The Quagga Mussel Crisis at Lake Mead National Recreation Area,Nevada (U.S.A.)

Abstract: Parks are cornerstones of conservation; and non‐native invasive species drive extensive changes to biological diversity in parks. Knowing this, national park staff at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in the southwestern United States had a program in place for early detection of the non‐native, invasive quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis). Upon finding the mussel in January 2007, managers moved quickly to access funding and the best available science to implement a response. Managers considered four options—doing nothing, closing the park, restricting movement on the lakes, and educating and enforcing park visitors—and decided to focus on education and enforcing existing laws. Nonetheless, quagga spread throughout the park and soon began to appear throughout the western United States. I examined why efforts to control the expansion failed and determined the general lessons to be learned from this case. Concentrating human visitation on the lakes through land‐use zoning opened a pathway for invasion, reduced management options, and led to the rapid spread of quagga. To reconcile competing mandates to protect nature and provide recreation, zoning in parks has become a common practice worldwide. It reduces stress on some areas of a park by restricting and thus concentrating human activity in particular areas. Concentrating the human activity in one area does three things: cements pathways that repeatedly import and export vectors of non‐native invasive species; creates the disturbed area necessary to enable non‐native invasive species to gain a foothold; and, establishes a source of invasions that, without appropriate controls, can quickly spread to a park's wilderness areas.     

The Value of Using Feasibility Models in Systematic Conservation Planning to Predict Landholder Management Uptake

Understanding the social dimensions of conservation opportunity is crucial for conservation planning in multiple‐use landscapes. However, factors that influence the feasibility of implementing conservation actions, such as the history of landscape management, and landholders’ willingness to engage are often difficult or time consuming to quantify and rarely incorporated into planning. We examined how conservation agencies could reduce costs of acquiring such data by developing predictive models of management feasibility parameterized with social and biophysical factors likely to influence landholders’ decisions to engage in management. To test the utility of our best‐supported model, we developed 4 alternative investment scenarios based on different input data for conservation planning: social data only; biological data only; potential conservation opportunity derived from modeled feasibility that incurs no social data collection costs; and existing conservation opportunity derived from feasibility data that incurred collection costs. Using spatially explicit information on biodiversity values, feasibility, and management costs, we prioritized locations in southwest Australia to control an invasive predator that is detrimental to both agriculture and natural ecosystems: the red fox (Vulpes vulpes). When social data collection costs were moderate to high, the most cost‐effective investment scenario resulted from a predictive model of feasibility. Combining empirical feasibility data with biological data was more cost‐effective for prioritizing management when social data collection costs were low (<4% of the total budget). Calls for more data to inform conservation planning should take into account the costs and benefits of collecting and using social data to ensure that limited funding for conservation is spent in the most cost‐efficient and effective manner.     

Geography and Recovery under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

Abstract: The U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) defines an endangered species as one “at risk of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.” The prevailing interpretation of this phrase, which focuses exclusively on the overall viability of listed species without regard to their geographic distribution, has led to development of listing and recovery criteria with fundamental conceptual, legal, and practical shortcomings. The ESA's concept of endangerment is broader than the biological concept of extinction risk in that the “esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific” values provided by species are not necessarily furthered by a species mere existence, but rather by a species presence across much of its former range. The concept of “significant portion of range” thus implies an additional geographic component to recovery that may enhance viability, but also offers independent benefits that Congress intended the act to achieve. Although the ESA differs from other major endangered‐species protection laws because it acknowledges the distinct contribution of geography to recovery, it resembles the “representation, resiliency, and redundancy” conservation‐planning framework commonly referenced in recovery plans. To address representation, listing and recovery standards should consider not only what proportion of its former range a species inhabits, but the types of habitats a species occupies and the ecological role it plays there. Recovery planning for formerly widely distributed species (e.g., the gray wolf [Canis lupus]) exemplifies how the geographic component implicit in the ESA's definition of endangerment should be considered in determining recovery goals through identification of ecologically significant types or niche variation within the extent of listed species, subspecies, or “distinct population segments.” By linking listing and recovery standards to niche and ecosystem concepts, the concept of ecologically significant type offers a scientific framework that promotes more coherent dialogue concerning the societal decisions surrounding recovery of endangered species.     

