The perils of flawed science in wildlife trade literature

Despite broad scientific consensus that sustainable use of wildlife can enhance conservation efforts, ethical concerns have led some community groups to oppose use of wild animals. Voicing those concerns is legitimate, but underlying philosophical bias should not influence science-based analysis and interpretation. We argue that philosophical biases are common in the scientific literature on trade in wildlife. The critically important case of bias surrounding the use of reptile leathers for luxury fashion illustrates the problem. Based on analysis of official seizures of fashion products made from wildlife, a recent study inferred that criminal activity (as inferred by noncompliance with regulations) was common and increasing and, hence, that authorities needed to adopt more stringent restrictions on the trade. In fact, the conclusions of that study are artifacts of pseudoreplication (e.g., multiple counts of single violations) and biased sampling (e.g., focus on companies with high rates of error) and run directly opposite to actual patterns in the data. As a proportion of overall trade, rates of noncompliance are exceptionally low (<0.4%), are declining, and result primarily from paper-work errors rather than criminal intent (e.g., such errors are more frequent for goods shipped by government authorities than by the commercial fashion industry). The recommendation by the study authors to prohibit the international trade in wildlife-based fashion products is imperiling a sustainable trade that can benefit biodiversity and people's livelihoods by providing financial incentives for conservation of species and habitats. This example offers a warning of the dangers of basing research on the wildlife trade on ethical or philosophical positions rather than objective evaluations of evidence.     

The challenge of biased evidence in conservation

Efforts to tackle the current biodiversity crisis need to be as efficient and effective as possible given chronic underfunding. To inform decision-makers of the most effective conservation actions, it is important to identify biases and gaps in the conservation literature to prioritize future evidence generation. We used the Conservation Evidence database to assess the state of the global literature that tests conservation actions for amphibians and birds. For the studies in the database, we investigated their spatial and taxonomic extent and distribution across biomes, effectiveness metrics, and study designs. Studies were heavily concentrated in Western Europe and North America for birds and particularly for amphibians, and temperate forest and grassland biomes were highly represented relative to their percentage of land coverage. Studies that used the most reliable study designs—before-after control-impact and randomized controlled trials—were the most geographically restricted and scarce in the evidence base. There were negative spatial relationships between the numbers of studies and the numbers of threatened and data-deficient species worldwide. Taxonomic biases and gaps were apparent for amphibians and birds—some entire orders were absent from the evidence base—whereas others were poorly represented relative to the proportion of threatened species they contained. Metrics used to evaluate effectiveness of conservation actions were often inconsistent between studies, potentially making them less directly comparable and evidence synthesis more difficult. Testing conservation actions on threatened species outside Western Europe, North America, and Australasia should be prioritized. Standardizing metrics and improving the rigor of study designs used to test conservation actions would also improve the quality of the evidence base for synthesis and decision-making.     

危险化学品火灾爆炸事故鉴证

笔者综述危险化学品火灾爆炸事故鉴证工作的重要作用,针对分析鉴定工作中存在的问题和难点,提出鉴证工作的基本程序和方法即包括各种物证(含气态、液态和固态等物证)的采集、检材的提取、分析检验。在该类火灾爆炸事故发生后,对危险化学品生产、储存、运输过程进行综合分析,取得事故鉴证的结论——查明事故发生的真实原因,作为事故处理的技术依据。从而不仅查找出导致事故发生的原因,且可以举一反三,了解和消除生产过程中存在的问题和隐患,真正做到防患于未然。     

渔业污染事故调处存在的问题及对策

简要分析形成渔业污染事故调查处理难的成因,是由于渔业污染事故调处的法律规定不明确、机制不健全、技术保障不到位,并针对如何有效解决问题,提出环保、渔政、航政等机关应通力合作,从便于及时调处的角度,建立协调机构,以便及时迅速调处事故;从科学角度认识判断标准和证据,认识到渔业污染事故并非仅可能发生在法律规定的渔业水体中,各地应对重要渔业水体划定保护区,科学划定水产种质资源保护区等重要渔业水体,并及时向社会公布,采取相应措施保护水质环境;搞好监测,加强管理。     

从司法证据角度谈环境监测报告的规范性研究

介绍了“两高”司法解释对作为司法证据的检验报告的明确要求和认可流程,县级以上环境保护部门及其所属监测机构出具的监测数据,经省级以上环境保护部门认可的,可以作为证据使用.从质量体系的“人机料法环”五要素出发,逐一阐述了五要素在监测全过程和最终报告中的规范化体现,明确了环境监测报告的规范性编制,纠正了实践中常见的错误,提出只有充分符合五要素要求,才能确保环境监测报告作为司法证据使用.     

