Quantifying Preferences for the Natural World Using Monetary and Nonmonetary Assessments of Value

Given that funds for biodiversity conservation are limited, there is a need to understand people's preferences for its different components. To date, such preferences have largely been measured in monetary terms. However, how people value biodiversity may differ from economic theory, and there is little consensus over whether monetary metrics are always appropriate or the degree to which other methods offer alternative and complementary perspectives on value. We used a choice experiment to compare monetary amounts recreational visitors to urban green spaces were willing to pay for biodiversity enhancement (increases in species richness for birds, plants, and aquatic macroinvertebrates) with self‐reported psychological gains in well‐being derived from visiting the same sites. Willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) estimates were significant and positive, and respondents reported high gains in well‐being across 3 axes derived from environmental psychology theories (reflection, attachment, continuity with past). The 2 metrics were broadly congruent. Participants with above‐median self‐reported well‐being scores were willing to pay significantly higher amounts for enhancing species richness than those with below‐median scores, regardless of taxon. The socio‐economic and demographic background of participants played little role in determining either their well‐being or the probability of choosing a paying option within the choice experiment. Site‐level environmental characteristics were only somewhat related to WTP, but showed strong associations with self‐reported well‐being. Both approaches are likely to reflect a combination of the environmental properties of a site and unobserved individual preference heterogeneity for the natural world. Our results suggest that either metric will deliver mutually consistent results in an assessment of environmental preferences, although which approach is preferable depends on why one wishes to measure values for the natural world. Preferencias de Cuantificación para el Mundo Natural Usando Estudios de Valor Monetario y No Monetario.     

Loss of an ecological baseline through the eradication of oyster reefs from coastal ecosystems and human memory

Oyster reefs form over extensive areas and the diversity and productivity of sheltered coasts depend on them. Due to the relatively recent population growth of coastal settlements in Australia, we were able to evaluate the collapse and extirpation of native oyster reefs (Ostrea angasi) over the course of a commercial fishery. We used historical records to quantify commercial catch of O. angasi in southern Australia from early colonization, around 1836, to some of the last recorded catches in 1944 and used our estimates of catch and effort to map their past distribution and assess oyster abundance over 180 years. Significant declines in catch and effort occurred from 1886 to 1946 and no native oyster reefs occur today, but historically oyster reefs extended across more than 1,500 km of coastline. That oyster reefs were characteristic of much of the coastline of South Australia from 1836 to 1910 appears not to be known because there is no contemporary consideration of their ecological and economic value. Based on the concept of a shifted baseline, we consider this contemporary state to reflect a collective, intergenerational amnesia. Our model of generational amnesia accounts for differences in intergenerational expectations of food, economic value, and ecosystem services of nearshore areas. An ecological system that once surrounded much of the coast and possibly the past presence of oyster reefs altogether may be forgotten and could not only undermine progress towards their recovery, but also reduce our expectations of these coastal ecosystems. La Pérdida de una Línea de Base Ecológica por Medio de la Erradicación de Arrecifes de Ostión de los Ecosistemas Costeros y la Memoria Humana     

Incentivizing biodiversity conservation in artisanal fishing communities through territorial user rights and business model innovation

Territorial user rights for fisheries are being promoted to enhance the sustainability of small‐scale fisheries. Using Chile as a case study, we designed a market‐based program aimed at improving fishers’ livelihoods while incentivizing the establishment and enforcement of no‐take areas within areas managed with territorial user right regimes. Building on explicit enabling conditions (i.e., high levels of governance, participation, and empowerment), we used a place‐based, human‐centered approach to design a program that will have the necessary support and buy‐in from local fishers to result in landscape‐scale biodiversity benefits. Transactional infrastructure must be complex enough to capture the biodiversity benefits being created, but simple enough so that the program can be scaled up and is attractive to potential financiers. Biodiversity benefits created must be commoditized, and desired behavioral changes must be verified within a transactional context. Demand must be generated for fisher‐created biodiversity benefits in order to attract financing and to scale the market model. Important design decisions around these 3 components—supply, transactional infrastructure, and demand—must be made based on local social‐ecological conditions. Our market model, which is being piloted in Chile, is a flexible foundation on which to base scalable opportunities to operationalize a scheme that incentivizes local, verifiable biodiversity benefits via conservation behaviors by fishers that could likely result in significant marine conservation gains and novel cross‐sector alliances. Incentivar la Conservación de la Biodiversidad con Comunidades de Pesca Artesanal por medio de Derechos de Uso Territorial y la Innovación de Modelos de Negocio     

Thermal Physiology,Disease, and Amphibian Declines on the Eastern Slopes of the Andes

Rising temperatures, a widespread consequence of climate change, have been implicated in enigmatic amphibian declines from habitats with little apparent human impact. The pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), now widespread in Neotropical mountains, may act in synergy with climate change causing collapse in thermally stressed hosts. We measured the thermal tolerance of frogs along a wide elevational gradient in the Tropical Andes, where frog populations have collapsed. We used the difference between critical thermal maximum and the temperature a frog experiences in nature as a measure of tolerance to high temperatures. Temperature tolerance increased as elevation increased, suggesting that frogs at higher elevations may be less sensitive to rising temperatures. We tested the alternative pathogen optimal growth hypothesis that prevalence of the pathogen should decrease as temperatures fall outside the optimal range of pathogen growth. Our infection‐prevalence data supported the pathogen optimal growth hypothesis because we found that prevalence of Bd increased when host temperatures matched its optimal growth range. These findings suggest that rising temperatures may not be the driver of amphibian declines in the eastern slopes of the Andes. Zoonotic outbreaks of Bd are the most parsimonious hypothesis to explain the collapse of montane amphibian faunas; but our results also reveal that lowland tropical amphibians, despite being shielded from Bd by higher temperatures, are vulnerable to climate‐warming stress. Fisiología Termal, Enfermedades y Disminuciones de Anfibios en las Laderas Orientales de los Andes     

恐龙之乡川南游

川南地区，历史悠久，文化灿烂，风光优美，是四川的精品旅游路线之一。自贡的恐龙群窟，堪称世界奇观。盐都自贡僰海井，是中华民族智慧的结晶。万里长江第一城的宜宾，风景秀丽。珙县石碑龙，具有极高的旅游价值和重大的学术意义，僰人悬棺，是世界上最大的悬棺群。兴文石海洞乡是不可多得的喀斯特公园，其洞穴与漏斗都是世界级的，独具一格的景观配置，构成了一幅世界上极为壮观、极为独特的自然奇观。蜀南竹海更以其浩瀚的翠绿、万壑的柔情，无比的峻秀，给恐龙之乡增添了无比的美丽，无穷的魅力。     

河流污染总量监测方法的探索

对河流流量测量的简易方法及其方法的技术参数做具体的介绍,与其他一些传统的测量方法相比,简易测量法具有测量准确、操作简便易行、省钱、省时、省力等特点,是河流污染物总量监测里很实用的方法。     

油田井下作业TK-5型全自动液气控制天车安全装置

叙述了油田井下作业TK—5型全自动液气控制天车安全装置的工作原理，分析了该装置的安全可靠性。     

昆明基地珍稀濒危植物引种驯化

昆明基地几年间先后引进国家重点保护珍稀濒危植物及云南珍稀保护植物167种,在当地自然环境中能保存存活的有140余种,其中有59种已开花,有22种已开花结实,并已有部分种类在迁地保护基地内完成从种子到种子的生命周期。在调查的35种保护树种中,有11种生长速度快,适应性强,可作为本地重点推广利用的造林及园林绿化保护树种。     

高校学生组织发展工作的一条路子

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