Effectiveness of Scat‐Detection Dogs in Determining Species Presence in a Tropical Savanna Landscape

Abstract: Most protected areas are too small to sustain populations of wide‐ranging mammals; thus, identification and conservation of high‐quality habitat for those animals outside parks is often a high priority, particularly for regions where extensive land conversion is occurring. This is the case in the vicinity of Emas National Park, a small protected area in the Brazilian Cerrado. Over the last 40 years the native vegetation surrounding the park has been converted to agriculture, but the region still supports virtually all of the animals native to the area. We determined the effectiveness of scat‐detection dogs in detecting presence of five species of mammals threatened with extinction by habitat loss: maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), puma (Puma concolor), jaguar (Panthera onca), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), and giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus). The probability of scat detection varied among the five species and among survey quadrats of different size, but was consistent across team, season, and year. The probability of occurrence, determined from the presence of scat, in a randomly selected site within the study area ranged from 0.14 for jaguars, which occur primarily in the forested areas of the park, to 0.91 for maned wolves, the most widely distributed species in our study area. Most occurrences of giant armadillos in the park were in open grasslands, but in the agricultural matrix they tended to occur in riparian woodlands. At least one target species occurred in every survey quadrat, and giant armadillos, jaguars, and maned wolves were more likely to be present in quadrats located inside than outside the park. The effort required for detection of scats was highest for the two felids. We were able to detect the presence for each of five wide‐ranging species inside and outside the park and to assign occurrence probabilities to specific survey sites. Thus, scat dogs provide an effective survey tool for rare species even when accurate detection likelihoods are required. We believe the way we used scat‐detection dogs to determine the presence of species can be applied to the detection of other mammalian species in other ecosystems.     

我国土壤修复行业面临的问题及商业模式分析

基于我国土壤污染的严峻形势,分析了我国土壤修复行业面临的主要问题。针对我国土壤修复资金需求量大,资金来源困难、责任界定情况复杂等现状,探讨了"谁污染,谁治理"、"谁使用,谁治理"、"政府出资"、RT、ROT、ROO、TRT等几种适合我国国情的土壤修复商业模式。同时,结合我国土壤修复行业正处于成长期初级阶段的现实情况,展望了我国土壤修复行业的发展,并给出了一些有益建议。     

辽宁矿山固体废弃物对环境影响遥感调查分析

辽宁矿种繁多,矿山固体废弃物产出量巨大。为了加强生态环境建设,在矿山固体废弃物对生态环境影响遥感调查的基础上,论述了矿山固体废弃物调查对象与内容、技术路线与工作方法,并分析了辽宁矿山固体废弃物产出量及矿山固体废弃物对环境的影响。     

LIDAR技术在内陆水系监测管理中应用综述

机载激光雷达(Light Detection and Ranging,LIDAR)测距系统是20世纪90年代发展起来的高新技术,该系统是集激光、全球定位系统和惯性导航系统3种技术于一体的测量系统,能够快速、精确的获取物体三维数据。文章简要说明了LIDAR技术的基本原理。介绍了国外LIDAR技术在内陆河流监测中的应用,如河网测绘、河漫滩的监测管理、河岸侵蚀监测、洪水监测管理等内陆水系监测管理实例。通过对流域范围的LIDAR点云数据进行滤波与分类,建立数字高程模型,或结合使用地理信息系统、遥感影像、全球定位系统采集的数据,来实现上述实例。简要评述了LIDAR技术在内陆水域监测管理方面的优势,以及当前我国内陆水系监测管理的技术现状。通过国外典型案例说明LIDAR技术在我国内陆水系监测管理中广阔的应用前景。     

大学生减灾教育对策研究

灾害风险认知能力是进行减灾教育的基础,受众获取灾害知识与信息的方式是影响减灾教育方法的重要因素,而受众获取灾害知识与信息的途径则会直接影响灾害内容的传递效率和效果。本文针对以上所关心的问题,为了建立合理有效的大学生减灾教育计划,应对大学生防灾减灾意识和能力不足的现状,通过问卷调查,分析和研究了来自不同生源地大学生的灾害风险认知水平、获取灾害知识和信息的方式与途径。从自然灾害风险认知的视角,通过寻找不同特性大学生群体获取减灾知识与信息的差异和趋同性,提出了现势条件下针对大学生的减灾教育对策。     

Long-term survey of heavy-metal pollution, biofilm contamination and diatom community structure in the Riou Mort watershed, South-West France

In a metal-polluted stream in the Riou Mort watershed in SW France, periphytic biofilm was analyzed for diatom cell densities and taxonomic composition, dry weight and metal bio-accumulation (cadmium and zinc). Periphytic diatom communities were affected by the metal but displayed induced tolerance, seen through structural impact (dominance of small, adnate species) as well as morphological abnormalities particularly in the genera Ulnaria and Fragilaria. Species assemblages were characterized by taxa known to occur in metal-polluted environments, and shifts in the community structure expressed seasonal patterns: high numbers of Eolimna minima, Nitzschia palea and Pinnularia parvulissima were recorded in Summer and Autumn, whereas the species Surirella brebissonii, Achnanthidium minutissimum, Navicula lanceolata and Surirella angusta were dominant in Winter and Spring. Commonly used indices such as the Shannon diversity index and Specific Pollution Sensitivity Index reflected the level of pollution and suggest seasonal periodicity, the lowest diversities being observed in Summer.     

