Human perspectives and conservation of grizzly bears in Banff National Park, Canada

Some conservation initiatives provoke intense conflict among stakeholders. The need for action, the nature of the conservation measures, and the effects of these measures on human interests may be disputed. Tools are needed to depolarize such situations, foster understanding of the perspectives of people involved, and find common ground. We used Q methodology to explore stakeholders' perspectives on conservation and management of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) in Banff National Park and the Bow River watershed of Alberta, Canada. Twenty-nine stakeholders participated in the study, including local residents, scientists, agency employees, and representatives of nongovernmental conservation organizations and other interest groups. Participants rank ordered a set of statements to express their opinions on the problems of grizzly bear management (I-IV) and a second set of statements on possible solutions to the problems (A-C). Factor analysis revealed that participants held 4 distinct views of the problems: individuals associated with factor I emphasized deficiencies in goals and plans; those associated with factor II believed that problems had been exaggerated; those associated with factor III blamed institutional flaws such as disjointed management and inadequate resources; and individuals associated with factor IV blamed politicized decision making. There were 3 distinct views about the best solutions to the problems: individuals associated with factor A called for increased conservation efforts; those associated with factor B wanted reforms in decision-making processes; and individuals associated with factor C supported active landscape management. We connected people's definitions of the problem with their preferred solutions to form 5 overall problem narratives espoused by groups in the study: the problem is deficient goals and plans, the solution is to prioritize conservation efforts (planning-oriented conservation advocates); the problem is flawed institutions, the solution is to prioritize conservation efforts (institutionally-oriented conservation advocates); the problems have been exaggerated, but there is a need to improve decision-making processes (optimistic decision-process reformers); the problems have been exaggerated, but managers should more actively manage the landscape (optimistic landscape managers); and the problem is politicized decision making, solutions vary (democratizers). Although these 5 groups differed on many issues, they agreed that the population of grizzly bears is vulnerable to extirpation, human use of the area should be designed around ecological constraints, and more inclusive decision-making processes are needed. We used our results to inform a series of workshops in which stakeholders developed and agreed on new management strategies that were implemented by Parks Canada. Our research demonstrates the usefulness of Q method to illuminate people's perspectives and identify common ground in settings where conservation is contested.     

江西九连山阔叶林雪灾后主要树种残存量的恢复时间

2008年初的南方冰雪灾害对江西九连山自然保护区常绿阔叶林生态系统造成了巨大损失.对受灾4 hm2样地中的1 5901株林木(DBH≥1 cm)进行了统计分析,其中对枫香、马尾松、米槠、木荷、拟赤杨、丝栗栲这6个代表树种进行了残存率恢复研究.结果显示:6种植物残存率为木荷>拟赤杨>米槠>枫香>马尾松>丝栗栲;恢复时间为枫香>丝栗栲>马尾松>木荷>米槠和拟赤杨.恢复时间最长的为枫香(33年),最短的为米槠和拟赤杨(15年左右),种群恢复到受灾前.同时对残存率和恢复时间的关系进行了Logistic非线性曲线模拟.样地中植物种群残存率恢复时间由受灾状况和物种生长速度决定,采用Logistic模型拟合的相关度非常显著.     

How humans shape wolf behavior in Banff and Kootenay National Parks, Canada

This paper describes the conceptualization and implementation of an agent-based model to investigate how varying levels of human presence could affect elements of wolf behavior, including highway crossings; use of areas in proximity to roads and trails; size of home ranges; activities, such as hunting, patrolling, resting, and feeding pups; and survival of individuals in Banff and Kootenay National Parks, Canada. The model consists of a wolf module as the primary component with five packs represented as cognitive agents, and grizzly bear, elk, and human modules that represent dynamic components of the environment. A set of environmental data layers was used to develop a friction model that serves as a base map representing the landscape over which wolves moved. A decision model was built to simulate the sequence of wolf activities. The model was implemented in a Java Programming Language using RePast, an agent-based modeling library. Six months of wolf activities were simulated from April 16 to October 15 (i.e., a season coherent with regard to known wolf behaviors), and calibrated with GPS data from wolf radiocollars (n = 15) deployed from 2002 to 2004. Results showed that the simulated trajectories of wolf movements were correlated with the observed trajectories (Spearman's rho 0.566, P < 0.001); other critical behaviors, such as time spent at the den and not traveling were also correlated. The simulations revealed that wolf movements and behaviors were noticeably affected by the intensity of human presence. The packs’ home ranges shrank and wolves crossed highways less frequently with increased human presence. In an extreme example, a wolf pack whose home range is traversed by a high-traffic-volume highway was extirpated due to inability to hunt successfully under a scenario wherein human presence levels were increased 10-fold. The modeling prototype developed in this study may serve as a tool to test hypotheses about human effects on wolves and on other mammals, and guide decision-makers in designing management strategies that minimize impacts on wolves and on other species functionally related to wolves in the ecosystem.     

2000—2007年珠峰自然保护区植被时空变化与驱动因子

采用遥感与GIS相结合的方法研究了珠峰自然保护区2000—2007年之间的植被时空变化过程和驱动机制问题。通过一元线性回归斜率计算获取了基于EVI数据的珠峰自然保护区植被变化趋势,以及表现2000—2007年植被变化的矢量图层。利用GIS时间动画技术,建立了7个时间点内不同间隔的植被时空演化过程快照,并结合ArcEngine构建了植被变化监测的时序分析流程,提取和分析了植被变化过程的时空特征。依据年平均温和年降水量观测记录进行了植被变化的气候因子分析,依据道路、河流缓冲区的居民点密度与植被退化面积比例的相关性,分析了人类活动影响,并讨论了不同植被退化区域在多重因素作用下的变化驱动因子。拟合了主要社会经济发展指标与植被变化的相关性,从统计数据方面讨论了珠峰自然保护区社会经济发展对植被变化的影响作用。结果表明：珠峰自然保护区植被变化的总体趋势以稳定为主,但植被退化趋势超过了变好趋势。同时,核心区植被变好趋势明显,实验区植被退化趋势严重。保护区南坡植被受气候变化干扰小,保持了大部分变好趋势;北坡由于降水减少造成湿地植被退化,对草地的长势带来消极作用。人类活动与植被状态变化有密切关系,在沟谷地带的破坏作用明显。并且,植被退化趋势与农业耕地面积扩大以及放牧影响关联紧密,而牲畜饲养与林业发展都未对保护区植被变化造成明显影响。     

“At the water's edge”: community voices on climate change

The photovoice research project, “At the water's edge”, which gives voice to communities exploring the threats and impact of climate change and rising sea levels on coastal communities, was conducted during an environmental art symposium in the Noosa Biosphere Reserve, Australia in June 2009. Photos by participants illustrated both local and global threats and reflected psychological tension between global and local action. This research partnership with the local people demonstrated an innovative visualisation technique which can be used to collaboratively build capacity and consensus about adaptation to climate change. It also contributed to the Biosphere Reserve's educational and cultural aims in relation to climate change.     

The Nature Conservancy's approach to prioritizing conservation action

Like many conservation organizations and federal and state agencies, The Nature Conservancy is in the process of large-scale planning and prioritization efforts. To improve the efficiency of these planning efforts, the Conservancy has developed a methodology for these efforts. The results of these planning efforts will be a conservation blueprint which identifies the conservation areas necessary for conserving biodiversity and a subset of those areas where the Conservancy will focus its immediate efforts over the next 10 years. The subset of all the conservation areas identified in the planning process help The Nature Conservancy determine where it will work. This subset of areas (referred to as action sites) is selected using a tool which ranks key criteria for each conservation area. These criteria include the current conservation status of each area, complementarity to other areas selected, the diversity and viability of targets at the area, the urgency and degree of threats to the targets, the feasibility or opportunity to abate the threats at the area and the leverage potential of working at a conservation area. Taken together, these criteria help planners to select the areas where they will focus their conservation efforts.     

长江口中华鲟保护区及临近水域大型底栖动物研究

根据2004年5月、8月、11月和2005年2月(Ⅰ年度)及2005年8月、11月和2006年2月、5月(Ⅱ年度)共2个水文年对T长江口中华鲟保护区水域(30°15′～31°45′N、121°30′～122°15′E)15个取样站8个航次的采泥样品和阿氏网样品,对底内动物和底上动物的种类组成、生物量、栖息密度、重要种的优势度、群落多样性和结构及时间空间动态变化进行分析.结果表明,底内动物共出现15种,种类组成贫乏,优势种变化明显,底内动物生物量和栖息密度平均值分别为1.44 g/m2和11.33个/m2,生物量和栖息密度总体呈现下降趋势,物种多样性指数低并有下降趋势,群落结构极不稳定;底上动物底栖动物59种,组成有明显季节和年度变化,底内动物生物量和栖息密度平均值分别为15.58 ×10-2g/m2和6.81×10-2个/m2;底上动物生物量和栖息密度略呈现下降趋势,优势种的种类及优势度年际有较大变化,种类数和生物量北支高于南支.底内动物2个年度生物量平均值季节变化为夏季＞春季＞秋季＞冬季,底上动物2个年度生物量平均值季节变化为春季＞冬季＞秋季＞夏季,底内动物与底上动物的季节变化具有一定的不平衡性.     

Environmental Communication as Nexus

This essay examines zoos as a site of struggle in the construction of meanings and memories of human–nature relations. Modern zoos are symbols of imperial power and celebrations of the domination of nature. The grafting of “tropic worlds” onto these monuments of modernity renders the meaning of zoos more ambiguous, reflecting discursive struggles over the meaning of nature, questions about the wisdom of development and progress, recognition of the need for conservation and preservation, and nostalgia for a nature that has been lost. Through a close textual reading of “The Rainforest” at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, this essay explores the simulation of nature in zoos and “tropic worlds” in North American cities. These hyperreal spaces contain an extraordinary amount of the history and politics of the culture that constructs them for fascination, edification, conservation, commodification, and salvation. At stake in these simulated natures is not only the constructions of nature as spectacle and animals as commodities, but also the use of knowledge to maintain certain forms of domination and the “writing” of industrial culture's historical memory of nature and human–nature relations.     

Ken Burns and American Mythology in The National Parks: America's Best Idea

Ken Burns' series on the national parks reveals the evolving values of the American nation, particularly in relation to nature. Through both the beauty and the history of these set apart spaces, Burns presents and to some extent critiques America's mythic dreams of nature. Nature as new world garden and as frontier shapes the story that is told. This essay focuses on two themes, science and pluralism, and argues the presentation of each (the former with less depth, the latter with more) is constrained by the mythic narrative of pristine America that seems unable to evolve, either in the face of ecological values of interrelationships or pluralistic values that re-shape understandings of democracy. More attention to the problematic of the notion of preservation of pristine America would have enabled the film to speak more powerfully not only of the history of the parks, but also of their future.