Factors influencing property selection for conservation revolving funds

Finding sustainable ways to increase the amount of private land protected for biodiversity is challenging for many conservation organizations. In some countries, organizations use revolving‐fund programs, whereby land is purchased and then sold to conservation‐minded owners under condition they enter into a conservation covenant or easement. The sale proceeds are used to purchase, protect, and sell additional properties, incrementally increasing the amount of protected private land. Because the effectiveness of this approach relies on selecting appropriate properties, we explored factors currently considered by practitioners and how these are integrated into decision making. We conducted exploratory, semistructured interviews with managers from each of the 5 major revolving funds in Australia. Responses indicated although conservation factors are important, financial and social factors are also highly influential. A major determinant was whether the property could be resold within a reasonable period at a price that replenishes the fund. To facilitate resale, often selected properties include the potential for the construction of a dwelling. Practitioners face with clear trade‐offs between conservation, financial, amenity, and other factors in selecting properties and 3 main challenges: recovering the costs of acquisition, protection, and resale; reselling the property; and meeting conservation goals. Our findings suggest the complexity of these decisions may constrain revolving‐fund effectiveness. Drawing from participant responses, we identified potential strategies to mitigate these risks, such as providing adequate recreational space without jeopardizing ecological assets. We suggest managers could benefit from a shared‐learning and adaptive approach to property selection given the commonalities between programs. Understanding how practitioners deal with complex decisions in the implementation of revolving funds helps identify future research to improve the performance of this conservation tool.     

Understanding implications of consumer behavior for wildlife farming and sustainable wildlife trade

Unsustainable wildlife trade affects biodiversity and the livelihoods of communities dependent upon those resources. Wildlife farming has been proposed to promote sustainable trade, but characterizing markets and understanding consumer behavior remain neglected but essential steps in the design and evaluation of such operations. We used sea turtle trade in the Cayman Islands, where turtles have been farm raised for human consumption for almost 50 years, as a case study to explore consumer preferences toward wild‐sourced (illegal) and farmed (legal) products and potential conservation implications. Combining methods innovatively (including indirect questioning and choice experiments), we conducted a nationwide trade assessment through in‐person interviews from September to December 2014. Households were randomly selected using disproportionate stratified sampling, and responses were weighted based on district population size. We approached 597 individuals, of which 37 (6.2%) refused to participate. Although 30% of households had consumed turtle in the previous 12 months, the purchase and consumption of wild products was rare (e.g., 64–742 resident households consumed wild turtle meat [i.e., 0.3–3.5% of households] but represented a large threat to wild turtles in the area due to their reduced populations). Differences among groups of consumers were marked, as identified through choice experiments, and price and source of product played important roles in their decisions. Despite the long‐term practice of farming turtles, 13.5% of consumers showed a strong preference for wild products, which demonstrates the limitations of wildlife farming as a single tool for sustainable wildlife trade. By using a combination of indirect questioning, choice experiments, and sales data to investigate demand for wildlife products, we obtained insights about consumer behavior that can be used to develop conservation‐demand‐focused initiatives. Lack of data from long‐term social–ecological assessments hinders the evaluation of and learning from wildlife farming. This information is key to understanding under which conditions different interventions (e.g., bans, wildlife farming, social marketing) are likely to succeed.     

Quantifying progress toward a conservation assessment for all plants

The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) set an ambitious target to achieve a conservation assessment for all known plant species by 2020. We consolidated digitally available plant conservation assessments and reconciled their scientific names and assessment status to predefined standards to provide a quantitative measure of progress toward this target. The 241,919 plant conservation assessments generated represent 111,824 accepted land plant species (vascular plants and bryophytes, not algae). At least 73,081 and up to 90,321 species have been assessed at the global scale, representing 21–26% of known plant species. Of these plant species, at least 27,148 and up to 32,542 are threatened. Eighty plant families, including some of the largest, such as Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, and Rubiaceae, are underassessed and should be the focus of assessment effort if the GSPC target is to be met by 2020. Our data set is accessible online (ThreatSearch) and is a baseline that can be used to directly support other GSPC targets and plant conservation action. Although around one‐quarter of a million plant assessments have been compiled, the majority of plants are still unassessed. The challenge now is to build on this progress and redouble efforts to document conservation status of unassessed plants to better inform conservation decisions and conserve the most threatened species.     

