Bushmeat Markets on Bioko Island as a Measure of Hunting Pressure

Abstract: Counts of the number of animal carcasses arriving at Malabo market, Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, were made during two, 8-month study periods in 1991 and 1996. Comparisons of the availability and abundance of individual species between years showed that more species and more carcasses appeared in 1996 than in 1991. In biomass terms, the increase was significantly less, only 12.5%, when compared with almost 60% more carcasses entering the market in 1996. A larger number of carcasses of the smaller-bodied species (i.e., rodents and the blue duiker [ Cephalophus monticola ] ) were recorded in 1996 than in 1991. Although an additional four species of birds and one squirrel were recorded in 1996, these were less important in terms of their contribution to biomass or carcass numbers. Concurrently, there was a dramatic reduction in the larger-bodied species, Ogilby's duiker ( C. ogilbyi ) and seven diurnal primates. We examined these changes, especially the drop in the number of larger animals. We considered the possible following explanations: (1) the number of hunters dropped either because of enforced legislation or scarcity of larger prey; (2) a shift in the use of hunting techniques occurred (   from shotguns to snares); or (3) consumer demand for primate and duiker meat dropped, which increased demand for smaller game. Our results suggest that the situation in Bioko may be alarmingly close to a catastrophe in which primate populations of international conservation significance are being hunted to dangerously low numbers. Although there is still a need for surveys of actual densities of prey populations throughout the island, working with the human population on Bioko to find alternatives to bushmeat is an urgent priority.     

Will Observation Error and Biases Ruin the Use of Simple Extinction Models?

Abstract: Estimating the risk of extinction for populations of endangered species is an important component of conservation biology. These estimates must be made from data that contain both environmental noise in the year-to-year transitions in population size (so-called "process error"), random errors in sampling, and possible biases in sampling ( both forms of observation errors). To determine how much faith to place in estimated extinction rates, it is important to know how sensitive they are to observation error. We used three simple, commonly employed models of population dynamics to generate simulated population time series. We then combined random observation error or systematic biases with those data, fit models to the time series data, and observed how close the extinction dynamics of the fitted models compared with the dynamics of the underlying models. We found that systematic biases in sampling rarely affected estimates of extinction risk. We also found that even moderate levels of random observation error do not significantly affect extinction estimates except over a small range of process errors, corresponding to the region where extinction risk is most uncertain. With more substantial sampling error, estimates of extinction risk degraded rapidly. Field census techniques for a variety of taxa often involve observation errors within ±32% of actual population sizes. For typical time series used in conservation, therefore, we often may not need to be overly concerned about observation errors as an extra source of imperfection in our estimated extinction rates.     

Demographic Forecasting in Koala Conservation

Abstract: The koala currently needs conservation intervention. There is clear evidence of decline in many populations, but the existence of other stable or expanding populations offers the possibility of a variety of creative solutions to their conservation problems. The 1998 National Koala Conservation Strategy emphasizes the need to obtain demographic information and to use this information to assess management options for koalas. We need accurate diagnoses of the status of koala populations and forecasts of their demographic future with and without particular management actions. In a qualitative fashion, this process has been undertaken many times on a local and national scale. Quantitative demographic forecasting tools are increasingly available, and koala management could benefit from their application both at the scale of individual populations and more broadly. There is already a considerable body of suitable data on the dispersal, effects of normal and catastrophic environmental variation on reproduction and survival, and on the effects of habitat change. Demographic forecasting, however, is hampered because the full suite of information is rarely available from a single population. In two Queensland populations, retrospective population viability analyses provided forecasts that were in agreement with observed population trends. Work is needed to determine whether data from one population can be applied to other populations. Models can then be developed to make projections at a multipopulation level on the basis of local population dynamics and dispersal. Certain koala populations, because of their long history of study, offer the opportunity to test demographic models retrospectively. These tests will not only aid in fine-tuning the models for koala biology and data but will also assist with the more general process of validating the models.     

