Assessing the extent and nature of wildlife trade on the dark web

Use of the internet as a trade platform has resulted in a shift in the illegal wildlife trade. Increased scrutiny of illegal wildlife trade has led to concerns that online trade of wildlife will move onto the dark web. To provide a baseline of illegal wildlife trade on the dark web, we downloaded and archived 9852 items (individual posts) from the dark web, then searched these based on a list of 121 keywords associated with illegal online wildlife trade, including 30 keywords associated with illegally traded elephant ivory on the surface web. Results were compared with items known to be illegally traded on the dark web, specifically cannabis, cocaine, and heroin, to compare the extent of the trade. Of these 121 keywords, 4 resulted in hits, of which only one was potentially linked to illegal wildlife trade. This sole case was the sale and discussion of Echinopsis pachanoi (San Pedro cactus), which has hallucinogenic properties. This negligible level of activity related to the illegal trade of wildlife on the dark web relative to the open and increasing trade on the surface web may indicate a lack of successful enforcement against illegal wildlife trade on the surface web.     

Considering connections between Hollywood and biodiversity conservation

Cinema offers a substantial opportunity to share messages with a wide audience. However, there is little research or evidence about the potential benefits and risks of cinema for conservation. Given their global reach, cinematic representations could be important in raising awareness of conservation issues and species of concern, as well as encouraging greater audience engagement due to their heightened emotional impact on viewers. Yet there are also risks associated with increased exposure, including heightened visitor pressure to environmentally sensitive areas or changes to consumer demand for endangered species. Conservationists can better understand and engage with the film industry by studying the impact of movies on audience awareness and behavior, identifying measurable impacts on conservation outcomes, and engaging directly with the movie industry, for example, in an advisory capacity. This improved understanding and engagement can harness the industry's potential to enhance the positive impacts of movies featuring species, sites, and issues of conservation concern and to mitigate any negative effects. A robust evidence base for evaluating and planning these engagements, and for informing related policy and management decisions, needs to be built.     

Prooxidant Actions of Isoproterenol and Dobutamine

Despite beneficial effect of isoproterenol and doputamine, synthetic catecholamines rutinely used in intensive care patients, their high doses may contribute to cardiotoxicity. This study was conducted to examine whether these drugs can influence on Co, Cu - catalyzed generation deleterious reactive oxygen species (ROS) from H 2 O 2 using chemiluminescent, spectrophotometric and ESR spin trapping techniques. The enhanced production of ROS from the Co(II)+H 2 O 2 and Cu(II)+H 2 O 2 systems in the presence of isoproterenol and dobutamine was observed. The ROS generation was inhibited by scavengers of superoxide anion radical $ {\rm (O}_{\rm 2}^{{ \bar\bullet }} {\rm )} $ , hydroxyl radical $ ({\rm HO}^ \bullet ) $ scavengers and singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ) quenchers.     

The free energy and information embodied in the amino acid chains of organisms

It is generally accepted as a useful and workable hypothesis that when an ecosystem receives an inflow of exergy (energy that can do work) it will utilize this flow of exergy to move as far away from thermodynamic equilibrium as possible after the exergy (energy) for maintenance has been covered. If more combinations of system components including organisms are offered, the combination of components and processes that will bring the system most away from thermodynamic equilibrium will win.The amino acid sequences of the proteins e.g. enzymes determine and control the life processes of the organisms and may be viewed as information sensu lato. The free energy of oxidation of the amino acids and the peptide bonds of the cell enzymes expresses therefore the exergy content, eco-exergy or work capacity that the information contributes to “moving further away from thermodynamic equilibrium”. In this paper eco-exergy is calculated and plotted versus the β-values (a measure of the information contained in the genome) for different organisms. The eco-exergy density was previously (see [J?rgensen et al., 1995] and [J?rgensen et al., 2005]) proposed to be calculated as the summation of the product of the β-values representing the information of the genome multiplied by the concentrations of the respective ecosystem components. This analysis shows a strong correlation between the β-values and free energy released when oxidizing the enzymes. The β-values can therefore be assumed to represent the free energy that the organisms have invested in genetic information.     

Conservation Biology in Asia: the Major Policy Challenges

Abstract:  With about half the world's human population and booming economies, Asia faces numerous challenges to its biodiversity. The Asia Section of the Society for Conservation Biology has identified some key policy issues in which significant progress can be made. These include developing new sources of funding for forest conservation; identifying potential impacts of energy alternatives on the conservation of biodiversity; curbing the trade in endangered species of plants and animals; a special focus on the conservation of mountain biodiversity; enhancing relevant research; ensuring that conservation biology contributes to major international conventions and funding mechanisms; using conservation biology to build a better understanding of zoonotic diseases; more effectively addressing human–animal conflicts; enhancing community-based conservation; and using conservation biology to help address the pervasive water-deficit problems in much of Asia. These challenges can be met through improved regional cooperation among the relevant stakeholders .     

