Multispecies and Multiscale Conservation Planning: Setting Quantitative Targets for Red‐Listed Lichens on Ancient Oaks

Abstract: Species occurrence in a habitat patch depends on local habitat and the amount of that habitat in the wider landscape. We used predictions from empirical landscape studies to set quantitative conservation criteria and targets in a multispecies and multiscale conservation planning effort. We used regression analyses to compare species richness and occurrence of five red‐listed lichens on 50 ancient oaks (Quercus robur; 120–140 cm in diameter) with the density of ancient oaks in circles of varying radius from each individual oak. Species richness and the occurrence of three of the five species were best explained by increasing density of oaks within 0.5 km; one species was best explained by the density of oaks within 2 km, and another was best predicted by the density of oaks within 5 km. The minimum numbers of ancient oaks required for “successful conservation” was defined as the number of oaks required to obtain a predicted local occurrence of 50% for all species included or a predicted local occurrence of 80% for all species included. These numbers of oaks were calculated for two relevant landscape scales (1 km² and 13 km²) that corresponded to various species responses, in such a way that calculations also accounted for local number of oaks. Ten and seven of the 50 ancient oaks surveyed were situated in landscapes that already fulfilled criteria for successful conservation when the 50% and 80% criteria, respectively, were used to define the level of successful conservation. For cost‐efficient conservation, oak stands in the landscapes most suitable for successful conservation should be prioritized for conservation and management (e.g., grazing and planting of new oaks) at the expense of oak stands situated elsewhere.     

Comparing and Integrating Community-Based and Science-Based Approaches to Prioritizing Marine Areas for Protection

Abstract:  We compared and integrated marine protected areas proposed through community and scientific assessments in 2 regions of British Columbia, Canada. The community priorities were identified during individual and group interviews with knowledgeable resource users. The scientific priorities were developed with abiotic and biotic data in Marxan, a decision-support tool. The resulting maps of community-based and science-based priorities were very similar for the inshore areas, which lent credibility to both approaches. The resource users thought the science-based maps were fairly good at highlighting areas important for conservation, but preferred the scenarios that integrated the 2 maps to either constituent map. Incorporating spatial variation in human impacts on the marine areas and commercial fishing, which are both costs of protection, into our Marxan analyses led to scenarios that were different from either constituent map. Our results show the value of integrating community-based and science-based approaches in conservation planning to achieve community acceptance and conservation utility. They also reveal that people's assessments on the basis of their traditional ecological knowledge may serve as a reasonable proxy for scientific approaches in selecting areas of ecological value.     

关于黄土高原陇东地区环境变化的回顾与思考

在近七八十年里,生态环境脆弱的陇东地区由于人口增加引起乱砍滥伐、过度放牧、陡坡开垦造成的水土流失和引起大量开垦坡地,广种薄收,形成“越穷越垦、越垦越穷”的恶性循环等等,出现了一系列人地矛盾.随着植树造林,退耕还林,禁止放牧等一系列政策措施的实施和社会经济的快速发展,使得这一矛盾得到了一定程度的缓解,可今后怎样保持和继续深化以及怎样在环境可承载下发展经济和提高人民的生活水平是我们要思考的问题.从环境变化的几个方面进行讨论并得出一些存在的问题及建议.     

An Australian perspective on rewilding

Rewilding is increasingly recognized as a conservation tool but is often context specific, which inhibits broad application. Rewilding in Australia seeks to enhance ecosystem function and promote self-sustaining ecosystems. An absence of large-bodied native herbivores means trophic rewilding in mainland Australia has focused on the restoration of functions provided by apex predators and small mammals. Because of the pervasive influence of introduced mesopredators, predator-proof fences, and establishment of populations on predator-free islands are common rewilding approaches. This sets Australian rewilding apart from most jurisdictions and provides globally relevant insights but presents challenges to restoring function to broader landscapes. Passive rewilding is of limited utility in arid zones. Although increasing habitat extent and quality in mesic coastal areas may work, it will likely be necessary to undertake active management. Because much of Australia's population is in urban areas, rewilding efforts must include urban areas to maximize effectiveness. Thus rewilding is not synonymous with wilderness and can occur over multiple scales. Rewilding efforts must recognize human effects on other species and benefit both nature and humans. Rewilding in Australia requires development of a shared vision and strategy and proof-of-concept projects to demonstrate the benefits. The repackaging of existing conservation activities as rewilding may confuse and undermine the success of rewilding programs and should be avoided. As elsewhere, rewilding in Australia should be viewed as an important conservation tool.     

