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.     

垃圾填埋场大气汞的浓度和形态

对贵阳市和武汉市的5座城市生活垃圾填埋场大气中的ρ(气态总汞)进行了测定,并分析了填埋场的大气活性气态汞、颗粒态汞、单甲基汞和二甲基汞的质量浓度分布. 结果表明:5座填埋场ρ(气态总汞)为1.6～473.7 ng/m3,不同采样点的平均值为8.5～155.7 ng/m3,最高值出现在填埋场的工作面及工作面下风向区域;而封闭填埋场或运行填埋场的覆土区的ρ(气态总汞)较低. 天气条件和垃圾处理活动均可影响ρ(气态总汞)水平. 贵阳高雁垃圾填埋场大气ρ(活性气态汞),ρ(颗粒态汞),ρ(单甲基汞)和ρ(二甲基汞)的平均值分别为37.4,255.3,12.4和12.7 pg/m3. 虽然不同形态汞的质量浓度明显高于全球背景值,但其产生的环境风险不大.      

安徽铜陵铜尾矿硫形态及硫同位素分布特征

分析讨论了安徽铜陵水木冲S和SP剖面尾矿砂的理化指标、硫形态变化和硫酸根硫同位素组成与分布特征.结果显示：S和SP剖面整体呈酸性,pH值为2.59~6.12和3.50~6.27,由下而上有明显的降低趋势;Eh随剖面由下至上明显升高,范围为66~457和-37~307mV;酸可挥发性硫（AVS）含量为0~62.36和0~3.44mg/g,黄铁矿硫（CRS）含量为0.70~32.30mg/g和0.17~5.39mg/g;AVS与CRS的变化趋势基本一致,随剖面自下而上减少,且AVS先于CRS被氧化.2个剖面元素硫（ES）含量为0~8.83和0~3.62mg/g,随深度变化无明显规律.硫酸根硫（SO₄^2--S）含量为8.44~66.34和8.48~29.87mg/g,自下而上呈降低趋势,且分别在剖面的氢氧化物薄膜层（11.5~16.5cm和18~54cm）出现高值区.2个剖面总硫（TS）含量为9.18~109.69和12.38~37.72mg/g,表层由于淋滤含量较低,底层变化则不大.位于斜坡上的SP剖面TS及各形态硫含量均低于S剖面,表明淋滤对硫含量影响更明显.硫酸根硫同位素δ³⁴S为-3.32‰~13.43‰和-3.08‰~1.80‰,S-9硫酸根δ³⁴S为13.43‰,指示其来自于伴生硬石膏,其余层位δ³⁴S偏负且变幅较小,指示其硫酸根主要来源于硫化物的氧化.     

Degradation of Populus euphratica community in the lower reaches of the Tarim River, Xinjiang, China

IntroductionRiparian systems are aquatic-terrestrial ecotones withunique biotic , biophysical and landscape characteristics(Gregory, 1991 ; Naiman, 1997 ; Wiens , 2002) and areshaped by fluvial geomorphic processes . Riparian plantcommunities perform an i…     

类二噁英物质及芳香烃受体(AhR)介导的有害结局路径(AOP)研究进展

二噁英及类二噁英物质(dioxin-like compounds,DLCs)是一类高毒性化合物的统称,对其毒理学的研究一直都是备受关注的焦点。已有证据表明,高毒二噁英及DLCs主要通过激活芳香烃受体(aryl hydrocarbon receptor,AhR),进而导致一系列生物毒性。近年来越来越多的新型有机污染物被发现具有类二噁英分子结构并存在潜在生物毒性或活性。与此同时,如何评估二噁英及DLCs对本土生态生物的危害及其风险也受到更多关注。本文综述了近几年发现的新型二噁英物质、二噁英及DLCs的AhR致毒机制、相应的有害结局路径(adverse outcome pathway,AOP)及AOP在指导探索新型物质及物种敏感性方面上的新观点和发现,同时也展望了二噁英及DLCs在生态毒理及风险评估领域的未来研究方向。     

三江平原湿地植物的土壤环境因子分析

以三江平原毛果苔草(Carex lasiocarpa)湿地和小叶章(Deyeuxia angustifolia)湿地为研究对象,选取土壤全氮(TN)、全磷(TP)、有效氮、有效磷、有机质、pH值和土壤含水量为主要环境控制因子,通过主成分分析(PCA)和逐步多元回归分析,来确定环境因子对物种相对密度和地上生物量的贡献值.结果表明,2个样地中土壤全氮、全磷、有效氮和有效磷的贡献率能达50%左右.毛果苔草湿地中主成分1能够解释88%的物种相对密度和84%的地上生物量;小叶章湿地中主成分1对相对密度和地上生物量的解释量则分别为75%和58%.湿地营养状况决定着植物的生产量;土壤含水量的变化影响着植物对营养物质的吸收和利用.     

