The Effects of Ocean Disposal of Sewage Sludge On the Relative Abundance of Benthic Megafauna

Disposal of sewage sludge in the New York Bight Apex (12-Mile Dump Site) ceased at the end of December 1987. Previous efforts to quantify the effects of sludge were hindered by the inability to obtain true replication. the cessation of dumping afforded the opportunity to apply the technique of replication in time, also known as a Before/After, Control/Impact design. Conditionally, this method allows one to separate treatment effects from the natural differences that confound many environmental impact studies. the Environmental Processes Division of the Northeast Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service sampled the benthic environment of the New York Bight Apex from June 1986 through September 1989 using a sample design based on the technique of replication in time.

Three dominant species (rock crab, Cancer irroratus; little skate; Raja erinacea; and winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus) and total demersal finfish, collected by otter trawl, showed no statistically significant response to the cessation of disposal. American lobster (Homarus americanus) increased in local abundance, but this result was possibly confounded by a change in fishing effort.     

道路干扰对澜沧江流域景观格局的影响

道路交通在促进人类社会经济发展的同时,也给生态环境带来了诸多影响。研究道路交通的干扰强度、空间格局及其影响,对保护自然环境、维持生态系统健康意义重大。研究基于道路等级、道路所处的环境特征等因素构建道路干扰指数,定量评价了澜沧江流域道路网络的干扰强度,系统分析了流域道路干扰的空间格局特征及其对流域景观的影响。结果表明,澜沧江流域道路网络干扰程度存在明显的区域分异,中游和下游地区明显大于上游地区。流域道路干扰域为边界复杂的不规则多边形,呈现出以离散的强干扰区域为中心,干扰强度向外围逐渐减弱的空间格局。对比不同等级道路干扰域内的景观格局及其变化特征发现,耕地和建设用地等代表人类活动的景观集中分布于道路强干扰区域内,并且强干扰区域内景观组分的变化幅度远大于低干扰区域。从上述分析结果可以看出,道路对其沿线景观格局的变化具有很强的驱动作用,流域道路发展应避开生态环境敏感区域。     

Reduced effect of Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease at the disease front

Pathogen-driven declines in animal populations are increasingly regarded as a major conservation issue. The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is threatened with extinction by devil facial tumor disease, a unique transmissible cancer. The disease is transmitted through direct transfer of tumor cells, which is possible because the genetic diversity of Tasmanian devils is low, particularly in the major histocompatibility complex genes of the immune system. The far northwest of Tasmania now holds the last remaining disease-free wild devil populations. The recent discovery of unique major histocompatibility complex genotypes in the northwestern region of Tasmania has raised the possibility that some animals may be resilient to the disease. We examined the differences in the epidemiology and population effects of devil facial tumor disease at 3 well-studied affected sites in eastern Tasmania and 1 in western Tasmania (West Pencil Pine). In contrast to the 3 eastern sites, there has been no rapid increase in disease prevalence or evidence of population decline at West Pencil Pine. Moreover, this is the only onsite at which the population age structure has remained unaltered 4 years after the first detection of disease. The most plausible explanations for the substantial differences in population effects and epidemiology of the disease between eastern and western sites are geographic differences in genotypes or phenotypes of devils and functional differences between tumor strains in the 2 regions. We suggest that conservation efforts focus on identifying whether either or both these explanations are correct and then, if resistance alleles exist, to attempt to spread the resistant alleles into affected populations. Such assisted selection has rarely been attempted for the management of wildlife diseases, but it may be widely applicable.     

Sensitivity analysis of the two dimensional application of the Generic Ecological Model (GEM) to algal bloom prediction in the North Sea

Harmful algae can cause damage to co-existing organisms, tourism and farmers. Accurate predictions of algal future composition and abundance as well as when and where algal blooms may occur could help early warning and mitigating. The Generic Ecological Model is an instrument that can be applied to any water system (fresh, transitional or coastal) to calculate the primary production, chlorophyll-a concentration and phytoplankton species composition. It consists of physical, chemical and ecological model components which are coupled together to build one generic and flexible modelling tool. In this paper the model has been analyzed to assess sensitivity of the simulated chlorophyll-a concentration to a subset of ecologically significant input factors. Only a small number of approaches could be considered as suitable for several reasons including the model complexity, engagement of numerous interacting parameters and relatively long time of a single simulation. Thus, sensitivity analysis has been carried out with the use of the Morris method and later enriched by the computation of the correlation ratios of the selected parameters on the model response at more than a few locations in the modelled area. The obtained results are in agreement with expert knowledge of the ecological processes in the North Sea and correspond well with local characteristics.     

A stage-structured, Aedes albopictus population model

Aedes albopictus has been the fastest spreading invasive animal species in the world from the mid-1980s until the mid-2000s. In areas it infests, it disrupts native mosquito ecology and can potentially vector up to 21 viruses. To better understand the population dynamics of this species, we created a temperature dependent population model. A stage-structured model was chosen to allow each life-stage to have different temperature dependent mortality and development rates, and each stage was modeled with an ordinary differential equation. Model parameters and distributions were based upon literature values. Initially, a basic model was constructed. This model then had parameters that were forced based upon daily average temperatures. Several criteria were used to evaluate the model, including a comparison to field data from Lubbock, TX. In a stochastic version of the model, a 95% confidence limit contained 70.7% of the field data points. Based upon these results, we feel reasonably confident that we have captured the role of temperature in driving the population dynamics of Ae. albopictus.     