Use of Historical Logging Patterns to Identify Disproportionately Logged Ecosystems within Temperate Rainforests of Southeastern Alaska

The forests of southeastern Alaska remain largely intact and contain a substantial proportion of Earth's remaining old‐growth temperate rainforest. Nonetheless, industrial‐scale logging has occurred since the 1950s within a relatively narrow range of forest types that has never been quantified at a regional scale. We analyzed historical patterns of logging from 1954 through 2004 and compared the relative rates of change among forest types, landform associations, and biogeographic provinces. We found a consistent pattern of disproportionate logging at multiple scales, including large‐tree stands and landscapes with contiguous productive old‐growth forests. The highest rates of change were among landform associations and biogeographic provinces that originally contained the largest concentrations of productive old growth (i.e., timber volume >46.6 m³/ha). Although only 11.9% of productive old‐growth forests have been logged region wide, large‐tree stands have been reduced by at least 28.1%, karst forests by 37%, and landscapes with the highest volume of contiguous old growth by 66.5%. Within some island biogeographic provinces, loss of rare forest types may place local viability of species dependent on old growth at risk of extirpation. Examination of historical patterns of change among ecological forest types can facilitate planning for conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of forest resources. El Uso de Patrones Históricos de Tala para Identificar Ecosistemas Talados Desproporcionadamente en Bosques Lluviosos Templados del Sureste de Alaska Albert & Schoen 11‐839     

地震块体模型的共轭剪切破裂带数值模拟

对地震块体模型的应变率场的数值模拟结果表明 ,地震块体模型 ,尤其是当界面法向和切向刚度较大时 ,能产生明显的共轭剪切破裂带。地震块体模型存在老断层 ,呈现各向异性 ,因而 ,促进了某一方向上的主条带充分发展 ,与主条带共轭的次条带被抑制。存在复杂地质构造可能是地震带的间隔距离并不严格相等的原因。地震发生在剪切破裂带交叉部位的原因是这一位置剪切应变率较高。考察应变率场能揭示出地震块体模型的应变局部化特征。在构造运动作用下 ,新生构造与老构造并不重叠是可能的 ,因而 ,新生构造的交汇点就不一定出现在老断层上。地震块体模型的中心块体的尺寸越大 ,中心块体越稳定     

试对我国失地农民问题的理论探讨

失地农民在征地过程中没有得到合理补偿和妥善安置,影响农村经济发展和社会稳定.妥善安置失地农民,解决失地农民的后顾之忧,除控制征地规模,对现行征地制度、利益分配机制进行改革外,为失地农民的长远生计设计更合理的制度性保障已迫在眉睫.     

Conflict-induced displacement and involuntary resettlement in Colombia: putting Cernea's IRLR model to the test

This paper tests Cernea's (1997) impoverishment risks and livelihood reconstruction (IRLR) model in cases of conflict-induced displacement (CID). In applying the model to a situation involving internal conflict, the article illustrates the particular problems encountered by internally displaced people (IDPs) and policymakers charged to respond to them. The article searches for local interpretations of CID and resettlement through a comparative profile of two IDP settlements in Colombia: one urban, the other rural. It concludes that the IRLR model, when contextualised, provides a useful tool to identify and categorise risks of impoverishment and resettlement priorities. At the same time, however, the article demonstrates that the model insufficiently captures the root causes or causality of CID.     

生态环境影响评价导则的对比分析

通过新旧生态环境影响评价导则HJ19-2011和HJ/T19-1997的对比分析,对两个导则中主要内容的差异进行了解析。以帮助读者了解新旧导则的异同,有利于更加深入地理解和使用新生态环境影响评价导则。     

Inadvertent environmentalism and the action–value opportunity: reflections from studies at both ends of the generational spectrum

A recent turn towards a more contextually sensitive apprehension of the challenge of making everyday life less resource hungry has been partly underwritten by widespread evidence that the environmental values people commonly profess to hold do not often translate into correspondingly low impact actions. Yet sometimes the contexts of everyday life can also conspire to make people limit their consumption without ever explicitly connecting this to the environmental agenda. This paper considers this phenomenon with reference to UK studies from both ends of the generational spectrum. The first questioned how older people keep warm at home during winter and the second examined how young people get rid of no longer wanted possessions. Both found that, though the respondents involved were acting in certain ways that may be deemed comparatively low impact, they were hitherto relatively indifferent to the idea of characterising these actions as such. We outline three ways in which sustainability advocates might respond to the existence of such “inadvertent environmentalists” and consider how they might inspire studies that generate fresh intervention ideas instead of lingering on the dispiriting recognition that people do not often feel able to act for the environment.