A moral panic over cats

Some conservationists believe that free-ranging cats pose an enormous risk to biodiversity and public health and therefore should be eliminated from the landscape by any means necessary. They further claim that those who question the science or ethics behind their arguments are science deniers (merchants of doubt) seeking to mislead the public. As much as we share a commitment to conservation of biodiversity and wild nature, we believe these ideas are wrong and fuel an unwarranted moral panic over cats. Those who question the ecological or epidemiological status of cats are not science deniers, and it is a false analogy to compare them with corporate and right-wing special interests that perpetrate disinformation campaigns over issues, such as smoking and climate change. There are good conservation and public-health reasons and evidence to be skeptical that free-ranging cats constitute a disaster for biodiversity and human health in all circumstances. Further, there are significant and largely unaddressed ethical and policy issues (e.g., the ethics and efficacy of lethal management) relative to how people ought to value and coexist with cats and native wildlife. Society is better served by a collaborative approach to produce better scientific and ethical knowledge about free-ranging cats.     

Spatial information in ecosystem service assessment: data applicability in the cascade model context

Spatial information and geographical information systems (GISs) are widely used in ecosystem service research, but both the information and the methods need to be properly understood in order to make coherent analyses. We discuss the practical challenges of incorporating spatial data to ecosystem service assessment in an agricultural landscape and apply the ecosystem service cascade model to put different data into context. We review the prerequisites and practices for successful ‘ecosystem service GIS’ and provide a structured view of the information and data needed in the assessment of ecosystem services at a regional scale. Due to the heterogeneity of the spatial data, the regional characteristics should be considered in environmental decision-making through ethnographic research on local expertise to make optimal choices in using spatial information.     

2020年全球生物多样性目标解读及其评估指标探讨

2010年以来,全球开展了讨论和咨询,确定世界生物多样性保护的路线图。2010年10月在日本召开的《生物多样性公约》缔约方大会第十次会议通过了《生物多样性战略计划》（2011—2020年）。该战略计划确立了2020年全球生物多样性目标（简称2020年目标）,设计了世界生物多样性保护的路线图和时间表,为制定国家目标提供了灵活的框架。该文剖析了《生物多样性公约》各缔约方对2020年目标的谈判立场,解读了2020年目标的内涵,论述了2020年目标评估指标研究的最新进展,在进一步加强生物多样性评价指标研究、建设生物多样性监测标准和网络、开展生物多样性长期监测方面提出了建议。     

Pyric Herbivory: Rewilding Landscapes through the Recoupling of Fire and Grazing

Abstract:  Our understanding of fire and grazing is largely based on small-scale experimental studies in which treatments are uniformly applied to experimental units that are considered homogenous. Any discussion of an interaction between fire and grazing is usually based on a statistical approach that ignores the spatial and temporal interactions on complex landscapes. We propose a new focus on the ecological interaction of fire and grazing in which each disturbance is spatially and temporally dependent on the other and results in a landscape where disturbance is best described as a shifting mosaic (a landscape with patches that vary with time since disturbance) that is critical to ecological structure and function of many ecosystems. We call this spatiotemporal interaction pyric herbivory (literal interpretation means grazing driven by fire). Pyric herbivory is the spatial and temporal interaction of fire and grazing, where positive and negative feedbacks promote a shifting pattern of disturbance across the landscape. We present data we collected from the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in the southern Great Plains of North America that demonstrates that the interaction between free-roaming bison ( Bison bison ) and random fires promotes heterogeneity and provides the foundation for biological diversity and ecosystem function of North American and African grasslands. This study is different from other studies of fire and grazing because the fires we examined were random and grazing animals were free to roam and select from burned and unburned patches. For ecosystems across the globe with a long history of fire and grazing, pyric herbivory with any grazing herbivore is likely more effective at restoring evolutionary disturbance patterns than a focus on restoring any large vertebrate while ignoring the interaction with fire and other disturbances .     

Impact of Native Plants on Bird and Butterfly Biodiversity in Suburban Landscapes

Abstract:  Managed landscapes in which non-native ornamental plants are favored over native vegetation now dominate the United States, particularly east of the Mississippi River. We measured how landscaping with native plants affects the avian and lepidopteran communities on 6 pairs of suburban properties in southeastern Pennsylvania. One property in each pair was landscaped entirely with native plants and the other exhibited a more conventional suburban mixture of plants—a native canopy with non-native groundcover and shrubs. Vegetation sampling confirmed that total plant cover and plant diversity did not differ between treatments, but non-native plant cover was greater on the conventional sites and native plant cover was greater on the native sites. Several avian (abundance, species richness, biomass, and breeding-bird abundance) and larval lepidopteran (abundance and species richness) community parameters were measured from June 2006 to August 2006. Native properties supported significantly more caterpillars and caterpillar species and significantly greater bird abundance, diversity, species richness, biomass, and breeding pairs of native species. Of particular importance is that bird species of regional conservation concern were 8 times more abundant and significantly more diverse on native properties. In our study area, native landscaping positively influenced the avian and lepidopteran carrying capacity of suburbia and provided a mechanism for reducing biodiversity losses in human-dominated landscapes.     

