Critical engagement,activist/academic subjectivities and organic agri-food research in Uganda

This paper provides a reflexive account of engagement in activist/academic organic agri-food research in Uganda. I argue that critical engagement across the third space – between and across activist and academic subjectivities – enables a re-thinking of the subjectivities of activist/academics and research participants and the place of research in social change and theory building. I demonstrate some of the multiple ways of enacting activism within the academy by reflecting on my critical engagement with the Katuulo Organic Pineapple Cooperative in Uganda, whose members grow certified organic pineapples for sale on the international market. While there is a growing interest in critical activist research, its agenda is also constrained by the corporatist turn in universities. As such, the subjectivities, methods and theory building of activist/academics in agri-food (and other) research represents part of the resistance to normalised ways of doing and being in contemporary neo-liberal universities.     

植被混凝土在官地水电站的试验分析

本文主要对官地水电站高陡边坡植被混凝土前期绿化试验成果进行分析,以寻求在干湿季节明显、雨量集中、干旱季节漫长、温度高、蒸发量大等干热河谷气候特征条件下的最佳生境构筑方法,为官地水电站乃至雅砻江流域水电工程高陡边坡生态恢复提供技术依据。     

Quantitative Determination of Rarity of Freshwater Fishes and Implications for Imperiled‐Species Designations

Abstract: Conserving rare species and protecting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning depends on sound information on the nature of rarity. Rarity is multidimensional and has a variety of definitions, which presents the need for a quantitative classification scheme with which to categorize species as rare or common. We constructed such a classification for North American freshwater fishes to better describe rarity in fishes and provide researchers and managers with a tool to streamline conservation efforts. We used data on range extents, habitat specificities, and local population sizes of North American freshwater fishes and a variety of quantitative methods and statistical decision criteria, including quantile regression and a cost‐function algorithm to determine thresholds for categorizing a species as rare or common. Species fell into eight groups that conform to an established framework for rarity. Fishes listed by the American Fisheries Society (AFS) as endangered, threatened, or vulnerable were most often rare because their local population sizes were low, ranges were small, and they had specific habitat needs, in that order, whereas unlisted species were most often considered common on the basis of these three factors. Species with large ranges generally had few specific habitat needs, whereas those with small ranges tended to have narrow habitat specificities. We identified 30 species not designated as imperiled by AFS that were rare along all dimensions of rarity and may warrant further study or protection, and we found three designated species that were common along all dimensions and may require a review of their imperilment status. Our approach could be applied to other taxa to aid conservation decisions and serve as a useful tool for future revisions of listings of fish species.     

Assessing the Risk of Ships Striking Large Whales in Marine Spatial Planning

Marine spatial planning provides a comprehensive framework for managing multiple uses of the marine environment and has the potential to minimize environmental impacts and reduce conflicts among users. Spatially explicit assessments of the risks to key marine species from human activities are a requirement of marine spatial planning. We assessed the risk of ships striking humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae), blue (Balaenoptera musculus), and fin (Balaenoptera physalus) whales in alternative shipping routes derived from patterns of shipping traffic off Southern California (U.S.A.). Specifically, we developed whale‐habitat models and assumed ship‐strike risk for the alternative shipping routes was proportional to the number of whales predicted by the models to occur within each route. This definition of risk assumes all ships travel within a single route. We also calculated risk assuming ships travel via multiple routes. We estimated the potential for conflict between shipping and other uses (military training and fishing) due to overlap with the routes. We also estimated the overlap between shipping routes and protected areas. The route with the lowest risk for humpback whales had the highest risk for fin whales and vice versa. Risk to both species may be ameliorated by creating a new route south of the northern Channel Islands and spreading traffic between this new route and the existing route in the Santa Barbara Channel. Creating a longer route may reduce the overlap between shipping and other uses by concentrating shipping traffic. Blue whales are distributed more evenly across our study area than humpback and fin whales; thus, risk could not be ameliorated by concentrating shipping traffic in any of the routes we considered. Reducing ship‐strike risk for blue whales may be necessary because our estimate of the potential number of strikes suggests that they are likely to exceed allowable levels of anthropogenic impacts established under U.S. laws. Evaluación del Riesgo de Colisiones de Barcos y Ballenas en la Planificación Marina Espacial     

Use of watershed characteristics to select control streams for estimating effects of metal mining wastes on extensively disturbed streams

Impacts of sediments and heavy metals on the biota of streams in the copper-mining district of southwestern Montana were examined by comparing aquatic communities of impacted streams with those of control streams. Control streams were chosen through the use of a technique that identifies similar streams based on similarities in their watershed characteristics. Significant differences between impacted and control sites existed for surface substrate, riparian vegetation, and the number of macroinvertebrate taxa. These results revealed that: (a) chemical and physical habitats at the impacted sites were disrupted, (b) the presence of trout was an inadequate measure of ecological integrity for these sites, and (c) watershed classification based on a combination of mapped terrestrial characteristics provided a reasonable method to select control sites where potential control sites upstream and downstream were unsuitable.     

