Improving inferences about private land conservation by accounting for incomplete reporting

Private lands provide key habitat for imperiled species and are core components of function protectected area networks; yet, their incorporation into national and regional conservation planning has been challenging. Identifying locations where private landowners are likely to participate in conservation initiatives can help avoid conflict and clarify trade-offs between ecological benefits and sociopolitical costs. Empirical, spatially explicit assessment of the factors associated with conservation on private land is an emerging tool for identifying future conservation opportunities. However, most data on private land conservation are voluntarily reported and incomplete, which complicates these assessments. We used a novel application of occupancy models to analyze the occurrence of conservation easements on private land. We compared multiple formulations of occupancy models with a logistic regression model to predict the locations of conservation easements based on a spatially explicit social–ecological systems framework. We combined a simulation experiment with a case study of easement data in Idaho and Montana (United States) to illustrate the utility of the occupancy framework for modeling conservation on private land. Occupancy models that explicitly accounted for variation in reporting produced estimates of predictors that were substantially less biased than estimates produced by logistic regression under all simulated conditions. Occupancy models produced estimates for the 6 predictors we evaluated in our case study that were larger in magnitude, but less certain than those produced by logistic regression. These results suggest that occupancy models result in qualitatively different inferences regarding the effects of predictors on conservation easement occurrence than logistic regression and highlight the importance of integrating variable and incomplete reporting of participation in empirical analysis of conservation initiatives. Failure to do so can lead to emphasizing the wrong social, institutional, and environmental factors that enable conservation and underestimating conservation opportunities in landscapes where social norms or institutional constraints inhibit reporting.     

Use of heterospecific cues by the lizard Platysaurus broadleyi for food location

Flat lizards (Platysaurus broadleyi) at Augrabies Falls National Park, South Africa, are restricted to rocky terrain where the predominant tree is the Namaqua fig (Ficus cordata cordata). P. broadleyi readily feeds on Namaqua figs when they are available, and the lizards sometimes form large (maximum recorded=134) congregations under fruiting fig trees. The distance lizards travel to fruiting trees also exceed normal daily foraging distances. Location of fruiting fig trees by a lizard can have a high pay-off because figs are energetically rich and trees fruit irregularly and asynchronously, resulting in a resource that is available, but unpredictable in time and space. The prediction that bird activity in fig trees provides a cue to the presence of ripe figs was tested experimentally. By placing cages containing birds and empty control cages in trees devoid of fruit, we demonstrated that P. broadleyi are drawn to fig trees with high bird congregations. We also tested if the presence of a fig tree was necessary to draw lizards to bird congregations by placing cages containing birds and empty control cages in a matched-pairs design on rock away from trees. Namaqua fig trees were not necessary to draw lizards to bird congregations. Received: 12 May 1998 / Accepted after revision: 30 November 1998     

Does the African social spider Stegodyphus dumicola control the sex of individual offspring?

By scoring the chromosome number of developing embryos, we show that the sex ratio bias of the African social spider Stegodyphus dumicola Pocock is the result of an overproduction of female embryos. Only 17% of 585 embryos sexed from 14 egg sacs were male, a significant departure from a 1:1 sex ratio. We also explored the possibility of direct control of the sex of individual offspring in this species by examining the variance in the number of males per sac and the spatial distribution of male and female embryos within the sacs. We postulated that a variance in the number of males per sac lower than binomial (i.e., underdispersed or precise sex ratios) or a non-random distribution of male embryos within the sacs would suggest direct control of the sex of individual offspring. We found that the variance in the number of males per sac was indistinguishable from binomial and significantly larger than expected under exact ratios. Likewise, the spatial distribution of male embryos within three sacs examined was no more clustered than expected by chance. The sex ratio biasing mechanism in this species, therefore, apparently only allows control of the mean sex ratio but not of its variance. We present randomization and Monte Carlo methods that can be applied to test for departures from a random spatial arrangement of male and female embryos in an egg mass and for departures from binomial or exact ratios when not all members of a clutch have been sexed. Received: 21 October 1998 / Received in revised form: 23 March 1999 / Accepted: 26 April 1999     

土氡测量在地质灾害勘测中的干扰实验研究

对土氡勘测中来自测量过程、勘测场地条件、气象因素方面的常见干扰进行了实验研究，探讨了干扰机理，指出了定性及部分定量排除干扰的方法。     

Impact of bias in predicted height on tree volume estimation: A case-study of intrinsic nonlinearity

Bias originating from intrinsic nonlinearity in nonlinear models is caused by excess curvature in the solution locus of parameter estimates derived from least squares procedures. Bias due to intrinsic nonlinearity varies according to sample size as well as model specification. This paper analyses consequences of fractionising data into smaller sub-samples. Based on measurements of stem diameter and total tree height from the first Danish national forest inventory, it is demonstrated how data splitting at random may cause the intrinsic nonlinear curvature to exceed the critical F-value. Application of a Taylor-series expansion shows that, for all practical purposes, the bias in predictions of individual tree volume (based on stem diameter and tree height) is negligible. To minimize residual variance, intrinsic curvature and, in turn, prediction bias, it is recommended that data be stratified according to site conditions, stand characteristics or other relevant criteria. Finally, the preferred model should exhibit close-to-linear behaviour.     