An empirical analysis on the impact of environmental regulations on pork trade:evidence from China

This paper uses the gravity model to examine the effect of environmental regulations on pork trade flows between different regions within China.We apply a linear programming tool to estimate pork trade flows from 2000 to 2008,and discuss the environmental acts on livestock pollution and income level to proxy environmental regulations.We use OLS regression and panel data with dummy variable in the cross-sectional GLS estimation.Our results indicate that the gap of environmental regulations between trade partners has a positive relationship with pork trade flows,and the difference in environmental regulations changes the traditional comparative advantage pattern to some extent.This paper provides convincing evidence for the pollution haven effect on livestock in China.     

Conservation impacts of commercial cultivation of endangered and overharvested plants

Overharvesting is one of the greatest threats to species survival. Farming overharvested species is a conservation strategy that can meet growing market demand and conserve wild populations of the target species. This strategy is compatible with the international community's desire to uphold the right of local communities to use biological resources to support their livelihoods. However, studies investigating whether farming can alleviate poaching pressure have focused almost exclusively on animals. To address the shortfall in plant-focused studies, we compiled information on commercial cultivation of threatened plants to assess its conservation benefits. Because China's rising middle class has rapidly intensified demand for wildlife products, we searched the scientific literature published in Chinese (China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Baidu) and in English. We found 32 reports that contained data on 193 internationally or nationally threatened plant species that were under commercial cultivation. These reports showed that cultivations of 82% of the 193 species were sustained by collecting whole plants from the wild periodically or continuously. Although based on a small sample size, species that were maintained in cultivation only through artificial propagation or seeds collected in the wild were likely associated with a reported reduction in wild harvesting of whole plants. Even so, results of correlation analyses suggested that production system, scale, and when a species began being cultivated had little effect on conservation status of the species, either globally or in China. However, species brought into cultivation relatively recently and on a smaller scale were more likely to have undergone a reduction in collecting pressure. Farming of nonmedicinal plants was most problematic for species conservation because wild plants were laundered (i.e., sold as cultivated plants). For effective conservation, policy to guide cultivation operations based on the target species’ biological characteristics, cultural significance, market demand, and conservation status is needed.     

Measuring the impact of the pet trade on Indonesian birds

The trade in wild animals involves one‐third of the world's bird species and thousands of other vertebrate species. Although a few species are imperiled as a result of the wildlife trade, the lack of field studies makes it difficult to gauge how serious a threat it is to biodiversity. We used data on changes in bird abundances across space and time and information from trapper interviews to evaluate the effects of trapping wild birds for the pet trade in Sumatra, Indonesia. To analyze changes in bird abundance over time, we used data gathered over 14 years of repeated bird surveys in a 900‐ha forest in southern Sumatra. In northern Sumatra, we surveyed birds along a gradient of trapping accessibility, from the edge of roads to 5 km into the forest interior. We interviewed 49 bird trappers in northern Sumatra to learn which species they targeted and how far they went into the forest to trap. We used prices from Sumatran bird markets as a proxy for demand and, therefore, trapping pressure. Market price was a significant predictor of species declines over time in southern Sumatra (e.g., given a market price increase of approximately $50, the log change in abundance per year decreased by 0.06 on average). This result indicates a link between the market‐based pet trade and community‐wide species declines. In northern Sumatra, price and change in abundance were not related to remoteness (distance from the nearest road). However, based on our field surveys, high‐value species were rare or absent across this region. The median maximum distance trappers went into the forest each day was 5.0 km. This suggests that trapping has depleted bird populations across our remoteness gradient. We found that less than half of Sumatra's remaining forests are >5 km from a major road. Our results suggest that trapping for the pet trade threatens birds in Sumatra. Given the popularity of pet birds across Southeast Asia, additional studies are urgently needed to determine the extent and magnitude of the threat posed by the pet trade.     

排污权交易定价下的COD和氨氮削减成本分析研究

调查测算了工业废水COD和氨氮削减成本并进行了分析。总成本中折旧费和日常运行费各占35%和65%;COD和氨氮削减成本为1 287元/t~29 035元/t和2 433元/t~46 560元/t,加权均值为4 936元/t和17 755元/t,二者之比为3.60∶1,90%置信区间为(4 647,8 514)和(13 989,24 617);70%和63.2%的企业以6 837元/t和20 083元/t以内的成本削减了73.7%的COD和42.1%的氨氮。不同企业和行业COD和氨氮削减成本差异明显,以概率分布确定综合成本用于排污权交易定价可能更合理。     

Effect of plant harvest on methane emission from two constructed wetlands designed for the treatment of wastewater

The emission of methane from two constructed wetlands [a free water surface flow system (FWS) and a subsurface flow system (SF)], constructed for the treatment of waste water, was evaluated at different sites inhabited by reeds (Phragmites communis), to test the effects of plant harvest. High methane emission was recorded immediately after harvesting in both wetlands. Several days after harvesting, the emission decreased in the FWS but remained high in the SF. The variation was significantly influenced by temperature, with lower emission and higher dissolved CH(4) in water occurring at lower temperatures. Both the emission and concentration of dissolved CH(4) were also influenced significantly by water quality, wetland design, level of stalk butt left above the water level, etc. The methane flux was explained on the basis of rizhospheric methanogenic and methanotrophic microbial populations. FISH analysis indicated the presence of Type A and Type B methanotrophs in both wetlands, and the methane flux was directly influenced by the quantitative variation in methanogenic and methanotrophic bacteria in both wetlands.