Estimating the normal background rate of species extinction

A key measure of humanity's global impact is by how much it has increased species extinction rates. Familiar statements are that these are 100–1000 times pre‐human or background extinction levels. Estimating recent rates is straightforward, but establishing a background rate for comparison is not. Previous researchers chose an approximate benchmark of 1 extinction per million species per year (E/MSY). We explored disparate lines of evidence that suggest a substantially lower estimate. Fossil data yield direct estimates of extinction rates, but they are temporally coarse, mostly limited to marine hard‐bodied taxa, and generally involve genera not species. Based on these data, typical background loss is 0.01 genera per million genera per year. Molecular phylogenies are available for more taxa and ecosystems, but it is debated whether they can be used to estimate separately speciation and extinction rates. We selected data to address known concerns and used them to determine median extinction estimates from statistical distributions of probable values for terrestrial plants and animals. We then created simulations to explore effects of violating model assumptions. Finally, we compiled estimates of diversification—the difference between speciation and extinction rates for different taxa. Median estimates of extinction rates ranged from 0.023 to 0.135 E/MSY. Simulation results suggested over‐ and under‐estimation of extinction from individual phylogenies partially canceled each other out when large sets of phylogenies were analyzed. There was no evidence for recent and widespread pre‐human overall declines in diversity. This implies that average extinction rates are less than average diversification rates. Median diversification rates were 0.05–0.2 new species per million species per year. On the basis of these results, we concluded that typical rates of background extinction may be closer to 0.1 E/MSY. Thus, current extinction rates are 1,000 times higher than natural background rates of extinction and future rates are likely to be 10,000 times higher. Estimación de la Tasa Normal de Extinción de Especies     

A review of selection‐based tests of abiotic surrogates for species representation

Because conservation planners typically lack data on where species occur, environmental surrogates—including geophysical settings and climate types—have been used to prioritize sites within a planning area. We reviewed 622 evaluations of the effectiveness of abiotic surrogates in representing species in 19 study areas. Sites selected using abiotic surrogates represented more species than an equal number of randomly selected sites in 43% of tests (55% for plants) and on average improved on random selection of sites by about 8% (21% for plants). Environmental diversity (ED) (42% median improvement on random selection) and biotically informed clusters showed promising results and merit additional testing. We suggest 4 ways to improve performance of abiotic surrogates. First, analysts should consider a broad spectrum of candidate variables to define surrogates, including rarely used variables related to geographic separation, distance from coast, hydrology, and within‐site abiotic diversity. Second, abiotic surrogates should be defined at fine thematic resolution. Third, sites (the landscape units prioritized within a planning area) should be small enough to ensure that surrogates reflect species’ environments and to produce prioritizations that match the spatial resolution of conservation decisions. Fourth, if species inventories are available for some planning units, planners should define surrogates based on the abiotic variables that most influence species turnover in the planning area. Although species inventories increase the cost of using abiotic surrogates, a modest number of inventories could provide the data needed to select variables and evaluate surrogates. Additional tests of nonclimate abiotic surrogates are needed to evaluate the utility of conserving nature's stage as a strategy for conservation planning in the face of climate change.     

Viable contribution of Tibetan sacred mountains in southwestern China to forest conservation

The Tibetan sacred mountains (TSMs) cover a large area and may represent a landscape‐scale conservation opportunity. We compared the conservation value of forests in these mountains with the conservation value of government‐established nature reserves and unmanaged open‐access areas in Danba County, southwestern China. We used Landsat satellite images to map forest cover and to estimate forest loss in 1974–1989, 1989–1999, and 1999–2013. The TSMs (n = 41) and nature reserves (n = 4) accounted for 21.6% and 29.7% of the county's land area, respectively. Remaining land was open‐access areas (i.e., areas without any restrictions on resource use) (56.2%) and farmlands (2.2%). Within the elevation range suitable for forests, forest cover did not differ significantly between nature reserves (58.8%) and open‐access areas (58.4%), but was significantly higher in TSMs (65.5%) after controlling for environmental factors such as aspect, slope, and elevation. The TSMs of great cultural importance had higher forest cover, but patrols by monastery staff were not necessarily associated with increased forest cover. The annual deforestation rate in nonsacred areas almost tripled in 1989–1999 (111.4 ha/year) relative to 1974–1989 (40.4 ha/year), whereas the rate in TSMs decreased in the later period (19.7 ha/year vs. 17.2 ha/year). The reduced forest loss in TSMs in 1989–1999 was possibly due to the renaissance of TSM worship and strengthened management by the local Buddhist community since late 1980s. The annual deforestation rate in Danba decreased dramatically to 4.4 ha/year in 1999–2013, which coincided with the implementation of a national ban on logging in 1998. As the only form of protected area across the Tibetan region during much of its history, TSMs have positively contributed to conserving forest at a landscape scale. Conservation of TSM forests largely relied on the strength of local religious institutions. Integrating community‐based conservation of TSMs within the government conservation network would benefit the conservation of the Tibetan region.     