Effectiveness of Scat‐Detection Dogs in Determining Species Presence in a Tropical Savanna Landscape

Abstract: Most protected areas are too small to sustain populations of wide‐ranging mammals; thus, identification and conservation of high‐quality habitat for those animals outside parks is often a high priority, particularly for regions where extensive land conversion is occurring. This is the case in the vicinity of Emas National Park, a small protected area in the Brazilian Cerrado. Over the last 40 years the native vegetation surrounding the park has been converted to agriculture, but the region still supports virtually all of the animals native to the area. We determined the effectiveness of scat‐detection dogs in detecting presence of five species of mammals threatened with extinction by habitat loss: maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), puma (Puma concolor), jaguar (Panthera onca), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), and giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus). The probability of scat detection varied among the five species and among survey quadrats of different size, but was consistent across team, season, and year. The probability of occurrence, determined from the presence of scat, in a randomly selected site within the study area ranged from 0.14 for jaguars, which occur primarily in the forested areas of the park, to 0.91 for maned wolves, the most widely distributed species in our study area. Most occurrences of giant armadillos in the park were in open grasslands, but in the agricultural matrix they tended to occur in riparian woodlands. At least one target species occurred in every survey quadrat, and giant armadillos, jaguars, and maned wolves were more likely to be present in quadrats located inside than outside the park. The effort required for detection of scats was highest for the two felids. We were able to detect the presence for each of five wide‐ranging species inside and outside the park and to assign occurrence probabilities to specific survey sites. Thus, scat dogs provide an effective survey tool for rare species even when accurate detection likelihoods are required. We believe the way we used scat‐detection dogs to determine the presence of species can be applied to the detection of other mammalian species in other ecosystems.     

Invasive Species Research to Meet the Needs of Resource Management and Planning

Abstract: As zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) continue to spread among inland lakes of the United States and Canada, there is growing interest from professionals, citizens, and other stakeholders to know which lakes are likely to be colonized by zebra mussels. Thus, we developed a classification of lake suitability for zebra mussels on the basis of measured or estimated concentrations of dissolved calcium in lake water and applied the classification to >11,500 lakes in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The majority of lakes (58%) were classified as unsuitable (<10 mg/L Ca) for survival and reproduction of zebra mussels, 27% were identified as suitable (≥21 mg/L Ca), and 15% were classified as borderline suitable (≥10 and <21 mg/L Ca). Of the 77 inland lakes with confirmed zebra mussel records for which data on dissolved calcium were available, our method classified 74 as suitable and 3 as borderline suitable. To communicate this lake‐specific suitability information and to help prioritize regional efforts to monitor and prevent the expansion of zebra mussels and other invasive species, we developed a web‐based interface (available from http://www.aissmartprevention.wisc.edu/ ). Although we are still uncertain of how access to suitability information ultimately affects decision making, we believe this is a useful case study of building communication channels among researchers, practitioners, and the public.     

昌黎生态监控区夏季浮游植物群落年际变化特征分析

为研究昌黎生态监控区夏季浮游植物群落结构特征及其与环境因子关系,采用2005~2013年夏季(8月)昌黎生态监控区海域浮游植物及环境因子的监测资料,基于Arc GIS 10.0和Canoco软件平台,运用典范对应分析方法,对浮游植物群落结构进行分析.结果表明,近9 a共鉴定出浮游植物3门23科39属105种,其中,硅藻门16科32属90种,占浮游植物总数的85.7%;甲藻门共6科6属14种,占总种类数的13.3%;金藻门1种.各年的优势种存在很大差异,按照优势度Y值的大小包括辐射圆筛藻(Coscinodiscus radiatus)、柔弱角毛藻(Coscinodiscus debilis)、笔尖根管藻(Rhizosolenia styliformis)、柏氏角管藻(Cerataulina bergoni)、威氏圆筛藻(Coscinodiscus wailesii)、海链藻(Thalassiosira sp.)、三角角藻(Ceratium tripos)、洛氏角毛藻(Coscinodiscus wailesii)、中肋骨条藻(Ceratium tripos)等.夏季细胞丰度年际变化较大,呈现逐渐降低的趋势.浮游植物的多样性指数H'值介于0.015~3.889,均匀度指数J值介于0.009~1,年际变化幅度较小;各站位间物种分布不均匀,优势种较少且优势度较大.对浮游植物群落与环境因子进行典范对应分析(CCA),结果表明影响夏季浮游植物群落结构变化的环境因子包括水温、营养盐(磷酸盐、硝酸氮、氨氮)、盐度等,且是各个环境因子相互作用的结果.     

