Using Modeling to Improve Monitoring of Structured Populations: Are We Collecting the Right Data?

Abstract:  Population monitoring is central to most demographic studies and conservation efforts, but it may not always be directed at the most appropriate life stage. We used stochastic simulation modeling to evaluate the effectiveness of a monitoring program for a well-studied population of Eastern Imperial Eagles ( Aquila heliaca ) in Kazakhstan. Specifically, we asked whether the most appropriate data were being collected to understand system state and population dynamics. Our models were parameterized with data collected over the course of 25 years of study of this population. We used the models to conduct simulation experiments to evaluate relationships between monitored or potentially monitored parameters and the demographic variables of interest—population size ( N ) and population growth (λ). Static analyses showed that traditional territory-based monitoring was a poor indicator of eagle population size and growth and that monitoring survivorship would provide more information about these parameters. Nevertheless, these same traditionally monitored territory-based parameters had greater power to detect long-term changes in population size than did survivorship or population structure. Regardless of the taxa considered, threats can have immediate impacts on population size and growth or longer-term impacts on population dynamics. Prudently designed monitoring programs for any species will detect the demographic effects of both types of threats.     

A Reliability and Risk Analysis System for Multipurpose Reservoir Operation

This paper proposes a reliability analysis system, which can be widely applied to the cases in which a reservoir is operated to meet several purposes such as flood control, energy generation, irrigation, domestic and industrial water supply, etc. The presented system has a structure of three levels.1. Decision-making.2. Tradeoff analysis.3. The third level that mainly consists of three subsystems:i – The reservoir flood risk analysis subsystem by flood control simulation.ii – The benefit promotion subsystem of reservoir operation using Stochastic Dynamic Programming. In this subsystem, the Lagrange multipliers are introduced into the objective function to take into account the water supply failures. This method guarantees that each run of the SDP will necessarily derive a non-inferior policy for reservoir operation.iii – The reservoir operation simulation subsystem to derive the performance indices associated with the reservoir operation policies. With the input and feedback between the second level and the subsystems of the third level, a great deal of efficient operation policies and the associated performance indices can be obtained. Then the tradeoff relationships between different performance indices can be derived for the decision makers. With application to Yudong Reservoir in Yunnan province of China, the presented analysis system is practically tested.     

A statistical evaluation of non-ergodic variogram estimators

Geostatistics is a set of statistical techniques that is increasingly used to characterize spatial dependence in spatially referenced ecological data. A common feature of geostatistics is predicting values at unsampled locations from nearby samples using the kriging algorithm. Modeling spatial dependence in sampled data is necessary before kriging and is usually accomplished with the variogram and its traditional estimator. Other types of estimators, known as non-ergodic estimators, have been used in ecological applications. Non-ergodic estimators were originally suggested as a method of choice when sampled data are preferentially located and exhibit a skewed frequency distribution. Preferentially located samples can occur, for example, when areas with high values are sampled more intensely than other areas. In earlier studies the visual appearance of variograms from traditional and non-ergodic estimators were compared. Here we evaluate the estimators' relative performance in prediction. We also show algebraically that a non-ergodic version of the variogram is equivalent to the traditional variogram estimator. Simulations, designed to investigate the effects of data skewness and preferential sampling on variogram estimation and kriging, showed the traditional variogram estimator outperforms the non-ergodic estimators under these conditions. We also analyzed data on carabid beetle abundance, which exhibited large-scale spatial variability (trend) and a skewed frequency distribution. Detrending data followed by robust estimation of the residual variogram is demonstrated to be a successful alternative to the non-ergodic approach.     

Using the bootstrap with two-phase adaptive stratified samples from multiple populations at multiple locations

Recently the two-phase adaptive stratified sampling design proposed by Francis (1984) has been extended by Manly et al. (2002) for situations where several biological populations are sampled simultaneously, and where this is done at several different geographical locations in order to estimate population totals or means. The method uses the results from a first phase sample to decide how best to allocate a second phase sample to locations and strata, in order to maximise a criterion (based on estimated coefficients of variation) that measures the accuracy of estimation for population totals, for all variables at all locations. One potential problem with this method is bias in the estimators of the population totals and means. In this paper bootstrapping is considered as a means of overcoming these biases. It is shown using model populations of Pacific walrus and shellfish, based on real data, that bootstrapping is a useful tool for removing about half of the bias. This is also confirmed from some simulations using artificial data.     

