Vectors and Timing of Freshwater Invasions in Great Britain

Abstract: Nonindigenous freshwater species cause large ecological and economic impacts in Great Britain. In response the government is in the process of implementing a broad, new nonindigenous species strategy. We assembled a list of all nonindigenous freshwater species that are or were established in Great Britain, their date of first record, and their vector of introduction. This list provides a baseline against which the success of new policies can be assessed. Because the biota of Great Britain has been well recorded, our results provide a highly resolved case study of the vectors and drivers of species transport and establishment. A total of 117 nonindigenous freshwater species are currently established in Great Britain; a further 17 species were once established but are now extirpated. Between 1800 and 2000 the number of established species increased at an accelerating rate, and this increase correlated with the growth in human population and gross domestic product. The construction of large reservoirs in Great Britain occurred over a short period and overlapped high rates of new species establishment, indicating that habitat modification may have been an important driver of establishment. Nonindigenous species now account for 24% of fish, 12% of plant, 54% of amphibian, and 88% of decapod crustacean freshwater species richness in Great Britain. The ornamental trades have been responsible for the greatest percentages of intentionally (73%) and unintentionally (34%) introduced species that have become established. Shipping and aquaculture have also been strong vectors. These vectors should be prioritized for management within the new nonindigenous species strategy.     

Wood Density as a Conservation Tool: Quantification of Disturbance and Identification of Conservation‐Priority Areas in Tropical Forests

Abstract: Inventories of tree species are often conducted to guide conservation efforts in tropical forests. Such surveys are time consuming, demanding of expertise, and expensive to perform and interpret. Approaches to make survey efforts simpler or more effective would be valuable. In particular, it would be good to be able to easily identify areas of old‐growth forest. The average density of the wood of a tree species is closely linked to its successional status. We used tree inventory data from eastern Borneo to determine whether wood density can be used to quantify forest disturbance and conservation importance. The average density of wood in a plot was significantly and negatively related to disturbance levels, with plots with higher wood densities occurring almost exclusively in old‐growth forests. Average wood density was unimodally related to the diversity of tree species, indicating that the average wood density in a plot might be a better indicator of old‐growth forest than species diversity. In addition, Borneo endemics had significantly heavier wood than species that are common throughout the Malesian region, and they were more common in plots with higher average wood density. We concluded that wood density at the plot level could be a powerful tool for identifying areas of conservation priority in the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia.     

Bioaccumulation of metals in human blood in industrially contaminated area

The consumption of contaminated food crops, meat and milk has significantly increased the concentrations of trace metals in human blood as compared to the control area.     

干旱对克氏针茅草原碳循环的影响

本文以中国北方克氏针茅草原为研究对象,以涡度相关法为主要技术手段,利用克氏针茅草原观测站2008年碳通量观测数据,探讨了干旱对克氏针茅草原生态系统呼吸（Reco）、生态系统总初级生产力（GPP）和生态系统净碳交换（NEE）的影响。研究发现：干旱是克氏针茅草原2008年Reco、GPP和NEE的限制因子。1）在半小时尺度和日尺度上,Reco均随干旱的增加呈降低趋势,呈现出明显的相关关系,Reco最大值出现在降雨过后的7月3日,为3．58gCm^-2d^-1;2）温度适宜时,半小时尺度和日尺度上的GPP均随土壤含水量（SWC）的减小而降低,呈现出明显的正相关关系,GPP最大值出现在7月4日,其值为7．89gCm^-2d^-1;3）在干旱的影响下,NEE随SWC的减小呈减弱趋势,在半小时尺度和日尺度上同样呈现正相关关系,在水分不足时,NEE明显减小,降雨前10天NEE平均值为-0．33gCm^-2d^-1,降水后10天增大为-2．21gCm^-2d^-1,后20天为-2．46gCm^-2d^-1,之后随SWC的降低,NEE开始减小,最后降至一0．12gCm^-2d^-1。干旱通过影响Reco、GPP和NEE进而影响生态系统碳循环,是2008年克氏针茅草原生态系统碳循环的限制因子。     

长三角地区秸秆焚烧PM2.5排放量估算与分析研究

根据长三角地区的实际情况,对该地区两省一市的秸秆焚烧PM2.5排放量状况进行估算.通过长三角地区2002年-2012年主要农作物产量、草谷比、焚烧比例和PM2.5排放因子,估算了该地区内秸秆焚烧量,同时对由秸秆焚烧引起的PM2.5排放量进行了估算,并进行了分析.结果表明：长三角地区2002年-2012年秸秆焚烧量最高的为农业发达的江苏省,高峰都集中在每年的10月份前后,由秸秆焚烧引起的PM2.5排放量呈逐年上升趋势,2012年达到55 218.96 t,其中江苏省每年的PM2.5排放量占到该地区的75％以上,2012年占到80％.研究结果将为制定该地区污染控制政策,改善区域环境空气质量提供科学理论依据.     

Estimating the Extent of Impervious Surfaces and Turf Grass across Large Regions

The ability of researchers to accurately assess the extent of impervious and pervious developed surfaces, e.g., turf grass, using land‐cover data derived from Landsat satellite imagery in the Chesapeake Bay watershed is limited due to the resolution of the data and systematic discrepancies between developed land‐cover classes, surface mines, forests, and farmlands. Estimates of impervious surface and turf grass area in the Mid‐Atlantic, United States that were based on 2006 Landsat‐derived land‐cover data were substantially lower than estimates based on more authoritative and independent sources. New estimates of impervious surfaces and turf grass area derived using land‐cover data combined with ancillary information on roads, housing units, surface mines, and sampled estimates of road width and residential impervious area were up to 57 and 45% higher than estimates based strictly on land‐cover data. These new estimates closely approximate estimates derived from authoritative and independent sources in developed counties.     

Redefining and mapping global irreplaceability

Irreplaceability is a concept used to describe how close a site is to being essential for achieving conservation targets. Current methods for measuring irreplaceability are based on representative combinations of sites, giving them an extrinsic nature and exponential computational requirements. Surrogate measures based on efficiency (complementarity) are often used as alternatives, but they were never intended for this purpose and do not measure irreplaceability. Current approaches used to estimate irreplaceability have key limitations. Some of these are a result of the tools used, but some are due to the nature of the current definition of irreplaceability. For irreplaceability to be stable and useful for conservation purposes and to resolve limitations, irreplaceability measures should adhere to five axioms; baseline coherence, monotonic responsiveness, proportional responsiveness, intrinsic stability, and bounded outputs. We designed a robust method for measuring a site's proximity to irreplaceability that adheres to these requirements and used it to develop the first systematic global map of irreplaceability based on data for terrestrial vertebrates (n = 29,837 species, >1 million grid cells). At least 3.5% of land surface was highly irreplaceable, and 47.6% of highly irreplaceable cells were contained in 12 countries. More generous thresholds of irreplaceability flag greater portions of land surface that would still be realistic to protect under current global objectives. Irreplaceable sites should form a critical component of any global conservation plan and should be part of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity's post2020 Global Biodiversity Framework strategy, forming part of the 30% protection by 2030 target that is gaining support. The reliable identification of irreplaceable sites will be crucial to halting extinctions.