Effects of temperature variation on TSD in turtle (C. picta) populations

We formulate a two-sex model of temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) for a freshwater turtle (C. picta) population. The aim is to understand how environmental temperature variations and nest heat conduction properties affect the long term dynamics of the population. This is a key to understanding how global temperature changes may affect their survival. With stochastic inputs of ambient temperature and solar radiation, the model uses the heat equation to determine the temperature in the egg layer in the nest; in turn, this determines the sex ratio in the egg clutch using a variable degree-day model. Finally, a nonlinear Leslie type, stage-based, two-sex model, is used to determine the long term male and female populations. A two-sex model is required because of different development rates for males and females. The model is flexible enough to enable other researchers to examine the effects of temperature variation variations on other species with TSD, e.g., crocodilians, reptilians, as well as other turtle species. It can be adapted to study effects of nest location, soil type, rain events, different incubation periods, and density effects, for example, the dependence of the mating function on the ratio of males to females and each’s contribution to the sex of hatchlings. Modifications can be easily made to fit a specific life history traits. The model is a beginning step in understanding the long term, high fitness shown by many reptile species with TSD, and it may suggest to experimentalists what data may be relevant to these issues; it can also be useful to wildlife managers in developing strategies for intervention if needed. Among the principal findings are that temperature variability and detailed nest heat conduction properties may buffer projected negative effects on a population.     

Beyond identity crisis: The challenge of recontextualizing ecosystem delimitation

In a series of papers, three important system ecologists, Bernard C. Patten, Sven E. Jorgensen and Milan Straškraba attempt to revise the old ecosystem field and construct a new systems ecology. Inevitably, their attempt is faced with some of the same problems that led the field to decline. The indefiniteness of ecosystem boundaries is one of them, maybe the most important. Systems’ ecology failure to define ecosystem boundaries was considered a significant obstacle for the conceptualization of the ecosystem as a valid organizing unit of nature and resulted in a disciplinary identity crisis. To surmount this crisis, the authors introduce into the field innovative ideas which have their origin in the so-called postmodern network theories. These ideas reinforce the concept of environment and allow for a relative conception of space, which might have beneficial effects in delimiting ecosystems. However, the problem-solving potential of these ideas is not activated because the authors remain stitched to the Odumian mode of ecosystem thinking and avoid recontextualizing the old building blocks.     

Multiple structural modifications to dendritic ecological networks produce simple responses

Structural modifications to landscapes affect the ability of organisms to access different habitat patches. There exist, however, very few general methods by which to relate modifications to expectations of effects, and even fewer that enable understanding of how multiple modifications may interact. In the absence of any guiding principles, ecologists have assumed that interactions will result in complex landscape-scale effects. One way of understanding such effects is through rendering a landscape as a graph or network, among the simplest of which are dendritic networks typified by stream systems. Yet even for stream networks, there are no known general principles concerning the nature of interactions between multiple modifications. We developed a model to describe the ability of fish to access and use different habitat patches within dendritic networks. We used mathematical and numerical analyses of the model to investigate how the habitat value of a network is affected by changes in connectivity and habitat quality, and then to examine interactions between multiple modifications. Rather than showing complex interactions, our analytic and simulation-based results show that the combined effect of multiple modifications approximately equals the sum of individually predicted effects. Dendritic networks thus appear to respond far more simply to multiple modifications than has previously been assumed. These results have implications for stream management planning, and offer a firm foundation from which to better understand population processes within dendritic networks.     

西安市生态文明建设评价及预测

根据生态文明的涵义和生态市建设的总体思路,提出了生态文明建设3（系统层、子系统层、单项指标层）×3（经济发展,社会进步,环境保护）评价体系,其中包括25个单项指标。对西安市1998-2007年生态文明建设进行了定量评价研究,结果表明西安市生态文明建设处于整体上升的趋势;在此基础上,应用自回归预测模型对西安市经济、社会、环境和生态文明建设发展进行了预测,为西安市全面协调发展提供参考借鉴。     

基于SCI发文的中国生态学研究态势文献计量分析

采用文献计量学的方法,基于《科学引文索引》数据库近十年的检索结果,定量分析中国生态学领域发文的主题、时间、作者、机构、合作国家、被引频次、期刊分布等数据,系统分析中国生态学领域近十年的研究发展态势、研究热点、研究投入主体、国际合作和研究水平等趋势和特征。基于检索得到的3316篇SCI论文数据,研究认为：我国生态学领域的研究发展迅速。研究的热点主要是分子标记、气候变化、生物多样性、土地利用、分类学、物种、草原、荒漠化、模型、多态性等方面。研究主题的关联性随时间有增加的趋势。588个第一作者发文机构中,中国科学院发文量最高,大学近年的研究发展迅猛。生态学领域篇均作者人数是2.2人。国际合作的主要国家是美国。我国生态学研究的SCI发文篇均被引频次为6。第一作者机构为中国机构的论文被引用情况逊于外国机构。中国生态学领域研究最重要的发文期刊是ECOLOGICAL MODELLING和JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS。