Harvesting in an eight-species ecosystem

The theory for a general equilibrium ecosystem model that can include large number of interacting species is presented. Features include: (1) individual plants and animals are assumed to behave as if they are maximizing their net energy intake, (2) short- and long-run equilibriums are obtained, (3) species’ population adjustments depend on individual net energies. The theory is applied using simulations of an eight-species Alaskan marine ecosystem for which a “natural” equilibrium is calculated. Humans are introduced by adding a regulated open access fishery that harvests one of the species. Fishing impacts the fish population as well as the populations of other species, including Stellar sea lions, an endangered species. The sensitivity of fish and nonfish species populations to harvesting are calculated.     

超积累植物和化学改良剂联合修复锌镉污染土壤后的微生物特征

通过盆栽试验,观察分析不同的土壤改良配方对重金属超积累植物东南景天盆栽土壤中细菌、真菌和放线菌数量、Cmic及Nmic的影响,以此来筛选出最优的促进东南景天修复锌镉污染土壤的改良剂配方。结果显示:细菌、真菌和放线菌数量,与土壤Zn、Cd的去除率、东南景天植株干质量、Cmic及Cmic/Nmic两两之间都呈现极显著正相关关系(但Cmic/Nmic与真菌数量仅呈显著相关)。添加了土壤改良剂后,细菌、放线菌、真菌的数量都有不同程度的增加,其中以细菌数量的增加最为显著,放线菌次之,真菌则对各种土壤处理相对较不敏感;在各种土壤配方中,添加了6 g赤泥、15 g污泥和15 g沸石的T7处理最有利于各类土壤微生物的生长,微生物量碳达到345.64 mg.kg-1,与其它处理之间都达到显著差异。因此,可以利用土壤微生物作为污染土壤改良情况的生物指标。该研究为下阶段研究化学改良剂-植物-微生物修复技术奠定了基础。     

金矿床中毒砂的标型特征和地球化学行为探讨

本文总结了金矿床中毒砂的基本标型特征,并从地球化学角度阐述了金在毒砂中富集的机理,解释了同一金矿床中毒砂含金量比黄铁矿高,以及毒砂中常常出现晶格金的原因.     

Incentivizing Monitoring and Compliance in Trophy Hunting

Conservation scientists are increasingly focusing on the drivers of human behavior and on the implications of various sources of uncertainty for management decision making. Trophy hunting has been suggested as a conservation tool because it gives economic value to wildlife, but recent examples show that overharvesting is a substantial problem and that data limitations are rife. We use a case study of trophy hunting of an endangered antelope, the mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni), to explore how uncertainties generated by population monitoring and poaching interact with decision making by 2 key stakeholders: the safari companies and the government. We built a management strategy evaluation model that encompasses the population dynamics of mountain nyala, a monitoring model, and a company decision making model. We investigated scenarios of investment into antipoaching and monitoring by governments and safari companies. Harvest strategy was robust to the uncertainty in the population estimates obtained from monitoring, but poaching had a much stronger effect on quota and sustainability. Hence, reducing poaching is in the interests of companies wishing to increase the profitability of their enterprises, for example by engaging community members as game scouts. There is a threshold level of uncertainty in the population estimates beyond which the year‐to‐year variation in the trophy quota prevented planning by the safari companies. This suggests a role for government in ensuring that a baseline level of population monitoring is carried out such that this level is not exceeded. Our results illustrate the importance of considering the incentives of multiple stakeholders when designing frameworks for resource use and when designing management frameworks to address the particular sources of uncertainty that affect system sustainability most heavily. Incentivando el Monitoreo y el Cumplimiento en la Caza de Trofeos     

A Contemporary Assessment of Change in Humid Tropical Forests

Abstract: In recent decades the rate and geographic extent of land‐use and land‐cover change has increased throughout the world's humid tropical forests. The pan‐tropical geography of forest change is a challenge to assess, and improved estimates of the human footprint in the tropics are critical to understanding potential changes in biodiversity. We combined recently published and new satellite observations, along with images from Google Earth and a literature review, to estimate the contemporary global extent of deforestation, selective logging, and secondary regrowth in humid tropical forests. Roughly 1.4% of the biome was deforested between 2000 and 2005. As of 2005, about half of the humid tropical forest biome contained 50% or less tree cover. Although not directly comparable to deforestation, geographic estimates of selective logging indicate that at least 20% of the humid tropical forest biome was undergoing some level of timber harvesting between 2000 and 2005. Forest recovery estimates are even less certain, but a compilation of available reports suggests that at least 1.2% of the humid tropical forest biome was in some stage of long‐term secondary regrowth in 2000. Nearly 70% of the regrowth reports indicate forest regeneration in hilly, upland, and mountainous environments considered marginal for large‐scale agriculture and ranching. Our estimates of the human footprint are conservative because they do not resolve very small‐scale deforestation, low‐intensity logging, and unreported secondary regrowth, nor do they incorporate other impacts on tropical forest ecosystems, such as fire and hunting. Our results highlight the enormous geographic extent of forest change throughout the humid tropics and the considerable limitations of the science and technology available for such a synthesis.     