辽河浮游植物群落及生物多样性基准验证

为建立中国水环境生态学基准体系,并验证其合理性,于2011和2012年夏季,对辽河水系浮游植物群落结构特征进行了调查,并结合所收集到的资料,初步验证了辽河水系浮游植物生物多样性基准值的合理性.两次采样共检出6门169种及变种;细胞密度均值分别为4.91×106,7.04×106个/L,优势类群为硅藻和绿藻.共检出污染指示种59种,其中乙型中污指示种最多,为53种;检出优势种35种,主要为硅藻.综合各生物指标显示辽河水系夏季为富营养型中度污染水体.Shannon指数(H)在1.18~3.56之间,均未达到本文参考的基准值3.65,分析结果显示用于计算基准值所选取的参照点较为合适,通过分析辽河水系及我国其他一些河流的Shannon指数与水质状况,初步认为,该基准值偏高,建议辽河水系设定基准值的下限H=3.29.     

Importance of Baseline Specification in Evaluating Conservation Interventions and Achieving No Net Loss of Biodiversity

There is an urgent need to improve the evaluation of conservation interventions. This requires specifying an objective and a frame of reference from which to measure performance. Reference frames can be baselines (i.e., known biodiversity at a fixed point in history) or counterfactuals (i.e., a scenario that would have occurred without the intervention). Biodiversity offsets are interventions with the objective of no net loss of biodiversity (NNL). We used biodiversity offsets to analyze the effects of the choice of reference frame on whether interventions met stated objectives. We developed 2 models to investigate the implications of setting different frames of reference in regions subject to various biodiversity trends and anthropogenic impacts. First, a general analytic model evaluated offsets against a range of baseline and counterfactual specifications. Second, a simulation model then replicated these results with a complex real world case study: native grassland offsets in Melbourne, Australia. Both models showed that achieving NNL depended upon the interaction between reference frame and background biodiversity trends. With a baseline, offsets were less likely to achieve NNL where biodiversity was decreasing than where biodiversity was stable or increasing. With a no‐development counterfactual, however, NNL was achievable only where biodiversity was declining. Otherwise, preventing development was better for biodiversity. Uncertainty about compliance was a stronger determinant of success than uncertainty in underlying biodiversity trends. When only development and offset locations were considered, offsets sometimes resulted in NNL, but not across an entire region. Choice of reference frame determined feasibility and effort required to attain objectives when designing and evaluating biodiversity offset schemes. We argue the choice is thus of fundamental importance for conservation policy. Our results shed light on situations in which biodiversity offsets may be an inappropriate policy instrument Importancia de la Especificación de Línea de Base en la Evaluación de Intervenciones de Conservación y la Obtención de Ninguna Pérdida Neta de la Biodiversidad     

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) projects: lessons for future policy design and implementation

In response to the pressing global challenges of climate change, initiatives under the auspices of ‘reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation’ (REDD) have been implemented in over 30 developing and least-developed countries since 2005. The initiatives cover nearly every significant and vulnerable forest ecosystem worldwide. In this study we review six representative initiatives, two each from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Strength, weakness, opportunity and threat analysis is done to evaluate each initiative's policy framework, design, implementation and results thus far. The main policy and project implementation factors that appear to lead to effective and successful REDD project outcomes include having clearly formulated project design; governance, land tenure rights and capacity; equity and transparency; indigenous peoples' rights and knowledge; local–international coordination; and enhancing local and institutional capacities. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for future REDD policy action and project implementation to make it work for the poor and achieve its intended goals.     

机场热点区域三选法研究

要预防机场活动区内航空器滑错滑行道或跑道,就必须有效、准确地识别机场活动区内可能发生混淆的热点区域。为此,在对比研究德尔菲法和头脑风暴法的基础上,提出矩阵法和模糊聚类分析2种定量研究模型。算例结果表明,矩阵法和模糊聚类分析的结果相互印证。结合德尔菲法、矩阵法和模糊聚类分析的三选法在识别机场热点区域过程中能够减少人为主观偏见,提高准确性和可靠性,识别精度总体优于单一的筛选方法。