Maternal quality and differences in milk production and composition for male and female Iberian red deer calves (Cervus elaphus hispanicus)

Several theories predict a sex-biased investment either through unbalanced sex ratios in offspring or through differences in provisioning. According to them, one would expect an optimisation in indirect fitness, or else a compensation for increased mortality of one sex. In addition, biases in provisioning may also arise as a consequence of weight-dependent non-adaptive nutrient demands by offspring. This study examines milk provisioning and sex biases in offspring sex ratio together with maternal quality variables. Mothers of higher quality (weight and age) showed greater milk provisioning ability (in terms of production) resulting in greater calf weight gain. Mothers of sons produced greater yields of milk, milk protein, fat and lactose than mothers of daughters, and increased percentage of protein after controlling for higher male birth weight. In contrast, mothers of males did not differ from mothers of females in age or any body weight variables related to maternal quality. These results suggest that differences in milk production and composition for sons and daughters are rather a mechanism to optimise indirect fitness than a mechanism to compensate for increased mortality in male calves, or a consequence of greater weight-dependent nutrient demands by heavier male calves. Results also suggest that biases in milk provisioning may occur without biases in offspring sex ratio, and furthermore, in contrast to the prediction that biases should be relative to the mean investment of the population, that milk provisioning biases might not be relative.Communicated by F. Trillmich     

Metropolitan Open-Space Protection with Uncertain Site Availability

Abstract:  Urban planners acquire open space to protect natural areas and provide public access to recreation opportunities. Because of limited budgets and dynamic land markets, acquisitions take place sequentially depending on available funds and sites. To address these planning features, we formulated a two-period site selection model with two objectives: maximize the expected number of species represented in protected sites and maximize the expected number of people with access to protected sites. These objectives were both maximized subject to an upper bound on area protected over two periods. The trade-off between species representation and public access was generated by the weighting method of multiobjective programming. Uncertainty was represented with a set of probabilistic scenarios of site availability in a linear-integer formulation. We used data for 27 rare species in 31 candidate sites in western Lake County, near the city of Chicago, to illustrate the model. Each trade-off curve had a concave shape in which species representation dropped at an increasing rate as public accessibility increased, with the trade-off being smaller at higher levels of the area budget. Several sites were included in optimal solutions regardless of objective function weights, and these core sites had high species richness and public access per unit area. The area protected in period one depended on current site availability and on the probabilities of sites being undeveloped and available in the second period. Although the numerical results are specific for our study, the methodology is general and applicable elsewhere.     

Including Spatial Heterogeneity and Animal Dispersal When Evaluating Hunting: a Model Analysis and an Empirical Assessment in an Amazonian Community

Abstract:  Hunting in tropical forests is typically most intense near human settlements, and this creates gradients of decreasing animal densities toward those settlements. Within the context of this spatial pattern, we evaluated the status of game in the hunting grounds of an indigenous community in eastern Ecuador. We constructed a spatially explicit model of hunter-prey interactions that mimicked the hunting in the village and included realistic animal-dispersal rules. We compared predictions from the model with distributions of animal harvest rates and catch per unit effort of 12 game species. Six species were overharvested in part or all of the area, and two other species were probably being overharvested, although high dispersal rates complicated the interpretation. We then compared our method with methods that have been used previously. We argue that because our method provides information about the spatial extent of overharvesting, it could be particularly useful in informing decision makers about where to establish no-take areas and could therefore aid in improving the sustainability of hunting in tropical forests.     

河流营养物参照状态的建立方法研究进展

建立营养物参照状态是河流水污染控制的关键问题之一。系统论述了参照状态的各种内涵,重点分析了国外建立河流营养物参照状态的各种方法及优缺点,并分析了其在中国的适用性。最后,提出了河流营养物参照状态的进一步研究的重点。参照状态根据允许人类活动影响的程度可有多种含义:最小干扰状态、历史状态、最少干扰状态和最佳可达成状态。其中,最少干扰状态和最佳可达成状态在现实管理中具有一定程度的可操作性。参照河流百分比法是建立营养物参照状态的首选方法,但中国水环境污染形势严峻,参照点变得越来越少。当参照点不存在时,一般河流百分比法是参照河流百分比法的替代方法,然而一般河流百分比法和参照河流百分比法的匹配性关系并不完全保持一致。由于栖息地退化等因素对生物完整性的影响程度可能比营养物浓度更大,生物响应法在实际应用中是非常困难的。流域模型法虽然有众多优点,但是数据要求较高,并且常用流域模型的机理与中国有较大差距,在中国应用的结果具有较大的不确定性。综合考虑中国水环境污染现状和数据要求,以多元线性回归模型为代表的简易模型方法在中国应有最大的适用性。然而,环境因素与营养物质间的关系往往都是非线性的,今后应着重研究建立河流营养物参照状态的多元非线性回归模型方法。此外,还应加强季风河流营养物参照状态的季节性差异与年际差异研究,并在全国层面上根据自然因素划分适当规模的生态区,分区确定各生态区的河流营养物参照状态。     

