Practical actions for applied systematic conservation planning

Systematic conservation planning is intended to inform spatially explicit decision making. Doing so requires that it be integrated into complex regulatory and governance processes, and there are limited instances where this has been achieved effectively. South Africa is a global leader in the application of conservation plans, the outputs of which are widely used for spatial planning and decision making in many spheres of government. We aimed to determine how conservation planning in the country progressed from theory to implementation, and to identify practical actions that enabled this transition, by assessing temporal trends in the characteristics of conservation plans (1990–2017, n = 94). Since 2010 conservation planning has entered an operational period characterized by government leadership of plans, administrative rather than ecological planning domains, decreasing size of planning units, increasing emphasis on end-user products, and scheduled revision of plans. Key actions that enabled this progression include transitioning leadership of plans from scientists to practitioners, building capacity within implementing agencies, creating opportunities to integrate plans in legislative processes, establishing a strong community of practice, adopting implementation-focused methods, and balancing standardization with innovation. Learning from this model will allow other countries, particularly those with a similar megadiverse, developing context, to operationalize conservation planning into spatial planning and decision making.     

Understanding the effects of different social data on selecting priority conservation areas

Conservation success is contingent on assessing social and environmental factors so that cost‐effective implementation of strategies and actions can be placed in a broad social–ecological context. Until now, the focus has been on how to include spatially explicit social data in conservation planning, whereas the value of different kinds of social data has received limited attention. In a regional systematic conservation planning case study in Australia, we examined the spatial concurrence of a range of spatially explicit social values and land‐use preferences collected using a public participation geographic information system and biological data. We used Zonation to integrate the social data with the biological data in a series of spatial‐prioritization scenarios to determine the effect of the different types of social data on spatial prioritization compared with biological data alone. The type of social data (i.e., conservation opportunities or constraints) significantly affected spatial prioritization outcomes. The integration of social values and land‐use preferences under different scenarios was highly variable and generated spatial prioritizations 1.2–51% different from those based on biological data alone. The inclusion of conservation‐compatible values and preferences added relatively few new areas to conservation priorities, whereas including noncompatible economic values and development preferences as costs significantly changed conservation priority areas (48.2% and 47.4%, respectively). Based on our results, a multifaceted conservation prioritization approach that combines spatially explicit social data with biological data can help conservation planners identify the type of social data to collect for more effective and feasible conservation actions.     

The Effectiveness of Surrogate Taxa for the Representation of Biodiversity

Abstract: Biodiversity is too complex to measure directly, so conservation planning must rely on surrogates to estimate the biodiversity of sites. The species richness of selected taxa is often used as a surrogate for the richness of other taxa. Surrogacy values of taxa have been evaluated in diverse contexts, yet broad trends in their effectiveness remain unclear. We reviewed published studies testing the ability of species richness of surrogate taxa to capture the richness of other (target) taxa. We stratified studies into two groups based on whether a complementarity approach (surrogates used to select a combination of sites that together maximize total species richness for the taxon) or a richness‐hotspot approach (surrogates used to select sites containing the highest species richness for the taxon) was used. For each comparison of one surrogate taxon with one target, we used the following predictor variables: biome, spatial extent of study area, surrogate taxon, and target taxon. We developed a binary response variable based on whether the surrogate taxon provided better than random representation of the target taxon. For studies that used an evaluation approach that was not based on better than random representation of target taxa, we based the response variable on the interpretation of results in the original study. We performed a categorical regression to elucidate trends in the effectiveness of surrogate taxa with regard to each of the predictor variables. A surrogate was 25% more likely to be effective with a complementarity approach than with a hotspot approach. For hotspot‐based approaches, biome, extent of study, surrogate taxon, and target taxon significantly influenced effectiveness of the surrogate. For complementarity‐based approaches, biome, extent, and surrogate taxon significantly influenced effectiveness of the surrogate. For all surrogate evaluations, biome explained the greatest amount of variation in surrogate effectiveness. From most to least, extent, surrogate taxon, and target taxon explained the most variation after biome. Surrogate taxa were most effective in grasslands and in some cases boreal zones, deserts, and tropical forests; surrogate taxa also were more effective in studies examining larger areas. Herpetofauna were the most effective taxon as both surrogate and target when a richness‐hotspot approach was used; however, herpetofauna were analyzed in fewer studies, so this result is tentative. For complementarity approaches, taxa that are easy to measure and tend to have a large number of habitat specialists distributed collectively across broad environmental gradients (e.g., plants, birds, and mammals) were the most effective surrogates.     

Restoration planning to guide Aichi targets in a megadiverse country

Ecological restoration has become an important strategy to conserve biodiversity and ecosystems services. To restore 15% of degraded ecosystems as stipulated by the Convention on Biological Diversity Aichi target 15, we developed a prioritization framework to identify potential priority sites for restoration in Mexico, a megadiverse country. We used the most current biological and environmental data on Mexico to assess areas of biological importance and restoration feasibility at national scale and engaged stakeholders and experts throughout the process. We integrated 8 criteria into 2 components (i.e., biological importance and restoration feasibility) in a spatial multicriteria analysis and generated 11 scenarios to test the effect of assigning different component weights. The priority restoration sites were distributed across all terrestrial ecosystems of Mexico; 64.1% were in degraded natural vegetation and 6% were in protected areas. Our results provide a spatial guide to where restoration could enhance the persistence of species of conservation concern and vulnerable ecosystems while maximizing the likelihood of restoration success. Such spatial prioritization is a first step in informing policy makers and restoration planners where to focus local and large‐scale restoration efforts, which should additionally incorporate social and monetary cost–benefit considerations.     

