New Genetic Approach to Detecting Individuals of Rare and Endangered Species

Abstract: Many rare and endangered species are difficult to locate, observe, and study. Consequently, many individuals, breeding pairs, and even populations of such species could remain undetected. Genetic markers can potentially be used to detect the existence of undiscovered individuals and populations, and we propose a method to do so that requires 3 conditions. First, sampling of the known population(s) of the target species must be comprehensive. Second, the species must display a reasonable level of philopatry and genetic structuring. Third, individuals must be able to be caught outside of breeding locations (e.g., at courtship or feeding areas, in flight), and the level of recapture must be reasonably high. We applied our method to the Chatham Island Taiko (Pterodroma magentae), one of the world's most endangered seabirds. We sequenced the Taiko mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and both copies of a fragment of the duplicated domain I of the control region. Twenty‐one haplotypes were revealed, including 4 (19%) not found in birds at known burrows. These results suggest there are more burrow groups yet to be located. The species is a pelagic gadfly petrel that inhabits land only in the breeding season during which it is nocturnal and nests in burrows. Taiko burrows are situated in dense forest in a remote area of Chatham Island, and are consequently difficult to locate and study. It is important that all Taiko burrows be discovered to enable monitoring and protection of the birds from exotic predators.     

120t转炉除尘水处理存在问题及对策

以宝钢集团新疆八一钢铁有限责任公司为例，介绍了120t转炉除尘浊环水系统的运行情况，分析转炉除尘水处理存在的问题及原因，结合现场实践提出改进措施及解决此类问题的思路。经实际运行考核，斜板沉淀器出水悬浮物小于100mg/L，系统节约新水60m^3/h，满足了生产要求，达到了回收尘泥、保护环境、节能降耗、水资源综合利用的目的。     

人类承载力"K值"影响因素

人类承载力“K值”表示地球能承载人口的极限值。“K值”的影响因素的繁多以及相互间的联系使得“K值”确切数值的计算成为一项非常艰巨的任务。通过分析人类与自然的关系，探讨人类承载力的微观影响因素及其相互关系，从开放生态系统的性质讨论人类承载力的宏观影响因素。从而得出人类承载力受渐变和突变因素的结合控制。以此揭开承载和调控人类种群的机理并预测“K值”的可能发展趋势，达到避免计算“K值”确切数值而又能提出人口增长对策和可持续发展的指导意见的目的。     

Adapting the bioblitz to meet conservation needs

When conservation strategies require new, field‐based information, practitioners must find the best ways to rapidly deliver high‐quality survey data. To address this challenge, several rapid‐assessment approaches have been developed since the early 1990s. These typically involve large areas, take many months to complete, and are not appropriate when conservation‐relevant survey data are urgently needed for a specific locale. In contrast, bioblitzes are designed for quick collection of site‐specific survey data. Although bioblitzes are commonly used to achieve educational or public‐engagement goals, conservation practitioners are increasingly using a modified bioblitz approach to generate conservation‐relevant data while simultaneously enhancing research capacity and building working partnerships focused on conservation concerns. We term these modified events expert bioblitzes. Several expert bioblitzes have taken place on lands of conservation concern in Southern California and have involved collaborative efforts of government agencies, nonprofit organizations, botanic gardens, museums, and universities. The results of expert bioblitzes directly informed on‐the‐ground conservation and decision‐making; increased capacity for rapid deployment of expert bioblitzes in the future; and fostered collaboration and communication among taxonomically and institutionally diverse experts. As research and conservation funding becomes increasingly scarce, expert bioblitzes can play an increasingly important role in biodiversity conservation.     

Time discounting and the decision to protect areas that are near and threatened or remote and cheap to acquire

Should conservation organizations focus on protecting habitats that are at imminent risk of being converted but are expensive or more remote areas that are less immediately threatened but where a large amount of land can be set aside? Variants of this trade‐off commonly arise in spatial planning. I used models of land‐use change near a deforestation frontier to examine this trade‐off. The optimal choice of where to protect was determined by how decisions taken today accounted for ecological benefits and economic costs of conservation actions that would occur sometime in the future. I used an ecological and economic discount rate to weight these benefits and costs. A large economic discount rate favored protecting more remote areas, whereas a large, positive ecological discount rate favored protecting habitat near the current deforestation frontier. The decision over where to protect was also affected by the influence economic factors had on landowners' decisions, the rate of technological change, and ecological heterogeneity of the landscape. How benefits and costs through time are accounted for warrants careful consideration when specifying conservation objectives. It may provide a niche axis along which conservation organizations differentiate themselves when competing for donor funding or other support.     

