Management Decentralization and Montane Forest Conditions in Tanzania

Abstract: We examined how differences in local forest‐management institutions relate to disparate anthropogenic forest disturbance and forest conditions among three neighboring montane forests in Tanzania under centralized, comanaged, or communal management. Institutional differences have been shaped by decentralization reforms. We conducted semistructured interviews with members of forest management committees, local government, and village households and measured anthropogenic disturbance, tree structure, and species composition in forest plots. We assessed differences in governance system components of local institutions, including land tenure, decision‐making autonomy by forest users, and official and de facto processes of rule formation, monitoring, and enforcement among the three management strategies. We also assessed differences in frequencies of prohibited logging and subsistence pole cutting, and measures of forest condition. An adjacent research forest served as an ecological reference for comparison of forest conditions. Governance was similar for comanaged and centralized management, whereas communal managers had greater tenure security and decision‐making autonomy over the use and management of their forest. There was significantly less illegal logging in the communal forest, but subsistence pole cutting was common across all management strategies. The comanaged forest was most disturbed by recent logging and pole cutting, as were peripheral areas of the larger centralized forest. This manifested in more degraded indicators of forest conditions (lower mean tree size, basal area, density of trees ≥ 90 cm dbh, and aboveground biomass and higher overall stem density). Greater tenure security and institutional autonomy of the communal strategy contributed to more effective management, less illegal logging, and maintenance of good forest conditions, but generating livelihood benefits was a challenge for both decentralized strategies. Our results underscore the importance of well‐designed institutional arrangements in forest management and illustrate mechanisms for improved forest governance and conservation in the context of Tanzanian decentralization reforms.     

Evaluating the Success of Conservation Actions in Safeguarding Tropical Forest Biodiversity

Abstract: We reviewed the evidence on the extent and efficacy of conservation of tropical forest biodiversity for each of the classes of conservation action defined by the new International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classification. Protected areas are the most tested conservation approach, and a number of studies show they are generally effective in slowing deforestation. There is some documentation of the extent of sustainable timber management in tropical forest, but little information on other landscape‐conservation tactics. The extent and effectiveness of ex situ species conservation is quite well known. Forty‐one tropical‐forest species now survive only in captivity. Other single‐species conservation actions are not as well documented. The potential of policy mechanisms, such as international conventions and provision of funds, to slow extinctions in tropical forests is considerable, but the effects of policy are difficult to measure. Finally, interventions to promote tropical conservation by supporting education and livelihoods, providing incentives, and furthering capacity building are all thought to be important, but their extent and effectiveness remain poorly known. For birds, the best studied taxon, the sum of such conservation actions has averted one‐fifth of the extinctions that would otherwise have occurred over the last century. Clearly, tropical forest conservation works, but more is needed, as is critical assessment of what works in what circumstances, if mass extinction is to be averted.     

Association of Coloration Mode with Population Declines and Endangerment in Australian Frogs

Abstract: Successful protection of biodiversity requires increased understanding of the ecological characteristics that predispose some species to endangerment. Theory posits that species with polymorphic or variable coloration should have larger distributions, use more diverse resources, and be less vulnerable to population declines and extinctions, compared with taxa that do not vary in color. We used information from literature on 194 species of Australian frogs to search for associations of coloration mode with ecological variables. In general, species with variable or polymorphic color patterns had larger ranges, used more habitats, were less prone to have a negative population trend, and were estimated as less vulnerable to extinction compared with nonvariable species. An association of variable coloration with lower endangerment was also evident when we controlled statistically for the effects of range size. Nonvariable coloration was not a strong predictor of endangerment, and information on several characteristics is needed to reliably identify and protect species that are prone to decline and may become threatened by extinction in the near future. Analyses based on phylogenetic‐independent contrasts did not support the hypothesis that evolutionary transitions between nonvariable and variable or polymorphic coloration have been accompanied by changes in the ecological variables we examined. Irrefutable demonstration of a role of color pattern variation in amphibian decline and in the dynamics and persistence of populations in general will require a manipulative experimental approach.     

