Identifying the possibilities and pitfalls of conducting IUCN Red List assessments from remotely sensed habitat information based on insights from poorly known Cuban mammals

The International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species (RLS) is the key global tool for objective, repeatable assessment of species’ extinction risk status, and plays an essential role in tracking biodiversity loss and guiding conservation action. Satellite remote sensing (SRS) data sets on global ecosystem distributions and functioning show exciting potential for informing range-based RLS assessment, but their incorporation has been restricted by low temporal resolution and coverage of data sets, lack of incorporation of degradation-driven habitat loss, and noninclusion of assumptions related to identification of changing habitat distributions for taxa with varying habitat dependency and ecologies. For poorly known mangrove-associated Cuban hutias (Mesocapromys spp.), we tested the impact of possible assumptions regarding these issues on range-based RLS assessment outcomes. Specifically, we used annual (1985–2018) Landsat data and land-cover classification and habitat degradation analyses across different internal time series slices to simulate range-based RLS assessments for our case study taxa to explore potential assessment uncertainty arising from temporal SRS data set coverage, incorporating proxies of (change in) habitat quality, and assumptions on spatial scaling of habitat extent for RLS parameter generation. We found extensive variation in simulated species-specific range-based RLS assessments, and this variation was mostly associated with the time series over which parameters were estimated. However, results of some species-specific assessments differed by up to 3 categories (near threatened to critically endangered) within the same time series, due to the effects of incorporating habitat quality and the spatial scaling used in RLS parameter estimation. Our results showed that a one-size-fits-all approach to incorporating SRS information in RLS assessment is inappropriate, and we urge caution in conducting range-based assessments with SRS for species for which habitat dependence on specific ecosystem types is incompletely understood. We propose novel revisions to parameter spatial scaling guidelines to improve integration of existing time series data on ecosystem change into the RLS assessment process.     

中国农地细碎化问题研究进展

为掌握中国农地细碎化问题研究进展,论文采用概括和比较分析的手段,从农地细碎化的概念内涵、主要研究内容、研究方法等方面对农地细碎化研究进行梳理和概括。归纳出已有研究的几个特点:①农地细碎化的内涵较为清晰且已经得到了广泛认可,但对细碎化程度的衡量方法还需进一步深入;②目前的中国农地细碎化研究主要集中在细碎化成因及其对农业生产的影响方面,以其负面影响的研究最为丰富;③农地细碎化与农地流转、土地整理的关系引起了研究的重视,但是目前主要集中于农地流转对减轻细碎化程度的探讨,土地整理对细碎化作用的研究十分缺乏;④农地细碎化研究涉及的主要是回归分析、生产函数模型等经济学研究方法,利用地理空间分析方法和景观生态学方法探讨农地细碎化问题的研究尚未见报道。最后探讨了还需要进一步深入研究的内容。     

太子河流域大型底栖动物栖境适宜性

应用加权平均法和无度量多维标定(NMS)法,检测到影响太子河流域大型底栖动物空间分布最重要的栖境因子依次为底质、流速和水深. 对太子河流域大型底栖动物主要优势类群的栖境适宜度进行研究,结果表明:不同物种对生境表现出明显的趋异性,多数物种喜栖息在粗糙卵石底质的生境; 大型底栖动物的流速偏好性与其摄食方式、生活型和形体结构相关,对水深的偏好性差异较小. 对该流域主要优势种热水四节蜉(Baetis thermicus)的栖境适宜性研究表明,热水四节蜉偏好小卵石底质,最适流速为0.4 m/s,最适水深为0.2 m. 栖境适宜度指数的预测模型显示,热水四节蜉个体数在多数采样点的实测值小于预测值,表明除栖境指标外,其他的环境要素亦对该种的分布有重要影响.      

基于生境适宜度的成都震后大熊猫生境评价

通过分析大熊猫生境适宜度指标,评价“5\512汶川大地震”对成都地震灾区大熊猫生境的影响并提出恢复措施. 结合大熊猫生境的物理环境、生物环境和压力三方面因素建立评价指标体系,运用层次分析法确定评价指标权重,并利用GIS空间叠加分析对大熊猫生境适宜度进行综合评价,将结果分为最适宜、适宜、较不适宜和不适宜4种类型. 对比地震前后大熊猫生境适宜度变化显示:震后大熊猫生境的景观破碎化程度明显增加,生态廊道受到不同程度的破坏,大熊猫适宜生境面积减少,其中,彭州市龙门山镇变化最大,适宜生境减少2 729.5 hm2;其次为都江堰市虹口乡、龙池镇与彭州市小鱼洞镇,其适宜生境分别减少1 760.4,303.5和241.1 hm2. 针对研究结果,提出恢复重建的优先次序以及需要生态修复的重点区域,给出优先采取工程和生物措施,并辅助以自然恢复的修复手段.      

Landscape-level impact of tropical forest loss and fragmentation on bird occurrence in eastern Guatemala

Tropical forest destruction and fragmentation of habitat patches may reduce population persistence at the landscape level. Given the complex nature of simultaneously evaluating the effects of these factors on biotic populations, statistical presence/absence modelling has become an important tool in conservation biology. This study uses logistic regression to evaluate the independent effects of tropical forest cover and fragmentation on bird occurrence in eastern Guatemala. Logistic regression models were constructed for 10 species with varying response to habitat alteration. Predictive variables quantified forest cover, fragmentation and their interaction at three different radii (200, 500 and 1000 m scales) of 112 points where presence of target species was determined. Most species elicited a response to the 1000 m scale, which was greater than most species’ reported territory size. Thus, their presence at the landscape scale is probably regulated by extra-territorial phenomena, such as dispersal. Although proportion of forest cover was the most important predictor of species’ presence, there was strong evidence of area-independent and -dependent fragmentation effects on species presence, results that contrast with other studies from northernmost latitudes. Species’ habitat breadth was positively correlated with AIC model values, indicating a better fit for species more restricted to tropical forest. Species with a narrower habitat breadth also elicited stronger negative responses to forest loss. Habitat breadth is thus a simple measure that can be directly related to species’ vulnerability to landscape modification. Model predictive accuracy was acceptable for 4 of 10 species, which were in turn those with narrower habitat breadths.     