Incentive compatibility tests of choice experiment value elicitation questions

This paper uses laboratory experiments with induced values to address fundamental issues related to the incentive compatibility of choice experiment value elicitation questions. In particular, we compare two- versus three-option choice sets and the effect of using alternative provision rules, including one where the outcome is influenced by both participant and “regulator” votes. We find the overall proportion of choices that are inconsistent with induced preferences is rather low. However, there are more deviations from induced preferences for two-option choice sets, and for alternatives to a simple plurality vote implementation rule. A multinomial probit analysis of choices in tandem with a mixed logit welfare analysis suggests there is a statistically significant but modest degree of bias towards selecting the status quo option.     

东北区域空气质量时空分布特征及重度污染成因分析

东北已成为我国又一个霾污染多发和重发区域.采用2013～2017年东北区域大气污染物地面监测数据、卫星数据和气象数据等信息,探讨了中国东北地区空气质量时空分布特征与重度污染成因.结果表明,"沈阳-长春-哈尔滨"带状城市群是全年污染最严重的区域,空气质量指数(AQI)的空间分布具有明显的季节性,冬季污染最严重,春季吉林省西部周围为椭圆形污染区,夏季和秋季大部分时间空气质量最佳.3个典型的霾污染时期是10月下旬和11月上旬(即秋末和初冬,时期一),12月下旬和1月(即冬季最冷的时候,时期二),及4月到5月中旬(即春季沙尘和农业耕作期).时期一,季节性作物残茬焚烧和冬季采暖用煤燃烧产生的PM_(2.5)强排放是极端霾事件发生的主要原因(AQI 300);时期二,在最严寒月份里,重度霾污染事件(200 AQI 300),主要由燃煤和汽车燃料消耗的PM_(2.5)排放量高,大气边界层较低,以及大气扩散性差等共同引起;时期三,春季PM_(10)浓度较高,主要是由内蒙古中部退化草原的风沙和吉林省西部裸地的区域性扬尘传输造成的.同时,当地农业耕作本身也释放PM_(10),并提升了裸土的人为源矿物尘的排放强度.     

Approximating the distribution of recreational visits from on-site survey data

While convenient and often used, on-site surveys are biased by the fact that users who visit the site more often are proportionately more likely to be sampled. This so-called avidity or size biased sampling results in over-estimating the visitation patterns of the average user. This analysis develops a rule of thumb method that may easily be applied by recreation site managers to visitation data collected on-site in order to infer behavior of the average user of the site. The key assumption that drives the derivation is that the visitation data of users is logarithmically distributed. To evaluate the methodology, we analyze several data sets of recreational users assuming that they reflect the populations of users and from these construct hypothetical on-site samples.     

基于走航观测的长江三角洲地区大气污染特征及来源追踪

为了加强对长江三角洲地区大气污染分布特征和输送规律的认识,利用移动车载设备开展了不定期的走航观测,重点研究了2016-2018年冬季灰霾污染和春季光化学污染条件下长江三角洲地区的大气污染特征.结果表明,走航观测期间长江三角洲地区PM_2.5日均浓度为60~122 μg/m³,东部的常州、无锡一带,西部的合肥、芜湖地区,北部蚌埠、滁州一带,南部湖州、杭州地区的PM_2.5浓度较高,比其他地区高出20%~40%.O₃日均浓度水平为9~52 μg/m³,苏州、盐城、宣城与湖州地区浓度相对较高.运用FLEXPART_WRF模式,结合PM_2.5排放清单,分析了走航观测期间长江三角洲地区及沿线城市PM_2.5的潜在来源.结果发现,东风条件下,南通及上海地区为PM_2.5的潜在源区,北风条件下,连云港、盐城等地区贡献较大.运用FLEXPART前向轨迹计算模块,对一次污染个例过程进行了模拟,并利用走航观测结果进行了验证,发现模拟结果与走航观测结果的相关系数达到0.9.可见,长江三角洲地区存在区域性的PM_2.5和O₃污染,走航观测结合轨迹分析是追踪污染气团输送的有效手段.     

我国中东部不同地区冬季颗粒物垂直分布的车载移动观测

利用中山大学环境气象综合观测车（载有3D可视型激光雷达、多普勒风廓线激光雷达、转动拉曼温廓线激光雷达）于2018年冬季在全国范围内（厦门-北京）的走航观测资料,对我国中东部不同地区和城市的边界层结构以及颗粒物分布特征进行了研究.结果表明：(1)在从南向北走航的过程中,边界层内各个高度的温度以及边界层高度呈下降趋势.(2)不同高度发生颗粒物污染的气象成因有所差别,其中1000 m高度左右发生颗粒物污染的主要成因是较高的水平风速将周围地区的颗粒物输送过来而导致;500 m及近地面附近发生颗粒物污染主要是由水平风速较小导致局地来源的颗粒物堆积以及上游地区颗粒物的输送两者共同作用.(3)逆温结构和上升气流会导致颗粒物在边界层顶堆积,而下沉气流使得颗粒物由在某一高度堆积扩散至整层均匀分布.