Effects of used lubricating oil on two mangroves Aegiceras corniculatum and Avicennia marina

An outdoor experiment was set up to investigate the effects of used lubricating oil(5 L/m~2)on Aegiceras corniculatum Blanco. and Avicennia marina(Forsk)Vierh.,two salt-excreting mangroves.A.marina was more sensitive to used lubricating oil than A. corniculatum and canopy-oiling resulted in more direct physical damage and stronger lethal effects than base-oiling.When treated with canopy-oiling,half of A.corniculatum plants survived for the whole treatment time(90 d);but,for A.marina,high mortality (83%)resulted from canopy-oiling within 3 weeks and no plants survived for 80 d.Base-oiling had no lethal effects on A.corniculatum plants even at the termination of this experiment,but 83% of A.marina plants died 80 d after treatment.Forty days after canopy- oiling,93% ofA.corniculatum leaves fell and no live leaves remained on A.marina plants.By the end of the experiment,base-oiling treatment resulted in about 45% ofA.corniculatum leaves falling,while all A.marina leaves and buds were burned to die.Lubricating oil resulted in physiological damage to A.corniculatum leaves,including decreases in chlorophyll and carotenoid contents,nitrate reductase,peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities,and increases in malonaldehyde contents.For both species,oil pollution significantly reduced leaf,root,and total biomass,but did not significantly affect stem biomass.Oil pollution resulted in damage to the xylem vessels of fine roots but not to those of mediate roots.     

氮限制对三种赤潮藻生长以及种间竞争效应的影响

为了了解不同类别的赤潮藻类对氮(N)限制的响应,在实验室单独培养以及混合培养条件下,研究了N限制对3种典型赤潮微藻(中肋骨条藻、锥状斯氏藻和海洋卡盾藻)生长的影响.结果显示,N限制对3种赤潮藻类的生长均具有明显影响,其中中肋骨条藻对N限制较为敏感.混合培养体系中,藻细胞生长同时还受到种间竞争的明显抑制;而在3种藻混合培养条件下,种间竞争成为了藻细胞生长的决定性因素,锥状斯氏藻和海洋卡盾藻能对中肋骨条藻的生长能产生协同抑制作用.锥状斯氏藻是一种可形成孢囊的种类,N限制和种间竞争能促进其孢囊的提前形成,并且种间竞争能显著提高孢囊的形成率.     

不同氮源对海洋卡盾藻生长和硝酸还原酶活性的影响

在实验室条件下,研究了不同氮源对海洋卡顿藻(Chattonella marina)生长和藻细胞硝酸还原酶活性(NRA)的影响.结果表明,海洋卡盾藻可以有效利用无机氮源,如NH4Cl、NaNO3、NaNO2,对有机氮源如尿素、甘氨酸和1,4-丁二胺盐酸盐也有一定的利用能力,但不能有效利用丙氨酸.海洋卡顿藻的生长速率与营养盐的同化速率不一致,存在一定的滞后效应,最大比生长率可达到0.7 d-1.藻细胞硝酸还原酶活性在以NaNO3为氮源时,藻细胞酶活性(NRAmax)最大,为20.6 fmol/(min·cell).     

模拟分析白骨壤湿地系统中Ni的分配循环及其净化效果

在温室中建立红树林植物白骨壤模拟湿地系统,分别用正常、5倍和10倍浓度的人工配置的城市污水每周定时定量对模拟系统污灌2次,用海水作对照,持续1 a.研究重金属Ni在系统中的分配、循环和被净化的效果以及系统对Ni的承受能力.结果表明：加入系统的Ni主要留存在土壤中,很少迁移到植物体和凋落物中.模拟系统对重金属Ni的净化效果显著,达到92%以上.根据物质平衡模型计算得土壤子系统Ni的环境容量较大,因此整个模拟系统对Ni污染的承受力较大.     

