Threats to biodiversity from cumulative human impacts in one of North America's last wildlife frontiers

Land‐use change is the largest proximate threat to biodiversity yet remains one of the most complex to manage. In British Columbia (BC), where large mammals roam extensive tracts of intact habitat, continued land‐use development is of global concern. Extant mammal diversity in BC is unrivalled in North America owing, in part, to its unique position at the intersection of alpine, boreal, and temperate biomes. Despite high conservation values, understanding of cumulative ecological impacts from human development is limited. Using cumulative‐effects‐assessment (CEA) methods, we assessed the current human footprint over 16 regional ecosystems and 7 large mammal species. Using historical and current range estimates of the mammals, we investigated impacts of human land use on species’ persistence. For ecosystems, we found that bunchgrass, coastal Douglas fir, and ponderosa pine have been subjected to over 50% land‐use conversion, and over 85% of their spatial extent has undergone either direct or estimated indirect impacts. Of the mammals we considered, wolves were the least affected by land conversion, yet all species had reduced ranges compared with historical estimates. We found evidence of a hard trade‐off between development and conservation, most clearly for mammals with large distributions and ecosystems with high levels of conversion. Rather than serve as a platform to monitor species decline, we strongly advocate these data be used to inform land‐use planning and to assess current conservation efforts. More generally, CEAs offer a robust tool to inform wildlife and habitat conservation at scale.     

Participatory development of incentives to coexist with jaguars and pumas

Reducing costs and increasing benefits for rural communities coexisting with large carnivores is necessary for conservation of jaguar (Panthera onca) and puma (Puma concolor). To design acceptable incentives, stakeholders must be involved in the process. We conducted an innovative, structured, group communication process based on a Delphi technique as a template for identifying potential incentives. Community workshops with 133 members of 7 communities and surveys with 25 multidisciplinary experts from government, nongovernmental organizations, and academia provided iterative data to design a plan of incentives through 4 rounds of discussion. The final product integrated 862 ideas into 6 types of incentives: organization of communities, mechanisms for improved dialogue, citizen technical assistance, green labeling for community products, payment for the ecosystem service of biodiversity, and an assessment of financial alternatives. We used quantitative and qualitative techniques to indicate support for decisions about the design of incentives, which reduced researcher subjectivity. The diverse incentives developed and the cooperation from multiple stakeholders resulted in an incentive plan that integrated issues of governance, equity, and social norms.     

A test of the substitution–habitat hypothesis in amphibians

Most examples that support the substitution‐habitat hypothesis (human‐made habitats act as substitutes of original habitat) deal with birds and mammals. We tested this hypothesis in 14 amphibians by using percentage occupancy as a proxy of habitat quality (i.e., higher occupancy percentages indicate higher quality). We classified water body types as original habitat (no or little human influence) depending on anatomical, behavioral, or physiological adaptations of each amphibian species. Ten species had relatively high probabilities (0.16–0.28) of occurrence in original habitat, moderate probability of occurrence in substitution habitats (0.11–0.14), and low probability of occurrence in refuge habitats (0.05–0.08). Thus, the substitution–habitat hypothesis only partially applies to amphibians because the low occupancy of refuges could be due to the negligible human persecution of this group (indicating good conservation status). However, low occupancy of refuges could also be due to low tolerance of refuge conditions, which could have led to selective extinction or colonization problems due to poor dispersal capabilities. That original habitats had the highest probabilities of occupancy suggests amphibians have a good conservation status in the region. They also appeared highly adaptable to anthropogenic substitution habitats.     

Using machine learning to disentangle homonyms in large text corpora

Systematic reviews are an increasingly popular decision‐making tool that provides an unbiased summary of evidence to support conservation action. These reviews bridge the gap between researchers and managers by presenting a comprehensive overview of all studies relating to a particular topic and identify specifically where and under which conditions an effect is present. However, several technical challenges can severely hinder the feasibility and applicability of systematic reviews, for example, homonyms (terms that share spelling but differ in meaning). Homonyms add noise to search results and cannot be easily identified or removed. We developed a semiautomated approach that can aid in the classification of homonyms among narratives. We used a combination of automated content analysis and artificial neural networks to quickly and accurately sift through large corpora of academic texts and classify them to distinct topics. As an example, we explored the use of the word reintroduction in academic texts. Reintroduction is used within the conservation context to indicate the release of organisms to their former native habitat; however, a Web of Science search for this word returned thousands of publications in which the term has other meanings and contexts. Using our method, we automatically classified a sample of 3000 of these publications with over 99% accuracy, relative to a manual classification. Our approach can be used easily with other homonyms and can greatly facilitate systematic reviews or similar work in which homonyms hinder the harnessing of large text corpora. Beyond homonyms we see great promise in combining automated content analysis and machine‐learning methods to handle and screen big data for relevant information in conservation science.     

