Effectiveness of conservation easements in agricultural regions

Conservation easements are a standard technique for preventing habitat loss, particularly in agricultural regions with extensive cropland cultivation, yet little is known about their effectiveness. I developed a spatial econometric approach to propensity‐score matching and used the approach to estimate the amount of habitat loss prevented by a grassland conservation easement program of the U.S. federal government. I used a spatial autoregressive probit model to predict tract enrollment in the easement program as of 2001 based on tract agricultural suitability, habitat quality, and spatial interactions among neighboring tracts. Using the predicted values from the model, I matched enrolled tracts with similar unenrolled tracts to form a treatment group and a control group. To measure the program's impact on subsequent grassland loss, I estimated cropland cultivation rates for both groups in 2014 with a second spatial probit model. Between 2001 and 2014, approximately 14.9% of control tracts were cultivated and 0.3% of treated tracts were cultivated. Therefore, approximately 14.6% of the protected land would have been cultivated in the absence of the program. My results demonstrate that conservation easements can significantly reduce habitat loss in agricultural regions; however, the enrollment of tracts with low cropland suitability may constrain the amount of habitat loss they prevent. My results also show that spatial econometric models can improve the validity of control groups and thereby strengthen causal inferences about program effectiveness in situations when spatial interactions influence conservation decisions.     

Using environmental heterogeneity to plan for sea‐level rise

Environmental heterogeneity is increasingly being used to select conservation areas that will provide for future biodiversity under a variety of climate scenarios. This approach, termed conserving nature's stage (CNS), assumes environmental features respond to climate change more slowly than biological communities, but will CNS be effective if the stage were to change as rapidly as the climate? We tested the effectiveness of using CNS to select sites in salt marshes for conservation in coastal Georgia (U.S.A.), where environmental features will change rapidly as sea level rises. We calculated species diversity based on distributions of 7 bird species with a variety of niches in Georgia salt marshes. Environmental heterogeneity was assessed across six landscape gradients (e.g., elevation, salinity, and patch area). We used 2 approaches to select sites with high environmental heterogeneity: site complementarity (environmental diversity [ED]) and local environmental heterogeneity (environmental richness [ER]). Sites selected based on ER predicted present‐day species diversity better than randomly selected sites (up to an 8.1% improvement), were resilient to areal loss from SLR (1.0% average areal loss by 2050 compared with 0.9% loss of randomly selected sites), and provided habitat to a threatened species (0.63 average occupancy compared with 0.6 average occupancy of randomly selected sites). Sites selected based on ED predicted species diversity no better or worse than random and were not resilient to SLR (2.9% average areal loss by 2050). Despite the discrepancy between the 2 approaches, CNS is a viable strategy for conservation site selection in salt marshes because the ER approach was successful. It has potential for application in other coastal areas where SLR will affect environmental features, but its performance may depend on the magnitude of geological changes caused by SLR. Our results indicate that conservation planners that had heretofore excluded low‐lying coasts from CNS planning could include coastal ecosystems in regional conservation strategies.     

Applying network theory to prioritize multispecies habitat networks that are robust to climate and land‐use change

Designing connected landscapes is among the most widespread strategies for achieving biodiversity conservation targets. The challenge lies in simultaneously satisfying the connectivity needs of multiple species at multiple spatial scales under uncertain climate and land‐use change. To evaluate the contribution of remnant habitat fragments to the connectivity of regional habitat networks, we developed a method to integrate uncertainty in climate and land‐use change projections with the latest developments in network‐connectivity research and spatial, multipurpose conservation prioritization. We used land‐use change simulations to explore robustness of species’ habitat networks to alternative development scenarios. We applied our method to 14 vertebrate focal species of periurban Montreal, Canada. Accounting for connectivity in spatial prioritization strongly modified conservation priorities and the modified priorities were robust to uncertain climate change. Setting conservation priorities based on habitat quality and connectivity maintained a large proportion of the region's connectivity, despite anticipated habitat loss due to climate and land‐use change. The application of connectivity criteria alongside habitat‐quality criteria for protected‐area design was efficient with respect to the amount of area that needs protection and did not necessarily amplify trade‐offs among conservation criteria. Our approach and results are being applied in and around Montreal and are well suited to the design of ecological networks and green infrastructure for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in other regions, in particular regions around large cities, where connectivity is critically low.     

The rise of glyphosate and new opportunities for biosentinel early‐warning studies

Glyphosate has become the most commonly used herbicide worldwide and is reputedly environmentally benign, nontoxic, and safe for use near wildlife and humans. However, studies indicate its toxicity is underestimated and its persistence in the environment is greater than once thought. Its actions as a neurotoxin and endocrine disruptor indicate its potential to act in similar ways to persistent organic pollutants such as the organochlorines dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and dioxin. Exposure to glyphosate and glyphosate‐based herbicides for both wildlife and people is likely to be chronic and at sublethal levels, with multiple and ongoing exposure events occurring in urban and agricultural landscapes. Despite this, there has been little research on the impact of glyphosate on wildlife populations, and existing studies appear in the agricultural, toxicology, and water‐chemistry literature that may have limited visibility among wildlife biologists. These studies clearly demonstrate a link between chronic exposure and neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, cell damage, and immune suppression. There is a strong case for the recognition of glyphosate as an emerging organic contaminant and substantial potential exists for collaborative research among ecologists, toxicologists, and chemists to quantify the impact of glyphosate on wildlife and to evaluate the role of biosentinel species in a preemptive move to mitigate downstream impacts on people. There is scope to develop a decision framework to aid the choice of species to biomonitor and analysis methods based on the target contaminant, spatial and temporal extent of contamination, and perceived risk. Birds in particular offer considerable potential in this role because they span agricultural and urban environments, coastal, inland, and wetland ecosystems where glyphosate residues are known to be present.     