Changes in area and number of nature reserves in China

Nature reserves (NR) are the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation. Over the past 60 years, the rapid expansion of NRs in China, one of the world's megadiverse countries, has played a critical role in slowing biodiversity loss. We examined the changes in the number and area of China's NRs from 1956 to 2014 and analyzed the effect of economic development on the expansion of China's NRs from 2005 to 2014 with linear models. Despite a continuing increase in the number of NRs, the total area of China's NRs decreased by 3% from 2007 to 2014. This loss resulted from downsizing and degazettement of existing NRs and a slowdown in the establishment of new ones. Nature reserves in regions with rapid economic development exhibited a greater decrease in area, suggesting that downsizing and degazettement of NRs are closely related to the intensifying competition between economic growth and conservation. For example, boundary adjustments to national NRs, the most strictly protected NRs, along the coast of China's Yellow Sea, a global biodiversity hotspot with a fast-growing economy, resulted in the loss of one-third of the total area. One of the most important ecosystems in these NRs, tidal wetlands, decreased by 27.8% because of boundary adjustments and by 25.2% because of land reclamation. Our results suggest conservation achievement, in terms of both area and quality, are declining at least in some regions in the Chinese NR estate. Although the designation of protected areas that are primarily managed for sustainable use has increased rapidly in recent years in China, we propose that NRs with biodiversity conservation as their main function should not be replaced or weakened.     

Traps and transformations influencing the financial viability of tourism on private‐land conservation areas

The ability of private conservation organizations to remain financially viable is a key factor influencing their effectiveness. One‐third of financially motivated private‐land conservation areas (PLCAs) surveyed in South Africa are unprofitable, raising questions about landowners’ abilities to effectively adapt their business models to the socioeconomic environment. In any complex system, options for later adaptation can be constrained by starting conditions (path dependence). We tested 3 hypothesized drivers of path dependence in PLCA ecotourism and hunting business models: (H1) the initial size of a PLCA limits the number of mammalian game and thereby predators that can be sustained; (H2) initial investments in infrastructure limit the ability to introduce predators; and (H3) rainfall limits game and predator abundance. We further assessed how managing for financial stability (optimized game stocking) or ecological sustainability (allowing game to fluctuate with environmental conditions) influenced the ability to overcome path dependence. A mechanistic PLCA model based on simple ecological and financial rules was run for different initial conditions and management strategies, simulating landowner options for adapting their business model annually. Despite attempts by simulated landowners to increase profits, adopted business models after 13 years were differentiated by initial land and infrastructural assets, supporting H1 and H2. A conservation organization's initial assets can cause it to become locked into a financially vulnerable business model. In our 50‐year simulation, path dependence was overcome by fewer of the landowners who facilitated natural ecological variability than those who maintained constant hunting rates and predator numbers, but the latter experienced unsustainably high game densities in low rainfall years. Management for natural variability supported long‐term ecological sustainability but not shorter term socioeconomic sustainability for PLCAs. Our findings highlight trade‐offs between ecological and economic sustainability and suggest a role for governmental support of the private conservation industry.     

Guidelines and Incentives for Conservation Development in Local Land‐Use Regulations

Effective conservation of biological diversity on private lands will require changes in land‐use policy and development practice. Conservation development (CD) is an alternative form of residential development in which homes are built on smaller lots and clustered together and the remainder of the property is permanently protected for conservation purposes. We assessed the degree to which CD is permitted and encouraged by local land‐use regulations in 414 counties in the western United States. Thirty‐two percent of local planning jurisdictions have adopted CD ordinances, mostly within the past 10 years. CD ordinances were adopted in counties with human population densities that were 3.0 times greater and in counties with 2.5 times more land use at urban, suburban, and exurban densities than counties without CD ordinances. Despite strong economic incentives for CD (e.g., density bonuses, which allow for a mean of 66% more homes to be built per subdivision area), several issues may limit the effectiveness of CD for biological diversity conservation. Although most CD ordinances required a greater proportion of the site area be protected than in a typical residential development, just 13% (n = 17) of the ordinances required an ecological site analysis to identify and map features that should be protected. Few CD ordinances provided guidelines regarding the design and configuration of the protected lands, including specifying a minimum size for protected land parcels or encouraging contiguity with other protected lands within or near to the site. Eight percent (n =11) of CD ordinances encouraged consultation with a biological expert or compliance with a conservation plan. We recommend that conservation scientists help to improve the effectiveness of CD by educating planning staff and government officials regarding biological diversity conservation, volunteering for their local planning boards, or consulting on development reviews. Guías e Incentivos para el Desarrollo de la Conservación en Regulaciones de Uso Local de Suelos     

Using Changes in Agricultural Utility to Quantify Future Climate‐Induced Risk to Conservation

