贫困的“物以类聚”：中国的农村空间贫困陷阱及其识别

理解贫困陷阱及其成因是理解减贫机制,进而理解贫困治理的基础。早期的实证研究注重从收入的角度研究农村贫困,较新的研究开始关注“空间外部性”对农村贫困的影响。然而,要正确识别农村的“贫困陷阱”,就需要对上述两个维度同时进行解释。鉴于此,运用中国县级层面的面板数据,从聚集与持久两个维度对中国的农村贫困陷阱进行了识别。研究结果表明：2006—2016年,中国农村的贫困空间格局几乎没有变化,并且贫困的空间分布与经济增长也并非是同步的,贫困县的分布主要与地形（坡度、海拔）因素有关;进一步研究还发现,中国的农村贫困具有持久性,贫困县收入存在低水平的均衡,贫困县与非贫困县之间存在收入的“俱乐部收敛”。本文揭示了空间外部性与农村贫困之间的关系,为正确评估经济发展与扶贫开发,合理制定区域反贫困瞄准机制提供了支持。     

Sex pheromone component ratios and mating isolation among three Lygus plant bug species of North America

The plant bugs Lygus hesperus, Lygus lineolaris, and Lygus elisus (Hemiptera: Miridae) are major pests of many agricultural crops in North America. Previous studies suggested that females release a sex pheromone attractive to males. Other studies showed that males and females contain microgram amounts of (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal, hexyl butyrate, and (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate that are emitted as a defense against predators. Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, we found that female L. lineolaris and L. elisus have a 4:10 ratio of hexyl butyrate to (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate that is reversed from the 10:1 ratio in female L. hesperus (males of the three species have ~10:1 ratio). These reversed ratios among females of the species suggest a behavioral role. Because both sexes have nearly equal amounts of the major volatiles, females should release more to attract males. This expectation was supported because L. hesperus females released more hexyl butyrate (mean of 86 ng/h) during the night (1800–0700 hours) than did males (<1 ng/h). We used slow-rotating pairs of traps to test the attraction of species to blends of the volatiles with a subtractive method to detect synergism. Each species’ major butyrate ester was released at 3 μg/h, the minor butyrate according to its ratio, and (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal at 2 μg/h. The resulting catches of only Lygus males suggest that (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal is an essential sex pheromone component for all three species, (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate is essential for L. elisus and L. lineolaris, and hexyl butyrate is essential for L. hesperus. However, all three components are recognized by each species since ratios of the butyrate esters are critical for conspecific attraction and heterospecific avoidance by males and thus play a role in reproductive isolation among the three species. Because L. hesperus males and females are known to emit these major volatiles for repelling ant predators, our study links defensive allomones in Lygus bugs with an additional use as sex pheromones.     

Life cycle assessment of coated white board: a case study in China

Life cycle assessment was carried out using IMPACT2002+ to estimate the environmental impact of coated white board production, which is common in China. Normalized results showed that the potential impacts of respiratory inorganics, terrestrial ecotoxicity, global warming, and non-renewable energy had a dominant contributions to overall environmental impact. Specifically, emissions from chemical and energy production processes exhibited higher potential impact (more than 80% of the total contribution) on the environment than that of emissions generated from transport, landfill, wastewater treatment, and paper plants infrastructure. Energy recovery from black liquor and energy generation based on natural gas are key factors in reducing overall environmental potential impact. The current paper presents improvements on the environmental performance of a coated white board production site in China.     

Solubility of major species in precipitation: Factors of variation

The soluble and insoluble fractions of Cl, S, K, Ca, Zn, Al and Fe have been analyzed in six and 29 precipitation events collected in two rural sites in France, in Brittany and in the Vosges, respectively. The results are compatible with those of previous studies: Cl and S are soluble to the extent of more than 97%; K, Ca and Zn are more variable, with insoluble fractions up to 13%; Al and Fe are present in insoluble forms to the extent of about 80%.Large solubility variations are found for K, Zn and Al, with significant correlation with the pH for the latter. In the same way, the soluble percentages of K and Al are greater in the Vosges for precipitation events associated with air masses originating from the north and east sectors with high anthropogenic activities and high acidities.Finally, for a sequentially collected snow event, it is shown that although the pH is stable, the soluble and insoluble Al forms evolve differently, indicating differentiated enrichments and/or scavenging phenomena.     

