Issues and challenges for forest-based carbon-offset projects: A case study of the Noel Kempff climate action project in Bolivia

The Noel Kempff Climate Action Project in Bolivia, nowin its third year, is breaking ground to establishcredible and verifiable methods to quantify greenhousegas (GHG) benefits of land-use change and forestry (LUCF)projects. Developed under the United Nations FrameworkConvention Climate Change (FCCC) Activities ImplementedJointly pilot phase, the project conserves naturalforests that would otherwise have been subjected tocontinued logging and future agricultural conversion.Carbon (C) monitoring began with a C inventory of theproject area in 1997. The total amount of C in theproject area was 118 Tg (Tg = 10¹²g) ± 4%(95% confidence interval). Periodic monitoring ofrelevant C pools (occurring in 1999 and every 5 yrthereafter) occurs over the 30-year life of theproject to establish the difference between thewith-project and projected without-project scenarios. Permanent sample plots were established both insidethe project area to monitor changes in C pools overtime and in a proxy logging concession near theproject area to determine changes in C pools inforests that have been impacted by logging. Ground-based monitoring is complemented by datacollection on forest industry trends and land-usechange patterns. Remote sensing was used to developa vegetation stratification map of the area, and workis ongoing to investigate the potential application ofdual-camera aerial videography to improve theefficiency of monitoring over time.     

Individual and species recognition in centrarchid fishes: evidence and hypotheses

Summary We conducted laboratory experiments to determine if juveniles of three species of centrarchid fishes displayed abilities for species or individual recognition. In one experiment we reared rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris) in social isolation and in social groups. Both the isolated and group-reared fish spent significantly more time close to conspecifics than to heterospecifics. These results suggest that species recognition in rock bass is controlled by a closed genetic program and that social experience is not necessary. A second set of experiments was conducted to determine if year-old blue-gill (Lepomis macrochirus), pumpkinseed (L. gibbosus), and rock bass juveniles could discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics. Bluegill spent significantly more time with familiar conspecifics than with unfamiliar conspecifics, while the other two species displayed no such trend. Bluegill spent significantly more time with familiar conspecifics than did either of the other two species. We postulate that these interspecific differences in recognition abilities may be related to differences in habitat and group parameters among the species.     

Predator recognition and anti-predator responses in the rainbowfish Melanotaenia eachamensis

Predator evasion behaviour patterns of three populations of rainbowfish (Melanotaenia eachamensis) were compared. The populations differed in the level of complexity of their natural habitats and the type and extent of predation. The predator recognition abilities of fish were assessed by exposing them to models differing in their degree of predator realism. The availability of vegetated cover and the location of the models with respect to cover were manipulated. Fish from Lake Tinaroo, a relatively open habitat containing numerous predators, showed strong changes in elective group size (EGS) in response to the different models but did not rely on cover as a place of refuge. In contrast, Dirran Creek fish originate from a small, fast-flowing, structurally complex stream lacking predatory fish species, and they showed little ability to distinguish between the different models and responded to threat by spending longer in vegetated areas. Members of the Lake Eacham captive stock increased their EGS in response to models representing low threat and with more threatening models increased the amount of time spent in vegetated regions of the arena. The contrasting reactions to predatory threat displayed by these populations highlights the need to use a number of different response indices when comparing the anti-predator responses of different fish populations. These data suggest that the level of habitat complexity as well as prior predator experience influence anti-predator responses of different fish popu-lations. Received: 2 October 1996 / Accepted after revision: 27 March 1997     

A Comparison of Direct and Environmental Domain Approaches to Planning Reservation of Forest Higher Plant Communities and Species in Tasmania

The planning of representative systems of nature conservation reserves can be based on a wide variety of criteria. The ready availability of data on the physical attributes of the environment, and the patchiness of biological data, have made reservation planning based on environmental classifications an attractive option for decision makers. We developed an environmental classification based on ecologically relevant variables and used it to plan a forest reserve system for Tasmania. We then used biological distributional data and the same targets and procedures to choose a forest reserve system. The analyses based on the environmental classification selected the same areas as equivalent analyses based on biological distributional data to a greater degree than could be expected by chance. Many rare species and communities missed selection by environmental classificatory units (environmental domains), however, and the proportions of ranges of selected taxa varied widely. Conversely, environmental domains were missed by a reservation strategy based only on biological data. These domains might reflect some gaps in the biological data. A reservation planning approach based on both biological data and domains may produce better results than either used in isolation.     

