Five approaches to producing actionable science in conservation

The knowledge produced by conservation scientists must be actionable in order to address urgent conservation challenges. To understand the process of creating actionable science, we interviewed 71 conservation scientists who had participated in 1 of 3 fellowship programs focused on training scientists to become agents of change. Using a grounded theory approach, we identified 16 activities that these researchers employed to make their scientific products more actionable. Some activities were more common than others and, arguably, more foundational. We organized these activities into 3 nested categories (motivations, strategies, and tactics). Using a co-occurrence matrix, we found that most activities were positively correlated. These correlations allowed us to identify 5 approaches, framed as profiles, to actionable science: the discloser, focused on open access; the educator, focused on science communication; the networker, focused on user needs and building relationships; the collaborator, focused on boundary spanning; and the pluralist, focused on knowledge coproduction resulting in valuable outcomes for all parties. These profiles build on one another in a hierarchy determined by their complexity and level of engagement, their potential to support actionable science, and their proximity to ideal coproduction with knowledge users. Our results provide clear guidance for conservation scientists to generate actionable science to address the global biodiversity conservation challenge.     

Aligning the logics of inquiry and action to address the biodiversity crisis

Despite an abundance of research reaffirming biodiversity's importance to the health of the planet and society, species continue to go extinct at an alarming rate. Why has continued research on the value of biodiversity not had the intended effect and what can be done about it? We considered biodiversity loss as a public value failure and the result of a misalignment between the logic of inquiry (which guides scientists) and the logic of action (which guides practitioners). We drew lessons from our own research to propose the creation of a national biodiversity strategy designed to link the logic of inquiry with the logic of action and coordinate the production of actionable conservation science and informed conservation action.     

阴离子表面活性剂(LAS)环境行为与环境效应

由于直链烷基苯磺酸盐(Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonates,LAS)的广泛运用,LAS成为环境中最常见的具有代表性的一类有机污染物,其环境行为与环境效应也受到普遍的关注.尽管许多研究表明,目前的LAS使用水平对大多数生物来说是安全的,但也有研究表明LAS在低浓度条件下对鱼类产生慢性毒性.同时LAS对生物的伤害机理也不十分清楚,因此LAS的伤害机理和毒性效应的临界值尚需进一步探讨.LAS在不同环境中的吸附、沉降和生物降解等迁移转化行为十分复杂,但对于其在环境中的吸附机制和影响因素尚难以得到一致结论,而对于生物降解过程中的中间代谢产物的成分、行为和毒性也需进一步深入研究.     

3种环境雌激素检测和筛选方法的比较

介绍了进行环境雌激素检测和筛选的3种方法:鱼类卵黄蛋白原诱导实验法、重组基因酵母检测法和酵母双杂交法,着重介绍了这3种方法的基本原理、具体操作、适用条件及应用现状.卵黄蛋白原诱导实验是根据正常雄性体内不会含有卵黄蛋白原,环境雌激素能刺激卵生动物肝细胞产生卵黄蛋白原,可通过测定动物体内合成的卵黄蛋白原含量来评价其活性.重组基因酵母法是根据环境雌激素能刺激转化酵母的报告基因表达,以表达的β-半乳糖苷酶的量为依据来判断雌激素活性的大小.酵母双杂交法是在重组基因酵母法的基础上,引入了辅激活蛋白,通过检测雌激素受体和辅激活蛋白之间的相互作用来评价环境雌激素的活性.这3种方法均具有灵敏、简便、快速、经济的优点,同时既可以定性检测又可以定量检测,是目前进行环境中雌激素类物质安全检测与监测的重要手段.     

全球变化背景下可持续的滨海旅游资源开发与管理

滨海旅游是最传统的、主要的旅游形式,也是现代旅游增长最快的领域,在国内外均具有举足轻重的地位。全球变化很可能是由人类活动引起,并且影响着旅游业的发展。旅游业通过使用交通运输系统尤其是航空旅行、旅游目的地住宿餐饮等活动排放大量温室气体,对全球变化做出贡献。可持续滨海旅游以可持续的资源开发和管理为基础,在全球变化背景下,要达到这一目标,需要在滨海旅游模式与产品类型转变、旅游资源利用方式转变、利益相关者协作等方面对滨海旅游资源进行优化开发和有效管理:以绿色思维指导低碳旅游模式,发展生态旅游和替代性旅游等新型产品;提倡降碳减排、发展碳补偿和碳经济、制定碳排放标准、鼓励新型节油节能科技应用;鼓励社区参与,平衡利益相关者的收益和兴趣,尤其是探察当地社区居民、旅游者和政府工作人员对全球变化的看法、态度、责任感和共识。这些措施将在规划-管理-监督-评估动态模型中得到优化。     

