PROFILE: Tourism Contribution to Agro-Ecosystems Conservation: The Case of Lesbos Island, Greece

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of tourism activities on olive tree cultivation and the human population of the island of Lesbos. The presence or absence of tourism is related with the maintenance or abandonment of olive tree cultivation and population changes for each community. A spatial segregation of the island is evident, related to tourist development, olive tree cultivation, and population change. The results of the study demonstrate that in communities where tourism plays an important role olive tree cultivation is preserved and the population is stable. The preservation of the agro-ecosystem is assured while the olive groves remain productive. Simultaneously, the landscape, which provides specific attractions for tourism, is not altered.     

The potential for combining indigenous and western knowledge in reducing vulnerability to environmental hazards in small island developing states

The benefits of indigenous knowledge within disaster risk reduction are gradually being acknowledged and identified. However, despite this acknowledgement there continues to be a gap in reaching the right people with the correct strategies for disaster risk reduction.This paper identifies the need for a specific framework identifying how indigenous and western knowledge may be combined to mitigate against the intrinsic effects of environmental processes and therefore reduce the vulnerability of rural indigenous communities in small island developing states (SIDS) to environmental hazards. This involves a review of the impacts of environmental processes and their intrinsic effects upon rural indigenous communities in SIDS and how indigenous knowledge has contributed to their coping capacity. The paper concludes that the vulnerability of indigenous communities in SIDS to environmental hazards can only be addressed through the utilisation of both indigenous and Western knowledge in a culturally compatible and sustainable manner.     

Human impact on beach and foredune vegetation of North Padre Island,Texas

Vehicular and pedestrian traffic decreased top and root production, percent cover, and diversity of vegetation, and modified species composition on beach and foredune areas of Padre Island National Seashore and Nueces County Park. Degradation of vegetal cover was directly related to the type and intensity of traffic; species in heavily trafficked areas represented earlier successional stages than those in comparable undisturbed areas.     

武汉城市群夏季热岛特征及演变

利用2000~2010年共11期MODIS地表温度资料和多源多时相的遥感影像分类结果揭示武汉城市群的夏季热岛效应,反演并计算出10 a间武汉城市群日间和夜间的热岛强度变化、土地覆盖类型和城镇用地面积。在对不同时相的地表温度数据进行热岛指数归一化处理的基础上,分析了武汉城市群热岛的分布特征及年代演变,定量分析了武汉城市群以及中心城市武汉市不同热状况区面积的变化和热场的变迁。结果表明,武汉城市群夏季热岛效应较为明显,其中武汉市是主要热源和热中心;自2000年起,武汉城市群城乡温度差异逐步减小,热中心分布向外扩散,城市热岛区域急速扩张,整体热环境趋于恶化;新兴城区的开发增加了武汉市的热源分布,人工表面的增加以及自然表面的减少导致城市热岛效应不断加剧。     

城市环境中自然通风研究进展

城市环境中自然通风源于城市热压梯度及城市风压梯度的综合作用。城市环境中自然通风影响着城市"五岛"效应(城市热岛、湿岛、干岛、浑浊岛及雨岛),城市大气的自净能力和城市居民的身体健康,也是研究快速城市化地区广义城市风环境(风场、温度场、湿度场)的参考因子。为了全面理解国内外针对城市环境中自然通风的研究进展,从城市环境中自然通风的监测、模拟及应用三个方面对目前国内外针对城市环境中自然通风的研究现状进行了综述,最后结合环境物联网、无线传感技术等目前在城市环境中自然通风研究的相关技术及应用领域的新进展,对城市环境中自然通风的后续研究热点和关键问题进行了展望,为城市环境中自然通风的相关技术及应用问题的后续研究提供了基础研究素材。     

Extinction risk of the endemic vascular flora of Kauai,Hawaii, based on IUCN assessments

The International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN Red List) is the world's most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of species. Governmental agencies and conservation organizations increasingly rely on IUCN Red List assessments to develop conservation policies and priorities. Funding agencies use the assessments as evaluation criteria, and researchers use meta-analysis of red-list data to address fundamental and applied conservation science questions. However, the circa 143,000 IUCN assessments represent a fraction of the world's biodiversity and are biased in regional and organismal coverage. These biases may affect conservation priorities, funding, and uses of these data to understand global patterns. Isolated oceanic islands are characterized by high endemicity, but the unique biodiversity of many islands is experiencing high extinction rates. The archipelago of Hawaii has one of the highest levels of endemism of any floristic region; 90% of its 1367 native vascular plant taxa are classified as endemic. We used the IUCN's assessment of the complete single-island endemic (SIE) vascular plant flora of Kauai, Hawaii, to assess the proportion and drivers of decline of threatened plants in an oceanic island setting. We compared the IUCN assessments with federal, state, and other local assessments of Kauai species or taxa of conservation concern. Finally, we conducted a preliminary assessment for all 1044 native vascular plants of Hawaii based on IUCN criterion B by estimating area of occupancy, extent of occurrence, and number of locations to determine whether the pattern found for the SIE vascular flora of Kauai is comparable to the native vascular flora of the Hawaiian Islands. We compared our results with patterns observed for assessments of other floras. According to IUCN, 256 SIE vascular plant taxa are threatened with extinction and 5% are already extinct. This is the highest extinction risk reported for any flora to date. The preliminary assessment of the native vascular flora of Hawaii showed that 72% (753 taxa) is threatened. The flora of Hawaii may be one of the world's most threatened; thus, increased and novel conservation measures in the state and on other remote oceanic islands are urgently needed.     

