The Quagga Mussel Crisis at Lake Mead National Recreation Area,Nevada (U.S.A.)

Abstract: Parks are cornerstones of conservation; and non‐native invasive species drive extensive changes to biological diversity in parks. Knowing this, national park staff at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in the southwestern United States had a program in place for early detection of the non‐native, invasive quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis). Upon finding the mussel in January 2007, managers moved quickly to access funding and the best available science to implement a response. Managers considered four options—doing nothing, closing the park, restricting movement on the lakes, and educating and enforcing park visitors—and decided to focus on education and enforcing existing laws. Nonetheless, quagga spread throughout the park and soon began to appear throughout the western United States. I examined why efforts to control the expansion failed and determined the general lessons to be learned from this case. Concentrating human visitation on the lakes through land‐use zoning opened a pathway for invasion, reduced management options, and led to the rapid spread of quagga. To reconcile competing mandates to protect nature and provide recreation, zoning in parks has become a common practice worldwide. It reduces stress on some areas of a park by restricting and thus concentrating human activity in particular areas. Concentrating the human activity in one area does three things: cements pathways that repeatedly import and export vectors of non‐native invasive species; creates the disturbed area necessary to enable non‐native invasive species to gain a foothold; and, establishes a source of invasions that, without appropriate controls, can quickly spread to a park's wilderness areas.     

Use of an Action‐Selection Framework for Human‐Carnivore Conflict in the Bangladesh Sundarbans

Abstract: Human–carnivore conflict is manifested in the death of humans, livestock, and carnivores. The resulting negative local attitudes and retribution killings imperil the future of many endangered carnivores. We tailored existing management tools to create a framework to facilitate the selection of actions to alleviate human–carnivore conflict and applied the framework to the human–tiger conflict in the Bangladesh Sundarbans. We identified potential actions that consider previous management efforts, local knowledge, cost‐effectiveness, fieldwork experience of authors and project staff, previous research on tiger ecology by the authors, and recommendations from human–carnivore conflict studies in other countries. Our framework includes creation of a profile to improve understanding of the nature of the conflict and its underlying causality. Identified actions include deterrents, education, direct tiger management, and response teams. We ranked actions by their potential to reduce conflict and the monetary cost of their implementation. We ranked tiger‐response teams and monitoring problem tigers as the two best actions because both had relatively high impact and cost‐effectiveness. We believe this framework could be used under a wide range of human–wildlife conflict situations because it provides a structured approach to selection of mitigating actions.     

Assessing Sustainability at Multiple Scales in a Rotational Bushmeat Hunting System

Abstract: Results of many studies show unsustainable levels of bushmeat hunting across West/Central Africa. Nevertheless, these results are usually derived from snapshot sustainability indices in which critical parameters are often taken from the literature. Simple, more informative tools for assessing sustainability are needed. We evaluated the impact of bushmeat hunting across a range of temporal, spatial, and taxonomic scales in a comparison of different measures of sustainability. Over 15 months in 2002–2004 in and around a village close to Equatorial Guinea's Monte Alén National Park, we collected data via a village offtake survey, hunter‐camp bushmeat‐consumption diaries, hunter interviews, and following hunters during hunts. We compared 2003 data with a previous offtake survey (1998–1999) and interview reports back to 1990. In the past 14 years, average distance from the village at which hunters operated remained constant, with hunters switching back and forth between long‐established camps, although trapping effort increased. In the past 5 years, overall offtake and number of active hunters did not change substantially, although catch per unit effort (CPUE) decreased slightly. Although the proportion of the two most commonly trapped species (Cephalophus monticola and Atherurus africanus) and gun‐hunted primates increased in the offtake, species presumably less robust to trapping decreased slightly. Apparent sustainability in economic terms may be masking gradual local extirpation of more vulnerable species before and during this study. Our results suggest that changes in prey profiles and CPUE may be the most accurate indicators of actual sustainability; these indices can be monitored with simple village‐based offtake surveys and hunter interviews to improve community management of bushmeat hunting.     