Roads,Interrupted Dispersal,and Genetic Diversity in Timber Rattlesnakes

Abstract: Anthropogenic habitat modification often creates barriers to animal movement, transforming formerly contiguous habitat into a patchwork of habitat islands with low connectivity. Roadways are a feature of most landscapes that can act as barriers or filters to migration among local populations. Even small and recently constructed roads can have a significant impact on population genetic structure of some species, but not others. We developed a research approach that combines fine‐scale molecular genetics with behavioral and ecological data to understand the impacts of roads on population structure and connectivity. We used microsatellite markers to characterize genetic variation within and among populations of timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) occupying communal hibernacula (dens) in regions bisected by roadways. We examined the impact of roads on seasonal migration, genetic diversity, and gene flow among populations. Snakes in hibernacula isolated by roads had significantly lower genetic diversity and higher genetic differentiation than snakes in hibernacula in contiguous habitat. Genetic‐assignment analyses revealed that interruption to seasonal migration was the mechanism underlying these patterns. Our results underscore the sizeable impact of roads on this species, despite their relatively recent construction at our study sites (7 to 10 generations of rattlesnakes), the utility of population genetics for studies of road ecology, and the need for mitigating effects of roads.     

FROM FLOW TO FISH TO DOLLARS: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO WATER ALLOCATION1

This paper details a case study of economic and natural system responses to alternative water management policies in the Cache La Poudre River basin, Colorado, 1980–1994. The case study is presented to highlight the value and application of a conceptual integration of economic, salmonid population, physical habitat, and water allocation models. Five alternative regimes, all intended to increase low winter flows, were investigated. Habitat enhancements created by alternative regimes were translated to population responses and economic benefits. Analysis concluded that instream flows cannot compete on the northern Colorado water rental market; cooperative agreements offer an economically feasible way to enhance instream flows; and establishing an instream flow program on the Cache La Poudre River mainstem is a potentially profitable opportunity. The alliance of models is a dynamic multidisciplinary tool for use in professional settings and offers valuable insight for decision-making processes involved in water management.     

Use of carrion fly iDNA metabarcoding to monitor invasive and native mammals

Severely fragmented habitats increase the risk of extirpation of native mammal populations through isolation, increased edge effects, and predation. Therefore, monitoring the movement of mammal populations through anthropogenically altered landscapes can inform conservation. We used metabarcoding of invertebrate-derived DNA (iDNA) from carrion flies (Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae) to track mammal populations in the wheat belt of southwestern Australia, where widespread clearing for agriculture has removed most of the native perennial vegetation and replaced it with an agricultural system. We investigated whether the localization of the iDNA signal reflected the predicted distribution of 4 native species—echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus), woylie (Bettongia penicillata), and chuditch (Dasyurus geoffroii)—and 2 non-native, invasive mammal species—fox (Vulpes vulpes) and feral cat (Felis catus). We collected bulk iDNA samples (n = 150 samples from 3428 carrion flies) at 3 time points from 3 conservation reserves and 35 road edges between them. We detected 14 of the 40 mammal species known from the region, including our target species. Most detections of target taxa were in conservation reserves. There were a few detections from road edges. We detected foxes and feral cats throughout the study area, including all conservation reserves. There was a significant difference between the diversity (F_3, 98 = 5.91, p < 0.001) and composition (F_3, 43 = 1.72, p < 0.01) of taxa detections on road edges and conservation reserves. Conservation reserves hosted more native biodiversity than road edges. Our results suggest that the signals from iDNA reflect the known distribution of target mammals in this region. The development of iDNA methods shows promise for future noninvasive monitoring of mammals. With further development, iDNA metabarcoding could inform decision-making related to conservation of endangered taxa, invasive species management, and impacts of habitat fragmentation.     

A contribution for the evaluation of the territorial impact of transport infrastructures in the early stages of the EIA: application to the Huelva (Spain)–Faro (Portugal) rail link

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure should predict and identify the major impacts of a project development that may cause specific spatial and temporal effects. Early in the EIA, the scoping stage provides all the relevant information on the impacts of the project alternatives. In particular, potential effects on the territorial network such as habitat connectivity loss and accessibility improvements should be taken into account in the various proposed layout alternatives when evaluating transport infrastructure projects. However, several authors have identified deficiencies in practice. The aim of this article is to provide a methodology for the assessment of these territorial impacts using adequate indicators in the early stages of the EIA procedure.

The proposed method is based on a comparison of a range of alternative layouts for a railway line linking two population centres, using indicators calculated with geographic information systems. The methodology was applied to a case study – the rail link between Huelva (Spain) and Faro (Portugal) – and the high speed rail (HSR) and conventional rail were evaluated in different layouts. The method was effective in spatially identifying significant impacts on accessibility improvements, which occurred closer to the cross border area. The conventional railway alternatives have similar accessibility values to the HSR. The results also reveal that connectivity loss is not limited to the area around the infrastructure, but extends throughout the territory. The results are at variance with the initiative proposed by Spanish and Portuguese transport decision-makers, and raise the possibility of selecting a conventional railway option. An adequate territorial evaluation methodology enables the new action to be correctly assessed, and supplies the information required to propose the most suitable alternative from a socio-economic and environmental standpoint, regardless of whether this proposal was initially included in the transport policy.