Irresistible bouquet of death—how are burying beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae: Nicrophorus) attracted by carcasses

Chemical composition of volatiles emitted from fresh mouse carcasses (laboratory mice, Mus musculus) was studied using solid sample injection technique (solid-phase micro-extraction), two-dimensional gas chromatography with time of flight mass spectrometric detection and gas chromatography with electroantennographic detection. Electroantennography (EAG) and laboratory olfactometric behavioural observations were used to study the antennal sensitivity to identified infochemicals and their attractiveness for burying beetles Nicrophorus vespillo and Nicrophorus vespilloides (Silphidae: Nicrophorinae). Chemical analysis showed that immediately after death, emitted volatiles did not differ from those emitted by a living organism. However, in the course of time, sulphur-containing chemicals, specifically methanethiol, methyl thiolacetate, dimethyl sulphide, dimethyl disulphide and dimethyl trisulphide appear. EAG measurements revealed antennal sensitivity to these compounds. Behavioural tests in laboratory olfactometer showed that dimethyl sulphide, dimethyl disulphide and dimethyl trisulphide are highly attractive to both studied species. The data suggest that sulphur-containing chemicals are involved in mediating the fresh carcass attractiveness for N. vespillo and N. vespilloides.     

Local and national protection of endangered species: an assessment

We searched the statutory codes of all 50 states to locate provisions applicable to endangered and threatened species. The state statutes were compared to 6 components of the US Endangered Species Act: (1) coverage; (2) listing procedures and requirements under section 4; (3) habitat designation and protection procedures and criteria under sections 4 and 7; (4) prohibitions on commerce and taking under section 9; (5) exceptions to the prohibitions on commerce and taking and (6) conservation planning under section 4. State endangered and threatened species legislation is far less comprehensive than the federal act. Only 15 states have statutes that cover all plants and animals. Similarly, only 11 states offer any protection for taxa below the subspecific level. 45 states have provisions for listing species independently of the federal act but only 8 authorize emergency listings. 43 states have no provisions authorizing the designation of critical habitat; 39 states offer no protection against habitat destruction on either private or publicly owned lands. Most states prohibit commercial transactions and taking of listed animal species; plant species receive less protection. Only 3 states include any requirements that the wildlife management agency engage in recovery planning processes. In the absence of a federal statute to protect endangered and threatened species, we question whether current state protection is either adequate or would be maintained. We briefly examined legislation on endangered species in two other countries with federal systems of government, Australia and Canada. Canada lacked a federal statute. Assessment of national, state and territorial legislation in Australia revealed several similarities and differences with the United States endangered species legislation. Differences suggested an alternative to the top down approach embodied in the United States Endangered Species Act.     

Cryptic mammalian species: a new species of whiskered bat (Myotis alcathoe n. sp.) in Europe

The analysis of morphological, behavioural and genetic characters of whiskered bats revealed a new European bat species within the family Vespertilionidae. We describe the morphology, karyology, genetic similarity, ecology and distribution of Myotis alcathoe n. sp. It closely resembles Myotis mystacinus, Myotis brandtii and Myotis ikonnikovi in morphology, but all four species show clear genetic differences in two mitochondrial genes (ND1 and 12S rRNA). Myotis alcathoe n. sp. is the smallest species among the European whiskered bats and uses the highest-frequency echolocation calls of all the European Myotis species. It prefers to hunt in small valleys with deciduous trees and flowing water, which is an endangered habitat. Records from Greece and Hungary indicate a distribution range in south-eastern Europe.     

Life cycle assessment of offset printed matter with EDIP97: how important are emissions of chemicals?

Existing product life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on offset printed matter all point at paper as the overall dominating cause of environmental impacts. All studies focus on energy consumption and the dominating role of paper is primarily based on the energy-related impact categories: global warming, acidification and nutrient enrichment. Ecotoxicity and human toxicity, which are related to emissions of chemicals, etc., are only included to a limited degree or not at all. In this paper we include the impacts from chemicals emitted during the life cycle of sheet fed offset printed matter. This is done by making use of some of the newest knowledge about emissions from the production at the printing industry combined with knowledge about the composition of the printing materials used. In cases with available data also upstream emissions from the production of printing materials are included. The results show that inclusion of the chemical emission-related impacts makes the EDIP97 impact profile of sheet fed offset products much more varied, as well for the normalised profiles as for the profiles weighted by distance to political environmental targets. Especially the ecotoxicity impact potential related to the production stage may contribute significantly, and the use of paper no longer becomes the overall dominating factor driving the environmental impacts.     