灰色生长曲线与万元产值废水量预测

基于ＧＩＭ（１）灰色线性幂函数曲线，研究开发出ＧＰＭ（１）这一新的灰色生长曲线，并建立了ＧＰＭ（１）简捷的参数辨别方法。研究表明，ＧＰＭ（１）概念明确，结论可信，精度令人满意，比传统的皮尔生长曲线在应用上有着更大的优越性。为具有生长规律的非线性灰色环境系统的分析、预测和决策提供了新途径。     

Prenatal exclusion of stickler syndrome

Stickler syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder of the connective tissue which includes ocular and systemic manifestations. We report on a large kindred in which we were able to demonstrate very tight linkage between the disease and the type II collagen gene (COL2A1) (LOD score 3·91 at θ=0). In a family in which the father and one of his daughters were severely affected, DNA analysis from a chorionic villus sample demonstrated that the fetus possessed the normal allele of COL2A1. Thereafter a normal child was born.     

苯并(a)芘在黄河水体不同粒径颗粒物上的表面吸附和分配作用特征

模拟实验研究了苯并(a)芘在黄河水体不同粒径颗粒物上的吸附作用,重点探讨了颗粒物粒径对苯并(a)芘的表面吸附和分配作用的影响.结果表明:(1)苯并(a)芘在黄河水体颗粒物上的吸附符合表面吸附-分配作用复合模式(2)苯并(a)芘在粒径d≥0.025 mm颗粒物上的吸附以表面吸附为主,表面吸附对吸附的贡献在68.7%至82.4%之间;当苯并(a)芘液相平衡浓度为0～8.87μg·L-1时,其在粒径0 007 mm≤d＜0.025 mm颗粒物上的吸附以表吸附作用为主,当液相平衡浓度大于8.87μg·L-1时,吸附以分配作用为主;苯并(a)芘在粒径d＜0.007 mm颗粒物上的吸附以分配作用为主;(3)苯并(a)芘在不同粒径颗粒物上的表面吸附对总吸附的贡献大小顺序为:(d≥0.025 mm)＞(0.007 mm≤d＜0 025 mm)＞(d＜0.007 mm);(4)苯并(a)芘在不同粒径颗粒物中的分配系数与有机质含量呈线性相关,其标化分配系数Koc约为1.26×105L·kg-1.     

植物角质层的蜡质组分对甲萘酚的吸附作用

采用批量平衡法,比较研究了苹果角质结合蜡质、分离蜡质和重建蜡质对极性有机污染物甲萘酚的吸附作用,并探讨了不同负载量的重建蜡质的吸附性能,以期为准确预测有机污染物在不同状态蜡质组分上的吸附行为提供依据.结果表明,甲萘酚在苹果角质层、脱蜡角质层、分离蜡质(IW)、重建蜡质(BW)上的等温吸附线呈非线性,符合Freundlich方程.植物蜡质对甲萘酚的吸附作用与蜡质所处状态密切相关,吸附能力(Koc)大小顺序为:重建蜡质(321.2) > 分离蜡质(190.4) > 角质结合蜡质(128.4),表明植物角质层进入土壤后发生演化过程中,其中不易降解的蜡质的吸附能力逐渐增大.重建蜡质(BW)的吸附系数(Kd)与甲萘酚的浓度呈负相关,与蜡质的负载量呈正有关.在低浓度时,甲萘酚的有机碳标化吸附系数Koc值随有机碳含量(foc)增大先增大后减小,存在一些强的特殊作用;而高浓度时, Koc-基本为一常数,不随蜡质负载量而变化,主要吸附机理为分配作用.角质结合蜡质(CW)对角质层的总吸附作用的贡献较小,但随甲萘酚平衡浓度的增大而逐渐增大,并于高浓度时, CW的吸附能力与IW相当.     

废弃采石场作为一般工业固体废物填埋场址探析

从城市工业固体废物消纳和废弃采石场作为填埋处置场地的角度出发,对利用废弃采石场作为第Ⅰ类一般工业固体废物填埋场场址条件进行探讨,通过广州市地区实例说明利用废弃采石场选址作为第Ⅰ类一般工业固废填埋场址的可用性,这对未来废弃采石场的综合利用具有一定的借鉴意义。     

微生物处理技术在有机污染物降解中的应用

微生物处理有机污染物是一种费用低,效果好,无二次污染且操作简单的处理方法。综述了国内外几种微生物处理有机污染物技术的研究进展。