A spatial approach to combatting wildlife crime

Poaching can have devastating impacts on animal and plant numbers, and in many countries has reached crisis levels, with illegal hunters employing increasingly sophisticated techniques. We used data from an 8‐year study in Savé Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe, to show how geographic profiling—a mathematical technique originally developed in criminology and recently applied to animal foraging and epidemiology—can be adapted for use in investigations of wildlife crime. The data set contained information on over 10,000 incidents of illegal hunting and the deaths of 6,454 wild animals. We used a subset of data for which the illegal hunters’ identities were known. Our model identified the illegal hunters’ home villages based on the spatial locations of the hunting incidences (e.g., snares). Identification of the villages was improved by manipulating the probability surface inside the conservancy to reflect the fact that although the illegal hunters mostly live outside the conservancy, the majority of hunting occurs inside the conservancy (in criminology terms, commuter crime). These results combined with rigorous simulations showed for the first time how geographic profiling can be combined with GIS data and applied to situations with more complex spatial patterns, for example, where landscape heterogeneity means some parts of the study area are less likely to be used (e.g., aquatic areas for terrestrial animals) or where landscape permeability differs (e.g., forest bats tend not to fly over open areas). More broadly, these results show how geographic profiling can be used to target antipoaching interventions more effectively and more efficiently and to develop management strategies and conservation plans in a range of conservation scenarios.     

城市生活垃圾综合管理决策模型研究进展

生活垃圾综合管理模型已广泛应用于城市生活垃圾综合管理方案的制订.概述了国外用于城市生活垃圾综合管理决策的主要模型及其研究进展,包括费用-效益分析模型、生命周期评价模型和多目标决策分析模型.在分析国内该领域的研究现状和存在问题的基础上,提出了中国今后开展城市生活垃圾综合管理决策与模型研究的建议.     

黑龙江省粮食生产的时空格局及动因分析

采用空间自相关、聚类分析和多元回归模型等方法,论文探讨了2000 年以来黑龙江省粮食生产的时空动态及其主要影响因素.结果表明:① 黑龙江省粮食生产规模持续扩大,其中,大豆播种面积及其占农作物总播种面积的比重均经历了“上升-下降”的波动过程,玉米和水稻播种面积不断扩大,但其占农作物播种面积的比重分别在2009 和2011 年超过大豆;② 黑龙江省粮食生产具有一定的空间相关性,大豆空间集聚最显著,玉米次之,水稻最不明显;③ 粮食生产区域化和专门化态势增强,松嫩平原北部及大小兴安岭地区、松嫩平原东南部和三江平原北部分别形成了以大豆、玉米和水稻为主的粮食生产类型区;④ 多元回归分析表明,农业投入、经济环境、技术水平、市场因素是影响黑龙江省粮食生产及其结构时空变化的主要因素.     

水环境非点源污染模型研究

随着工业污染源的有效控制,非点源污染已经成为我国重要污染类型之一,如何科学地认识并有效控制非点源污染已成为研究课题.在此介绍了非点源的基础工具--非点源模型的主要类型、结构和特点,并对目前主要的非点源模型进行了比较分析,探讨了非点源模型发展的趋势.     

国际土地利用/覆盖变化模型研究综述

国际上对土地利用/覆盖变化的研究由来已久,近年由于土地利用/覆盖变化对全球变化的贡献及响应,预测土地利用/覆盖变化成为必然。由此,越来越多的科学家致力于研究土地利用/覆盖变化模型,并取得了积极进展。论文介绍了目前国际上土地利用/覆盖变化模型的一些相关问题:①土地利用/覆盖变化模拟的尺度依赖性;②土地利用/覆盖变化模拟的数据问题;③预测土地利用/覆盖变化的位置与数量。回顾了已有的5种主要的土地利用/覆盖变化模型:①基于行为者的土地利用/覆盖变化模型;②经验统计模型;③最优化模型;④混合/综合模型;⑤动力模拟模型。最后总结了现有模型中存在的问题,并探讨了今后土地利用/覆盖变化模型发展的方向。     

Social network analysis and valid Markov chain Monte Carlo tests of null models

Analyses of animal social networks derived from group-based associations often rely on randomisation methods developed in ecology (Manly, Ecology 76:1109–1115, 1995) and made available to the animal behaviour community through implementation of a pair-wise swapping algorithm by Bejder et al. (Anim Behav 56:719–725, 1998). We report a correctable flaw in this method and point the reader to a wider literature on the subject of null models in the ecology literature. We illustrate the importance of correcting the method using a toy network and use it to make a preliminary analysis of a network of associations among eagle rays.

Filyos River Streamflow Reconstruction from Tree‐Ring Chronologies with Nonparametric Approaches

The article presents nonparametric methods based on K nearest neighbors (KNNs), modified KNNs, and local polynomial techniques to reconstruct streamflow ensembles from tree‐ring data in Filyos River region (Turkey). Three methods were tested using cross‐validation for the overlap period, 1963‐1997 for which the tree‐ring and streamflow data are available. It was found that for the study where the length of the overlap period was limited, a nonparametric method based on a local polynomial technique provides simulations that have a slightly better solution than the other methods. After verification using standard statistical techniques, these methods were utilized to develop streamflow reconstructions from tree‐ring data for the paleo‐hydrologic period (1657‐1963). These reconstructions of seasonal low and high flows were discussed with the obtained flood duration curve. They were also compared with the historical archives and other tree‐ring reconstructions data available in the same river. Overall, the utility and limitations of these methods and the resulting streamflow simulations were discussed to assess the long‐term discharge behavior of Filyos River and to evaluate water supply reliability.     

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.