Contribution of Urban Expansion and a Changing Climate to Decline of a Butterfly Fauna

Butterfly populations are naturally patchy and undergo extinctions and recolonizations. Analyses based on more than 2 decades of data on California's Central Valley butterfly fauna show a net loss in species richness through time. We analyzed 22 years of phenological and faunistic data for butterflies to investigate patterns of species richness over time. We then used 18–22 years of data on changes in regional land use and 37 years of seasonal climate data to develop an explanatory model. The model related the effects of changes in land‐use patterns, from working landscapes (farm and ranchland) to urban and suburban landscapes, and of a changing climate on butterfly species richness. Additionally, we investigated local trends in land use and climate. A decline in the area of farmland and ranchland, an increase in minimum temperatures during the summer and maximum temperatures in the fall negatively affected net species richness, whereas increased minimum temperatures in the spring and greater precipitation in the previous summer positively affected species richness. According to the model, there was a threshold between 30% and 40% working‐landscape area below which further loss of working‐landscape area had a proportionally greater effect on butterfly richness. Some of the isolated effects of a warming climate acted in opposition to affect butterfly richness. Three of the 4 climate variables that most affected richness showed systematic trends (spring and summer mean minimum and fall mean maximum temperatures). Higher spring minimum temperatures were associated with greater species richness, whereas higher summer temperatures in the previous year and lower rainfall were linked to lower richness. Patterns of land use contributed to declines in species richness (although the pattern was not linear), but the net effect of a changing climate on butterfly richness was more difficult to discern. Contribución de la Expansión Urbana y un Clima Cambiante a la Declinación de la Fauna de Mariposas     

A global assessment of the social and conservation outcomes of protected areas

Protected areas (PAs) are a key strategy for protecting biological resources, but they vary considerably in their effectiveness and are frequently reported as having negative impacts on local people. This has contributed to a divisive and unresolved debate concerning the compatibility of environmental and socioeconomic development goals. Elucidating the relationship between positive and negative social impacts and conservation outcomes of PAs is key for the development of more effective and socially just conservation. We conducted a global meta‐analysis on 165 PAs using data from 171 published studies. We assessed how PAs affect the well‐being of local people, the factors associated with these impacts, and crucially the relationship between PAs’ conservation and socioeconomic outcomes. Protected areas associated with positive socioeconomic outcomes were more likely to report positive conservation outcomes. Positive conservation and socioeconomic outcomes were more likely to occur when PAs adopted comanagement regimes, empowered local people, reduced economic inequalities, and maintained cultural and livelihood benefits. Whereas the strictest regimes of PA management attempted to exclude anthropogenic influences to achieve biological conservation objectives, PAs that explicitly integrated local people as stakeholders tended to be more effective at achieving joint biological conservation and socioeconomic development outcomes. Strict protection may be needed in some circumstances, yet our results demonstrate that conservation and development objectives can be synergistic and highlight management strategies that increase the probability of maximizing both conservation performance and development outcomes of PAs.     

Myths and assumptions about human-wildlife conflict and coexistence

Recent extinctions often resulted from humans retaliating against wildlife that threatened people's interests or were perceived to threaten current or future interests. Today's subfield of human-wildlife conflict and coexistence (HWCC) grew out of an original anthropocentric concern with such real or perceived threats and then, starting in the mid-1990s, with protecting valued species from people. Recent work in ethics and law has shifted priorities toward coexistence between people and wild animals. To spur scientific progress and more effective practice, we examined 4 widespread assumptions about HWCC that need to be tested rigorously: scientists are neutral and objective about HWCC; current participatory, consensus-based decisions provide just and fair means to overcome challenges in HWCC; wildlife threats to human interests are getting worse; and wildlife damage to human interests is additive to other sources of damage. The first 2 assumptions are clearly testable, but if they are entangled can become a wicked problem and may need debunking as myths if they cannot be disentangled. Some assumptions have seldom or never been tested and those that have been tested appear dubious, yet the use of the assumptions continues in the practice and scholarship of HWCC. We call for tests of assumptions and debunking of myths in the scholarship of HWCC. Adherence to the principles of scientific integrity and application of standards of evidence can help advance our call. We also call for practitioners and interest groups to improve the constitutive process prior to decision making about wildlife. We predict these steps will hasten scientific progress toward evidence-based interventions and improve the fairness, ethics, and legality of coexistence strategies.     

