Biotopic Variation and Phenogeography of Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas)

The phenetic structure of Dreissena polymorpha populations in different water bodies is considered. The phenotypes of shell pattern and sculpture are identified and described using a scheme based on elementary characters, or pattern elements. It is shown that the frequencies of phenes in mollusks from different biotopes of the cooling system of two thermal power plants differ significantly. The data on species phenogeography are reviewed.     

Environmental regulatory compliance on army lands: A case study

A “finding of no significant impact” (FONSI) resulting from an environmental assessment (EA) was reported by the US Army in June 1986 for the construction and utilization of a multipurpose range complex (MPRC) at the Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii. There was little public response, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service and state agencies were consulted and had few comments concerning the results of the botanical surveys used in the assessment. Construction of the $24 million project was begun in 1988. Near the end of construction in 1989 a lawsuit was filed to halt construction because an environmental impact statement (EIS) had not been done for the project, and the plaintiff thought that significant damage had occurred to several unusual ecosystems. Judgment was against the plaintiff and construction continued. An appeal was filed with the 9th Circuit Court. As MPRC construction was nearly complete, and on advice of Department of Justice lawyers, the Department of Army agreed to settle out of court. The settlement in part called for: (1) the plaintiff to drop the appeal and allow construction to be completed as scheduled, and (2) the Department of Army to prepare an EIS for the operation of the MPRC. A subsequent botanical survey for the EIS discovered one endangered plant species, four category 1 candidate plant species (taxa with sufficient data to support listing as endangered or threatened), three category 2 candidate plant species (taxa with some evidence of vulnerability but insufficient data to support listing at this time), one category 3a species (presumably extinct taxa), and possibly three undescribed species growing within the MPRC boundary. The MPRC case study is an excellent example of why the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) must be modified to require in-depth and thorough environmental surveys.     

羟胺/EDTA协同强化芬顿反应的机理与动力学

经典芬顿反应(Fe²⁺/H₂O₂)在实际水处理中存在pH响应范围窄、亚铁盐投加量大和铁泥产量高等技术瓶颈问题。改用乙二胺四乙酸(EDTA)络合的亚铁离子(Fe²⁺-EDTA)做引发剂后,pH响应范围明显扩大,然而也引入了有机二次污染,同时提高了溶解铁的去除难度。在Fe²⁺-EDTA/H₂O₂体系中投加还原性的羟胺(HA),可将失活的Fe³⁺-EDTA转化成具有活性的Fe²⁺-EDTA,从而实现低铁投加量/低EDTA投加量条件下有机污染物的消除。结果表明：以伊文思蓝为模型污染物,HA/EDTA/芬顿体系的pH范围可扩大至7.0~9.0;铁离子和EDTA的最佳投料比为1∶1,H₂O₂的最佳投加量为0.5 mmol∙L⁻¹,HA的最佳投加量为0.1 mmol∙L⁻¹; HA/EDTA/芬顿体系中主要的活性物质为羟基自由基(·OH);苯基甲基亚砜(PMSO)的降解路径分析则证明了新体系中高价铁(Fe^IV)几乎不起任何作用。以上结果表明,将羟胺引入EDTA/芬顿体系后可同步降低铁离子与络合剂的使用量,故此体系改变了络合剂强化的芬顿反应中药剂投加量过大与后续铁离子不好处置的问题,可为进一步拓展芬顿反应的应用范围提供参考。     

甘肃境内国家重点保护鸟类鱼类、两栖类的分布规律

对甘肃省境内国家重点保护鸟类的分布规律进行了分析.结果表明,该省分布有国家重点保护鸟类59种(含亚种),隶属7目11科,其中,国家1级保护鸟类12种,2级保护鸟类47种;重点保护鱼类1种;两栖类2种.国家重点保护鸟类以古北界为主,占61.0%,东洋界鸟类仅分布于陇中黄土高原省和陇南山地省占11.9%.陇中黄土高原省、祁连山地省、陇南山地省分布有国家重点保护鸟类57 5%～61.0%,是甘肃境内国家重点保护鸟类的集中分布区.祁连山、白龙江、洮河林区是甘肃省鸟类重点保护区域,祁连山、白水江、安西3个保护区保护了甘肃省境内保护鸟类的86.4%.国家重点保护鱼类仅有秦岭细鳞鲑(Brachymystaxlenok)1种,为古北界成分,国家2级保护动物,分布于中部黄土高原省的渭河南岸较大支流中.国家重点保护两栖类有2种,均为古北界成分,国家2级保护动物,分布于陇南山地省.     

Reflecting ecological criteria in laws supporting the Baja to Bering Sea marine protected areas network case study

Canadian and US marine conservation law, and other related law, was analyzed to determine if it reflected ecological criteria needed to implement connectivity among marine protected areas of the northeast Pacific in the proposed trilateral Baja to Bering Sea (B2B) initiative. The analysis included both nations’ federal laws and those of California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and British Columbia. While legal provisions exist already to implement marine protected areas for varying reasons, there is little capacity in most laws to create connectivity among them for conservation purposes. Only California's legislation contained explicit provisions for all the criteria. Other federal, state, and provincial laws, while containing provisions for species at risk and vulnerable habitats, generally lacked explicit provisions for the vital criteria, size of area, migratory patterns, and recruitment patterns. Implementation, future management, and protection of the proposed B2B marine network would be facilitated by amendment of both Canadian and US laws. Some of the ecological criteria are already implied implicitly or vaguely, but they need to be made explicit in the amended law. The legislative model of California could serve as a template for amending the laws of other jurisdictions in the B2B venture.     

Improving visitor management approaches for the changing preferences and behaviours of country park visitors in Hong Kong

This study identified the changing preferences of country park visitors in Hong Kong and the potential for such changes to have further negative impacts on the ecologically sensitive areas of country parks. A questionnaire was used to collect feedback from 644 country park visitors to understand their preferences and visitation patterns. To investigate visitors’ preferences and behaviours and to develop better visitor management strategies, the survey data were compared with studies conducted 20 years ago. The results showed that the most popular nature‐based activities of 20 years ago, namely, picnicking and barbecuing, have significantly declined in popularity, while other activities, namely, nature studies and nature photography, have surged in popularity in recent years. These changes in visitor preferences have directly increased the negative impacts of visitors on country parks as they dispersed away from the high intensity recreation zones to the ecological sensitive areas. This emerging group of country park visitors has not been fully considered in the existing approach to visitor management and may irreversibly impact the ecological value of country parks. In this study, visitor management in Hong Kong's country parks was reviewed based on these research findings, and potential improvements were suggested.     

Is this trail too crowded? A choice experiment to evaluate tradeoffs and preferences of park visitors in Garibaldi Park,British Columbia

Large crowds in parks can be a problem for park managers and visitors. However, perceptions of crowding are difficult to measure due to coping mechanisms deployed by park visitors. Furthermore, perceptions of crowding should not be measured in isolation, but rather as part of a suite of conditions that comprise the visitors’ outdoor experience. We used a dichotomous choice experiment with visual images and eight attributes to estimate park users’ utilities associated with their visitor experience in Garibaldi Provincial Park in British Columbia, Canada. Our visual method allowed us to control for background view and compare user preferences on hiking trails with preferences at final destinations. We find that utilities are more sensitive to crowding at viewpoints than to other aspects of the outdoor experience. Thus, visitor satisfaction and crowding perceptions are more likely to be defined by where visitors have these encounters rather than the total number of encounters.     

国外大尺度生态廊道保护进展与秦岭国家公园建设

大型山脉在其走向上往往是生物扩散和分布的天然廊道。然而,由于人类干扰引起的生境碎片化,山地廊道的连通性已大为降低。20世纪以来,人们普遍意识到当前或过去的自然保护措施往往规模太小,无法维持许多物种的长期生存及其所依赖的生态过程。因而,山地廊道的连通性保护日益受到关注,大尺度生态廊道被认为是长远意义上保护气候变化下生物多样性的最优策略。综述连通性保护和生态廊道的概念、发展历程及国外大尺度生态廊道建设实践的经验,并从连通性保护的角度对秦岭国家公园建设提出一些建议,强调大尺度的连通性保护和生态廊道建设对于国家公园自然生态系统的长远保护具有重要意义。     

大渡河流域电站建设对保护鱼类的影响及对策措施研究

为弄清大渡河流域电站建设对虎嘉鱼等5种保护鱼类的影响情况,探索适宜的保护措施,在流域枯水和丰水期分别选择了电站建设上下游6个有代表性的断面采集水样,采用电感耦合等离子发射光谱法等方法测定了重金属元素等16个指标,用单因子和综合指数评价法对电站上下游水质进行了对比评价;采用实地调查的方法调查了5种保护鱼类在近10年间种群数量的变化趋势。结果表明：电站建设对水质综合影响指数在1．64—1．82之间,影响严重;5种保护鱼类种群数量近10年间急剧下降,目前已为未见或罕见。     

The Role of Translocation in Recovery of Woodland Caribou Populations

Abstract: Maintenance of viable populations of many endangered species will require conservation action in perpetuity. Efforts to conserve these species are more likely to be successful if their reliance on conservation actions is assessed at the population level. Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) were extirpated recently from Banff National Park, Canada, and translocations of caribou to Banff and neighboring Jasper National Park are being considered. We used population viability analysis to assess the relative need for and benefits from translocation of individuals among caribou populations. We measured stochastic growth rates and the probability of quasi extinction of four populations of woodland caribou with and without translocation. We used two vital rates in our analysis: mean adult female survival and mean number of calves per breeding‐age female as estimates of mean fecundity. We isolated process variance for each vital rate. Our results suggested the Tonquin caribou population in Jasper is likely to remain viable without translocation, but that translocation is probably insufficient to prevent eventual extirpation of the two other populations in Jasper. Simulated reintroductions of caribou into Banff resulted in a 53–98% probability of >8 females remaining after 20 years, which suggests translocation may be an effective recovery tool for some caribou populations.