How the diversity of human concepts of nature affects conservation of biodiversity

Protecting nature has become a global concern. However, the very idea of nature is problematic. We examined the etymological and semantic diversity of the word used to translate nature in a conservation context in 76 of the primary languages of the world to identify the different relationships between humankind and nature. Surprisingly, the number of morphemes (distinct etymological roots) used by 7 billion people was low. Different linguistic superfamilies shared the same etymon across large cultural areas that correlate with the distribution of major religions. However, we found large differences in etymological meanings among these words, echoing the semantic differences and historical ambiguity of the contemporary European concept of nature. The principal current Western meaning of nature in environmental public policy, conservation science, and environmental ethics–that which is not a human artifact–appears to be relatively rare and recent and to contradict the vision of nature in most other cultures, including those of pre-Christian Europe. To avoid implicit cultural bias and hegemony–and thus to be globally intelligible and effective–it behooves nature conservationists to take into account this semantic diversity when proposing conservation policies and implementing conservation practices.     

鄂西北六个自然保护区鱼类群落结构及多样性比较

为了解鄂西北地区的鱼类多样性和鱼类群落结构,于2007~2012年先后对鄂西的八卦山自然保护区、堵河源自然保护区、五道峡自然保护区、南河自然保护区、野人谷自然保护区及漳河源自然保护区的鱼类资源进行调查。结果显示,6个自然保护区共有鱼类79种,隶属4目15科51属。鲤形目鱼类为6个自然保护区的主要类群,共56种,占总数的70.89%。6个自然保护区的鱼类食性和生态类群相似,鱼类食性均以肉食性和杂食性为主,草食性鱼类较少;定居性鱼类占主体,河湖洄游性和喜流水性鱼类较少。渔获物分析表明,堵河源自然保护区鱼类丰富度指数(D)最大,为2.60,八卦山自然保护区鱼类丰富度指数最小,为0.91。多样性分析表明,同一水系的保护区之间的β_c值和β_R值均比处于不同水系的保护区之间的β_c值和β_R值小;处于同一水系的保护区相似性系数(C_j)较高,处于不同水系的保护区之间的相似性系数较低(C_j),这很好的诠释了处于同一水系的自然保护区在地理环境上的连续性,而处于不同水系的自然保护区之间出现了地理环境的分化隔离。目前水电开发和过度捕捞是该地区鱼类最大的威胁因子,建议强化渔政管理,并建立鱼类人工繁育基地,以减缓水电工程带来的不利影响,恢复天然渔业资源。     

The cultural politics of mining and natural disaster in Indonesia: by fire and sword

Natural disasters are inevitably the outcome of cultural agonisms. The cultural politics of natural disasters are shaped by competing claims and conceptions of ‘nature’. Recent disasters in Indonesia are directly linked to these contending conceptions and the ways in which different social groups imagine risk and reward. The Sidoarjo volcanic mudflow of 2006 represents a volatile and violent exemplar of contending cultural and economic claims. Like other disasters in Indonesia and elsewhere in the developing world, this ‘natural’ disaster is characterised by differing conceptions of ‘nature’ as cultural tradition, divine force, and natural resource. A new extractive project in East Java is exhibiting similar economic and cultural agonisms, particularly around the notion of development, environment, self‐determination, and tradition. This paper examines the ‘disputes over meaning’ associated with natural disasters in contemporary societies, and the ways in which they are related to human culture, social organisation, and hierarchical systems of violence.     

基于冲击模型方法的自然保护区可靠性研究:以草海为例

自然保护区是受特殊保护和管理的一类特殊的可靠性系统。本文从可靠性视角出发,利用冲击模型方法和MATLAB随机模拟技术,以贵州草海为例分析自然保护区系统的寿命行为和失效规律。分析结果表明:(1)20世纪50年代以前,草海系统受到的人为干预相对较少,可靠性长期保持相对稳定。以人类活动为主的冲击影响始于20世纪50年代末,对保护区生态功能产生了强烈干预。(2)在1958—1980期间,政府出于防涝减灾考虑的引流排水行为扮演了系统的主要冲击,对其可靠性产生了毁灭性影响。(3)在1980年之后的30多年里,周边农民出于造田增地需求的排水毁林自发性活动则形成草海保护区的新一轮冲击,并持续影响着系统的生态功能。(4)目前草海在调节气候、缓解灾害、保持生物多样性方面的生态功能已严重弱化。如果最近几十年的人为冲击模式不能得到有效缓解,保护区系统极有可能在近期内再次发生功能性崩溃。     

Dutch new nature: (re)landscaping the Millingerwaard

This paper analyses how discourses of “new nature” have been implemented in the Dutch context – as a front runner of broader “rewilding” processes throughout Europe – frequently tied to imperatives of water safety. Drawing on the specific case of the Millingerwaard, we first examine how such discourses have materially, as well as socially, transformed the landscape in question. The paper then explores how these transformations have erstwhile affected those living in the area – in ways that are perceived, positively or negatively – according to varied groups of residents and users. In doing so, we critically reflect not only on “new nature” as it has been conceived within planning processes, and empirically practiced, in the Netherlands, but also how it is described and experienced by those whose lives are intimately tied to the landscape.     