Use of genetic,climatic, and microbiological data to inform reintroduction of a regionally extinct butterfly

Species reintroductions are increasingly used as means of mitigating biodiversity loss. Besides habitat quality at the site targeted for reintroduction, the choice of source population can be critical for success. The butterfly Melanargia russiae (Esper´s marbled white) was extirpated from Hungary over 100 years ago, and a reintroduction program has recently been approved. We used museum specimens of this butterfly, mitochondrial DNA data (mtDNA), endosymbiont screening, and climatic‐similarity analyses to determine which extant populations should be used for its reintroduction. The species displayed 2 main mtDNA lineages across its range: 1 restricted to Iberia and southern France (Iberian lineage) and another found throughout the rest of its range (Eurasian lineage). These 2 lineages possessed highly divergent wsp alleles of the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia. The century‐old Hungarian specimens represented an endemic haplotype belonging to the Eurasian lineage, differing by one mutation from the Balkan and eastern European populations. The Hungarian populations of M. russiae occurred in areas with a colder and drier climate relative to most sites with extant known populations. Our results suggest the populations used for reintroduction to Hungary should belong to the Eurasian lineage, preferably from eastern Ukraine (genetically close and living in areas with the highest climatic similarity). Materials stored in museum collections can provide unique opportunities to document historical genetic diversity and help direct conservation.     

Conservation mycology in Australia and the potential role of citizen science

Fungi are undoubtedly important for ecosystem functioning; however, they have been omitted or given scant attention in most biodiversity policy documents, management plans, and formal conservation schedules throughout the world. This oversight may be due to a general lack of awareness in the scientific community and compounded by a scarcity of mycology‐associated curricula at the tertiary level and a lack of mycologists in research institutions. Although molecular techniques advance the systematic cataloging of fungi and facilitate insights into fungal communities, the scarcity of professional mycologists in the environmental sciences hampers conservation efforts. Conversely, citizen science initiatives are making significant contributions to the mycology discipline by increasing awareness and extending the scope of fungal surveys. Future research by professional and amateur mycologists into the distribution of fungi and their function in ecosystems will help identify wider and more effective conservation goals.     

微囊藻毒素-LR对雄性黑斑蛙精巢中CYP46A1,CYP2H2和CYP2G1 mRNA表达的影响

微囊藻毒素-LR(microcystin-LR,MC-LR)是分布最广泛和毒性最强的一种微囊藻毒素,对水生动物造成潜在的健康威胁。大量科学研究证实,动物体中的细胞色素P450酶(CYP)参与内源性物质及外源毒性物质的代谢过程。为探究两栖动物生殖器官中的CYP酶对低剂量MC-LR生殖毒效应的调节作用,选择雄性黑斑蛙(Rana nigromaculata)为受试动物,采用静态置换法和体内暴露方法,分别暴露于0、0.1、1和10μg·L~(-1)MC-LR溶液0、7和14 d;用实时荧光定量PCR方法检测精巢中CYP46A1、CYP2H2和CYP2G1的mRNA表达水平。结果表明,暴露于0.1、1和10μg·L~(-1)MC-LR 14 d后,CYP46A1在mRNA水平分别上调了1.86、1.65和1.22倍,CYP2H2在mRNA水平分别上调了4.62、1.80和1.04倍,CYP2G1的mRNA水平分别上调了2.63、2.16和1.56倍。MC-LR在1μg·L~(-1)剂量下暴露7 d后,CYP46A1、CYP2H2和CYP2G1 mRNA水平均出现显著上调。上述研究表明,微囊藻毒素对黑斑蛙精巢3种CYP基因在mRNA水平上都存在低剂量刺激效应。低剂量MC-LR能诱导黑斑蛙精巢中CYP46A1转录水平变化,促进胆固醇转化为24S-羟化胆固醇,潜在破坏雄性黑斑蛙精巢中胆固醇水平的平衡; MC-LR也能够诱导精巢中CYP2H2和CYP2G1转录水平的变化,潜在调节CYP2H2和CYP2G1转录水平,进而影响MC-LR的代谢作用。     