沉积物质量综合评价及应用证据权重法的案例分析

水体沉积物是水生生态系统重要的组成部分,沉积物污染将影响整个水生生态系统,因此有必要构建科学全面的水体沉积物质量评价方法,为环境污染修复与监管提供科学依据。已有文献报道了多种沉积物质量评价方法。其中,证据权重法通过对不同的证据进行测定与整合,弥补了传统评价方法的不足,可以对沉积物质量进行科学全面的评价。本文对证据权重法中化学分析、生物毒性和底栖生物群落结构3种证据的测量方法、赋权方法、证据整合与信息解译方法进行了系统评述,并以淡水河为例介绍了用多目标决策理想点法(TOPSIS)整合数据进行沉积物质量综合评价的方法。     

交通事故现场警务取证区块化溯源分析方法*

为突破以现场为中心的取证模式,研究基于交通事故过程导向的交通事故现场警务取证系统化方法,以审判为中心理念重构警务取证的新模式,应用区块链溯源方法的思想与技术,提出警务取证区块化溯源分析方法。结果表明:交通事故现场警务取证,应当以交通事故认定的交通事故构成的“七何”要件为证明标准;警务取证包括交通事故全过程的道路交通系统、交通事故现场、交通事故事实3个区块节点;取证具体涉及交通安全风险控制系统的8个系统要素,现场系统的7个系统要素,以及交通事故元素的2个事实要素。该方法的双向溯源技术可确保警务取证的成效,有效提升取证执法效能。     

基于多因素信息融合的城市供水安全评价系统

为了确定城市供水安全状态,提出1种基于多因素信息融合思想的城市供水安全评价方法。以城市供水安全指标体系为基础,建立供水安全指标与基本概率指派函数焦元的对应关系;采用组合权重确定各评价指标的权重值作为对指标证据的支持程度,通过加权合成方法得到各因素定量、定性信息的基本概率指派函数值,利用证据理论的Dempster组合规则进行因素融合。研究结果表明:以郑州市供水安全指标体系为例,在进行多指标信息融合时与解决证据冲突的融合方法计算结果相同,郑州市2006——2008年城市供水处于不安全状态,2008年以后安全等级逐步升高且趋于稳定状态,可以预测出在未来一段时间郑州市的供水处于安全状态。     

Probabilistic Modelling of Cattle Farm Distribution in Australia

A probabilistic Bayesian method called weights of evidence (WofE) was used to develop a synthetic dataset of cattle farm locations at a national scale across Australia. The synthetic dataset was required for the modelling of livestock movements with a view to assessing biosecurity implications. The WofE method is based on the analysis of spatial relationships between evidential patterns with respect to an event, such as the actual location of a farm. The evidential patterns of cattle farms were derived from maps of land use, land tenure, drainage systems, roads, settlements and long-term averaged rainfall. These evidential patterns were used for delineating and ranking land areas suitable for cattle farming. For each evidential pattern statistics such as a positive weight, a negative weight and a contrast were calculated for estimating the degree of correlation between the evidential patterns and known farm locations. The integrated evidential patterns of known farms were then used for estimating posterior probabilities and splitting land into five different classes according to its suitability for farming.

基于证据权重法的呼伦贝尔地区人为草原火险空间预测

应用证据权重法结合GIS空间分析,研究了呼伦贝尔地区人为草原火险。利用证据权重法定量化地分析了与人类活动密切相关的5个因子(乡村人口密度、载畜密度、居民点分布、城镇分布、公路网)与草原火点空间分布的关系,并建立了呼伦贝尔草原火险预测模型,据此在ARCVIEW的WofE扩展模块下生成一幅草原火险预测专题图,并将研究区划分为高、中、低三类风险区。研究表明:(1)呼伦贝尔草原火灾火点的空间分布与人类活动关系密切,尤其是乡村人口密度、公路网与居民点分布这三个因子,权重分别为0.5191,0.1945,0.2864;(2)证据权重法可以客观定量地表现出草原火险与人类活动的关系,因而可为草原火灾风险管理提供决策支持。