Closing the knowledge-action gap in conservation with open science

The knowledge-action gap in conservation science and practice occurs when research outputs do not result in actions to protect or restore biodiversity. Among the diverse and complex reasons for this gap, three barriers are fundamental: knowledge is often unavailable to practitioners and challenging to interpret or difficult to use or both. Problems of availability, interpretability, and useability are solvable with open science practices. We considered the benefits and challenges of three open science practices for use by conservation scientists and practitioners. First, open access publishing makes the scientific literature available to all. Second, open materials (detailed methods, data, code, and software) increase the transparency and use of research findings. Third, open education resources allow conservation scientists and practitioners to acquire the skills needed to use research outputs. The long-term adoption of open science practices would help researchers and practitioners achieve conservation goals more quickly and efficiently and reduce inequities in information sharing. However, short-term costs for individual researchers (insufficient institutional incentives to engage in open science and knowledge mobilization) remain a challenge. We caution against a passive approach to sharing that simply involves making information available. We advocate a proactive stance toward transparency, communication, collaboration, and capacity building that involves seeking out and engaging with potential users to maximize the environmental and societal impact of conservation science.     

Fabricating data: how substituting values for nondetects can ruin results, and what can be done about it

The most commonly used method in environmental chemistry to deal with values below detection limits is to substitute a fraction of the detection limit for each nondetect. Two decades of research has shown that this fabrication of values produces poor estimates of statistics, and commonly obscures patterns and trends in the data. Papers using substitution may conclude that significant differences, correlations, and regression relationships do not exist, when in fact they do. The reverse may also be true. Fortunately, good alternative methods for dealing with nondetects already exist, and are summarized here with references to original sources. Substituting values for nondetects should be used rarely, and should generally be considered unacceptable in scientific research. There are better ways.     

Delineating high-density areas in spatial Poisson fields from strip-transect sampling using indicator geostatistics: application to unexploded ordnance removal

An approach for delineating high anomaly density areas within a mixture of two or more spatial Poisson fields based on limited sample data collected along strip transects was developed. All sampled anomalies were transformed to anomaly count data and indicator kriging was used to estimate the probability of exceeding a threshold value derived from the cdf of the background homogeneous Poisson field. The threshold value was determined so that the delineation of high-density areas was optimized. Additionally, a low-pass filter was applied to the transect data to enhance such segmentation. Example calculations were completed using a controlled military model site, in which accurate delineation of clusters of unexploded ordnance (UXO) was required for site cleanup.     

多源数据融合的城市区域型消防风险分布特征研究 ——以太原都市圈所在区域为例

分析区域消防风险的空间演化特征,针对性建立并调整消防站点,可预见性地降低消防风险.以太原都市圈所在区域作为研究对象,将遥感数据、POI兴趣点数据经标准化处理后融入GIS-GANP模型中,识别城市区域间特异性消防风险因子,探讨区域消防风险系数及空间分布特征,并多角度分析消防站点规划趋势.结果表明:POI数据符合区域融合发...     

Study on Residential Water Use in North China:Analysis of Nationwide Statistical Data and Case Study of Taiyuan City

Residential water use is gradually becoming the focus in China‘s municipal water supply planning and management in recent years. Little is known, however, about the residential water use in modem China due to the transition of economy and enhancement of management on water conservation. In order to better understand the characteristics of residential water use in North China, a model for identifying the determinants of residential water use was established and analyzed by using panel data and cross-section data methodologies. Then Taiyuan city, the capital city of Shanxi Province in Northern China was selected as a case study. Both the analyses and field investigation indicate that the relatively slow increase of residential water use in recent years may result from the implementation of strict laws and regulations on water conservation. And through the investigation,first-hand information about water consumption pattern, water reuse/conservation, people‘s attitude toward water quantity and quality, etc. have been obtained.     

Environmental Synergisms and Extinctions of Tropical Species

Abstract: Environmental synergisms may pose the greatest threat to tropical biodiversity. Using recently updated data sets from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, we evaluated the incidence of perceived threats to all known mammal, bird, and amphibian species in tropical forests. Vulnerable, endangered, and extinct species were collectively far more likely to be imperiled by combinations of threats than expected by chance. Among 45 possible pairwise combinations of 10 different threats, 69%, 93%, and 71% were significantly more frequent than expected for threatened mammals, birds, and amphibians, respectively, even with a stringent Bonferroni‐corrected probability value (p= 0.003). Based on this analysis, we identified five key environmental synergisms in the tropics and speculate on the existence of others. The most important involve interactions between habitat loss or alteration (from agriculture, urban sprawl, infrastructure, or logging) and other anthropogenic disturbances such as hunting, fire, exotic‐species invasions, or pollution. Climatic change and emerging pathogens also can interact with other threats. We assert that environmental synergisms are more likely the norm than the exception for threatened species and ecosystems, can vary markedly in nature among geographic regions and taxa, and may be exceedingly difficult to predict in terms of their ultimate impacts. The perils posed by environmental synergisms highlight the need for a precautionary approach to tropical biodiversity conservation.     