Mo6+对活性污泥系统反硝化性能的影响

采用对比实验的方法,在不同初始硝酸盐氮和COD质量浓度的条件下,对人工模拟的活性污泥系统投加不同质量浓度的Mo6 ,以此考察Mo6 对活性污泥系统反硝化性能的影响。结果发现,Mo6 的质量浓度小于5mg?L-1以下时能够促进硝酸盐氮的去除,质量浓度为1mg?L-1时促进效果最好。Mo6 的质量浓度在4mg?L-1以下时,可以使COD去除效率增加,质量浓度为2mg?L-1时有最佳促进作用。Mo6 的质量浓度小于1g?L-1时可提高反硝化活性污泥的TTC-脱氢酶活性,过高质量浓度则表现出抑制作用。综合Mo6 的对硝酸盐氮和COD去除的影响规律以及对活性污泥TTC-脱氢酶活性的影响,认为Mo6 在质量浓度为1mg?L-1时对反硝化的促进作用最强。     

室外空气污染对成人呼吸系统健康影响的分析

报告在广州、武汉、兰州、重庆市 8所小学共 80 0 0余名学生父母患呼吸系统疾病的病症率受空气污染影响的分析结果。每个城市城区污染点的成人感冒咳嗽和咳痰、未感冒咳嗽和咳痰、支气管炎等病症的发生率均高于相应城市的郊区对照点 ,且男性比女性更高。呼吸系统的病症率与空气 PM1 0 、PM2 .5 污染呈正相关。调整了混杂因子的影响后 ,这种相关关系仍保持不变。结论是 :空气中 PM1 0 的污染与成人 (男女 )的感冒或未感冒时咳嗽、男性未感冒时咳痰、哮喘、支气管炎有明显正相关关系 ;空气 SO2 污染与成人 (男女 )感冒时咳嗽、咳痰呈显著正相关 ;空气中 NOx 污染对成人呼吸系统病症率的影响相对较弱     

CaH_2对Cu-Ce-La-ZSM-5催化分解NO性能的影响

实验采用一步离子交换法制备Cu-Ce-La-ZSM-5催化剂,然后采用共混法制得Cu-Ce-La-ZSM-5/CaH2催化剂。采用扫描电镜(SEM),电感耦合等离子体发射光谱(ICP-AES),X射线衍射(XRD),红外(FTIR)以及NO吸脱附(NO-TPD)对催化剂进行表征。结果显示CaH2的加入使得催化剂中铜离子存在形式发生变化,催化剂表面变光滑洁净,并且吸附NO能力增强。NO催化分解实验的结果表明CaH2提高了催化剂活性和抗氧性。CaH2助催性是由于其受热分解过程中产生的H2能将Cu2+还原为具有催化活性的Cu+,同时使催化剂表面洁净光滑更容易吸附NO。     

CaH2对Cu-Ce-La-ZSM-5催化分解NO性能的影响

实验采用一步离子交换法制备Cu-Ce-La-ZSM-5催化剂,然后采用共混法制得Cu-Ce-La-ZSM-5/CaH2催化剂。采用扫描电镜（SEM）,电感耦合等离子体发射光谱（ICP-AES）,X射线衍射（XRD）,红外（FTIR）以及NO吸脱附（NO-TPD）对催化剂进行表征。结果显示CaH2的加入使得催化剂中铜离子存在形式发生变化,催化剂表面变光滑洁净,并且吸附NO能力增强。NO催化分解实验的结果表明CaH2提高了催化剂活性和抗氧性。CaH2助催性是由于其受热分解过程中产生的H2能将Cu^2＋还原为具有催化活性的Cu^＋,同时使催化剂表面洁净光滑更容易吸附NO。