硅烷化改性沸石对重金属离子的吸附性能

制得一种用于重金属废水处理的新型硅烷化改性沸石吸附剂,成本低、效果显著且稳定。通过对改性沸石表征,分析了改性对沸石结构的影响。结果表明,改性一定程度降低了原沸石的晶体特征,但基本上保持了其结构组成;硅烷化改性成功地在沸石上接枝了氨基。对硅烷化沸石的特性研究,得出硅烷化沸石对Ni2+、Cu2+、Zn2+和Pb2+吸附最佳投加量为1、1、1.6和0.6 g/L,且此时对4种离子的去除率也较好;吸附动力学研究得出,其吸附过程可用二级动力学方程较好地拟合;吸附达到平衡时,4种金属离子的平衡吸附量分别为11.23、17.41、15.45和59.42 mg/g;硅烷化沸石对金属离子的吸附行为更符合Langmuir模型,为化学吸附;在酸性条件下(pH=2～6),硅烷化沸石仍保持一定的吸附能力,具有一定的耐酸性。     

Making nature conservation modern: an analysis of developments in nature conservation policy in relation to macro-social changes—the Netherlands as a case study

It is often said that we live in the ecological era. It is also often said that society has entered a new phase, which—depending on the theoretical orientation—is called post-modern, post-industrial or risk society. This article analyses to what extent the presupposed shift to a phase beyond modernity is reflected in nature conservation policy. To do so, an analysis is first made of whether the basic perception and appreciation of nature in latter-day society differs essentially from perceptions and appreciations that were dominant during the heyday of modernity. When this turns out not to be the case, the development of nature conservation policy in the Netherlands during the last decades of the twentieth century is investigated to establish if conservation policy—that is, the way in which society deals with nature—has fundamentally changed. The conclusion is that Dutch policy with regard to nature has been undergoing a process of belated modernization in the sense that it is striving towards a firmer base in science and a more objective and quantifiable process of policy development. This can be seen as removing a pre-modern relic from modern society. At the same time, there is a late-modern drive towards consensus building and communication, which cannot be reconciled entirely with the stronger orientation towards science as the sole basis for deciding which kind of nature and how nature should be protected. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sentiment analysis of the Twitter response to Netflix's Our Planet documentary

The role of nature documentaries in shaping public attitudes and behavior toward conservation and wildlife issues is unclear. We analyzed the emotional content of over 2 million tweets related to Our Planet, a major nature documentary released on Netflix, with dictionary and rule-based automatic sentiment analysis. We also compared the sentiment associated with species mentioned in Our Planet and a set of control species with similar features but not mentioned in the documentary. Tweets were largely negative in sentiment at the time of release of the series. This effect was primarily linked to the highly skewed distributions of retweets and, in particular, to a single negatively valenced and massively retweeted tweet (>150,000 retweets). Species mentioned in Our Planet were associated with more negative sentiment than the control species, and this effect coincided with a short period following the airing of the series. Our results are consistent with a general negativity bias in cultural transmission and document the difficulty of evoking positive sentiment, on social media and elsewhere, in response to environmental problems.     

垃圾填埋场选址与风水选址浅析

通过对风水理论中关于选址要素的科学阐述,从自然环境和社会环境两个方面分析了风水选址和垃圾填埋场选址的共通与不同之处,并根据风水理论中“天人合一”的和谐理念,提出了在填埋场选址过程中,应该融入崇尚自然,尊重自然;结合实际,因地制宜;整体系统;以人为本,和谐构建等原则。     

自然保护区生态旅游开发与管理对策研究

充分利用自然保护区的旅游资源优势开展生态旅游 ,目前已得到国内外的共识 ,但旅游开发对自然保护区的影响问题同样也引起了人们的广泛关注。本文在分析我国自然保护区生态旅游发展现状的基础上 ,针对旅游开发中存在的问题 ,就如何正确处理自然保护和旅游开发的矛盾进行了探讨 ,并提出了我国自然保护区生态旅游发展的战略和管理对策。