We introduce a new way of measuring and optimizing connectivity in conservation landscapes through time, accounting for both the biological needs of multiple species and the social and financial constraint of minimizing land area requiring additional protection. Our method is based on the concept of network flow; we demonstrate its use by optimizing protected areas in the Western Cape of South Africa to facilitate autogenic species shifts in geographic range under climate change for a family of endemic plants, the Cape Proteaceae. In 2005, P. Williams and colleagues introduced a novel framework for this protected area design task. To ensure population viability, they assumed each species should have a range size of at least 100 km2 of predicted suitable conditions contained in protected areas at all times between 2000 and 2050. The goal was to design multiple dispersal corridors for each species, connecting suitable conditions between time periods, subject to each species' limited dispersal ability, and minimizing the total area requiring additional protection. We show that both minimum range size and limited dispersal abilities can be naturally modeled using the concept of network flow. This allows us to apply well-established tools from operations research and computer science for solving network flow problems. Using the same data and this novel modeling approach, we reduce the area requiring additional protection by a third compared to previous methods, from 4593 km2 to 3062 km , while still achieving the same conservation planning goals. We prove that this is the best solution mathematically possible: the given planning goals cannot be achieved with a smaller area, given our modeling assumptions and data. Our method allows for flexibility and refinement of the underlying climate-change, species-habitat-suitability, and dispersal models. In particular, we propose an alternate formalization of a minimum range size moving through time and use network flow to achieve the revised goals, again with the smallest possible newly protected area (2850 km2). We show how to relate total dispersal distance to probability of successful dispersal, and compute a trade-off curve between this quantity and the total amount of extra land that must be protected. 相似文献
We compared measures of ecosystem state across six adjacent land-tenure groups in the intact tropical savanna landscapes of
northern Australia. Tenure groups include two managed by Aboriginal owners, two national parks, a cluster of pastoral leases,
and a military training area. This information is of relevance to the debate about the role of indigenous lands in the Australian
conservation estate. The timing and frequency of fire was determined by satellite imagery; the biomass and composition of
the herb-layer and the abundance of large feral herbivores by field surveys; and weediness by analysis of a Herbarium database.
European tenures varied greatly in fire frequencies but were consistently burnt earlier in the dry season than the two Aboriginal
tenures, the latter having intermediate fire frequencies. Weeds were more frequent in the European tenures, whilst feral animals
were most abundant in the Aboriginal tenures. This variation strongly implies a signature of current management and/or recent
environmental history. We identify indices suitable for monitoring of management outcomes in an extensive and sparsely populated
landscape. Aboriginal land offers a unique opportunity for the conservation of biodiversity through the maintenance of traditional
fire regimes. However, without financial support, traditional practices may prove unsustainable both economically and because
exotic weeds and feral animals will alter fire regimes. An additional return on investment in Aboriginal land management is
likely to be improved livelihoods and health outcomes for these disadvantaged communities. 相似文献
From simultaneous air and water polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) measurements collected in September 2010, we re-evaluated the direction and magnitude of net air-water exchange of PCBs in southwest Lake Michigan and compared them with estimations made using similar approaches 15 years prior. Air and water samples were collected during a research expedition on Lake Michigan at 5 km off the coast of Chicago, with prevailing winds from the southwest of our location. Gas-phase ΣPCB concentrations ranged from 190 to 1100 pg m?3 with a median of 770 pg m?3, which is similar to the concentrations measured in the City of Chicago at the same time and similar to concentrations measured in this part of the lake over the last 20 years. Water dissolved-phase ΣPCB concentrations ranged from 150 to 170 pg L?1 with a median of 160 pg L?1, which is one-tenth of that measured in the 1990s. ?PCB net fluxes showed a slightly absorptive behavior, with a median of (?) 21 ng m?2 day?1 and an interquartile range of (?) 47 to (+) 5 ng m?2 day?1, where (?) and (+) fluxes indicate absorption and volatilization, respectively. Airborne PCB concentrations were higher when the winds were coming from Chicago and drive the deposition. Our fluxes are not significantly different from estimations from 1994 and 1995 and suggest that absorption of PCBs into the waters is slightly more prevalent than 15 years ago. It was confirmed that Chicago remains an important atmospheric source of PCBs to Lake Michigan.