Pre-listing conservation of candidate species under the endangered species act: An evaluation of prevalence,accessibility, and market-based conservation efforts

In 2011, a legal settlement required the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to develop a series of work plans to assess a backlog of candidate species for protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Using the resulting USFWS Fiscal Year 2013–2018 work plan, which included 261 candidate species, we identified and analyzed pre-listing candidate conservation plans (PLCP) to determine their characteristics and evaluate the use of market-based mechanisms. Among the 34 PLCPs identified, we found that species-based conservation plans were more common than habitat-based plans, and market-based conservation approaches were infrequently implemented. Inconsistencies in plan documentation were present throughout the USFWS’s online portal, and not all documentation was publicly accessible. Lastly, we found that many states had implemented their own endangered species programs or initiated conservation plans through a state agency. Our work informs the recently-adopted USFWS pre-listing conservation policy and highlights needed improvements in tracking large numbers of at-risk species as they become the subject of regulations. Increased transparency and consistency in conservation plan databases, coupled with increased accessibility, will improve future at-risk species planning.     

土壤样品保存过程中无机砷的形态变化及其样品保存方法

为选择合理的土壤样品保存方法,研究了不同保存条件下土壤样品及其水提取液中无机砷形态的动态变化．研究结果表明,采用常温方法保存土壤样品,其水溶态无机砷的总浓度变化不大,但水溶态As(Ⅲ)容易转化为As(Ⅴ);在风干条件下,随着保存时间的延长,样品中水溶态无机砷的总浓度和As(Ⅲ)浓度均会降低,As(Ⅲ)／As(Ⅴ)的比值呈增加趋势;在避光冷藏条件下,土壤样品中水溶态无机砷的总浓度、As(Ⅲ)和As(Ⅴ)浓度均基本保持不变．在避光冷藏、常温和冷冻条件下保存土壤水提取溶液,样品中无机砷的总浓度变化均不明显,但As(Ⅲ)浓度均呈下降趋势;避光冷藏条件下,As(Ⅲ)浓度在保存12d后缓慢下降,到第28天降低了9．0％;常温和冷冻条件下,As(Ⅲ)容易转化为As(Ⅴ)．因此,对于土壤中无机砷的形态测定而言,应采集新鲜土壤样品并在避光冷藏条件下保存．     

Efficiency of white lupin in the removal of mercury from contaminated soils： Soil and hydroponic experiments

This study examined the ability of the white lupin to remove mercury (Hg) from a hydroponic system (Hg concentrations 0, 1.25, 2.5, 5 and 10 μmol/L) and from soil in pots and lysimeters (total Hg concentration (19.2 ± 1.9) mg/kg availability 0.07%, and (28.9 ± 0.4) mg/kg availability 0.09%, respectively), and investigated the accumulation and distribution of Hg in different parts of the plant. White lupin roots efficiently took up Hg, but its translocation to the harvestable parts of the plant was low. The Hg concentration in the seeds posed no risk to human health according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, but the shoots should not be used as fodder for livestock, at least when unmixed with other fodder crops. The accumulation of Hg in the hydroponically-grown plants was linear over the concentration range tested. The amount of Hg retained in the roots, relative to the shoots, was almost constant irrespective of Hg dose (90%). In the soil experiments, Hg accumulation increased with exposure time and was the greater in the lysimeter than in the pot experiments. Although Hg removal was the greater in the hydroponic system, revealing the potential of the white lupin to extract Hg, bioaccumulation was the greatest in the lysimeter-grown plants; the latter system more likely reflects the true behaviour of white lupin in the field when Hg availability is a factor that limits Hg removal. The present results suggest that the white lupin could be used in long-term soil reclamation strategies that include the goal of profitable land use in Hg-polluted areas.     