Cost shifting and other perverse incentives in biodiversity offsetting in India

Biodiversity offsetting aims to compensate for development‐induced biodiversity loss through commensurate conservation gains and is gaining traction among governments and businesses. However, cost shifting (i.e., diversion of offset funds to other conservation programs) and other perverse incentives can undermine the effectiveness of biodiversity offsetting. Additionality—the requirement that biodiversity offsets result in conservation outcomes that would not have been achieved otherwise—is fundamental to biodiversity offsetting. Cost shifting and violation of additionality can go hand in hand. India's national offsetting program is a case in point. Recent legislation allows the diversion of offset funds to meet the country's preexisting commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). With such diversions, no additional conservation takes place and development impacts remain uncompensated. Temporary additionality cannot be conceded in light of paucity of funds for preexisting commitments unless there is open acknowledgement that fulfillment of such commitments is contingent on offset funds. Two other examples of perverse incentives related to offsetting in India are the touting of inherently neutral offsetting outcomes as conservation gains, a tactic that breeds false complacency and results in reduced incentive for additional conservation efforts, and the clearing of native vegetation for commercial plantations in the name of compensatory afforestation, a practice that leads to biodiversity decline. The risks accompanying cost shifting and other perverse incentives, if not preempted and addressed, will result in net loss of forest cover in India. We recommend accurate baselines, transparent accounting, and open reporting of offset outcomes to ensure biodiversity offsetting achieves adequate and additional compensation for impacts of development.     

A habitat‐based approach to predict impacts of marine protected areas on fishers

Although marine protected areas can simultaneously contribute to biodiversity conservation and fisheries management, the global network is biased toward particular ecosystem types because they have been established primarily in an ad hoc fashion. The optimization of trade‐offs between biodiversity benefits and socioeconomic values increases success of protected areas and minimizes enforcement costs in the long run, but it is often neglected in marine spatial planning (MSP). Although the acquisition of spatially explicit socioeconomic data is perceived as a costly or secondary step in MSP, it is critical to account for lost opportunities by people whose activities will be restricted, especially fishers. We developed an easily reproduced habitat‐based approach to estimate the spatial distribution of opportunity cost to fishers in data‐poor regions. We assumed the most accessible areas have higher economic and conservation values than less accessible areas and their designation as no‐take zones represents a loss of fishing opportunities. We estimated potential distribution of fishing resources from bathymetric ranges and benthic habitat distribution and the relative importance of the different resources for each port of total catches, revenues, and stakeholder perception. In our model, we combined different cost layers to produce a comprehensive cost layer so that we could evaluate of trade‐offs. Our approach directly supports conservation planning, can be applied generally, and is expected to facilitate stakeholder input and community acceptance of conservation.     

The perpetual state of emergency that sacrifices protected areas in a changing climate

A modern challenge for conservation biology is to assess the consequences of policies that adhere to assumptions of stationarity (e.g., historic norms) in an era of global environmental change. Such policies may result in unexpected and surprising levels of mitigation given future climate‐change trajectories, especially as agriculture looks to protected areas to buffer against production losses during periods of environmental extremes. We assessed the potential impact of climate‐change scenarios on the rates at which grasslands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) are authorized for emergency harvesting (i.e., biomass removal) for agricultural use, which can occur when precipitation for the previous 4 months is below 40% of the normal or historical mean precipitation for that 4‐month period. We developed and analyzed scenarios under the condition that policy will continue to operate under assumptions of stationarity, thereby authorizing emergency biomass harvesting solely as a function of precipitation departure from historic norms. Model projections showed the historical likelihood of authorizing emergency biomass harvesting in any given year in the northern Great Plains was 33.28% based on long‐term weather records. Emergency biomass harvesting became the norm (>50% of years) in the scenario that reflected continued increases in emissions and a decrease in growing‐season precipitation, and areas in the Great Plains with higher historical mean annual rainfall were disproportionately affected and were subject to a greater increase in emergency biomass removal. Emergency biomass harvesting decreased only in the scenario with rapid reductions in emissions. Our scenario‐impact analysis indicated that biomass from lands enrolled in the CRP would be used primarily as a buffer for agriculture in an era of climatic change unless policy guidelines are adapted or climate‐change projections significantly depart from the current consensus.     