This meta-analysis examines whether the relationships between organizational commitment (OC) and its antecedents differ across occupational groups. Two models representing different antecedents are proposed: the member model, presented by the personal variables, and the organization model, presented by role related, structural and work experiences variables. The study is based on 98 samples with correlational data for the relationships between OC and its antecedents. The total sample was divided into two main occupational groups: white collar employees, subdivided into professionals and nonprofessionals, and blue collar employees. The findings reveal that in general the relationship between OC and personal antecedents, representing the member model, is stronger for blue collar and nonprofessional white collar employees than for professional employees. For the role-related, structural, and work experiences antecedents, representing the organization model, differences among the occupational groups were found to be less consistent. In general, the findings demonstrate that the member and the organization model operate differently for varying occupational groups. The findings are discussed in terms of the need for elaboration of the existing explanations for the development of OC. 相似文献
Tiger sharks are important predators in the seagrass ecosystem of Shark Bay, Australia. Although sharks appear to return to
a long-term study site within the Eastern Gulf periodically, the extent of their long-term movements is not known. Five sharks
fitted with satellite transmitters showed variable movement patterns. Three sharks remained within the Shark Bay region and
another made a 500 km round-trip excursion to oceanic waters northwest of the bay. These four sharks showed relatively low
displacement rates relative to sharks tracked over shorter time periods, suggesting that sharks move through large home ranges
that include Shark Bay. Although no reliable position fixes were obtained for the fifth shark, we were able to use the timing
of satellite uplinks and the position of the satellite to determine that it had moved at least 8,000 km to the coastal waters
of southeast Africa in 99 days—the longest recorded movement by a tiger shark. This movement and previously documented trans-Atlantic
movements suggest that tiger shark populations may mix across ocean basins and that tiger sharks are subject to anthropogenic
effects at great distances from protected waters. Finally, our method for using single satellite uplinks may be useful in
estimating movements for wide-ranging species that rarely provide high quality location estimates. 相似文献
Because behavioral variation within and among populations may result from ecological, social, genetic and phenotypic differences,
identifying the mechanism(s) responsible is challenging. Observational studies typically examine social learning by excluding
ecological and genetic factors, but this approach is insufficient for many complex behaviors associated with substantial environmental
variation. Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) in Shark Bay, Western Australia show individual differences in foraging tactics, including possible tool use with marine
sponges and social learning may be responsible for this diversity. However, the contributions of ecological factors to the
development of these foraging tactics were not previously investigated. Here, we determined the relationship between ecological
variables and foraging tactics and assessed whether differences in habitat use could explain individual differences in foraging
tactics. We monitored 14 survey zones to identify how foraging tactics were spatially distributed and matched behavioral data
to the ecological variables within each zone. Three of four foraging tactics were significantly correlated with ecological
characteristics such as seagrass biomass, water depth, presence of marine sponges and season. Further, individual differences
in habitat use were associated with some tactics. However, several tactics overlapped spatially and previous findings suggest
demographic and social factors also contribute to the individual variation in this population. This study illustrates the
importance of environmental heterogeneity in shaping foraging diversity and shows that investigating social learning by ruling
out alternative mechanisms may often be too simplistic, highlighting the need for methods incorporating the relative contributions
of multiple factors. 相似文献
Barkoh, Aaron, Dennis G. Smith, and Gregory M. Southard, 2010. Prymnesium parvum Control Treatments for Fish Hatcheries. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(1):161-169. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2009.00400.x Abstract: In 2001, the ichthyotoxic microalga Prymnesium parvum caused massive fish kills and adversely affected fish production at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Dundee State Fish Hatchery. Since then, we have investigated several P. parvum bloom and ichthyotoxicity control treatments to develop management strategies that allow fish production and prevent the spread of the alga into unaffected hatcheries and impoundments. Current control successes include treatments for ponds, water supply, and a hazard analysis and critical control point program. For pond treatment, ammonium sulfate (as 0.14-0.25 mg/l un-ionized ammonia nitrogen for temperatures above 15°C), copper sulfate (2 mg/l), Cutrine®-Plus (0.2-0.4 mg/l as copper), or potassium permanganate (3 mg/l above the potassium permanganate demand) controls P. parvum blooms. Copper sulfate at 1 mg/l controls P. parvum but is unable to eliminate ichthyotoxicity whereas potassium permanganate at 2 mg/l above the potassium permanganate demand controls ichthyotoxicity. For water treatment, ultraviolet (UV) light at 193-220 mJ/cm2 doses or ozone at 0.4-1.2 mg/l for 6 min destroy P. parvum cells and reduce or eliminate ichthyotoxicity. A combination UV and ozone treatment appears to provide the best results; however, successful treatments depend on dosage relative to cell density and toxin concentration. To prevent the spread of the alga, hatchery fish delivery units and equipment are cleaned with household bleach (10% solution for 15 minutes) or hydrogen peroxide (62.5-12,500 mg/l for 0.25-24 hours). These treatments are tailored to water quality conditions and the fish species cultured at affected TPWD hatcheries. We recommend that other users test these treatments before applying them to ponds or other impoundments containing fish or other aquatic life. 相似文献