International Trade Status and Crisis for Snake Species in China

Abstract:  In recent years, the purchase of snakes for leather, food, and traditional medicine has increased in China, which has greatly reduced certain snake populations. Trade records show that since the 1990s, with respect to some species of snakes, China is changing from a net export country to a net import country. We analyzed data on international trade in snake species, concentrating, in particular, on trade dynamics and species composition. The overall number of snakes exported appears to have decreased in the last 10 years. However, the number of snakes imported during this period has increased steadily. Many species of snakes that are traded in significant numbers are endangered or threatened species. To conserve snakes in China, we recommended that the Chinese government and the international conservation community take the following actions: enhance legislation and list several species in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) appendices; register all snake farms in China; carry out population and market surveys; monitor the dynamics of trade; encourage biological research; encourage change in food habits; and enhance cooperation between Hong Kong and mainland China.     

扁刺栲-华木荷群系次生林林下物种多样性分析

对四川中亚热带扁刺栲(Castanopsis platyacantha)—华木荷(Schima sinensis)群系人工杉木林、水杉林、日本落叶松林和天然次生林林下植物进行了群落调查和物种多样性分析。结果表明：(1)杉木林、水杉林、日本落叶松林和次生扁刺栲—华木荷林(20a)的物种丰富度分别为62，59，53和32；Simpson多样性指数分别为7．95，7．08，9．24和5．38；Shannon—Wiener多样性指数分别为3．67，3．3l，3．64和2．46。(2)人工林林下植物群落之间的群落系数和相似度系数分别为0．45～0．60和0．62～0．82；人工林林下植物群落与次生阔叶林林下植物群落之间的群落系数和相似度系数分别为0．19～0．53和0．55～0．77。(3)人工林林下物种多样性比次生林高的主要原因可能是风倒木和站干死木导致人工林乔木层郁闭度减小，增加了林下的光照，从而改蛮了林下的微生境。表6参19。     

Protected Areas and Prospects for Endangered Species Conservation in Canada

Abstract:  Reserve networks figure prominently in conservation strategies that aim to reduce extinction rates. We tested the effectiveness of the current reserve network at protecting species at risk in Canada, where relatively extensive wilderness areas remain. We compared numbers of terrestrial species at risk included in existing reserves to randomly generated networks with the same total area and number of reserves. Existing reserve networks rarely performed better than randomly selected areas and several included fewer endangered species than expected by chance, particularly in the most biologically imperiled regions. The extent of protected area and density of species at risk were unrelated at either broad (countrywide) or finer spatial scales (50 × 50 km grids), although there was a tendency for the most threatened regions of the country to have few or no protected areas (1.5% of areas with >30 endangered species were in reserves). Although reserves will play a useful role in conserving endangered species that occur within them, reducing extinction rates in a region with much of the world's remaining wilderness will require integrating conservation strategies with agricultural and urban land-use plans outside formally protected areas.     

Limitations of Biodiversity Databases: Case Study on Seed-Plant Diversity in Tenerife, Canary Islands

Abstract:  Databases on the distribution of species can be used to describe the geographic patterns of biodiversity. Nevertheless, they have limitations. We studied three of these limitations: (1) inadequacy of raw data to describe richness patterns due to sampling bias, (2) lack of survey effort assessment (and lack of exhaustiveness in compiling data about survey effort), and (3) lack of coverage of the geographic and environmental variations that affect the distribution of organisms. We used a biodiversity database (BIOTA-Canarias) to analyze richness data from a well-known group (seed plants) in an intensively surveyed area (Tenerife Island). Observed richness and survey effort were highly correlated. Species accumulation curves could not be used to determine survey effort because data digitalization was not exhaustive, so we identified well-sampled sites based on observed richness to sampling effort ratios. We also developed a predictive model based on the data from well-sampled sites and analyzed the origin of the geographic errors in the obtained extrapolation by means of a geographically constrained cross-validation. The spatial patterns of seed-plant species richness obtained from BIOTA-Canarias data were incomplete and biased. Therefore, some improvements are needed to use this database (and many others) in biodiversity studies. We propose a protocol that includes controls on data quality, improvements on data digitalization and survey design to improve data quality, and some alternative data analysis strategies that will provide a reliable picture of biodiversity patterns.     

南岳森林群落生物多样性研究(Ⅴ)上封寺森林群落植物物种多样性测定

本文根据对南岳上封寺森林群落野外实地考察以及研究结果,选用了24个有代表性的物种多样性测定公式,并采用重要值、株数或鲜重、优势度或盖度作为测度指标对南岳上封寺森林群落植物物种多样性进行了研究。结果表明,南岳上封寺森林群落植物物种多样性水平较高,但又低于南岳广济寺。此外,不同测度指标对物种多样性指数的结果并无明显的规律性变化。     

水环境中痕量重金属生物活性形态的分析

水环境中痕量重金属的生物活性形态,包括生物可吸收态和生物毒性形态,这种形态的分析是重金属形态分析研究的一个重要发展方向。对于水环境中重金属对生物的毒害现状评价、潜在危害预测以及水环境容量的确定、排放标准和污染治理方案的制定,具有重要意义。本文总结了各种物理化学法重金属形态分析的结果与生物测试重金属形态测定结果之间的相关性,进而探讨了应用物理化学方法进行金属生物活性形态分析的可行性和特点。     

聚合氯化铝中Alb和Al13的形态分布规律

按三类典型工业聚合氯化铝的生产条件制得铝浓度为2.50mol·l^-1,盐基度为0%-92%的A,C,D系列样品,同时采用慢速滴碱法制得铝浓度为0.150mol·l^-1-0.336mol·l^-1,盐基度为0%-92%的B系列聚合氯化铝.Ferron试验结果表明：相同盐基度不同系列样品的Alb值大小变化规律为：盐基度等于20%时,C〉D〉A〉B;盐基度等于30%时,A〉D〉B〉C;盐基度大于30%时,B〉A〉D〉C;四个系列样品的Ala均随盐基度的升高而减小,Alc则随盐基度的升高而增加.27A1-NMR测试结果表明：四个系列所有样品的Al单均随盐基度的升高而减小;相同盐基度的不同系列样品Al13值大小顺序为B〉A〉C〉D;A,C,D系列样品的Al其他均随盐基度的升高而增加,B系列样品的Al其他则先随盐基度的升高而增加,达到最大值后开始降低,然后再开始上升,最大值为B4样品的44.40%.A,C,D三个工业系列样品中的Alb和Al13的绝对值均不大,在所研究的盐基度范围内Alb和Al13均不是其中的优势形态.B系列样品在盐基度大于60%时,Alb和Al13成为其中的优势形态.     

Using Niche-Based Models to Improve the Sampling of Rare Species

Abstract:  Because data on rare species usually are sparse, it is important to have efficient ways to sample additional data. Traditional sampling approaches are of limited value for rare species because a very large proportion of randomly chosen sampling sites are unlikely to shelter the species. For these species, spatial predictions from niche-based distribution models can be used to stratify the sampling and increase sampling efficiency. New data sampled are then used to improve the initial model. Applying this approach repeatedly is an adaptive process that may allow increasing the number of new occurrences found. We illustrate the approach with a case study of a rare and endangered plant species in Switzerland and a simulation experiment. Our field survey confirmed that the method helps in the discovery of new populations of the target species in remote areas where the predicted habitat suitability is high. In our simulations the model-based approach provided a significant improvement (by a factor of 1.8 to 4 times, depending on the measure) over simple random sampling. In terms of cost this approach may save up to 70% of the time spent in the field.