Global patterns and trends in human–wildlife conflict compensation

Human–wildlife conflict is a major conservation challenge, and compensation for wildlife damage is a widely used economic tool to mitigate this conflict. The effectiveness of this management tool is widely debated. The relative importance of factors associated with compensation success is unclear, and little is known about global geographic or taxonomic differences in the application of compensation programs. We reviewed research on wildlife‐damage compensation to determine geographic and taxonomic gaps, analyze patterns of positive and negative comments related to compensation, and assess the relative magnitude of global compensation payments. We analyzed 288 publications referencing wildlife compensation and identified 138 unique compensation programs. These publications reported US$222 million (adjusted for inflation) spent on compensation in 50 countries since 1980. Europeans published the most articles, and compensation funding was highest in Europe, where depredation by wolves and bears was the most frequently compensated damage. Authors of the publications we reviewed made twice as many negative comments as positive comments about compensation. Three‐quarters of the negative comments related to program administration. Conversely, three‐quarters of the positive comments related to program outcomes. The 3 most common suggestions to improve compensation programs included requiring claimants to employ damage‐prevention practices, such as improving livestock husbandry or fencing of crops to receive compensation (n = 25, 15%); modifying ex post compensation schemes to some form of outcome‐based performance payment (n = 21, 12%); and altering programs to make compensation payments more quickly (n = 14, 8%). We suggest that further understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of compensation as a conflict‐mitigation tool will require more systematic evaluation of the factors driving these opinions and that differentiating process and outcomes and understanding linkages between them will result in more fruitful analyses and ultimately more effective conflict mitigation.     

Plant coexistence can enhance phytoextraction of cadmium by tobacco （Nicotiana tabacum L.） in contaminated soil

A mesocosm experiment was conducted to investigate whether plant coexistence affects cadmium (Cd) uptake by plant in contaminated soil.Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.var.K326) and Japanese clover (Kummerowia striata (Thunb.) Schindl.) were used.Cadmium was applied as 3CdSO 4 ·8H 2 O in solution at three levels (0,1,and 3 mg/kg soil) to simulate an unpolluted soil and soils that were slightly and moderately polluted with Cd.Tobacco (crop),Japanese clover (non-crop),and their combination were grown under each C...     

Plant species coexistence alleviates the impacts of lead on Zea mays L.

Whether plant coexistence can reduce the impacts of lead (Pb) on crops in agroecosystems has not been well understood. We conducted a factorial experiment to investigate the effects of weeds coexisting with maize (Zea mays L.) on Pb accumulation in maize and soil microbes at two Pb levels (ambient and 300 mg/kg). Elevated Pb tended to increase the Pb concentration in maize and decreased soil microbial activity (indicated by the average well color development, AWCD), functional group diversity, as well as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonization and vesicle number of maize. Compared to the monoculture, weeds coexisting with maize reduced the Pb concentrations in the root, leaf, sheath and stem of maize at both seedling and mature stages. In maize-weed mixtures, soil microbial activity and functional group diversity tended to increase for both Pb treatments relative to the monoculture. Furthermore, principal component analysis revealed that the soil microbial community structure changed with the introduction of weeds. The highest Pb accumulation in weeds occurred for the elevated Pb treatment in a three species mixture. The results suggest that multiple plant species coexistence could reduce lead accumulation in crop plants and alleviate the negative impacts on soil microbes in polluted land, thereby highlighting the significance of plant diversity in agroecosystems.     

鄱阳湖湖口-长江段沉积物中微塑料与重金属污染物的赋存关系

重金属是环境中的典型污染物,而微塑料是新型污染物,两者的共存可导致复合污染而存在潜在的生态风险.为探讨鄱阳湖湿地环境中微塑料与重金属的赋存关系,对鄱阳湖湖口-长江段沉积物中微塑料与重金属(Cu、Cd、Pb、Zn和Cr)的含量及其形态特征进行分析.结果表明,沉积物干物质中微塑料丰度范围为356～1 452 n·kg~(-1),平均丰度值达982. 33 n·kg~(-1);通过显微鉴定微塑料形态有碎片类、纤维类和薄膜类,以碎片类为主(48. 23%);而颜色主要以彩色为主;粒径以≤1. 00mm为主;聚合物成分主要为聚乙烯(PE)、低密度聚乙烯(LDPE)和聚丙烯(PP).电镜扫描-能谱分析(SEM-EDS)发现,微塑料表面具粗糙、多孔、裂痕和撕裂的特征,并附着多种重金属元素.5种重金属在湿地沉积物中均有不同程度积累,冗余分析表明,沉积物主要理化因素(TOC、pH、EC及粒径)及微塑料赋存对重金属的总含量均有显著影响(P 0. 05);方差分解分析(VPA)显示,理化因素和微塑料对重金属有效态的贡献率分别为37. 70%和0. 70%,但两者的协同贡献率达49. 60%,可导致重金属形态向有效态转化.微塑料可作为重金属的附着载体并将进一步增强重金属污染物的生物有效性,对湿地生态安全构成潜在威胁.     