Poisoned plusiines: toxicity of milkweed latex and cardenolides to some generalist caterpillars

Summary. Larvae of Trichoplusia ni Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) that ingested latex from Asclepias curassavica L. (Asclepiadaceae) often regurgitated and convulsed with spasms before becoming immobile and unresponsive. Some larvae required over a day to recover sufficiently to feed. Latices from four other plant species in three families were all deterrent, but none caused detectable poisoning. The toxicity of A. curassavica latex was evidently due to cardenolides because pure cardenolides had similar effects when ingested by T. ni. Other species of noctuid caterpillars (Rachiplusia ou Guenée, Anagrapha falcifera Kirby, and Autographa precationis Guenée) sometimes also suffered spasms and temporary immobility when fed A. curassavica latex. A more distantly related noctuid, Spodoptera ornithogalli, was deterred by the latex, but showed no overt physiological responses at the dosage tested. T. ni larvae failed to develop on intact leaves of A. curassavica, on leaves with latex canals deactivated by midrib severance, and on excised leaves. Similarly, larvae reared on excised A. syriaca L. leaves to the final instar died when transferred to A. curassavica leaves with either intact or severed midribs. The final instar larvae sometimes suffered from spasms and immobility even when confined on leaves with depressurized canal systems. Evidently, cardenolides stored outside the latex system suffice to poison larvae. We conclude that cardenolides in A. curassavica have potent physiological effects on some generalist caterpillars and that the presence of these compounds both inside and outside laticifers effectively protects the plant. Received 30 June 1999; accepted 18 October 1999     

黄地老虎NPV增效作用的研究

对黄地老虎核型多角体病毒（ＡｓＮＰＶ）的多角体蛋白和病毒粒子组分进行分离纯化,分别与棉铃虫核型多角体病毒（ＨａＮＰＶ）混合感染三龄棉铃虫幼虫,发现此二种组分均能够提高棉铃虫幼虫的死亡率,缩短半致死时间,降低半致死浓度。使用酶联免疫吸附测定（ＥＬＩＳＡ）技术检验ＡｓＮＰＶ多角体蛋白和病毒粒子与粘虫颗粒体病毒增效因子（ＰｓＧＶ－ＳＦ）和ＨａＮＰＶ多角体蛋白的同源性,发现ＡｓＮＰＶ多角体蛋白和病毒粒子与     

GIS支持下乡镇域土壤肥力评价与分析

在地理信息系统支持下,以鄂南典型红壤丘陵区为例,研究了乡镇域土壤肥力评价的方法和过程,分析了土壤肥力变化原因。结果表明,应用GIS对乡镇域土壤肥力进行评价能克服速度慢、数据更新不方便的缺点,避免乡镇农业决策者主观判断土壤肥力等级的弊病,为生产布局和用地决策提供准确的科学依据。试区土壤肥力与土壤养分、土地利用和区域经济有关,肥力等级有向中等级变化的趋势。     

川东古代盐业开发对行政区划和城市分布的影响

盐是人类生活的必需品,盐的利用是人类发展史上的一大进步。以前在探讨早期人类活动以地关系时,主要关注温和的气候,宽阔的冲积平原或阶地、弃足的食物来源因素,极少考虑盐的重要性,这是历史学、考古学、地理学、经济的学的空白点。 和根据三峡库区的考古成果,结合对古盐井的考察研究后,认为：川东长江流域地区是井亍开发最早的区域,盐的利用与早期聚落的起源密切相关。手工业、商业从农业分离以后,越界 和为商品利润极高     

荆江分洪区1998年洪水转移调查分析

对荆江分洪区１９９８年洪水期间安全转移的调查表明,叶然有分洪预案,但实际转移时仍出现了相当程度的拥挤与混乱。完善分洪转移的组织与管理,已成为分洪区居民１９９８年转移后关注的焦点,分洪区居民普遍表现出对分洪洪水情不甚了解,通过各种方式开展有关洪水的宣伟,提高区内居民的防洪意识,是荆江分洪区未来防洪减灾的重点工作之一,由于是国家为保护更重要的地区而主动分洪。对分洪区历分洪蒙受的损失给预某种形式的补偿已     

基于数字流域的水文过程模拟研究

考虑流域下垫面空间变异性,基于数字高程模型构建了数字流域,并在此基础上对描述流域水文物理过程的数学方法进行了探讨,文章认为,数字水文模型是一种有物理基础的包含大容量信息的现代模拟灌河实例研究表明,数字水文模型可以十分方便地输出水文要素和状态变量的空间分布与时间序列,这对充分利用现有观测信息进行水文信息的深层挖掘创新了条件。