海洋保护区珍稀濒危物种价值评估研究——以厦门海洋珍稀物种国家级自然保护区为例

合理评估海洋保护区的生态系统服务价值是海洋保护区的生态系统服务价值补偿研究的一大难题。本研究以厦门海洋珍稀物种国家级自然保护区为例,采用其主要目标物种来指示海洋保护区的价值,选取或然价值法,设计调查问卷获取人们对珍稀物种及其环境资源的支付意愿,统计估算出白海豚、文昌鱼和白鹭每年的价值分别为2.629、1.973、2.219亿元。本研究是海洋保护区生态系统服务价值评估的一次有益尝试,为建立海洋保护区生态补偿标准奠定了基础。     

Estimating the magnitude of morphoscapes: how to measure the morphological component of biodiversity in relation to habitats using geometric morphometrics

Ecological indicators are currently developed to account for the different facets of loss of biological diversity due to direct or indirect effects of human activities. Most ecological indicators include species richness as a metric. Others, such as functional traits and phylogenetic diversity, account for differences in species, even when species richness is the same. Here, we describe and apply a different indicator, called morphoscape dimension, accounting for morphological variability across habitats in a geographical region. We use the case of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in four different habitats in the Po Plain in Northern Italy to exemplify how to quantify the magnitude of the morphological space (i.e. the dimension of the morphoscape) occupied by the species in each habitat using geometric morphometrics. To this aim, we employed a variety of metrics of morphological disparity related to univariate size, and more complex multivariate shape and form. Our ‘proof of concept’ suggests that metrics assessing size and form might largely tend to simply mirror the information provided by species richness, whereas shape morphoscape disparity may be able to account for non-trivial differences in species traits amongst habitats. This is indicated by the woodland morphoscape being on average bigger than that of crops, the most species-rich habitat, despite having almost 20% less species. We conclude suggesting that the analysis of morphoscape dimension has the potential to become a new additional and complimentary tool in the hands of conservation biologists and ecologists to explore and quantify habitat complexity and inform decisions on management and conservation based on a wide set of ecological indicators.     

Songs of two starling species: common traits versus adaptations to the social environment

We analysed, for the first time, songs of the African Red-winged Starling Onychognathus morio and compared their general characteristics with those of the European Starling Sturnus vulgaris. Both species are gregarious during the non-breeding season, but European Starlings tend to nest in colonies, form unstable pair-bonds and are occasionally polygynous, whereas Red-winged Starlings form long-term pair-bonds and occupy exclusive nesting territories. Red-winged Starlings produced the same basic song categories as European Starlings: warbles and whistles. These two categories appeared to be involved in similar social interactions in the two species. However, several aspects of song behaviour differed between the two species: Red-winged Starlings, breeding in isolated nests, preferentially used whistles for long-distance communication and showed a simpler organization of warbling song. Whistles in the Red-winged Starling were mostly shared between birds and, in contrast to the European Starling, were not indicators of individual identity. Also in contrast to the European Starling, female song in Red-winged Starlings appeared very important throughout the breeding period. Our results suggest that some song characteristics in the two species are phylogenetically conserved whereas others are affected by the distinct social systems of the two species.     

Exploring tensions and conflicts in invasive species management: The case of Asian carp

There is a growing recognition that scientific and social conflict pervades invasive species management, but there is a need for empirical work that can help better understand these conflicts and how they can be addressed. We examined the tensions and conflicts facing invasive Asian carp management in Minnesota by conducting 16 in-depth interviews with state and federal agency officials, academics, and stakeholders. Interviewees discussed the tensions and conflicts they saw impacting management, their implications, and what could be done to address them. We found three key areas of conflict and tension in Asian carp management: 1) scientific uncertainty concerning the impacts of Asian carp and the efficacy and non-target effects of possible management actions; 2) social uncertainty concerning both the lack of societal agreement on how to respond to Asian carp and the need to avoid acting from apathy and/or fear; and 3) the desired approach to research and management – whether it is informed by “political need” or “biological reality”. Our study of these tensions and conflicts reveals their importance to Asian carp management and to invasive species management, more broadly. We conclude with a discussion of possible ways to address these areas of tension and conflict, including the potential of deliberative, participatory approaches to risk-related decision making and the need to productively engage with apathy and fear.     

Impact of climate change at species level: a case study of teak in India

In this study, we model the long-term effect of climate change on commercially important teak (Tectona grandis) and its productivity in India. This modelling assessment is based on climate projections of the regional climate model of the Hadley Center (HadRM3) and the dynamic vegetation model, IBIS. According to the model projections, 30% of teak grids in India are vulnerable to climate change under both A2 and B2 SRES scenarios because the future climate may not be optimal for teak at these grids. However, the net primary productivity and biomass are expected to increase because of elevated levels of CO₂. Given these directions of likely impacts, it is crucial to further investigate the climate change impacts on teak and incorporate such findings into long-term teak plantation programs. This study also demonstrates the feasibility and limitations of assessing the impact of projected climate change at the species level in the tropics.