Offsetting the Impacts of Mining to Achieve No Net Loss of Native Vegetation

Offsets are a novel conservation tool, yet using them to achieve no net loss of biodiversity is challenging. This is especially true when using conservation offsets (i.e., protected areas) because achieving no net loss requires avoiding equivalent loss. Our objective was to determine if offsetting the impacts of mining achieves no net loss of native vegetation in Brazil's largest iron mining region. We used a land‐use change model to simulate deforestation by mining to 2020; developed a model to allocate conservation offsets to the landscape under 3 scenarios (baseline, no new offsets; current practice, like‐for‐like [by vegetation type] conservation offsetting near the impact site; and threat scenario, like‐for‐like conservation offsetting of highly threatened vegetation); and simulated nonmining deforestation to 2020 for each scenario to quantify avoided deforestation achieved with offsets. Mines cleared 3570 ha of native vegetation by 2020. Under a 1:4 offset ratio, mining companies would be required to conserve >14,200 ha of native vegetation, doubling the current extent of protected areas in the region. Allocating offsets under current practice avoided deforestation equivalent to 3% of that caused by mining, whereas allocating under the threat scenario avoided 9%. Current practice failed to achieve no net loss because offsets did not conserve threatened vegetation. Explicit allocation of offsets to threatened vegetation also failed because the most threatened vegetation was widely dispersed across the landscape, making conservation logistically difficult. To achieve no net loss with conservation offsets requires information on regional deforestation trajectories and the distribution of threatened vegetation. However, in some regions achieving no net loss through conservation may be impossible. In these cases, other offsetting activities, such as revegetation, will be required. Compensación de los Impactos de la Minería para Obtener Ninguna Pérdida Neta de la Vegetación Nativa     

Selection of Multiple Umbrella Species for Functional and Taxonomic Diversity to Represent Urban Biodiversity

Surrogates, such as umbrella species, are commonly used to reduce the complexity of quantifying biodiversity for conservation purposes. The presence of umbrella species is often indicative of high taxonomic diversity; however, functional diversity is now recognized as an important metric for biodiversity and thus should be considered when choosing umbrella species. We identified umbrella species associated with high taxonomic and functional biodiversity in urban areas in Switzerland. We analyzed 39,752 individuals of 574 animal species from 96 study plots and 1397 presences of 262 plant species from 58 plots. Thirty‐one biodiversity measures of 7 taxonomic groups (plants, spiders, bees, ground beetles, lady bugs, weevils and birds) were included in within‐ and across‐taxa analyses. Sixteen measures were taxonomical (species richness and species diversity), whereas 15 were functional (species traits including mobility, resource use, and reproduction). We used indicator value analysis to identify umbrella species associated with single or multiple biodiversity measures. Many umbrella species were indicators of high biodiversity within their own taxonomic group (from 33.3% in weevils to 93.8% in birds), to a lesser extent they were indicators across taxa. Principal component analysis revealed that umbrella species for multiple measures of biodiversity represented different aspects of biodiversity, especially with respect to measures of taxonomic and functional diversity. Thus, even umbrella species for multiple measures of biodiversity were complementary in the biodiversity aspects they represented. Thus, the choice of umbrella species based solely on taxonomic diversity is questionable and may not represent biodiversity comprehensively. Our results suggest that, depending on conservation priorities, managers should choose multiple and complementary umbrella species to assess the state of biodiversity. Selección de Múltiples Especies Paraguas para la Diversidad Funcional y Taxonómica para Representar la Biodiversidad Urbana     

A robust nonparametric method for quantifying undetected extinctions

How many species have gone extinct in modern times before being described by science? To answer this question, and thereby get a full assessment of humanity's impact on biodiversity, statistical methods that quantify undetected extinctions are required. Such methods have been developed recently, but they are limited by their reliance on parametric assumptions; specifically, they assume the pools of extant and undetected species decay exponentially, whereas real detection rates vary temporally with survey effort and real extinction rates vary with the waxing and waning of threatening processes. We devised a new, nonparametric method for estimating undetected extinctions. As inputs, the method requires only the first and last date at which each species in an ensemble was recorded. As outputs, the method provides estimates of the proportion of species that have gone extinct, detected, or undetected and, in the special case where the number of undetected extant species in the present day is assumed close to zero, of the absolute number of undetected extinct species. The main assumption of the method is that the per‐species extinction rate is independent of whether a species has been detected or not. We applied the method to the resident native bird fauna of Singapore. Of 195 recorded species, 58 (29.7%) have gone extinct in the last 200 years. Our method projected that an additional 9.6 species (95% CI 3.4, 19.8) have gone extinct without first being recorded, implying a true extinction rate of 33.0% (95% CI 31.0%, 36.2%). We provide R code for implementing our method. Because our method does not depend on strong assumptions, we expect it to be broadly useful for quantifying undetected extinctions.     