司钻法自动化压井系统试验研究

自动化压井是指计算机能够按照一定的控制原则独立完成压井的1种方法。为了验证自动化压井系统的可行性和平稳性,开展了多种不同程度的试验井气侵模拟,利用自动化压井系统进行司钻法自动化压井操作试验,成功实施了司钻法第1循环周压井。研究结果表明:自动化压井系统能够实时获取和分析溢流参数,迅速准确生成压井施工单,对节流控制箱实施远程控制并完成节流阀开度的调整;在不同气侵程度下,自动化压井系统能够按照压井设计曲线将立压稳定控制在目标值附近;在气侵气体向上运移和排出井口的过程中,井底压力波动远小于人工压井所产生的压力波动。该项研究基本验证了自动化压井系统在钻井井场应用的可行性。     

2018年11-12月国内环境事件

LI Sheng-cai;AN Ying(State Key Laboratory of Explosion Science and Technology,Beijing Institute of Technology,Beijing 100081,China)     

我国特种劳动防护用品产业分布特点分析

为了解我国特种劳动防护用品产业分布特点和产业市场集中程度,基于生产企业统计数据,估算我国特种劳动防护用品产业市场集中度;对比2017年和2010年数据,统计分析我国特种劳动防护用品产业的区域、产品种类、企业注册资金规模和企业从业人员数量的分布和变化,分析总结了产业发展呈现的特点,提出了加快我国特种劳动防护用品产业发展的相应建议。结果表明:当前我国特种劳动防护用品产业市场结构尚属于低集中竞争型;各区域生产企业数量按照东部、中部、西部和东北的顺序依次递减,东部生产企业占据全国企业总数的65%以上;一半以上企业的注册资金均大于1 000万元;以从业人员数量看,80%以上企业属于小型企业规模;与2010年相比,2017年我国特种劳动防护用品生产企业从业人员数量增加了6.67%,企业从业人员规模分布变化不明显,企业注册资金规模已由约7成企业在500万元以下转变为近7成超过500万元,产品种类增加了40%。研究结果可为我国劳动防护用品产业和安全产业的发展提供科学参考。     

金属负载活性炭催化氧化法处理ZPT生产废水

研究了金属负载活性炭催化剂在常温常压下催化氧化处理吡啶硫酮锌(ZPT)废水的技术，在探讨影响催化氧化效果诸因素的基础上，确定出中和预处理、后接两级催化氧化处理该废水的工艺流程，该流程的COD的去除率最高可达92％，处理出水达到国家污水综合排放标准二级指标。     

中国生物多样性保护立法现状与需求

生物多样性保护依赖于健全的国际立法和国家立法。中国已颁布一系列有关生物多样性保护的法律和条例。这些法规的实施，使生物多样性保护工作取得重大进展，但还存在许多不足和空白。本文概述了中国在生物多样性保护方面的立法现状，在此基础上，针对存在问题，并根据《生物多样性公约》要求，从生态系统、物种和遗传多样性保护３个层次上阐明需要完善和加强法规建设的若干方面和需求。     

农业生产措施对土壤碳库的影响

在陆地碳平衡日益成为全球变化科学和生态科学中最为前沿与热点问题的前提下,农业碳平衡问题也受到了强烈的关注,从而促进了农业生产措施对土壤碳库影响的研究。文章综述了农业生产措施对土壤碳库的影响及其效率。从全球不同地区的研究得出,农业措施决定了现阶段农业生态系统是C源还是C汇。目前,影响农田土壤碳库的措施主要有:农业用地面积的扩张;耕地的休耕与利用;农业施肥;耕作方式;作物类型与轮作;秸秆还田。平均不同地区的研究结果,各种措施提高土壤碳积累的效率(CMg·hm-2·a-1)分别为:施用动物肥料0.6(肥料用量10Mg·hm-2·a-1)、施化肥-0.71、耕地转换为草场0.825、改善轮作0.21、实施免耕0.315、秸秆还田0.3。目前研究存在的问题及将来的研究重点应主要集中在:通过改善农业措施提高土壤碳库的可行性;土壤有机碳积累与农业措施间的关系的地区差异性;农业措施提高土壤碳库所产生的环境效益与经济效益。     

气相色谱法测定二硫化碳

本文使用极性色谱固定相，建立了顶空／ＧＣ／ＥＣＤ测定水中ＣＳ２的方法。该方法是最低检出限为５．５μｇ／ｌ，回收率１０３％，相对误差小于２％，相对标准偏差小于７％。具有很高的灵敏度、准确度和精密度，而且操作简便快速。