苏打盐碱土地区水田水盐运移模拟与预测研究

井灌种稻虽然是近年来松嫩平原西部土地苏打盐碱化治理的有效途径,但苏打盐碱地种稻改良对土壤盐分状况的长期影响,却缺乏定量化评价。作者选择该区代表性地点,通过田间观测与建立模型相结合的方法,对现有种植条件下的水田盐分动态变化进行了模拟和检验。研究发现,经过一定开垦年限土壤剖面平均含盐量下降到1.5g·kg-1左右后,在降水量正常的条件下,土壤盐分已基本达到平衡,不再随着开垦年限增加而进一步下降。相反,如遇干旱年份土壤盐分还会略有增加。需要进一步采取增加排水次数、改善土壤通透性等其它技术措施,才能使苏打盐碱地种稻改良达到更加理想的效果。     

上海市松江镇饮用水水源区的保护与环境管理方案

保护集镇饮用水河流是当前水污染防治工作的重点。本文通过现状分析，针对城乡结合部河流以面源为主的特点，找出影响饮用水河流水质的主要污染源及污水排放特征．用系统分析方法，将集镇的经济、人口、环境统计资料作为环境管理模型的主要输入信息，经计算机仿真，得出保护水源水质应采取的对策与治理方案。     

Resampling from stochastic simulations

To model the uncertainty of an estimate of a global property, the estimation process is repeated on multiple simulated fields, with the same sampling strategy and estimation algorithm. As opposed to conventional bootstrap, this resampling scheme allows for spatially correlated data and the common situation of preferential and biased sampling. The practice of this technique is developed on a large data set where the reference sampling distributions are available. Comparison of the resampled distributions to that reference shows the probability intervals obtained by resampling to be reasonably accurate and conservative, provided the original and actual sample has been corrected for the major biases induced by preferential sampling.Andre G. Journel is a Professor of Petroleum Engineering at Stanford University with a joint appointment in the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences. He is, also, Director of the Stanford Center for Reservoir Forecasting. Professor Journel has pioneered applications of geostatistical techniques in the mining/petroleum industry and extended his expertise to environmental applications and repository site characterization. Most notably, he developed the concept of non-parametric geostatistics and stochastic imaging with application to modeling uncertainty in reservoir/site characterization. Although the research described in this article has been supported by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under Cooperative Agreement CR819407, it has not been subjected to Agency review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency and no official endorsement should be inferred.     

计算机辅助确定外因火灾位置方法

系统介绍用计算机辅助确定矿井外因火灾位置方法的原理,给出该方法的具体步骤,剖析其定性分析、定量分析和定量分析结果评价三大步骤中的各技术关键,并借助一个实例验证了该方法实用的可行性     

中国东部季风区末次冰期以来古气候模拟

通过对我国东部季风区现代青土样品孢粉组合与气候因子间的回归分析,分别建立了孢粉组合与一月,七月气温和年降水量的转换函数,进而建立了本区末次冰期以来的孢粉－气候数据库,模拟末次冰期盛冰期,消冰期,全新世前北方期－北方期,大西洋期,亚北方期等五个古气候期的冬季和夏季温度场,降水场。     

WIND GENERATED WAVES IN LAKE OKEECHOBEE1

ABSTRACT: The study of wind generated waves is important because waves affect sediment resuspension in lakes. Measurements of wind velocity and wave elevation were made at three different stations in Lake Okeechobee. Significant wave heights were computed using a direct count from the recorded data, and verified by the root-mean-square value approach. The correlation between wind stress and significant wave height also was analyzed. The data revealed a strong correlation. In addition to field measurements, a Boussinesq-type wind-wave model was developed to simulate wind-generated, long-propagating waves. This model included the effects of wind stress and bottom viscous dissipation. Wave elevation and velocity field were evaluated numerically. A six-day simulation using 1996 wind data was conducted. Simulated significant wave heights were found to agree reasonably well with measured values. A predictive wind-wave model provides information about wind generated waves, which is used to compute bottom shear stresses required for sediment resuspension studies.