金属有机框架ZIF-8/聚二乙烯基苯纳米复合材料的合成及其吸附VOCs的性能

在常温常压下的甲醇溶液体系中,将COOH功能化的介孔材料聚二乙烯基苯(PDVB)与微孔材料金属有机框架(MOFs)ZIF-8进行复合,获得了一种新型的多孔纳米复合材料ZIF-8/PDVB,采用XRD、FTIR、SEM和氮气吸附-脱附等方法对ZIF-8/PDVB进行表征,并考察了其吸附甲苯、乙酸乙酯的性能.XRD谱图表明,所合成的ZIF-8以晶体形式存在;FTIR和XRD的结果表明,ZIF-8与PDVB的复合是通过Zn2+与PDVB上的COOH形成配位,未配位饱和的Zn~(2+)再与2-甲基咪唑进行配位,从而形成纳米复合材料ZIF-8/PDVB;SEM结果显示,ZIF-8晶体分散在PDVB的表面上;氮气吸附-脱附表征结果显示,ZIF-8/PDVB的比表面积达到1301 m~2·g~(-1),材料同时具有介孔与微孔结构.吸附性能评价结果表明,ZIF-8/PDVB对甲苯、乙酸乙酯均具有优良的吸附性能,ZIF-8/PDVB在吸附VOCs性能上显示出潜在的巨大优势.     

高效降解1,4-二烷的固态菌剂制备及其性能研究

1,4-二烷污染的生物修复效果很大程度上取决于其降解菌的活性和数量.本研究在前期获得1,4-二烷高效降解菌Xanthobacter flavus DT8的基础上,研究了该菌的扩大培养方法,并制备了易于贮藏和运输的固态菌剂,考察了菌剂的性能.实验结果表明,菌株X. flavus DT8可在富营养培养基中培养,较优的培养基配方为：Na₂HPO₄·12H₂O 1.0 g·L^-1,NH₄Cl 1.0 g·L^-1,MgSO₄·7H₂O 0.2 g·L^-1,酵母粉5.0 g·L^-1,蛋白胨1.0 g·L^-1,丙酮酸钠1.0 g·L^-1,pH 7.0~7.2.X. flavus DT8经发酵罐中扩大培养后,以草炭、硅藻土为载体,经进一步固态发酵制备了固态菌剂,微生物含量为2.17×10¹¹ CFU·g^-1,对1,4-二烷的降解效果明显优于活菌液.该菌剂具有良好的贮藏稳定性,4℃保藏90 d后对100 mg·L^-1的1,4-二烷48 h内去除率为63%;同时具有良好的底物广谱性,对醇类、苯系物和醚类物质也有很好的降解能力.     

模拟海水环境中8-羟基喹啉对B10铜合金的缓蚀行为研究

目的 研究模拟海水环境中8-羟基喹啉(8-HQ)对B10铜合金的缓蚀行为.方法 采用动电位极化曲线、电化学阻抗谱(EIS)和失重法等手段,研究不同浓度8-HQ在1 mol/L NaCl溶液中对铜合金的缓蚀效果,并采用傅里叶变换红外光谱仪对铜合金表面的锈层成分进行分析.结果 中时,其自腐蚀电流密度减小,阻抗模值增大.随着8-HQ浓度的升高,8-HQ对铜合金的缓蚀效率表现出先升高、后下降的阶段性特征.当铜合金浸泡在10 mg/L 8-HQ的NaCl溶液中时,阻抗模值和缓蚀效率随着浸泡时间的延长总体表现出增大的趋势.同时,对锈层的红外光谱分析进一步证明了Cu(8-HQ)2的存在.结论 8-HQ的存在减小了铜合金在NaCl溶液中的腐蚀速率,这与8-HQ在铜合金表面形成了保护膜,阻止氧从溶液中向阴极区域迁移有关.当8-HQ的质量浓度为10 mg/L时,其对铜合金的缓蚀效果最佳,并且该浓度下铜合金的耐腐蚀性能随着浸泡时间的延长持续上升.主要原因是8-HQ和Cu2+形成的[Cu(Ⅱ)HQ]络合膜与不断增厚的CuCl2保护膜在铜合金表面产生协同作用,从而抑制了电极的腐蚀反应.