对节约型社会的几点思考

建设节约型社会是实现我国经济社会可持续发展的必然选择。建立节约型社会需要发挥政府、企业、个人三方面的作用，需要提高全民节约意识，树立科学发展观，进行体制、政策创新及推进技术进步。     

山脊防火林带有效结构的研究

防火林带的防火性能与阻风性能密切相关。本实验采用风洞模拟方法,对通风结构、疏透结构和紧密结构3种防火林带附近的风速进行测定,绘制了3种结构防火林带迎风面的风廊线。结果表明：紧密结构与疏透结构防火林带附近的阻风性能比较好,而通风结构阻风性能最差;但紧密结构防火林带上方的相对风速高达130％,为飞火的产生创造了条件;疏透结构林带上方的最大相对风速只有110％,不具备飞火产生的条件。所以,山脊防火林带的有效结构为疏透结构。     

一种水培植物过滤法的除藻性能

运用隔离生态水区(mesocosm)的手法模拟再现小型封闭水体环境,对水培植物过滤法(HBFM)去除藻类的特性进行了研究.结果表明,藻类去除率平均可达61.1%,对有毒藻类Microcystis sp.的去除效果尤其明显.通过建立生态数学模型并进行计算机模拟,得出在循环比(日处理水量/封闭水体容量)为 0.2 的条件下,应用 HBFM 在 45d 内就可以使封闭水体的 Chl.a 浓度从 100μg/L 降低到 10μg/L .     

Past,present, and future of a freshwater fish metapopulation in a threatened landscape

It is well documented that hydropower plants can affect the dynamics of fish populations through landscape alterations and the creation of new barriers. Less emphasis has been placed on the examination of the genetic consequences for fish populations of the construction of dams. The relatively few studies that focus on genetics often do not consider colonization history and even fewer tend to use this information for conservation purposes. As a case study, we used a 3‐pronged approach to study the influence of historical processes, contemporary landscape features, and potential future anthropogenic changes in landscape on the genetic diversity of a fish metapopulation. Our goal was to identify the metapopulation's main attributes, detect priority areas for conservation, and assess the consequences of the construction of hydropower plants for the persistence of the metapopulation. We used microsatellite markers and coalescent approaches to examine historical colonization processes, traditional population genetics, and simulations of future populations under alternate scenarios of population size reduction and gene flow. Historical gene flow appeared to have declined relatively recently and contemporary populations appeared highly susceptible to changes in landscape. Gene flow is critical for population persistence. We found that hydropower plants could lead to a rapid reduction in number of alleles and to population extirpation 50–80 years after their construction. More generally, our 3‐pronged approach for the analyses of empirical genetic data can provide policy makers with information on the potential impacts of landscape changes and thus lead to more robust conservation efforts.     

Googling Trends in Conservation Biology

Web‐crawling approaches, that is, automated programs data mining the internet to obtain information about a particular process, have recently been proposed for monitoring early signs of ecosystem degradation or for establishing crop calendars. However, lack of a clear conceptual and methodological framework has prevented the development of such approaches within the field of conservation biology. Our objective was to illustrate how Google Trends, a freely accessible web‐crawling engine, can be used to track changes in timing of biological processes, spatial distribution of invasive species, and level of public awareness about key conservation issues. Google Trends returns the number of internet searches that were made for a keyword in a given region of the world over a defined period. Using data retrieved online for 13 countries, we exemplify how Google Trends can be used to study the timing of biological processes, such as the seasonal recurrence of pollen release or mosquito outbreaks across a latitudinal gradient. We mapped the spatial extent of results from Google Trends for 5 invasive species in the United States and found geographic patterns in invasions that are consistent with their coarse‐grained distribution at state levels. From 2004 through 2012, Google Trends showed that the level of public interest and awareness about conservation issues related to ecosystem services, biodiversity, and climate change increased, decreased, and followed both trends, respectively. Finally, to further the development of research approaches at the interface of conservation biology, collective knowledge, and environmental management, we developed an algorithm that allows the rapid retrieval of Google Trends data.