不同扰动下外源磷在形态磷间的分布规律

研究了3种扰动方式对外源磷在上覆水、间隙水、底泥中的数量分布的影响,并分析了内源磷形态间的转化过程.结果表明,与对照实验相比,物理扰动能促进上覆水中磷向底泥迁移,并高于生物扰动和组合扰动的促进作用,并且,三者均高于对照实验.这可归因于溶解氧的渗入.物理扰动能降低间隙水中DIP的平均含量,相比对照实验降低了12.13%(第6 d和第10 d平均值),但降低程度不如生物扰动(38.63%)和组合扰动(50.79%).3种扰动均能促进Fe/Al-P和Ca-P的形成,其中,物理扰动下Fe/Al-P和Ca-P平均形成量最大,物理扰动下AAP含量一直在减小,暗示物理扰动明显促进了AAP向闭蓄态的Fe/Al-P或者Ca-P转化.     

容积负荷对ABR-MBR工艺反硝化除磷性能的影响

采用连续流ABR-MBR组合工艺处理生活污水,研究不同容积负荷(volume loading rate,VLR)对该工艺反硝化除磷性能的影响,获得最佳工艺参数.试验考察ABR进水容积负荷(以COD计,下同)分别为0.76、1.01、1.51和2.27 kg·(m~3·d)~(-1)时系统去碳脱氮除磷的性能,并在各ABR容积负荷条件下考察MBR容积负荷对MBR反应器硝化性能的影响.结果表明,在ABR进水容积负荷为1.51 kg·(m~3·d)~(-1)的条件下,系统A2隔室COD去除量最大,并在MBR容积负荷为0.462 kg·(m~3·d)~(-1)时,MBR反应器中实现了短程硝化,系统NH_4~+-N和TN去除率分别达到90%和72%以上,厌氧释磷量为7.41 mg·L~(-1),缺氧吸磷量达到15.42 mg·L~(-1),出水PO_4~(3-)-P浓度低于0.5 mg·L~(-1),这表明短程硝化更有利于强化ABR-MBR系统的反硝化除磷性能.     

桑沟湾表层沉积物性质及对磷的吸附特征

通过研究桑沟湾表层沉积物对磷的吸附动力学曲线和吸附等温线,并结合沉积物的表面电荷性质及磷的形态分析,考察了沉积物对磷的吸附性能和吸附机制.结果表明,桑沟湾表层沉积物对磷的吸附过程包括快吸附过程和慢吸附过程,可用快慢二段一级动力学方程描述,等温线符合Langmuir交叉式模型.夏季沉积物样品的最大吸附量高于春季样品,粒级较小的沉积物吸附能力较强.沉积物样品对磷的最大吸附量Qm在0.047 1~0.123 0 mg·g-1之间,吸附/解吸平衡磷浓度(EPC0)范围在0.059 6~0.192 7 mg·L-1,沉积物充当"磷源"的作用.不同站位表层沉积物中无机磷(IP)是磷在沉积物中的主要赋存形态,吸附后的沉积物样品中弱吸附态磷(Ex-P)、铁结合态磷(Fe-P)明显增加.吸附过程包括物理吸附和化学吸附,以物理吸附为主.     

西大海湖沉积物营养盐垂直分布特征变化分析

通过对西大海湖心柱状沉积岩芯有机质(OM)、总氮(TN)、总磷(TP)、磷形态和粒度指标的测试和分析,探讨其垂向分布特征及影响因素.结果表明,营养盐中OM、TN和TP的含量分别为0.633%~2.756%、0.150%~0.429%和648.00~1 480.67 mg·kg-1.Ca-P是TP的主要部分,占TP含量66.04%.1843~1970年间,Ca-P、IP、OM含量变化较小,Fe/Al-P、OP、TP、TN含量波动较大;1970~1996年间,Ca-P、IP、TP含量变化均呈减小趋势,Fe/Al-P、OP、OM含量不同程度上先减少后增加,TN波动较大;1996~2009年营养元素含量相对波动较大,Fe/Al-P、OP和OM的平均含量是3个阶段中最高的.西大海湖沉积岩芯营养元素污染来源以工业废水、生活污水和化肥农药的流失为主.沉积物中C/N比值显示有机质主要来源于水生生物.沉积物粒度组成以黏土和细粉砂为主.相关性研究表明,Ca-P、IP与TP均呈显著的正相关关系,表明Ca-P对IP、TP的增长贡献大.