城市绿色空间及对城市热岛效应的影响

采用遥感技术结合实地测定的研究方法,利用1987年至2001年遥感卫星影像数据,建立了北京市不同年份的城市绿色空间专题图和热岛分布图,分析了13年中北京城市绿色空间及热岛效应的演变特点,评价了城市发展及城市绿化对热岛效应的影响。结果表明:受城市化的影响,14年中北京城市绿色空间变化明显,城市热岛效应也随之发生明显变化;随着城市建设范围的扩大,原有自然植被不断减少,热岛影响范围随之扩大;随着市区内的绿化建设,绿色空间总量增加,热岛效应有缓解的趋势。     

Using the past to contextualize anthropogenic impacts on the present and future distribution of an endemic Caribbean mammal

Island species are difficult to conserve because they face the synergy of climate change, invasive species, deforestation, and increasing human population densities in areas where land mass is shrinking. The Caribbean island of Hispaniola presents particular challenges because of geopolitical complexities that span 2 countries and hinder coordinated management of species across the island. We employed species distribution modeling to evaluate the impacts of climatic change and anthropogenic activities on the distribution of an endemic mammal of conservation concern, the Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus). We aggregated occurrence points for this poorly known species for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the present (1975–2016) based on museum collections, online biodiversity databases, and new field surveys. We quantified degree of overlap between periods and scenarios with Schoener's D. Through a conservation paleobiology lens, we found that over time humans played an increasing role in shaping the distribution of S. paradoxus, thus, providing a foundation for developing conservation strategies on appropriate spatiotemporal scales. Human population density was the single most important predictor of S. paradoxus occurrence. Densities >166 people/km² corresponded to a near-zero probability of occurrence. Models that accounted for climate but not anthropogenic variables falsely identified suitable habitat in Haiti, where on-the-ground surveys confirm habitat is unavailable. Climate-only models also significantly overestimated the potential for habitat connectivity between isolated populations. Our work highlights that alternative fates for S. paradoxus in the Anthropocene exist across the political border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti due to the fundamentally different economic and political realities of each country. Relationships in the fossil record confirm that Hispaniola's sociopolitical boundary is not biologically significant but instead represents one imposed on the island's fauna in the past 500 years by colonial activity. Our approach reveals how a paleontological perspective can contribute to concrete management insights.     

海南岛土壤中的锌

土壤中锌的含量异常会阻碍植物生长．海南岛地处热带地区，上壤中锌的含量为1.85～107.89mg／kg，平均31.46mg／kg；0.1mol／L盐酸提取有效锌含量0.50～9.80mg／kg，平均3.86mg／kg．玄武岩上的土壤含锌量为87.35～107.89mg／kg，滨海砂上含锌量大多不足20mg／kg，其它土类的锌含量大多在15～50mg／kg．除了个别土壤锌含量偏低外，绝大多数土壤锌含量是正常的．土壤锌含量的地理分布是：东北部地区明显高，其次是西南部，再次为西北部、中部和东南部地区，岛四周的滨海砂土地区最低．海南岛的土壤锌含量与母质种类的关系最为密切，玄武岩母质上的比花岗岩的高得多．气候条件也是影响锌含量的重要因素之一，湿润地区锌有向下淋溶的趋势．干热地区锌有上移的倾向．质地粘重的土壤含锌量往往较高．土壤有机质对锌含量的影响不明显．     

屋顶绿化生态系统箱的研制

调查发现广州市屋顶自然生长的维管植物有49科109属128种,植物种类较多的科为菊科、禾本科、桑科、景天科、茜草科和鸭跖草科;屋顶自然生长的植物种类数量与环境受污染程度成反比,而与周围植物的多少成正比;屋顶自然生长的植物由于长期适应屋顶的极端环境,形成了的一些独特的生态生物学特征。基于上述结果配置相应的植物组合,设计适于屋顶绿化的生态系统箱、配制相应土壤并进行技术集成,观测其生长和隔热效应。同时进行空白对照、黑网荫蓬对照、生态隔热层对照、普通土壤种植区对比试验,发现生态隔热层和生态系统箱具有成本低、易维持、隔热好、景观美的效果。