Cu2+对活性污泥代谢及群落结构的影响

为探究微量Cu2+对微生物代谢产物及群落结构的影响,采用序批式反应器(SBR),以含Cu2+原水作用下活性污泥为研究对象,分析不同质量浓度Cu2对胞外聚合物(EPS)和溶解性代谢产物(SMP)的影响,并通过聚合酶链式反应-变性梯度凝胶电泳(PCR-DGGE)技术分析总细菌在不同质量浓度微量Cu2+驯化前后的群落结构.结果表明,活性污泥的EPS质量浓度受Cu2+的影响呈波动下降趋势,反应中后期趋于稳定,稳定区间与Cu2+质量浓度成反比.Cu2+加入反应体系后会造成SMP质量浓度短暂下降,随后微生物释放SMP来缓解环境压力,SMP质量浓度有所回升;中后期由于Cu2+积累导致细胞自溶、释放SMP,SMP质量浓度突增,增长幅度与Cu2+质量浓度成正比.不同质量浓度Cu2+会造成特定菌群的消亡,还会促进耐受力强的微生物成为优势菌种.含Cu2+原水会使微生物量和群落多样性降低,当Cu2+质量浓度为3.5 mg/L时SDI由1.92下降至1.23,而由于新优势菌种的产生,Cu2+质量浓度为5.0 mg/L时SDI有所回升.     

铁岭市莲花湖湿地生物多样性评价研究

在对莲花湖湿地物种现状进行调查分析、监测及统计的基础上,建立湿地生物多样性评价指标体系与赋值标准,从物种丰富度、生态系统类型多样性、物种特有性、外来物种入侵度四个一级指标及十五个二级指标对莲花湖湿地生物多样性进行了评价。莲花湖湿地生物多样性总评分为67分,结果表明莲花湖湿地生物多样性处于优秀水平,应继续加强对莲花湖湿地生态环境的恢复和管理。研究结果将为相关管理部门提供决策依据,为莲花湖湿地生物多样性的保护和管理打下基础。     

淀粉废水处理系统中活性污泥的微生物群落结构及多样性分析

为探究淀粉废水处理活性污泥中微生物的群落结构及多样性,基于Illumina MiSeq高通量测序方法,分析了不同运行阶段的A/O处理系统中活性污泥的微生物群落与多样性组成.结果表明,A/O系统中处理淀粉生产废水的活性污泥在同一种废水下微生物群落结构总体比较稳定,优势细菌主要为变形菌门(Proteobacteria)、拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)、绿弯菌门(Chloroflexi)、厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)和放线菌门(Actinobacteria)等;最重要优势细菌类群为变形菌门(45. 66%～66. 30%),其中γ-亚纲细菌是其主要成员,占比36. 38%～66. 65%.优势拟杆菌门主要成员鞘脂杆菌纲在污泥沉降性能较好时其占比下降,但绿弯菌门主要成员厌氧绳菌纲在污泥沉降性能较好时其占比明显增加,变化趋势正好相反,或许它们二者之间的耦合变化与污泥沉降性能变化密切相关.活性污泥样品中存在大量特殊功能菌群,它们在活性污泥的污染物分解和氮磷去除中发挥重要作用.     

Can environmental compensation contribute to socially equitable conservation? The case of an ecological fiscal transfer in the Brazilian Atlantic forest

ABSTRACT

Regions of high biodiversity often coincide with regions of poverty and conservation can imply economic and social costs for poor resident populations. Environmental compensation is considered a tool to reduce socio-environmental conflict, improve the equity of conservation and promote sustainable development. The intricacies of specific socio-ecological systems may determine how compensation payments are interpreted locally to produce outcomes. This research examines the social perceptions of an ecological fiscal transfer which intends to compensate the local public administration for the substantial costs of conservation in a hotspot of biological and social diversity in the Brazilian Atlantic forest. In this context we explore whether financial compensation (1) influences local perceptions of the conservation regime, (2) contributes towards the reconciliation of human-conservation conflicts and (3) triggers any meaningful socio-economic improvement that would counter the local costs of conservation. Results show that environmental compensation is not widely recognised as effectively benefiting the community. Local authorities consider compensation insufficient to enact a sustainable development agenda. Environmental compensation could play an important role in a policy mix for socially equitable conservation by being explicitly linked to community benefits, especially to fostering local livelihoods. The collaboration of actors operating across multiple governance levels may improve the institutional capacity of local actors to produce effective outcomes.