Biotechnology is not compatible with sustainable agriculture

Biotechnology increases commercialization of food production, which competes with food for home use. Most people in the world grow their own food, and are more secure without the mediation of the market. To the extent that biotechnology enhances market competitiveness, world food security will decrease. This instability will result in a greater gap between rich and poor, increasing poverty of women and children, less ability and incentive to protect the environment, and greater need for militarization to maintain order. Therefore, biotechnology should be discouraged. An active program to protect and strengthen local food production and to decrease reliance on industrial agriculture should be promoted.     

ASSESSING FLOOD MITIGATION ALTERNATIVES IN SHIJR AREA IN METROPOLITAN TAIPEI1

The Keelung River Basin in northern Taiwan lies immediately upstream of the Taipei metropolitan area. The Shijr area is in the lower basin and is subject to frequent flooding. This work applies micromanagement and source control, including widely distributed infiltration and detention/ retention runoff retarding measures, in the Wudu watershed above Shijr. A method is also developed that combines a genetic algorithm and a rainfall runoff model to optimize the spatial distribution of runoff retarding facilities. Downstream of Wudu in the Shijr area, five dredging schemes are considered. If 10‐year flood flows cannot be confined in the channel, then a levee embankment that corresponds to the respective runoff retarding scheme will be required. The minimum total cost is considered in the rule to select from the regional flood mitigation alternatives. The results of this study reveal that runoff retarding facilities installed in the upper and middle parts of the watershed are most effective in reducing the flood peak. Moreover, as the cost of acquiring land for the levee embankment increases, installing runoff retarding measures in the upper portion of the watershed becomes more economical.     

太湖流域主要城市洪涝灾害生态风险评价

太湖流域有上海，苏州，无锡，常州，镇江，杭州，嘉兴，湖州八个大中城市，是我国产业最集中，工农业最发达的地区之一，但该地区洪涝灾害频繁，这不仅制约了流域中各城市经济的发展，还严重威胁到该地区城市的生存平衡，本文根据生存风险评价原理，结合太湖流域的自然特点，提出成因分析法的指标模型。并通过分析太湖流域八个大中城市的汛期降雨量和地形地貌因子对洪涝灾害生态风险的影响度，得出各个城市洪涝灾害的生态风险度，最后还根据各城市风险度的大小及其主导因素的不同，提出了如何管理洪涝灾害生态风险的建议。     

交通系统智能决策的算法研究

遗传算法是近年来迅速发展起来的一种全新的随机搜索与优化算法，但由于其自身固有的缺陷，通常优化过程的收敛速度较慢，局部搜索能力不足，而且算法稳定性较差。而蚁群算法广泛应用在旅行商问题计算中，目前是较好的求解最短路由问题的算法之一。就其自身来说有很多优点，如正反馈性、鲁棒性和智能性，但是在寻优过程中容易陷入局部最佳的缺点。针对上述情况，将遗产算法与蚁群算法相结合，用于实际交通系统寻找最优路径的问题中，并定义了目标函数，以路径可靠性和路径长度为优化目标，寻找最合适的救灾路线。最后通过实际计算结果的对比验证，说明了该方法的有效性。     

Possible Extinction Vortex for a Population of Iberian Lynx on the Verge of Extirpation

Abstract: Theory suggests that demographic and genetic traits deteriorate (i.e., fitness and genetic diversity decrease) when populations become small, and that such deterioration could precipitate positive feedback loops called extinction vortices. We examined whether demographic attributes and genetic traits have changed over time in one of the 2 remaining small populations of the highly endangered Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) in Doñana, Spain. From 1983 to 2008, we recorded nontraumatic mortality rates, litter size, offspring survival, age at territory acquisition, and sex ratio. We combined these demographic attributes with measures of inbreeding and genetic diversity at neutral loci (microsatellites) and genes subjected to selection (major histocompatibility complex). Data on demographic traits were obtained through capture and radio tracking, checking dens during breeding, track surveys, and camera trapping. For genetic analyses, we obtained blood or tissue samples from captured or necropsied individuals or from museum specimens. Over time a female‐biased sex ratio developed, age of territory acquisition decreased, mean litter size decreased, and rates of nontraumatic mortality increased, but there were no significant changes in overall mortality rates, standardized individual heterozygosity declined steadily, and allelic diversity of exon 2 of class II major histocompatibility complex DRB genes remained constant (2 allelic variants present in all individuals analyzed). Changes in sex ratio and age of territory acquisition may have resulted from demographic stochasticity, whereas changes in litter size and nontraumatic mortality may be related to observed increases in inbreeding. Concomitant deterioration of both demographic attributes and genetic traits is consistent with an extinction vortex. The co‐occurrence, with or without interaction, of demographic and genetic deterioration may explain the lack of success of conservation efforts with the Doñana population of Iberian lynx.     

Human Impacts on Drainages of the Mesa Central, Mexico, and Its Genetic Effects on an Endangered Fish, Zoogoneticus quitzeoensis

Abstract:  The Mesa Central of Mexico is of special conservation interest due to its high richness of freshwater fish species, of which the goodeines are one of the most representative groups. Through an integrated approach, we determined conservation priorities for goodeine populations. We based our recommendations on the genetic diversity (variation in five microsatellite DNA loci) in 10 populations of Zoogoneticus quitzeoensis and on an analysis of ecological (e.g., presence of exotic species), social (e.g., political situation), and environmental (e.g., pollution) information for 52 historical occurrence points for species in the genus Zoogoneticus . Patterns of genetic erosion and genetic diversity indices were closely associated with human impact. Recent bottleneck events were most evident in the populations from remnants of the lakes drained at the beginning of the twentieth century. We identified seven operational conservation units (OCUs), all of which should be conserved because they contain unique portions of the total variation of the species. Special attention needs to be given to increase genetic variability, recover population sizes, and reestablish contact among populations within OCUs. It is imperative to create an integrative and effective approach for the recovery and conservation of the freshwater fish diversity of Central Mexico that is based on social and natural sciences.