The Outcome of Northern Fur Seal Harvesting: The Results of Calibration of Mathematical Models Based on Observation Data (the Example of Tyulenii Island Population)

Tendencies in the dynamics of harvested northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) population on the Tyulenii Island have been analyzed in detail. The results show that retardation of reproduction (decrease in the numbers of pups) and decline in the survival of young females (up to 3 years of age) by the late 1980s resulted in a reduction of the total number of females and a significant increase in the proportion of older females. This tendency changed during the later observation period (after 1988–1989) due to increase in the survival of young females: the female population has gradually recovered, with the proportion of young females increasing at the expense of old females (aged over 10 years). The age composition of males has also changed: the proportion of young animals has decreased, while that of large mature males (bulls) has increased. Moreover, the number of bulls continues to increase and has already exceeded the level that formerly provided for the well-being of the population. This, a paradoxical situation has arisen: the numbers of females and bulls are increasing, whereas pup production remains at a low level.

     

Hierarchical priority setting for restoration in a watershed in NE Spain, based on assessments of soil erosion and ecosystem services

Maintaining and enhancing ecosystem services through the restoration of degraded ecosystems have become an important biodiversity conservation strategy. Deciding where to restore ecosystems for the attainment of multiple services is a key issue for future planning, management, and human well-being. Most restoration projects usually entail a small number of actions in a local area and do not consider the potential benefits of planning restoration at broad regional scales. We developed a hierarchical priority setting approach to evaluate the performance of restoration measures in a semiarid basin in NE Spain (the Martín River Basin, 2,112 km²). Our analysis utilized a combination of erosion (a key driver of degradation in this Mediterranean region) and six spatially explicit ecosystem services data layers (five of these maps plotted surrogates for soil retention and accumulation, water supply and regulation, and carbon storage, and one plotted a cultural service, ecotourism). Hierarchical maps were generated using a geographic information system that combined areas important for providing a bundle of ecosystem services, as state variables, with erosion maps, as the disturbance or regulatory variable. This was performed for multiple scales, thereby identifying the most adequate scale of analysis and establishing a spatial hierarchy of restoration actions based on the combination of the evaluation of erosion rates and the provision of ecosystem services. Our approach provides managers with a straightforward method for determining the spatial distribution of values for a set of ecosystem services in relation to ecological degradation thresholds and for allocating efforts and resources for restoration projects in complex landscapes.     

Genetic consequences of radioactive contamination by the Chernobyl fallout to agricultural crops

The genetic consequences of radioactive contamination by the fallout to agricultural crops after the accident at the Chernobyl NPP in 1986 have been studied. In the first, acute, period of this accident, when the absorbed dose was primarily due to external beta- and gamma-irradiation, the radiation injury of agricultural crops, according to the basic cytogenetic tests, resembled the effect produced by acute gamma-irradiation at comparable doses. The yield of cytogenetic damage in leaf meristem of plants grown in the 10-km zone of the ChNPP in 1987-1989 (the period of chronic, lower level radiation exposure) was shown to be enhanced and dependent on the level of radioactive contamination. The rate of decline with time in cytogenetic damage induced by chronic exposure lagged considerably behind that of the radiation exposure. Analysis of genetic variability in three sequential generations of rye and wheat revealed increased cytogenetic damage in plants exposed to chronic irradiation during the 2nd and 3rd years.     

红色荒漠化雏议

根据国际上对于荒漠化概念的新说明以及由联合国环境规划署所资助的《中国荒漠化 (土地退化 )防治研究》课题报告中确定的荒漠化定义 ,荒漠化概念的内涵包括 :1)以土地退化为本质 ;2 )与人类活动相关联 ;3)以荒漠化景观为标志 ;4 )以脆弱生态环境为背景。因此我国的荒漠化类型除了风蚀作用形成的沙质荒漠化外 ,还有水蚀作用形成的土质荒漠化和石质荒漠化 ;荒漠化防治的重点区域除北方干旱、半干旱和半湿润地区以外 ,也包括南方湿润地区的红壤丘陵区和石质山区。其中属于水蚀荒漠化和土质荒漠化的红色荒漠化就是指我国南方红壤丘陵区在人类不合理经济活动和脆弱生态环境相互作用背景下 ,以流水侵蚀为主导作用而形成、以地表出现劣地为标志的严重土地退化。鉴于我国南方红色荒漠化现象在我国现实存在中的客观性、在全球变化中的特殊性以及在理论概念上的模糊性 ,有必要对其进行深入研究     

