The Aging of America's Reservoirs: In‐Reservoir and Downstream Physical Changes and Habitat Implications

Reservoirs are important for various purposes including flood control, water supply, power generation, and recreation. The aging of America's reservoirs and progressive loss of water storage capacity resulting from ongoing sedimentation, coupled with increasing societal needs, will cause the social, economic, environmental, and political importance of reservoirs to continually increase. The short‐ and medium‐term (<50 years) environmental consequences of reservoir construction and operation are well known and include an altered flow regime, lost connectivity (longitudinal, floodplain), an altered sediment regime, substrate compositional change, and downstream channel degradation. In general, reservoir‐related changes have had adverse consequences for the natural ecosystem. Longer term (>50 years) environmental changes as reservoirs enter “old” age are less understood. Additional research is needed to help guide the future management of aging reservoir systems and support the difficult decisions that will have to be made. Important research directions include assessment of climate change effects on aging and determination of ecosystem response to ongoing aging and various management actions that may be taken with the intent of minimizing or reversing the physical effects of aging.     

植被混凝土在官地水电站的试验分析

本文主要对官地水电站高陡边坡植被混凝土前期绿化试验成果进行分析,以寻求在干湿季节明显、雨量集中、干旱季节漫长、温度高、蒸发量大等干热河谷气候特征条件下的最佳生境构筑方法,为官地水电站乃至雅砻江流域水电工程高陡边坡生态恢复提供技术依据。     

基于RS/GIS的大辽河口湿地景观格局时空变化研究

基于1988、1995、2001和2007年的四期TM数据,应用GIS/RS技术与景观格局分析软件FRAGSTATS,定量分析大辽河口地区湿地景观格局的动态变化。结果表明,自1988年以来,大辽河口地区的湿地面积逐年增加,湿地景观多样性指数和均匀度指数呈现先降后升的趋势,景观破碎化程度增强。湿地类型变化主要表现在大量的自然湿地转化为人工湿地或人工景观,具体表现在转化为建筑用地、水稻田、养殖区。1988~1995年期间,大辽河口地区的环境质量下降,该地区生物生活环境的多样性降低,造成了一些物种种群数量的减少甚至消失;但是自1995年以后,该地区的景观多样性和均匀性升高,抗干扰能力增强,环境质量有所提高。研究区湿地景观格局的动态变化主要是受自然条件和人为活动干扰共同作用的结果。     

Impact of Forestry Practices on Fitness Correlates and Population Productivity in an Open-Nesting Bird Species

Abstract:  In the boreal forests of Fennoscandia, over 99% of forest area has been altered by forestry practices, which has created forest with age structures and stand characteristics that differ from primary forest stands. Although many researchers have investigated how forestry affects species abundance, few have assessed how forestry practices affect fitness correlates of species living in altered habitats, and this has negatively affected management efforts. We experimentally addressed the effect of standard forestry practices on fitness correlates of an open-nesting, long-lived bird species typical to boreal forests of Eurasia, the Siberian Jay ( Perisoreus infaustus ). We used a before-after comparison of reproductive data on the level of territories and found that standard forestry practices had a strong negative effect on the breeding success of jays. Both partial thinning of territories and partial clearcutting of territories reduced future breeding success by a factor of 0.35. Forestry practices reduced territory occupancy. Thus, over the 15 years of the study, productivity of the affected population declined over 50% as a result of territory abandonment and reduced breeding success. Results of previous studies on Siberian Jays suggest that the strong effect of forest thinning on fitness is explained by the fact that most common predators of nests and adults are visually oriented and thus thinning makes prey and nests more visible to predators. The consequences of thinning we observed are likely to apply to a wide range of species that rely on understory to provide visual protection from predators. Thus, our results are important for the development of effective conservation management protocols and for the refinement of thinning practices.     

Effects of Conversion of Dry Tropical Forest to Agricultural Mosaic on Herpetofaunal Assemblages

Abstract: We explored the impact of forest conversion to agricultural mosaic on anuran, lizard, snake, and turtle assemblages of Neotropical dry forests. Over 2 years, we sampled 6 small watersheds on the west coast of Mexico, 3 conserved and 3 disturbed. The disturbed watersheds were characterized by a mosaic of pastures and cultivated fields (corn, beans, squash) intermingled with patches of different successional stages of dry forest. In each watershed, we conducted 11 diurnal and nocturnal time‐constrained searches in 10 randomly established plots. We considered vulnerability traits of species in relation to habitat modification. Eighteen anuran, 18 lizard, 23 snake, and 3 turtle species were recorded. Thirty‐six species (58%) occurred in both forest conditions, and 14 (22%) and 12 species (19%) occurred only in the conserved and disturbed sites, respectively. Assemblages responded differently to disturbance. Species richness, diversity, and abundance of lizards were higher in disturbed forests. Anuran diversity and species richness were lower in disturbed forest but abundance was similar in both forest conditions. Diversity, richness, and abundance of turtles were lower in disturbed forest. The structure and composition of snake assemblages did not differ between forest conditions. We considered species disturbance sensitive if their abundance was significantly less in disturbed areas. Four anuran (22%), 2 lizard (11%), and 3 turtle (100%) species were sensitive to disturbance. No snake species was sensitive. The decline in abundance of disturbance‐sensitive species was associated with the reduction of forest canopy cover, woody stem cover, roots, and litter‐layer ground cover. Anuran species with small body size and direct embryonic development were especially sensitive to forest disturbance. An important goal for the conservation of herpetofauna should be the determination of species traits associated with extinction or persistence in agricultural mosaics.     

