a mechanism for robust tracking of trends in the world's PAs through the use of data from the World Database on Protected Areas. However, this will require greater transparency and improved data standards in reporting changes to PAs.     

Regional Decline of an Iconic Amphibian Associated with Elevation,Land‐Use Change,and Invasive Species

Abstract: Ecological theory predicts that species with restricted geographic ranges will have the highest probability of extinction, but species with extensive distributions and high population densities can also exhibit widespread population losses. In the western United States populations of northern leopard frogs (Lithobates pipiens)—historically one of the most widespread frogs in North America—have declined dramatically in abundance and geographic distribution. To assess the status of leopard frogs in Colorado and evaluate causes of decline, we coupled statewide surveys of 196 historically occupied sites with intensive sampling of 274 wetlands stratified by land use. We used an information‐theoretic approach to evaluate the contributions of factors at multiple spatial extents in explaining the contemporary distribution of leopard frogs. Our results indicate leopard frogs have declined in Colorado, but this decline was regionally variable. The lowest proportion of occupied wetlands occurred in eastern Colorado (2–28%), coincident with urban development and colonization by non‐native bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus). Variables at several spatial extents explained observed leopard frog distributional patterns. In low‐elevation wetlands introduced fishes, bullfrogs, and urbanization or suburbanization associated negatively with leopard frog occurrence, whereas wetland area was positively associated with occurrence. Leopard frogs were more abundant and widespread west of the Continental Divide, where urban development and bullfrog abundance were low. Although the pathogenic chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) was not selected in our best‐supported models, the nearly complete extirpation of leopard frogs from montane wetlands could reflect the individual or interactive effects of Bd and climate patterns. Our results highlight the importance of considering multiple, competing hypotheses to explain species declines, particularly when implicated factors operate at different spatial extents.     

The Relationship Between Exposure to Arsenic Concentrations in Drinking Water and the Development of Skin Lesions in Farmers from Inner Mongolia, China

Associations between the concentration of arsenic naturally occurring in drinking water and the development of skin lesions in people have been documented for some years at various locations around the world. Data on the exposure-response relationship between concentrations of arsenic in drinking water and prevalence of skin lesions in farmers from five locations in Inner Mongolia, China have been collected from the original publications and re-analysed together as a meta-study. The calculated data show a positive linear exposure-response relationship without a threshold. The reasons for this linear correlation are discussed and compared with the data from Xinjiang, another arsenism area located in a different geographical area of China. Here a different relationship was recorded that involved a threshold concentration before skin lesions developed. The significance of these two different exposure-response scenarios is discussed.     

Devising Appropriate Policies and Instruments in Support of Private Conservation Areas: Lessons Learned from the Klein Karoo,South Africa

Abstract: The amount of privately conserved land is increasing worldwide. The potential of these areas to contribute to the global conservation of biodiversity is significant, given that statutory protected areas alone will not suffice. Nevertheless, there is still inadequate support for private conservation areas, and further research on appropriate, flexible, and generally applicable incentive measures is necessary. We conducted 25 semistructured interviews with the owners of private conservation areas in the Little Karoo, South Africa, to examine landowner opinions of existing conservation policies and their relationships with the local conservation authority. We also assessed landowner preferences regarding conservation incentive measures. Landowners doubted the conservation authority's capacity to implement its stewardship program and were also discouraged by the bureaucracy of the program. The conservation authority was often viewed negatively, except where landowners had experienced personal contact from conservation staff or where strong social capital had formed among landowners. Landowners did not desire financial rewards for their conservation efforts, but sought recognition of their stewardship role and greater involvement from the conservation authority through personal contact. We conclude that conservation policies for private lands could benefit from the provision of extension services to landowners, promotion of formation of groups of landowners and other stakeholders, and public acknowledgment of the contributions private conservation areas make.