Synthesizing habitat connectivity analyses of a globally important human-dominated tiger-conservation landscape

As ecological data and associated analyses become more widely available, synthesizing results for effective communication with stakeholders is essential. In the case of wildlife corridors, managers in human-dominated landscapes need to identify both the locations of corridors and multiple stakeholders for effective oversight. We synthesized five independent studies of tiger (Panthera tigris) connectivity in central India, a global priority landscape for tiger conservation, to quantify agreement on landscape permeability for tiger movement and potential movement pathways. We used the latter analysis to identify connectivity areas on which studies agreed and stakeholders associated with these areas to determine relevant participants in corridor management. Three or more of the five studies’ resistance layers agreed in 63% of the study area. Areas in which all studies agree on resistance were of primarily low (66%, e.g., forest) and high (24%, e.g., urban) resistance. Agreement was lower in intermediate resistance areas (e.g., agriculture). Despite these differences, the studies largely agreed on areas with high levels of potential movement: >40% of high average (top 20%) current-flow pixels were also in the top 20% of current-flow agreement pixels (measured by low variation), indicating consensus connectivity areas (CCAs) as conservation priorities. Roughly 70% of the CCAs fell within village administrative boundaries, and 100% overlapped forest department management boundaries, suggesting that people live and use forests within these priority areas. Over 16% of total CCAs’ area was within 1 km of linear infrastructure (437 road, 170 railway, 179 transmission line, and 339 canal crossings; 105 mines within 1 km of CCAs). In 2019, 78% of forest land diversions for infrastructure and mining in Madhya Pradesh (which comprises most of the study region) took place in districts with CCAs. Acute competition for land in this landscape with globally important wildlife corridors calls for an effective comanagement strategy involving local communities, forest departments, and infrastructure planners.     

社会发展的软件建设

本文认为社会发展的软件建设,首先要研究制定社会发展的战略与规划,并把握战略的全局谋划和規划的总体安排;其次是以人为主体,将提高人的素质作为社会发展的基础,来促进社会发展的良性循环;再者以深化改革促进社会发展过程中人与自然的协调共存,逐步形成社会发展的良性运行机制;最后是探索管理模式,保证社会持续发展。     

Influence of male harassment and female competition on female feeding behaviour in a sexual–asexual mating complex of mollies (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Poecilia mexicana</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">P. formosa</Emphasis>)

Differential interests between the sexes regarding the number of copulations can result in sexual harassment. Hence, females may have less time available for foraging. Male sexual harassment often leads to fitness reduction in females. We used the mating complex of the bisexual fish Poecilia mexicana and the co-occurring all-female Poecilia formosa to study sexual harassment and its incurred cost on female feeding efficiency. P. formosa is a sperm-dependent parthenogen that requires mating with host males to induce embryogenesis, but the male genes are not used. We therefore predicted P. mexicana males to prefer conspecific females. Hence, costs of male sexual harassment should not occur in unisexuals. While P. formosa are at a disadvantage compared to P. mexicana females due to male mate choice (leading to sperm limitation), this could be traded-off by suffering less from sexual harassment. In our experiment, we found males to direct significantly more pre-copulatory mating behaviour towards conspecific females, whereas actual mating attempts did not differ between species. Contrary to our prediction, both types of females started feeding later and spent less time feeding in the presence of a male partner compared to the time spent feeding with another female, suggesting that females of both species suffer from male harassment. The focal females' feeding time declined with increasing body size of the female competitor, and the same pattern was found when a male was present. We discuss that—besides sexual harassment—other factors such as food competition and female mate choice may affect female feeding efficiency.     

Naming,Mourning, and the Work of Earthly Coexistence

Setting out from Jacques Derrida’s assertion that every act of naming is “a foreshadowing of mourning” ([2008. The animal that therefore I am. (M.-L. Mallet, Ed., D. Wills, Trans.). New York, NY: Fordham University Press], p. 20), this paper argues that the work of earthly coexistence is underwritten by the intertwined practices of naming and mourning. The paper demonstrates that names provide access to and shape our perceptions of earthly entities; that the act of naming prepares us for the work of mourning; that the proper names given to endlings provide poignant points of access to species on the edge of extinction; that species names disclose species as such and, thus, enable us to grieve not just particular living organisms but entire ways of life; and that the name given to the current geological epoch, the “anthropocene,” simultaneously reflects and engenders a mode of awareness which enables us to relinquish those ways of being human that no longer seem sustainable and carry forth those that promise to enrich earthly coexistence.     

共存杂质对磷酸铵镁结晶法回收磷的影响研究

研究用磷酸铵镁（MAP）结晶法去除、回收废水中的磷,分析含磷废水中各类共存杂质对MAP法去除、回收磷的影响。结果表明,废水中无机钙离子的存在可提高磷的去除率,而大分子有机物杂质的存在会使磷的去除率显著降低,小分子有机物对磷的去除基本无影响。在反应体系中引入外来晶种烟煤、石英砂和铁屑可显著提高低浓度含磷废水磷的去除效率,其中娴煤作为晶种的效果最明显。     

Evaluation of the use of psychometric scales in human–wildlife interaction research to determine attitudes and tolerance toward wildlife

Studies evaluating human–wildlife interactions (HWIs) in a conservation context often include psychometric scales to measure attitudes and tolerance toward wildlife. However, data quality is at risk when such scales are used without appropriate validation or reliability testing, potentially leading to erroneous interpretation or application of findings. We used 2 online databases (ProQuest Psych Info and Web of Science) to identify published HWI studies that included attitude and tolerance. We analyzed these studies to determine the methods used to measure attitudes or tolerance toward predators and other wildlife; determine the proportion of these methods applying psychometric scales; and evaluate the rigor with which the scales were used by examining whether the psychometric properties of validity and reliability were reported. From 2007 to 2017, 114 published studies were identified. Ninety-four (82%) used questionnaires and many of these (53 [56%]) utilized a psychometric scale. Most scales (39 [74%]) had at least 1 test of reliability reported, but reliance on a single test was notable, contrary to recommended practice. Fewer studies (35 [66%]) reported a test of validity, but this was primarily restricted to structural validity rather than more comprehensive testing. Encouragingly, HWI investigators increasingly utilized the necessary psychometric tools for designing and analyzing questionnaire data, but failure to assess the validity or reliability of psychometric scales used in over one-third of published HWI attitude research warrants attention. We advocate incorporation of more robust application of psychometric scales to advance understanding of stakeholder attitudes as they relate to HWI.