Much of the biodiversity‐related climate change impacts research has focused on the direct effects to species and ecosystems. Far less attention has been paid to the potential ecological consequences of human efforts to address the effects of climate change, which may equal or exceed the direct effects of climate change on biodiversity. One of the most significant human responses is likely to be mediated through changes in the agricultural utility of land. As farmers adapt their practices to changing climates, they may increase pressure on some areas that are important to conserve (conservation lands) whereas lessening it on others. We quantified how the agricultural utility of South African conservation lands may be altered by climate change. We assumed that the probability of an area being farmed is linked to the economic benefits of doing so, using land productivity values to represent production benefit and topographic ruggedness as a proxy for costs associated with mechanical workability. We computed current and future values of maize and wheat production in key conservation lands using the DSSAT4.5 model and 36 crop‐climate response scenarios. Most conservation lands had, and were predicted to continue to have, low agricultural utility because of their location in rugged terrain. However, several areas were predicted to maintain or gain high agricultural utility and may therefore be at risk of near‐term or future conversion to cropland. Conversely, some areas were predicted to decrease in agricultural utility and may therefore prove easier to protect from conversion. Our study provides an approximate but readily transferable method for incorporating potential human responses to climate change into conservation planning. Uso de Cambios en la Utilidad Agrícola para Cuantificar Riesgos Futuros para la Conservación Inducidos por el Clima     

Minimum area requirements for an at‐risk butterfly based on movement and demography

Determining the minimum area required to sustain populations has a long history in theoretical and conservation biology. Correlative approaches are often used to estimate minimum area requirements (MARs) based on relationships between area and the population size required for persistence or between species’ traits and distribution patterns across landscapes. Mechanistic approaches to estimating MAR facilitate prediction across space and time but are few. We used a mechanistic MAR model to determine the critical minimum patch size (CMP) for the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas phaeton), a locally abundant species in decline along its southern range, and sister to several federally listed species. Our CMP is based on principles of diffusion, where individuals in smaller patches encounter edges and leave with higher probability than those in larger patches, potentially before reproducing. We estimated a CMP for the Baltimore checkerspot of 0.7–1.5 ha, in accordance with trait‐based MAR estimates. The diffusion rate on which we based this CMP was broadly similar when estimated at the landscape scale (comparing flight path vs. capture‐mark‐recapture data), and the estimated population growth rate was consistent with observed site trends. Our mechanistic approach to estimating MAR is appropriate for species whose movement follows a correlated random walk and may be useful where landscape‐scale distributions are difficult to assess, but demographic and movement data are obtainable from a single site or the literature. Just as simple estimates of lambda are often used to assess population viability, the principles of diffusion and CMP could provide a starting place for estimating MAR for conservation.     

Synergies and trade‐offs in achieving global biodiversity targets

After their failure to achieve a significant reduction in the global rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, world governments adopted 20 new ambitious Aichi biodiversity targets to be met by 2020. Efforts to achieve one particular target can contribute to achieving others, but different targets may sometimes require conflicting solutions. Consequently, lack of strategic thinking might result, once again, in a failure to achieve global commitments to biodiversity conservation. We illustrate this dilemma by focusing on Aichi Target 11. This target requires an expansion of terrestrial protected area coverage, which could also contribute to reducing the loss of natural habitats (Target 5), reducing human‐induced species decline and extinction (Target 12), and maintaining global carbon stocks (Target 15). We considered the potential impact of expanding protected areas to mitigate global deforestation and the consequences for the distribution of suitable habitat for >10,000 species of forest vertebrates (amphibians, birds, and mammals). We first identified places where deforestation might have the highest impact on remaining forests and then identified places where deforestation might have the highest impact on forest vertebrates (considering aggregate suitable habitat for species). Expanding protected areas toward locations with the highest deforestation rates (Target 5) or the highest potential loss of aggregate species’ suitable habitat (Target 12) resulted in partially different protected area network configurations (overlapping with each other by about 73%). Moreover, the latter approach contributed to safeguarding about 30% more global carbon stocks than the former. Further investigation of synergies and trade‐offs between targets would shed light on these and other complex interactions, such as the interaction between reducing overexploitation of natural resources (Targets 6, 7), controlling invasive alien species (Target 9), and preventing extinctions of native species (Target 12). Synergies between targets must be identified and secured soon and trade‐offs must be minimized before the options for co‐benefits are reduced by human pressures.