A state-space model approach to optimum spatial sampling design based on entropy

We consider the spatial sampling design problem for a random field X. This random field is in general assumed not to be directly observable, but sample information from a related variable Y is available. Our purpose in this paper is to present a state-space model approach to network design based on Shannon's definition of entropy, and describe its main points with regard to some of the most common practical problems in spatial sampling design. For applications, an adaptation of Ko et al.'s (1995) algorithm for maximum entropy sampling in this context is provided. We illustrate the methodology using piezometric data from the Velez aquifer (Malaga, Spain). © Rapid Science 1998     

Incorporation of Spatial and Economic Analyses of Human‐Use Data in the Design of Marine Protected Areas

Abstract: Social, economic, and ecological criteria contribute to the successful design, implementation, and management of marine protected areas (MPAs). In the context of California's Marine Life Protection Act Initiative, we developed a set of methods for collecting, compiling, and analyzing data about the spatial extent and relative economic importance of commercial and recreational fishing. We interviewed 174 commercial fishers who represented the major fisheries in the initiative's north‐central coast region, which extends from Point Arena south to Pigeon Point. These fishers provided data that we used to map the extent of each of the fishing grounds, to weight the relative importance of areas within the grounds, to characterize the operating costs of each fishery, and to analyze the potential economic losses associated with proposed marine protected areas. A regional stakeholder group used the maps and impact analyses in conjunction with other data sets to iteratively identify economic and ecological trade‐offs in designations of different areas as MPAs at regional, port, and fishery extents. Their final proposed MPA network designated 20% of state waters as MPAs. Potential net economic loss ranged from 1.7% to 14.2% in the first round of network design and totaled 6.3% in the final round of design. This process is a case study in the application of spatial analysis to validate and integrate local stakeholder knowledge in marine planning.     

上海世博会旅游时空效应及对策研究

重大旅游事件会对举办地及其周边产生巨大的旅游效应,作为经济、科技奥运的上海世博会的旅游效应是广泛深远的.分析了上海世博会旅游效应研究现状,提出旅游时空效应结合研究的必要性,再分析其前期、期间和后期旅游时间效应,以及对上海和长三角的旅游空间效应,最后提出相应对策.     

油气管道第三方施工损伤风险控制方法研究

针对当前油气管道运行的现状指出第三方施工损伤风险控制的紧迫性,根据第三方施工损伤风险辨识的内容,以及油气管道第三方施工损伤风险评估中人为因素分析理论,阐述第三方施工损伤风险的影响因素,通过计算各因素的灰色关联度辨识出了第三方损伤风险的主控因素,并提出了第三方施工损伤风险控制方法.     

南四湖南阳湖区河口与湖心沉积物重金属形态对比研究

湖泊河口区与湖心区沉积条件不同,沉积物重金属等内源污染物的分布亦可能存在较大区别.为比较河口区与湖心区沉积物重金属赋存形态的空间差异,利用柱状沉积物采样器在南四湖南阳湖区湖心和河口分别获取原位柱状沉积物,在比较分析沉积物孔隙度、有机质、粒度及典型重金属(Cu、Pb、Cd、Cr、Hg)各形态垂向分布特征的基础上,对其相关性进行分析,并对表层(0~4 cm)沉积物重金属污染程度及潜在生态风险进行评价.结果表明,除Cd外,河口区沉积物Cu、Pb、Cr、Hg含量较湖心区高,泗河为南阳湖区重金属污染物的来源之一,沉积物重金属各形态含量在垂向分布上规律性不明显,且均主要以残渣晶格结合态存在,5种重金属元素中,Hg残渣晶格结合态所占比重最小(约30%),具有较高的迁移性,存在相对较大的生态风险.地积累指数法和潜在生态危害指数法研究结果表明,河口区与湖心区表层沉积物均受Hg及Cd的污染较重,Pb、Cu、Cr污染较轻,潜在生态危害指数法所得污染级别较地积累指数法高.相关性分析表明,沉积物Cu、Pb、Cd、Cr、Hg总量、可交换态、有机物及硫化物结合态、残渣晶格结合态含量与沉积物孔隙度、有机质相关系数多为正值,同粒度相关系数多为负值,同碳酸盐结合态和铁锰氧化物结合态的相关系数各异,无明显规律.     

Cultivating food as a right to the city

This paper argues that there is much to be gained when we view struggles to cultivate food in the city through the lens of Henri Lefebvre's concept of the right to the city. Lefebvre's idea helps us better perceive the radical political and ecological potential of those struggles. And in the empirical details of the struggles we can see concretely the key action in Lefebvre's concept, an action that is only abstract in his work: urban inhabitants becoming active and producing and managing space for themselves.