我国城市地价评估模型及其空间分布规律研究

本文以城市地价产生地区差异的理论分析为依据,提出了城市地价的主要影响因素、因子,并以城市土地批租资料为基础运用逐步回归分析方法建立城市地价评估模型。根据模型估测了我国５１７个城市１９９２年的地价水平,最后分析了我国城市地价空间分布的规律及其未来走势展望。     

陕西省农业旱灾系统及农业旱灾灾情模型研究

为试图解决当前有关干旱（旱灾）指标的片面性,本文提出了农业旱灾系统（ＡＤＳ）,并设计了描述农业旱灾灾情的模型：Ｅ＝ｋ＊Ｍ＊Ｈ＊Ａ。农业旱灾系统由气象干旱（Ｍ）、水利抗旱（Ｈ）、农业承旱（Ａ）及农业旱灾灾情（Ｅ）等四个要素组成。每一要素均由若干区域性指标进行刻划。在分析陕西省农业旱灾特点的同时,建立了陕西省农业旱灾系统的框架,并利用各种资料分析了陕西省农业旱灾灾情。分析结果表明,由该模型计算的陕西省各县级单位的农业旱灾灾情和几十年来的实际资料是相吻合的,模型是可靠的。而且,通过模型和实际情况的对比,能够为研究农业旱灾灾情形成机制提供更好的佐证。     

NONLINEAR MODELING AND PREDICTION OF A RIVER FLOW SYSTEM1

ABSTRACT: Model estimation and prediction of a river flow system are investigated using nonlinear system identification techniques. We demonstrate how the dynamics of the system, rainfall, and river flow can be modeled using NARMAX (Nonlinear Autoregressive Moving Average with eXogenuous input) models. The parameters of the model are estimated using an orthogonal least squares algorithm with intelligent structure detection. The identification of the nonlinear model is described to represent the relationship between local rainfall and river flow at Enoree station (inputs) and river flow at Whitmire (output) for a river flow system in South Carolina.     

城市污水回用于农业的技术经济分析——以以色列农业灌溉为例

城市污水回用于农业是污水资源化的有效途径。论述了污水灌溉对农业和环境的影响 ,并以以色列为例对污水回用于农业进行了经济效益分析 ,同时介绍了决定用水组成、回用水质以及农作物的组成等的优化模型     

总量控制费用分摊的多目标规划模型及解法

文章指出了污染物总量控制规划中公平合理分摊优化治理投资费用的重要性，分析了现有的优化治理投资费用分摊方法存在的问题，建立了公平合理分摊优化治理投资费用的多目标规划模型，提出用最短距离理想点法加以求解，并通过实例验证了该方法的合理性。结果表明该模型及解法既可以保证总量控制规划方案的社会整体效益最大，又不失公平，从而确保总量控制规划方案的顺利实施。     

沈阳张士污灌区镉循环的分室模型与污染防治对策研究

对沈阳张土污灌区大气、水、土壤和生物各分室中Ｃｄ的库存量和各分室间Ｃｄ的循环通量进行了研究，建立了土壤水稻系统中Ｃｄ流分室模型，该模型表明，Ⅱ闸和Ⅲ闸地区土壤分室中Ｃｄ的库存增量均为正值。可见，该污灌区近年来Ｃｄ污染程度由于污水灌溉仍然处于加剧的趋势，研究最后指出，该污灌区Ｃｄ的污染防治对策主要是减少污水灌溉量、进一步降低灌溉水中Ｃｄ的浓度和通过富Ｃｄ的下降速率分别依次达到２９．４９和２２．８１ｍ