考虑齐口裂腹鱼产卵需求的山区河流生态基流过程确定

在原型观测的基础上,应用生态水力学法与生境模拟法,建立对考虑齐口裂腹鱼产卵需求的山区河流水电工程生态基流过程的确定方法,并以四川中型山区河流杂谷脑河薛城电站为背景,对所构建方法进行应用分析。通过原型观测,对生态水力学的齐口裂腹鱼生境水力参数标准在杂谷脑河应用的适宜性进行分析;应用生态水力学方法,对不同河道流量下薛城电站减水河段的齐口裂腹鱼生境水力参数进行数值模拟,根据模拟结果,结合齐口裂腹鱼生境水力参数标准,分析得到薛城电站满足其生存的最小下泄流量;应用生境模拟法,对齐口裂腹鱼产卵期不同河道流量下薛城电站减水河段集中产卵场的可利用生境面积进行计算,得到最大可利用生境面积对应的下泄流量。综合最小下泄流量值与最大可利用生境面积所对应的下泄流量值,考虑齐口裂腹鱼产卵对水文情势的要求,建立薛城电站考虑齐口裂腹鱼产卵需求的生态基流过程。采用所构建方法得到的考虑鱼类产卵需求的水电工程生态基流过程,由于考虑了鱼类生存对最低流量以及产卵对水文情势的要求,能更好地满足鱼类产卵需求,可作为电站运行调度的约束。     

Wetland management: an analysis of past practice and recent policy changes in Ontario

The Ontario Government has recently released its latest Provincial Policy Statement (PPS), which includes a policy concerning wetland protection. This paper uses interviews with key respondents and the results of three separate case studies that examined the former PPS in order to assess the ability of the new policy to improve wetland conservation efforts in Ontario. The case studies include wetland conservation and urban stormwater management in the City of London for the periods 1978-1999 and 1978-2000, respectively. As well, agricultural drainage that occurred in the Township of Zorra for the period 1978-1997 is used to address this management dimension. While progress is evident, the current policy will be difficult to implement effectively because it inadequately deals with the fundamental aspects of management: fragmented jurisdiction, interagency communication, financial arrangements, enforcement, and promoting informed decision making.     

Efficacy of created and restored nesting sites for the conservation of colonial Laridae in the South of France

By rapidly modifying key habitat components, habitat restoration is at risk of producing attractive cues for animals without providing habitats of sufficient quality. As such, individual fitness components, such as reproduction, could be reduced and restored habitats could become ecological traps. This risk notably appears by using artificial constructions in restoration projects, yet few studies have evaluated their efficacy in a robust way. We investigated this by analyzing 154 islets that were created or restored to improve the conservation status of 7 colonial Laridae species in the South of France. From 2007 to 2016, we compared occupancy dynamics and breeding parameters of these species between the restored sites and 846 unmanaged nesting sites. We also explored species’ preference for different nesting site characteristics and their respective effect on breeding parameters. Restored nesting sites were 2–9 times as attractive as unmanaged sites for all species except the Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus). Colonization probability was up to 100 times higher in sites already used by other species the previous year and increased with distance to the shore until >0.2 when distance was over 250 m. Abandonment probability was 29–70% lower when breeding was successful the previous year in all species except the Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis). Productivity and breeding success probability were 2 times higher on managed sites. Distance from the shore was an important attractive characteristic of artificial nesting sites in all species. Other nesting site characteristics had species-specific effects on colonization, abandonment, and breeding success. Our results indicate that managed nesting sites are successful conservation tools for colonial Laridae in the Mediterranean and do not act as ecological traps. Our study showed that testing the ecological trap hypothesis is a robust way to evaluate the success of restoration projects of breeding habitats.     

INTEGRATED MODELING FOR WATERSHED MANAGEMENT: MULTIPLE OBJECTIVES AND SPATIAL EFFECTS1

ABSTRACT: This paper presents an optimization framework for prioritizing sites for wetlands restoration on a watershed or landscape scale. The framework is designed for analyzing the potential environmental impacts of alternative management strategies while accounting for economic constraints, thereby aiding decision makers in explicitly considering multiple management objectives. The modeling strategy consists of two phases. First, relationships between the configuration of land use types in a watershed and valued ecosystem services are specified mathematically. Second, those functions are incorporated into a spatial optimization model that allows comparisons of the expected environmental impacts and economic costs of management strategies that change the configuration of land use in the watershed. By way of a stylized example, this paper develops the general structure of the framework, presents simulation results based on two production functions for ecosystem services, and discusses the potential utility of the methodology for watershed management.     

Habitat, Landscape and Bird Composition in Mountain Forest Fragments

The study attempts to separate the effects of forest fragmentation related to landscape (patch area, isolation) and habitat (altitude, vegetation structure) on bird community composition in a mountain pine forest. Bird composition was related, using a multivariate approach (canonical correspondence analyses), to either habitat or to landscape, eliminating the effect of habitat statistically. Bird composition and species richness varied with patch area and isolation from large pine stands, but this effect could be assigned principally to variation in vegetation structure and altitude. Another effect, that of increasing occurrence and numbers of Anthus trivialis with decreasing distance to nearest low-altitude forest, could be assigned to both habitat (grass cover) and landscape (connectivity effects). Management implications are drawn from the results.