Traditional Plant Harvesting in Contemporary Fragmented and Urban Landscapes

Abstract: Ecosystem fragmentation and destruction can lead to restrictive administration policies on traditional harvesting by indigenous peoples from remaining ecosystem tracts. In New Zealand, concerns about endangered species and governmental policies that focus on species and ecosystem preservation have resulted in severely curtailed traditional harvesting rights. Although provision has been made for limited gathering of traditional plants from government‐administered conservation lands, it is unclear how much harvesting is undertaken on these lands and elsewhere and what this harvest might consist of. We interviewed seven expert Maori elders from the Waikato, New Zealand, to identify plant species they currently harvested and from where. We compared these data with the data we collected on permits issued for plant collecting on conservation lands in the same region. We sought to gain information on indigenous plant harvesting to determine the extent of permitted harvesting from conservation lands in the Waikato and to identify issues that might affect plant harvesting and management. Elders identified 58 species they harvest regularly or consider culturally important; over 50% of these species are harvested for medicinal use. Permit data from 1996 to 2006 indicated no apparent relationship between species of reported cultural significance and the number of permits issued for each of these species. Currently, few plant species are harvested from conservation lands, although some unofficial harvesting occurs. Elders instead reported that medicinal plants are frequently collected from urban and other public areas. They reported that plant species used for dyeing, carving, and weaving are difficult to access. Elders also discussed concerns such as spraying of roadsides, which resulted in the death of medicinal species, and use of commercial hybrids in urban planning. Local government may have an increasingly important role in supporting native traditions through urban planning, which takes account of cultural harvesting needs while potentially reducing future harvesting pressure on conservation lands. We suggest that active participation by the Māori community in the development and management of urban harvesting resources will result in positive outcomes.     

杭州市空气微生物群落碳代谢特征研究

利用Biolog技术,研究了杭州市4个样点,即延安路商业街(Yan’an Road Business Street,YRBS)、天目山路与教工路口(Tianmushan Jiaogong Cross Road,TJCR)、浙江工商大学教工路校区(Zhejiang Gongshang University Jiaogong Campus,ZJGUSJC)、西湖曲院风荷(Breeze-ruffled Lotus at Quyuan Garden,BLQG)空气微生物群落碳代谢特征.结果表明,不同样点空气微生物样品平均颜色变化率(Average Well Color Development,AWCD)在培养240 h后达到稳定,并且4个样点的AWCD值即对单一碳源的利用能力具有显著差异,YRBS>TJCR≈ZJGSUJC>BLQG;YRBS、TJCR、ZJGSUJC和BLQG空气中微生物物种的多样性和丰富度依次减少;不同样点空气微生物对糖类和氨基酸类碳源利用程度较高,对其它碳源利用程度较低,且同一样点对不同单一碳源的利用程度也存在显著差异,YRBS对糖类碳源的利用程度最高,对聚合物类碳源利用程度最低,BLQG对糖类碳源的利用程度最高,对胺类碳源利用程度最低;不同样点空气微生物群落碳代谢基质主成分1(PC1)贡献度为43.8%,主成分2(PC2)贡献度23.4%,YRBS、BLQG和TJCR的空气微生物群落差异较大,碳代谢功能差异显著,而TJCR与ZJGSUJC碳代谢功能无显著差异.     

Water quality in a non-traditional off-stream polyethylene-lined reservoir

Annual water storage in a 5.3 ha, polyethylene-lined, off-stream irrigation reservoir in northern Alabama, USA, resulted in marked improvement in water quality. Results of three-year monitoring from June 1999 to May 2002 indicate that the relatively static conditions of the reservoir enhanced settling of suspended particles by 85% (from 14.4 to 2.1 mg TSS/L) that cleared the water and increased sunlight penetration. The organic and inorganic particles that settled to the bottom removed up to 88% of the nutrients and other chemical substances from the water. Nutrients remaining in the water column were rapidly assimilated by phytoplankton algae. With the basin sealed at the bottom and no runoff input there was limited opportunity for nutrients or other substances to enter the reservoir in quantities that would adversely affect water quality. Consequently, reservoir water was found to be of high quality and suitable as a raw water supply. Non-traditional, off-stream storage reservoirs such as described in this paper may be uniquely suited for agricultural irrigation and public water supply in regions such as southeastern US that experience relatively frequent drought conditions but have relatively abundant long-term annual rainfall.