Bridging research and practice in conservation

Calls for biodiversity conservation practice to be more evidence based are growing, and we agree evidence use in conservation practice needs improvement. However, evidence-based conservation will not be realized without improved access to evidence. In medicine, unlike in conservation, a well-established and well-funded layer of intermediary individuals and organizations engage with medical practitioners, synthesize primary research relevant to decision making, and make evidence easily accessible. These intermediaries prepare targeted evidence summaries and distribute them to practitioners faced with time-sensitive and value-laden decisions. To be effective, these intermediaries, who we refer to as evidence bridges, should identify research topics based on the priorities of practitioners; synthesize evidence; prepare and distribute easy-to-find and easy-to-use evidence summaries; and develop and maintain networks of connections with researchers and practitioners. Based on a review of the literature regarding evidence intermediaries in conservation and environmental management, as well as an anonymous questionnaire searching for such organizations, we found few intermediaries that met all these criteria. Few evidence bridges that do exist are unable to reach most conservation practitioners, which include resource managers in government and industry, conservation organizations, and farmers and other private landowners. We argue that the lack of evidence bridges from research to practitioners contributes to evidence complacency and limits the use of evidence in conservation action. Nevertheless, several existing organizations help reduce the gap between evidence and practice and could serve as a foundation for building additional components of evidence bridges in conservation. Although evidence bridges need expertise in research and evidence synthesis, they also require expertise in identifying and communicating with the community of practitioners most in need of clear and concise syntheses of evidence. Article Impact Statement: Evidence-based conservation will not be realized without improved access to evidence. We call for intermediary evidence bridges.     

Salvage Logging, Ecosystem Processes, and Biodiversity Conservation

Abstract:  We summarize the documented and potential impacts of salvage logging—a form of logging that removes trees and other biological material from sites after natural disturbance. Such operations may reduce or eliminate biological legacies, modify rare postdisturbance habitats, influence populations, alter community composition, impair natural vegetation recovery, facilitate the colonization of invasive species, alter soil properties and nutrient levels, increase erosion, modify hydrological regimes and aquatic ecosystems, and alter patterns of landscape heterogeneity. These impacts can be assigned to three broad and interrelated effects: (1) altered stand structural complexity; (2) altered ecosystem processes and functions; and (3) altered populations of species and community composition. Some impacts may be different from or additional to the effects of traditional logging that is not preceded by a large natural disturbance because the conditions before, during, and after salvage logging may differ from those that characterize traditional timber harvesting. The potential impacts of salvage logging often have been overlooked, partly because the processes of ecosystem recovery after natural disturbance are still poorly understood and partly because potential cumulative effects of natural and human disturbance have not been well documented. Ecologically informed policies regarding salvage logging are needed prior to major natural disturbances so that when they occur ad hoc and crisis-mode decision making can be avoided. These policies should lead to salvage-exemption zones and limits on the amounts of disturbance-derived biological legacies (e.g., burned trees, logs) that are removed where salvage logging takes place. Finally, we believe new terminology is needed. The word salvage implies that something is being saved or recovered, whereas from an ecological perspective this is rarely the case.     

Artificial Neural Networks for Risk Decision Support in Natural Hazards: A Case Study of Assessing the Probability of House Survival from Bushfires

Risk decision-making in natural hazards encompasses a plethora of environmental, socio-economic and management-related factors, and benefits greatly from exploring possible patterns and relations among these multivariate factors. Artificial neural networks, capable of general pattern classifications, are potentially well suited for risk decision support in natural hazards. This paper reports an example that assesses the risk patterns or probabilities of house survival from bushfires using artificial neural networks, with a simulation data set based on the empirical study by Wilson and Ferguson (Predicting the probability of house survival during bushfires, Journal of Environmental Management 23 (1986) 259–270). The aim of this study was to re-model and predict the relationship between risk patterns of house survival and a series of independent variables. Various configurations for input and output variables were tested using neural networks. An approach for converting linguistic terms into crisp numbers was used to incorporate linguistic variables into the quantitative neural network analysis. After a series of tests, results show that neural networks are capable of predicting risk patterns under all tested configurations of input and output variables, with a great deal of flexibility. Risk-based mathematical functions, be they linear or non-linear, can be re-modelled using neural networks. Finally, the paper concludes that the artificial neural networks serve as a promising risk decision support tool in natural hazards.     