Changing Drivers of Deforestation and New Opportunities for Conservation

Abstract: Over the past 50 years, human agents of deforestation have changed in ways that have potentially important implications for conservation efforts. We characterized these changes through a meta‐analysis of case studies of land‐cover change in the tropics. From the 1960s to the 1980s, small‐scale farmers, with state assistance, deforested large areas of tropical forest in Southeast Asia and Latin America. As globalization and urbanization increased during the 1980s, the agents of deforestation changed in two important parts of the tropical biome, the lowland rainforests in Brazil and Indonesia. Well‐capitalized ranchers, farmers, and loggers producing for consumers in distant markets became more prominent in these places and this globalization weakened the historically strong relationship between local population growth and forest cover. At the same time, forests have begun to regrow in some tropical uplands. These changing circumstances, we believe, suggest two new and differing strategies for biodiversity conservation in the tropics, one focused on conserving uplands and the other on promoting environmental stewardship in lowlands and other areas conducive to industrial agriculture.     

废啤酒酵母吸附去除水溶液中活性红4

用废啤酒酵母作生物吸附剂吸附水溶液中活性红4(RR4),并对吸附性能进行了评价。通过电位滴定和FTIR分析表明废啤酒酵母上主要存在磺酸基、羧基及氨基等官能团。对溶液pH值、RR4浓度和吸附时间等因素对吸附的影响进行了研究,结果表明:废啤酒酵母对RR4的吸附速率快,320min即可达到吸附平衡;酸性条件利于吸附,碱性条件下则会发生解吸附,pH=11条件下解吸附率高于86%;等温吸附数据符合Langmuir模式,pH=2条件下废啤酒酵母对RR4的最大吸附量为103.36mg/g。     

嘉兴农村不同土地利用方式下沟渠底泥中的氮磷形态分布特征

沟渠是农田氮、磷营养物质排入地表水体的通道. 对嘉兴大田、集约化菜地、集约化果园、集约化养殖场4种土地利用方式下的农村沟渠0～5 cm表层底泥氮、磷的形态分布特征进行了研究. 结果表明:67个沟渠底泥样品的w(全氮)为1 560～7 480 mg/kg,其中w(交换态氮)为31.15～704.38 mg/kg,占w(全氮)的1.29%～10.01%;交换态氮中以铵态氮为主,占w(交换态氮)的62.15%～100%. 沟渠底泥样品的w(全磷)为580～6 420 mg/kg,w(碳酸氢钠溶解磷)为19.53～359.72 mg/kg,占w(全磷)的2.05%～18.96%;w(水溶性磷)为0.29～18.88 mg/kg,占w(碳酸氢钠溶解磷)的1.11%～14.63%. 土地利用方式对沟渠底泥氮、磷的形态分布有显著影响(P<0.01),集约化养殖场沟渠底泥中的w(全氮), w(交换态氮),w(铵态氮), w(硝态氮), w(交换态氮)/w(全氮), w(全磷), w(水溶性磷), w(碳酸氢钠溶解磷)均显著高于其他土地利用方式. 底泥w(全氮), w(交换态氮), w(铵态氮)和w(硝态氮)两两间以及w(全磷), w(水溶性磷), w(碳酸氢钠溶解磷)两两间均在α0.01时显著相关,w(全磷)与w(碳酸氢钠溶解磷)的相关性(r0.81,P<0.01)好于与w(水溶性磷)的相关性(r0.51,P<0.01).      

不同土壤对垃圾沥滤液净化效能研究

通过土柱模拟实验比较了不同土壤对垃圾沥滤液中高浓度污染物NH4+-N和COD的去除效率。结果表明不同类型土壤对垃圾沥滤液的处理效果有明显差异。紫色土对沥滤液NH4+-N的去除效率可达到95%以上,COD去除率较低;腐殖土对COD去除率最高,出水NH+4-N含量随pH值的上升迅速下降;与腐殖土相比,黄壤对NH+4-N的去除效果较高,对COD的去除率较低。随进水次数增加,土柱对渗滤液中污染物的去除效率明显降低。     

取代芳烃对呆鲦鱼急性毒性的QSAR研究

应用密度泛函方法(DFT)在B3LYP/6-311G**水平上全优化计算25个取代芳烃的量子化学参数,结合疏水性参数与化合物对呆鲦鱼的急性毒性进行定量构效关系研究(QSAR)。经逐步回归筛选变量后,所建多元线性回归方程的相关系数R及去一法交互检验复相关系数R2cv分别为0.967和0.907。用预测集样本进行了外部预测,所得外部预测样本复相关系数R2ext和外部预测集交互检验Q2ext分别为0.881和0.836。模型结果显示:分子疏水性参数logP较大时具有较大的脂溶性,化合物的毒性较大;取代基的吸电子能力越强,苯环的正电性越大,化合物的毒性越大。