Hydrologic analysis for coastal wetland restoration

Increasing recognition of the value of tidal wetlands has led to interest in how to restore and enhance areas that have been modified by human activity. The policy of recognizing restoration or enhancement as mitigation for destruction of other wetlands is controversial. Once policy questions are separated from technical questions, the steps in a successful project are straightforward A key element in the design of a successful project is quantitative hydraulic and hydrologic analysis of alternatives. Restoration projects at two sites in California used a combination of empirical geomorphic relationships, numerical modeling, and verification with field observations. Experience with these and other wetland restoration projects indicates the importance of longterm postproject monitoring, inspection, and maintenance     

Using Participatory Rural Appraisal to explore coastal fishing in Badagry villages,Nigeria

Fish production and marketing are as old as the rural communities involved in the lucrative occupation in Badagry area of Lagos State, Nigeria. A random sampling of 200 fishermen using Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques (PRA) in five Badagry villages was used to explore coastal fishing and socio-economic development in the study area with a view to enhancing local productivity and sustainability. The findings show that an average fisherman in Badagry is aware of the resources available in his environment, and can affect productivity levels positively if given adequate incentives. There are two lessons from this study; one has to do with what PRA tells us about the fishing community, the other is the importance of facilitators that have, amongst other things, good listening skills. The experience also revealed that field workers’ ability to listen and learn from local fishermen was a critical factor in collecting in-depth information that could be used for rural community planning.     

Understanding Trait‐Dependent Community Disassembly: Dung Beetles,Density Functions,and Forest Fragmentation

Abstract: Anthropogenic disturbances such as fragmentation are rapidly altering biodiversity, yet a lack of attention to species traits and abundance patterns has made the results of most studies difficult to generalize. We determined traits of extinction‐prone species and present a novel strategy for classifying species according to their population‐level response to a gradient of disturbance intensity. We examined the effects of forest fragmentation on dung beetle communities in an archipelago of 33 islands recently created by flooding in Venezuela. Species richness, density, and biomass all declined sharply with decreasing island area and increasing island isolation. Species richness was highly nested, indicating that local extinctions occurred nonrandomly. The most sensitive dung beetle species appeared to require at least 85 ha of forest, more than many large vertebrates. Extinction‐prone species were either large‐bodied, forest specialists, or uncommon. These explanatory variables were unrelated, suggesting at least 3 underlying causes of extirpation. Large species showed high wing loading (body mass/wing area) and a distinct flight strategy that may increase their area requirements. Although forest specificity made most species sensitive to fragmentation, a few persistent habitat generalists dispersed across the matrix. Density functions classified species into 4 response groups on the basis of their change in density with decreasing species richness. Sensitive and persistent species both declined with increasing fragmentation intensity, but persistent species occurred on more islands, which may be due to their higher baseline densities. Compensatory species increased in abundance following the initial loss of sensitive species, but rapidly declined with increasing fragmentation. Supertramp species (widespread habitat generalists) may be poor competitors but strong dispersers; their abundance peaked following the decline of the other 3 groups. Nevertheless, even the least sensitive species were extirpated or rare on the smallest and most isolated islands.     

香溪河库湾水质特征与非回水区水华响应关系

为探究香溪河在受倒灌影响较弱的河段水华暴发征兆及机理,于水华高发期5~8月对香溪河进行监测,分析电导率、水温、叶绿素a（Chl-a）以及流速.结果表明,在6~8月,香溪河倒灌现象于XX05点（峡口镇）处基本结束,XX06~XX09受倒灌来水影响较弱;香溪河于7月暴发水华,各个监测点位上Chl-a含量均值达到100μg/L以上,XX05~XX06与XX07-XX09点位上暴发不同种水华;在水华暴发前后,水体温度无显著变化,且并无明显分层现象,说明水温分层是水华暴发的主要原因这一理论并不能很好的适用于非回水区;通过对电导率数值的研究发现,数值在垂向上出现显著拐点,而拐点出现在临界层与光补偿层之间,同时与叶绿素a含量分布呈现显著负相关性.香溪河总氮（TN）、总磷（TP）平均值为1.849mg/L和0.157mg/L,均超过富营养化的阈值,水体氮磷含量与Chl-a浓度无显著相关性,水体中除N、P营养盐外的其它离子对香溪河水华的暴发起着重要作用.在水华消退后,电导率数值又逐渐恢复表层高底层低的垂向线性分布特性,与水华的暴发、消退有着明显的响应.     

呼伦贝尔沙区土壤细菌群落结构与功能预测

以呼伦贝尔沙区裸沙地、草地、沙地樟子松（Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica）人工林和沙地樟子松天然林四种生境土壤为研究对象,采用野外调查、16S rRNA基因高通量测序和PICRUSt功能预测相结合的研究方法比较分析不同生境土壤细菌群落结构和潜在功能组成特征.结果显示：呼伦贝尔沙区沙地樟子松天然林土壤细菌多样性最高,人工林土壤细菌多样性最低,Shannon指数分别为（8.623±0.193）和（7.432±0.028）,不同生境土壤细菌alpha和beta多样性存在显著差异.草地、沙地樟子松人工林和天然林土壤中变形菌门（Proteobacteria）相对丰度最高,均值分别为29.83%±1.14%、34.73%±1.99%、31.95%±0.21%,裸沙地土壤放线菌门（Actinobacteria）相对丰度最高,均值为26.13%±0.43%.不同生境土壤细菌主要优势属为慢生根瘤菌属（Bradyrhizobium）、RB41,其相对丰度在四种生境中的均值分别为5.29%±2.24%、4.22%±1.23%.PICRUSt功能预测共得到6个一级功能层,40个二级功能层,土壤细菌功能较为丰富,土壤细菌群落在环境信息处理、代谢、遗传信息处理和有机系统方面功能活跃.沙地樟子松天然林核苷酸代谢、酶家族、氨基酸代谢、碳水化合物代谢功能基因较为丰富,保证了沙地樟子松天然林土壤细菌的存活,使其具有较高的多样性.呼伦贝尔沙区不同生境土壤细菌功能基因丰度波动,反映了四种生境的土壤细菌群落组成及多样性的变化,指示了不同生境功能基因对土壤细菌群落的影响规律,可为预测和理解沙区土壤细菌代谢潜力和功能提供参考借鉴.