Comparison of preservation values between Internet and interview survey modes: the case of Dokdo,South Korea

With the increase in employment of Internet surveys, there is a need to address how this survey mode affects inferences. Internet and interview modes are compared in estimating the preservation value of Dokdo, South Korea. Estimates of willingness to pay in the Internet survey are smaller than those in the interview survey. This may be attributable to the interview respondents being conscious of the presence of the interviewers, given the social importance of Dokdo to Koreans. Internet surveys may be effective in reducing overestimation of the willingness to pay in situations where potential social desirability is present.     

Environmental implications of planned obsolescence and product lifetime: a literature review

The aim of this paper was to explore the implications of planned obsolescence (PO) and the associated product lifetime on the environmental impact of products. To achieve this task, a literature review was performed to assess both the historical context and recent situation of planned obsolescence. A search in scholarly journals was performed to evaluate to what extent product lifetime and PO have been discussed in the recent literature. Based on the findings, selected cases of PO are discussed and trends in the practice of limiting product lifetime are identified. Factors considered to have a significant influence on product lifetime have been identified and discussed. The discussion of case studies made it possible to establish the links between product design, manufacturing and associated impacts of lifetime. The role of the actors along the value chain is also considered to propose a business scheme, where the influences of consumer behaviour and design choices are crucial. Finally, strategies to facilitate the definition of different scenarios are given. These strategies may serve to increase the reliability of environmental assessment throughout a product life cycle.     

Household food waste: the implications of consumer choice in food from purchase to disposal

Food and food-related waste is a high priority in terms of waste minimisation in New Zealand. Over the summer of 2012–2013, a survey of 147 participants was conducted on a range of views and practices related to environmental challenges and understandings. The survey, undertaken in Palmerston North, New Zealand, captured a wide socio-demographic. This article focuses on respondents’ food practices from purchase, to plate, to disposal and the environmental implications of these practices. The survey data have allowed an enriched understanding of both individual and structural level challenges as well as incentives towards improving environmental practices in relation to household food waste minimisation. The results indicated that, in keeping with other research in this area, food waste increases according to the number of individuals in a household, and in particular the number of younger people. Also, while the majority of participants were at least “somewhat concerned” about their households’ environmental impact, over three quarters of participant households put food waste into their rubbish bin. Some solutions and directions to further progress research, policy, and practice in this area are offered, and include the need for more direct and personalised communication regarding waste minimisation, along with the provision of kerbside food waste collections. It is clear that individual- or household-level changes are important and must be supported systemically by both local body and state level legislation and initiatives, if there is to be any substantial decline in food waste going to landfill.     

Multi-stage sampling for large scale natural resources surveys: a case study of rice and waterfowl

Large-scale sample surveys to estimate abundance and distribution of organisms and their habitats are increasingly important in ecological studies. Multi-stage sampling (MSS) is especially suited to large-scale surveys because of the natural clustering of resources. To illustrate an application, we: (1) designed a stratified MSS to estimate late autumn abundance (kg/ha) of rice seeds in harvested fields as food for waterfowl wintering in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV); (2) investigated options for improving the MSS design; and (3) compared statistical and cost efficiency of MSS to simulated simple random sampling (SRS). During 2000-2002, we sampled 25-35 landowners per year, 1 or 2 fields per landowner per year, and measured seed mass in 10 soil cores collected within each field. Analysis of variance components and costs for each stage of the survey design indicated that collecting 10 soil cores per field was near the optimum of 11-15, whereas sampling >1 field per landowner provided few benefits because data from fields within landowners were highly correlated. Coefficients of variation (CV) of annual estimates of rice abundance ranged from 0.23 to 0.31 and were limited by variation among landowners and the number of landowners sampled. Design effects representing the statistical efficiency of MSS relative to SRS ranged from 3.2 to 9.0, and simulations indicated SRS would cost, on average, 1.4 times more than MSS because clustering of sample units in MSS decreased travel costs. We recommend MSS as a potential sampling strategy for large-scale natural resource surveys and specifically for future surveys of the availability of rice as food for waterfowl in the MAV and similar areas.