Expansion of Evergreen Conifers to the Larch-Dominated Zone and Climatic Trends

The expansion of so-called evergreen conifers (EGCs), including Siberian stone pine, spruce, and fir, along the transect oriented from the boundary of the larch-dominated zone (LDZ; mixed forests of the Yenisei Ridge) to its center has been studied. The normalized dispersal coefficient calculated as K _i = (n _i – N _i )/(n _i + N _i ), where n _i and N _i are the relative numbers of the ith species in the undergrowth and the upper layer, respectively, serves as an indicator of the expansion. It has been found that the K _i values for EGCs (and birch) are higher than the K _i of larch even in the zone absolutely dominated by larch, where the relative numbers of EGCs in the upper layer is less than 1%. The EGC undergrowth has mainly been formed during the past 20–30 years, which is correlated with the trend of summer temperatures The spread of EGCs in the LDZ depends on the frequency of forest fires. The decrease in the time intervals between fires in the 20th century to 65 years (versus 100 years in the 19th century) may have prevented the expansion of competing species in the LDZ. The results obtained indicate that EGCs and birch penetrate into the zone traditionally dominated by larch, which is related to climatic changes during the past three decades. At the same time, tree stand density is increasing in the forest-tundra ecotone, and larch is spreading further into the tundra zone.__________Translated from Ekologiya, No. 3, 2005, pp. 186–193.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Kharuk, Dvinskaya, Ranson, Im.     

Effect of Climatic Changes on the Formation of Siberian Spruce Generations in Subglotsy Tree Stands of the Southern Urals

The correlation between climatic changes and the numbers of trees in the generations of Siberian spruce (Picea obovata Ledeb.) in subgoltsy tree stands of the Southern Urals was analyzed over the past 200 years. The results showed that the most abundant generations appeared in 1809–1816, 1821–1827, 1839–1845, 1850–1867, 1875–1887, 1891–1896, 1900–1904, 1911–1918, 1923–1932, 1944–1952, 1958–1966, and 1975–1995. Their formation proved to be related to the improvement of thermal conditions of the warm season during the five to seven years before and after the emergence of trees and conditions of the cold season in the year of their emergence, as well as to the periods of increased snow depth in late April in the years 27–32 of tree growth.     

鄱阳湖流域千年旱涝变化特点及R/S分析

为揭示鄱阳湖流域旱涝变化规律,预测未来变化,搜集整理了鄱阳湖流域地方志、奏折等古文献记载的旱涝记录,根据灾害现象、灾害后果、救灾情况等综合研判旱涝等级。对1160~1950s旱涝频次序列进行了变化周期分析。采用了R/S方法分析了年代际旱涝频次的Hurst指数,结合变化周期分析结果,对1950s以后鄱阳湖流域的旱涝频次变化趋势进行预测,采用基于1951~2010年器测降水量的SPI指数进行验证。研究结果表明:1160~1940s鄱阳湖流域及各子流域的干旱、洪涝频次呈波动变化,周期性变化明显,干旱、洪涝的3~6个年代周期段在整个时段内均非常显著,通过了95%的信度检验;鄱阳湖流域及各子流域的年代际干旱频次的Hurst指数普遍在0.7~0.8之间,洪涝在0.8~0.9之间。预测1950s后鄱阳湖流域年代际旱涝频次整体变化将呈阶段性上升趋势,经验证预测结果与实况较为吻合。     

集合最优插值同化方法在珠三角空气质量模拟中的初步应用

本文旨在探讨集合最优插值(EnOI)同化方法对MM5-STEM空气质量模式污染物浓度预报场的修正能力,先从局地化尺度(L)及经验系数(α)的敏感性试验中获得NO2、SO2和PM10各自的"最优L和α组合",然后对此参数设置下的同化结果进行分析.研究结果显示,EnOI在NO2、SO2及PM10的同化试验中均取得较好的效果,检验站点均方根误差(RMSE)的平均下降比例分别可达33%、32%和42%,RMSE值下降的站点占检验站点总数的比例分别为86%、84%和91%.表明该方法能够有效地应用在珠三角空气质量模拟中,产生与实际更为接近的污染物浓度预报场.