Evaluating Private Land Conservation in the Cape Lowlands,South Africa

Abstract: Evaluation is important for judiciously allocating limited conservation resources and for improving conservation success through learning and strategy adjustment. We evaluated the application of systematic conservation planning goals and conservation gains from incentive‐based stewardship interventions on private land in the Cape Lowlands and Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. We collected spatial and nonspatial data (2003–2007) to determine the number of hectares of vegetation protected through voluntary contractual and legally nonbinding (informal) agreements with landowners; resources spent on these interventions; contribution of the agreements to 5‐ and 20‐year conservation goals for representation and persistence in the Cape Lowlands of species and ecosystems; and time and staff required to meet these goals. Conservation gains on private lands across the Cape Floristic Region were relatively high. In 5 years, 22,078 ha (27,800 ha of land) and 46,526 ha (90,000 ha of land) of native vegetation were protected through contracts and informal agreements, respectively. Informal agreements often were opportunity driven and cheaper and faster to execute than contracts. All contractual agreements in the Cape Lowlands were within areas of high conservation priority (identified through systematic conservation planning), which demonstrated the conservation plan's practical application and a high level of overlap between resource investment (approximately R1.14 million/year in the lowlands) and priority conservation areas. Nevertheless, conservation agreements met only 11% of 5‐year and 9% of 20‐year conservation goals for Cape Lowlands and have made only a moderate contribution to regional persistence of flora to date. Meeting the plan's conservation goals will take three to five times longer and many more staff members to maintain agreements than initially envisaged.     

气相色谱-质谱联用测定母乳中合成麝香

建立了凝胶渗透色谱(GPC)柱和硅胶柱净化,气相色谱-质谱(GC/MS)测定母乳中合成麝香的分析方法.实验结果表明:GC/MS在0.01μg.ml-1到1μg.ml-1的浓度范围内对4种常见合成麝香(佳乐麝香HHCB、吐纳麝香AHTN、二甲苯麝香MX和酮麝香MK)均有良好的线性响应,4种合成麝香的基质加标回收率为76%—115%,相对标准偏差为2.8%—7.4%.利用信噪比(5/1)确定该方法的定性检测限,HHCB,AHTN,MX为5ng.g-1脂重,MK为4ng.g-1脂重,定量检测限为定性检测限的2倍.采用上述方法分析了上海母乳样品中合成麝香的浓度和分布特征,发现母乳中普遍存在这4种合成麝香,浓度分别为HHCB92±70;AHTN16±12;MX26±22;MK16±14ng.g-1脂重,与欧美国家的污染水平相比,总体含量偏低.     

土壤中短链氯化石蜡的气相色谱-电子捕获负化学电离-质谱分析方法

通过考察层析柱对测定短链氯化石蜡(SCCPs)干扰物去除效果的影响,结合实际土壤样品的净化需求,建立了一套适合分析土壤中SCCPs的前处理方法.土壤样品使用索氏抽提,采用硅胶复合柱和弗罗里硅土柱净化,运用气相色谱-质谱(ECNI源)检测SCCPs.SCCPs的仪器定量限为100—600 pg.μL-1.空白加标和基质加标中SCCPs的回收率分别为130%±8.50%和108%±17.8%(SD,n=3).利用该方法分析了采自广州市郊区的6个土壤样品,其SCCPs的含量范围为12.9—34.5 ng.g-1,平均值为26.1 ng.g-1.     