Tools for an enhanced solvent properties screening in the early stages of pharmaceutical process development

The objective of this research was the implementation of tools for the evaluation of solvents trough property screening in the early stages of process development. An important feature of the tools is that the implementation of indexes, scores, or weights is avoided. Information already available from the literature was stored in a database in order to turn raw data into decision making information. As a result, a solvent radar chart, a solvent representation table, and a solvent telescopying tool were developed in an ASP.NET application. The synthesis of Propranolol was used as study case in order to explore the selection of solvents in the early stages of process development. The replacement of diethyl ether was possible in the extraction step, while solvent choices were detected for potential telescoping for extraction and crystallisation steps. Solubility was found as a critical parameter in telescoping analysis. The methodology proposed enhanced the view towards a more holistic perspective and a more robust solvent screening process. As a consequence, the next steps into solvent evaluation and process development can be reduced.     

水环境承载力约束下的城市经济规模量化研究

论文提出了以地区生产总值(GDP) 表征的水环境承载力定量计算模型,以扬州市为例,选取COD作为污染控制因子,进行实例计算。通过对模型参数的灵敏度分析,确定不同参数影响程度,找出影响水环境承载力的主要制约因子;采用区间估计理论,评估模型计算结果的可靠性;提出对于确定的经济发展目标,排放强度控制线模型。结果表明,考虑污染减排政策干预的因素,扬州市目标年水环境承载力(以GDP 表征) 可达8 372×10⁸元,在90%的置信度水平上,其置信区间为7 881×10⁸~9 030×10⁸元;在总量控制目标确定的条件下,水环境承载力主要制约因子为污染物排放强度和第三产业比例;如果该区域经济目标定为5 070×10⁸元,则单位工业增加值COD排放强度不得大于0.69 kg/10⁴元。     

Theorising pathways to sustainability

Using a Pathways approach, controversies over environmental and natural resource management are viewed as expressions of alternative, or competing, pathways to sustainability. This supports deeper understanding of the underlying causes of natural resource management controversies. The framework is composed of two elements: the STEPS (Social, Technological, and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) Pathways approach and frame analysis. Many sustainable development dilemmas are played out in specific places and consequently, the Pathways approach is integrated with a place-based frame analysis. The resulting framework guides empirical investigation in place-based contexts. This theorising about sustainability science can be used to cast light on contested natural resource management issues, in this case mining in northern Sweden. By exposing the range of alternative Pathways to critical norms of sustainable development, we ascertain whether action alternatives are compatible with sustainable futures. The framework provides a way in which sustainability science can better understand the origins of natural resource management conflicts, characterise the positions of the actors involved, identify the potential for cooperation between stakeholders leading to policy resolution and judge what Pathways help or hinder the pursuit of sustainable development. In addition, it can enhance sustainability science by guiding integrative sustainability research at the project scale.     

Agricultural production and bird conservation in complex landscapes of the dry Chaco

The South American dry Chaco is a mosaic of woody vegetation and grasslands with high deforestation rates in recent decades. Considering forests and grasslands as the main natural habitats, we assessed the trade-offs between bird populations and agricultural production to compare the potential consequences of different land use strategies (‘sharing’, ‘sparing’, and intermediate) for populations of bird species sensitive to agriculture, while attaining a regional production target. We evaluated how populations responded to scenarios with different proportions of forest and grasslands, considering three reference states (100% forest, 80:20% and 50:50% forest and grasslands, respectively); and scenarios capable of meeting three after-farming scenarios, with land destined to reach a regional production target with three variations of forest:grasslands within spared land. We fitted curves to relate bird abundance to agricultural yield along a gradient of meat production intensity; and we classified bird species as ‘losers’ (if their populations were lower than the baseline population in the reference state, at any level of production) and ‘winners’ (if their current populations were higher than the baseline population). At the ‘current’ (c. 2010) level of regional agricultural production, we found a similar number of loser species maximized by land-sparing and land-sharing strategies; while intermediate strategies were the least favourable to balance production and bird populations. Under the most probable scenarios of increases in regional meat production, most loser bird species populations were maximized by a land-sparing strategy, suggesting that if meat production targets are going to increase in the region, this can be more efficiently achieved by combining well-protected forests and grasslands, and high-yielding mechanized agriculture (e.g. soybean). Our results highlight the importance of assessing all the important natural habitats (e.g. forests and grasslands) of a region to explore conservation strategies at a regional scale.