Effects of reproduction on the antipredator tactics of snakes (Tropidonophis mairii, Colubridae)

Does an animal’s reproductive state influence the distance at which it flees from an approaching predator? We predicted that reproduction would increase approach distances in pregnant females (because they are burdened with eggs and thus less able to escape rapidly), but reduce them in males (because of lower vigilance due to males focusing on mate-searching rather than predator detection). Field data on approach distances of keelback snakes (Tropidonophis mairii, Natricinae, Colubridae) supported both of these predictions. We walked the same 1.3-km transect along a dam wall in tropical Australia on 135 nights, and recorded the distances at which snakes fled from our approach. Locomotor speeds were measured for a subset of these animals. Variations in approach distance due to season, weather conditions, prior capture history and snake body size were minor, but reproduction strongly affected approach distances for snakes of both sexes. Gravid females were slower than non-gravid females, and fled at greater distances. Reproductive status did not affect locomotor speeds of males, but males that were reproductive (i.e., contained sperm) permitted closer approach than did non-reproductive adult males. Reproduction thus affected approach distances in snakes of both sexes, but in opposite directions and for different reasons.     

Methylalkylpyrazines in aposematic insects,their hostplants and mimics

Summary Adults of forty-five aposematic insect species from four orders, and/or, in eight cases, their early stages, were examined for the presence of 2-methoxy-3-alkylpyrazines by coupled gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The survey also included eight cryptic and related species and six unrelated mimics, twelve selected hostplants of those herbivores that had proved positive for such pyrazines, and nine well known toxic plants. Positive results were as follows: aposematic adult species, 26 (58 %); obscurely coloured species, 1 (12.5%); mimics, 2 (33%); host-plants, 5 (42%); well-known toxic plants, 4 (44%). Among the taxonomic groups, these pyrazines were found in the lepidopteran families and subfamilies Papilionidae, Danainae, Heliconiinae, Acraeinae, Zygaenidae and Arctiidae, and among the Coleoptera, in the Lycidae, Cantharidae, Endomychidae, Coccinellidae, Oedemeridae and Meloidae. Single cases of the occurrence of these pyrazines were also detected in the Hemiptera (Cercopidae) and Orthoptera (Pyrgomorphidae). Mimics were found with and without the pyrazines. Among the plants they were detected in Aristolochiaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Asteraceae, Papaveraceae, Passifloraceae, Solanaceae and Urticaceae. Some aposematic and phytophagous insects apparently sequester pyrazines from their hostplants whereas others, particularly the predatory species, manufacture these substancesde novo. Alerting signals in general are discussed.     

Reclamation of the Urad molybdenum mine,Empire, Colorado

The Urad Mine, located at an elevation of 10,400 feet near the Continental Divide in central Colorado, was operated from 1967–1974 by AMAX Inc. Mine related activities disturbed approximately 234 acres, of which two tailing deposition areas comprised 121 acres. Comprehensive reclamation was initiated prior to mine closure in 1974 and was completed in 1980.Conventional revegetation techniques were implemented on typical disturbances while the tailing areas were reclaimed with the aid of three waste products. Mine waste rock was used to cap the tailing areas, and sewage and wood wastes were used to convert the rock into a rudimentary soil. The rock was revegetated and the vegetation is now permanent and selfsustaining.     

Can the ratio of aromatic skeletons explain cross-species responses within evolutionarily conserved Ostariophysan alarm cues?: testing the purine-ratio hypothesis

Summary. While the response to damage-released chemical alarm cues within the superorder Ostariophysi appears to be highly conserved across species, it is generally observed that the intensity of response to heterospecific alarm cues decreases with increasing phylogenetic distance. Recent studies have demonstrated that purine-N-oxides function as chemical alarm cues within Ostariophyian fishes and that the nitrogen-oxide functional group is conserved as the chief molecular trigger. According to the purine-ratio hypothesis, these cross-species differences may be due to the relative proportion of different carrier compounds associated with the nitrogen-oxide molecular trigger. To test this hypothesis, we exposed glowlight tetras (Hemigrammus erythrozonus, Characidae, Ostariophysi) to one of five synthetic stimuli (hypoxanthine-3-N-oxide (H3NO), pyridine-N-oxide (PNO) or mixed stimuli of 75 % H3NO-25 % PNO, 50 % H3NO-50 % PNO, or 25 % H3NO-75 % PNO), natural conspecific chemical alarm cue or a distilled water control. We quantified changes in shoal cohesion and vertical area use as species typical indicators of an antipredator response. As predicted, response intensity decreased as the ratio of hypoxanthine-3-N-oxide to pyridine-N-oxide decreased and the strongest response was to natural alarm cue. These results suggest that species-specific carrier compounds may account for the well-documented cross-species differences in the response to heterospecific alarm cues within phylogenetically related taxa.