Effects of Native and Non‐Native Vertebrate Mutualists on Plants

Abstract: Extinctions can leave species without mutualist partners and thus potentially reduce their fitness. In cases where non‐native species function as mutualists, mutualism disruption associated with species’ extinction may be mitigated. To assess the effectiveness of mutualist species with different origins, we conducted a meta‐analysis in which we compared the effectiveness of pollination and seed‐dispersal functions of native and non‐native vertebrates. We used data from 40 studies in which a total of 34 non‐native vertebrate mutualists in 20 geographic locations were examined. For each plant species, opportunistic non‐native vertebrate pollinators were generally less effective mutualists than native pollinators. When native mutualists had been extirpated, however, plant seed set and seedling performance appeared elevated in the presence of non‐native mutualists, although non‐native mutualists had a negative overall effect on seed germination. These results suggest native mutualists may not be easily replaced. In some systems researchers propose taxon substitution or the deliberate introduction of non‐native vertebrate mutualists to reestablish mutualist functions such as pollination and seed dispersal and to rescue native species from extinction. Our results also suggest that in places where all native mutualists are extinct, careful taxon substitution may benefit native plants at some life stages.     

Trade‐Offs between Cattle Production and Bird Conservation in an Agricultural Frontier of the Gran Chaco of Argentina

Intensification of food production in tropical landscapes in the absence of land‐use planning can pose a major threat to biological diversity. Decisions on whether to spatially integrate or segregate lands for production and conservation depend in part on the functional relations between biological diversity and agricultural productivity. We measured diversity, density, and species composition of birds along a gradient of production intensification on an agricultural frontier of the Argentine Chaco, where dry tropical forests are cleared for cattle production. Bird species diversity in intact forests was higher than in any type of cattle‐production system. Bird species richness decreased nonlinearly as cattle yield increased. Intermediate‐intensity silvopastoral systems, those in which forest understory is selectively cleared to grow pastures of non‐native plants beneath the tree canopy, produced 80% of the mean cattle yield obtained in pastures on cleared areas and were occupied by 70–90% of the number of bird species present in the nearest forest fragments. Densities of >50% of bird species were significantly lower in open pastures than in silvopastoral systems. Therefore, intermediate‐intensity silvopastoral systems may have the greatest potential to sustain cattle yield and conserve a large percentage of bird species. However, compared with low‐intensity production systems, in which forest structure and extent were intact, intermediate‐intensity silvopastoral systems supported significantly fewer forest‐restricted bird species and fewer frugivorous birds. These data suggest that the integration of production and conservation through intermediate‐intensity silvopastoral systems combined with the protection of forest fragments may be required to maintain cattle yield, bird diversity, and conservation of forest‐restricted species in this agricultural frontier. Compromisos entre la Producción de Ganado y la Conservación de Aves en una Frontera Agrícola del Gran Chaco de Argentina     

环境空气中痕量挥发性有机硫监测分析方法研究

采用预浓缩系统与GC MS联用,建立了环境空气中痕量挥发性有机硫的分析方法,该法用苏玛罐或Tedlar袋采集空气样品在预浓缩系统中经液氮于-160℃冷冻浓缩后,进入GC MS进行分析。甲硫醇、乙硫醇、甲硫醚、乙硫醚、二甲二硫的最低检出限分别为2 0、1 0、1 0、1 0、0 5μg m3。经6次的重复测定,其相对标准偏差小于9 0%。该方法已用于环境空气的测定,取得了令人满意的结果。     

高效液相色谱串联质谱法测定某市污水处理厂进出水中的全氟化合物

通过建立直接进样-高效液相色谱串联质谱（HPLC-MS/MS）测定污水处理厂进出水中的10种全氟化合物的方法,了解污水厂进出水中全氟化合物污染情况。10种目标分析物在10~500 ng/L范围内具有良好的线性关系,方法检出限为2.3~8.3 ng/L,精密度为2.1%~7.1%,加标回收率为60.6%~91.7%。应用该方法测定某市典型污水厂进出水中的全氟化合物,进水中全氟化合物质量浓度为90.9~206 ng/L,主要污染物是PFOA、PFHxS和PFBS;出水中全氟化合物的质量浓度为67.4~158 ng/L,环境排放量为6.7~22.9 g/d,主要污染物是PFOA和PFHxS。结果表明,该方法能很好地适用于复杂基质中10种全氟化合物的检测。