基于AHP和DEA模型的农业生态效率评价——以无锡市为例

农业面源污染已成为我国重要环境污染源之一,但由于农业面源污染具有分散、面广、周期长、随机性等特点,在评价上存在较大难度。根据生态效率理论,结合农业生产的特点,建立了综合考虑经济效益和环境影响的农业生态效率评价指标体系,并以江苏省无锡市为例,选取该市1998~2008年农业生产和面源污染相关数据,运用偏好锥的数据包络分析模型（DEA）对其农业生态效率进行了评价分析。结果显示：1998~2008年,无锡市农业生态效率呈现先下降后上升的趋势,近三年累计上升幅度达22%。表明近年来无锡市农业面源污染治理成效显著,农业可持续发展水平显著提高。提出的农业生态效率评价体系和方法为进一步推进农业面源污染治理工作提供了依据     

Management of an Agroecosystem

Agroecosystems (AESs) are autotrophic ecosystems managed by man. The goal of the management is to obtain the maximum possible amount of high-quality agricultural products while preserving agricultural resources, primarily the soils and biodiversity. The main components of the management of AES structures and functions, including primary and secondary biological production, the ratio between the energy flows in the plant–man and plant–livestock–man food chains, the efficiency of energy transfer in the plant–livestock link, and conservation of agricultural resources, are considered.     

公共场所火灾伤员转运护理应急资源评估

为保障伤员生命与健康,提升火灾伤员救治率,该文研究公共场所火灾伤员转运护理应急资源评估方法.以火灾伤员转运护理应急资源需求分析为基础,从应急人员、应急设备、应急环境信息与应急管理四个方面出发,共选取15个评估指标,构建公共场所火灾伤员转运护理应急资源评估指标体系,根据各指标采集相关数据并对数据实施量纲标准化处理.构建基...     

Predicted impact of ocean acidification on a marine invertebrate: elevated CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> alters response to thermal stress in sea urchin larvae

Ocean acidification (OA) and the biological consequences of altered seawater chemistry have emerged as a significant environmental threat to healthy marine ecosystems. Because a more acidic ocean interferes with fixation of calcium carbonate to form shells or calcified skeletons, future ocean chemistry may significantly alter the physiology of calcifying marine organisms. These alterations may manifest themselves directly in the calcification process, or have synergistic effects with other environmental factors such as elevated temperatures. New tools permit us to explore subtle changes in gene expression patterns in response to environmental conditions. We raised sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) under conditions simulating future atmospheric CO₂ levels of 540 and 970 ppm. When larvae raised under elevated CO₂ conditions were subjected to 1-h acute temperature stress, their ability to mount a physiological response (as measured by expression of the molecular chaperone hsp70) was reduced relative to those raised under ambient CO₂ conditions. These results represent the first use of gene expression assays to study the effects of OA on sea urchin development. They highlight the importance of looking at multiple environmental factors simultaneously as this approach may reveal previously unsuspected biological impacts of atmospheric changes.     

Climate and maternal effects modify sex ratios in a weakly dimorphic marsupial

There is growing evidence that the sex ratios of wild vertebrate populations are determined by mechanisms that are directly influenced by environmental characteristics. The Trivers–Willard (TWH) and extrinsic modification (EMH) hypotheses postulate differing determinants of mammalian offspring sex ratios. TWH states that mothers allocate resources according to their current condition and sex-specific offspring costs. EMH states that environmental forces that affect maternal condition determine offspring sex ratios, independently of maternal tactics of sex-biased allocation. We statistically assessed support for each of these hypotheses using long-term life histories of the allied rock-wallaby, Petrogale assimilis; a continuously breeding, polygynous, weakly dimorphic marsupial. We showed that birth sex ratios were equal and independent of maternal and environmental conditions. However, secondary sex ratios were male-biased under good environmental conditions and for high quality mothers or mothers in good condition. Sex differences in offspring survival contributed to these biases: (1) environmental conditions strongly influenced survival to pouch emergence (in support of EMH) and (2) maternal quality affected survival to the end of maternal care (in support of TWH). Environmental effects on survival were more important than maternal factors over the entire period of maternal care and contributed most to male-biased sex ratios at pouch emergence. In contrast, maternal mass was the best predictor of sex ratios at the end of maternal care—the life history stage where offspring body mass differed between the sexes.     

Re-orientation in clock-shifted homing pigeons subjected to a magnetic disturbance: a study with GPS data loggers

Some authors have proposed that homing pigeons are able to correct the error in orientation following a phase-shift treatment by using the magnetic compass reference. They reported that clock-shifted pigeons bearing magnets display a greater deflection compared to magnetically unmanipulated clock-shifted birds. However, this hypothesis tested by recording pigeons’ vanishing bearings has led to contradictory results. The present study reports pigeons’ tracks recorded with a GPS and shows that clock-shifted pigeons bearing magnets displayed a greater deviation through the whole route compared to the magnetically unmanipulated shifted pigeons. Moreover, the analysis of the tracks shows that the birds belonging to both experimental groups stop in coincidence with their subjective night. When re-starting their journey, the birds corrected the clock-shift induced error in orientation, but the magnetically manipulated pigeons were less efficient in doing so. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that homing pigeons released from unfamiliar location re-orient after clock shift by using the magnetic compass.