铝系混凝剂优势形态分析及其混凝特性

聚合氯化铝（PACl）是常用的水处理混凝剂,在应用过程中通常表现出比传统铝盐更为优异的效果.研究表明,这种优异性能主要得益于其特殊的组成,特别是高分子聚合物Al₁₃和Al₃₀独特的物化特性.Al₁₃和Al₃₀是铝离子水解过程中的中间产物,在地球科学和环境化学等领域有着重要的研究价值.于水处理而言,二者的结构和分子特性是研究者关注的重点,大量研究基于此展开,很多重要的发现为实际应用奠定了基础.基于对PACl及其组成性质的研究,本文对PACl的混凝特性及其优势形态分子的分析进行了综合阐述.     

Effects of productivity on biodiversity in forest ecosystems across the United States and China

In the global campaign against biodiversity loss in forest ecosystems, land managers need to know the status of forest biodiversity, but practical guidelines for conserving biodiversity in forest management are lacking. A major obstacle is the incomplete understanding of the relationship between site primary productivity and plant diversity, due to insufficient ecosystem‐wide data, especially for taxonomically and structurally diverse forest ecosystems. We investigated the effects of site productivity (the site's inherent capacity to grow timber) on tree species richness across 19 types of forest ecosystems in North America and China through 3 ground‐sourced forest inventory data sets (U.S. Forest Inventory and Analysis, Cooperative Alaska Forest Inventory, and Chinese Forest Management Planning Inventory). All forest types conformed to a consistent and highly significant (P < 0.001) hump‐shaped unimodal relationship, of which the generalized coefficients of determination averaged 20.5% over all the forest types. That is, tree species richness first increased as productivity increased at a progressively slower rate, and, after reaching a maximum, richness started to decline. Our consistent findings suggest that forests of high productivity would sustain few species because they consist mostly of flat homogeneous areas lacking an environmental gradient along which a diversity of species with different habitats can coexist. The consistency of the productivity–biodiversity relationship among the 3 data sets we examined makes it possible to quantify the expected tree species richness that a forest stand is capable of sustaining, and a comparison between the actual species richness and the sustainable values can be useful in prioritizing conservation efforts.     

Defining and Evaluating the Umbrella Species Concept for Conserving and Restoring Landscape Connectivity

Conserving or restoring landscape connectivity between patches of breeding habitat is a common strategy to protect threatened species from habitat fragmentation. By managing connectivity for some species, usually charismatic vertebrates, it is often assumed that these species will serve as conservation umbrellas for other species. We tested this assumption by developing a quantitative method to measure overlap in dispersal habitat of 3 threatened species—a bird (the umbrella), a butterfly, and a frog—inhabiting the same fragmented landscape. Dispersal habitat was determined with Circuitscape, which was parameterized with movement data collected for each species. Despite differences in natural history and breeding habitat, we found substantial overlap in the spatial distributions of areas important for dispersal of this suite of taxa. However, the intuitive umbrella species (the bird) did not have the highest overlap with other species in terms of the areas that supported connectivity. Nevertheless, we contend that when there are no irreconcilable differences between the dispersal habitats of species that cohabitate on the landscape, managing for umbrella species can help conserve or restore connectivity simultaneously for multiple threatened species with different habitat requirements. Definición y Evaluación del Concepto de Especie Paraguas para Conservar y Restaurar la Conectividad de Paisajes     

Potential Negative Ecological Effects of Corridors

Despite many studies showing that landscape corridors increase dispersal and species richness for disparate taxa, concerns persist that corridors can have unintended negative effects. In particular, some of the same mechanisms that underlie positive effects of corridors on species of conservation interest may also increase the spread and impact of antagonistic species (e.g., predators and pathogens), foster negative effects of edges, increase invasion by exotic species, increase the spread of unwanted disturbances such as fire, or increase population synchrony and thus reduce persistence. We conducted a literature review and meta‐analysis to evaluate the prevalence of each of these negative effects. We found no evidence that corridors increase unwanted disturbance or non‐native species invasion; however, these have not been well‐studied concerns (1 and 6 studies, respectively). Other effects of corridors were more often studied and yielded inconsistent results; mean effect sizes were indistinguishable from zero. The effect of edges on abundances of target species was as likely to be positive as negative. Corridors were as likely to have no effect on antagonists or population synchrony as they were to increase those negative effects. We found 3 deficiencies in the literature. First, despite studies on how corridors affect predators, there are few studies of related consequences for prey population size and persistence. Second, properly designed studies of negative corridor effects are needed in natural corridors at scales larger than those achievable in experimental systems. Third, studies are needed to test more targeted hypotheses about when corridor‐mediated effects on invasive species or disturbance may be negative for species of management concern. Overall, we found no overarching support for concerns that construction and maintenance of habitat corridors may result in unintended negative consequences. Negative edge effects may be mitigated by widening corridors or softening edges between corridors and the matrix. Other negative effects are relatively small and manageable compared with the large positive effects of facilitating dispersal and increasing diversity of native species. Efectos Negativos Potenciales de los Corredores