山岳型景观区生态系统健康状况评价初探——以武陵源为例

山岳型景观区是我国主要的旅游目的地类型之一。由于山岳型景观生态系统具有脆弱性、污染消解能力弱等特点,开发利用不当易引起生态环境破坏问题。因此,将生态系统健康理论与山岳型景观区的旅游可持续发展相结合,建立山岳型景观区生态系统健康评价指标体系,运用层次分析法对其健康状况进行分析评价,是景区旅游可持续发展由理论走向实践的又一条有效途径。运用该方法对世界自然遗产武陵源的生态系统健康状况进行了实证分析,及时发现面临的主要问题和潜在危险,进行健康预警,提出维护景区生态系统健康的对策与建议。     

外源环烷酸在土壤中的降解过程及对微生物群落结构的影响

环烷酸类物质(naphthenic acids,NAs)是石油中的一种天然成分,所占质量分数约为2%,是除多环芳烃外最具生态毒性的石油污染物.随着能源需求的增长,大量NAs通过石油工业的各个过程进入土壤环境中,对人类健康和生态系统造成了巨大的潜在威胁.然而,目前对外源NAs在土壤中的降解过程及其对微生物群落结构的影响等研究较少.本研究以自然洁净土壤为样本,通过添加180 mg·kg~(-1)高浓度NAs,并借助液相色谱、高通量测序等技术探究了土壤中NAs的降解过程及微生物群落动态变化.研究发现,自然洁净土壤对高浓度NAs降解能力较强,5 d内降解量达到50%,15 d后稳定在80%左右,但NAs含量低于42 mg·kg~(-1)后难以被生物利用;NAs污染明显改变了土壤细菌群落结构,土样中特有OTU数目增加,主要分布在未鉴定门、变形菌门(Proteobacteria)和拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes);高含量NAs污染胁迫下,拟杆菌门、酸杆菌门(Acidobacteria)及变形菌门中的γ变形菌纲(γ-Proteobacteria)物种丰度在短期内迅速升高,显示了较强耐受性,是潜在的NAs降解菌,而放线菌门(Actinobacteria)相对丰度则大幅下降,降幅高达24.8%;研究结果揭示了外源NAs在土壤中的降解过程及对微生物群落结构的影响,为石油污染土壤的生态修复提供了科学支持.     

生态系统服务价值评估研究进展及其在环境保护中的意义

介绍了生态系统服务功能价值的国内外研究进展。对研究趋势进行了分析，并对开展生态价值评价在环境保护中的意义进行了分析。     

改性天然沸石去除水中氨氮的研究

分别采用NaCl、KCl和CaCl2对黑龙江省某市天然沸石进行改性，考察了pH值、氨氮初始浓度以及温度对改性沸石交换性能的影响，并对改性沸石的交换动力学进行了研究。结果表明，NaCl和KCl改性对沸石原矿交换容量有不同程度提高，而KCl改性后容量有所降低。pH、NH4初始浓度以及温度对交换性能有明显影响，pH6．0附近沸石交换容量最大；NH4初始浓度越高，反应速度越快，相同初始浓度下，钾型沸石交换速度较快，而沸石原矿交换速度最慢。采用Langmuir型离子交换等温线进行非线性回归的结果显示，低温有利于交换反应的进行。溶液中NH4^＋在改性沸石上的离子交换反应可采用Vermeulen模型描述，沸石原矿拟合相关系数较差。改性沸石多次再生后，其交换容量均有所降低。     

兰州市大气降尘沉积物的粒度分布特征研究

对兰州市区大气自然降尘的粒度分布状况进行了监测和分析。全年中大气降尘量的极大值出现在4月份。降尘沉积物中粒径的质量中值直径为6．39～12．6μm，年平均为8．39μm。几何平均值为1．37～8．21μm，年平均为3．78μm．两者的月、季度变化不十分明显．降尘粒径中有84．55％集中在30～5μm内．并在10μm、5μm和200μm、3μm处前后分别出现一个较大和较小的峰值。     

近30年我国自然灾害灾情时间分布特征分析

利用民政部统计核定的1978-2009年全国年度灾情数据,以及国家统计局发布的社会经济统计数据,从灾情指标的绝对量、相对量及其变异系数入手,分析了我国自然灾害的年际、年代际趋势变化和波动变化特征。结果表明:近30年来,我国自然灾害灾情年际和年代际变化趋势明显。总体上,死亡人口下降趋势明显,人口受灾情况、农作物受灾情况和直接经济损失上升趋势明显,但相对直接经济损失下降趋势明显,房屋倒塌比例也有所下降;1990年代,灾害造成的各项损失较之1980年代增大趋势明显。我国自然灾害的影响范围趋于相对稳定,而灾害强度波动性较大,且有增大趋势。灾情的趋势和波动变化特征,反映了全球气候变化下极端事件更加频发,强度有所增加的趋势。灾情指标的大小与年度主要灾害类型以及重灾年份有关。     

Remittances as aid following major sudden‐onset natural disasters

There is a general assumption, based on macroeconomic studies, that remittances will rise following major sudden‐onset natural disasters. This is confirmed by a few assessments involving country‐specific research, and usually short‐term data. This study, questioning conventional wisdom, reviewed and graphed annual and quarterly remittance flows using International Monetary Fund and World Bank data from 2000–14 for 12 countries that confronted 18 major natural disasters. It found that, regardless of event type, annual remittances rose steadily from 2000–14 except for after the 2008–09 financial crisis. Post disaster, there was a quarterly increase in the majority of cases (confirming previous research) but there was seldom an annual increase in the year of the disaster greater than the average annual increase in 2000–14. It appears that remittance senders rush to provide assistance after a natural disaster, but since their own financial situation has not changed, the immediate increase is compensated by a later decrease.