Integrating Landscape and Metapopulation Modeling Approaches: Viability of the Sharp-Tailed Grouse in a Dynamic Landscape

Abstract:  The lack of management experience at the landscape scale and the limited feasibility of experiments at this scale have increased the use of scenario modeling to analyze the effects of different management actions on focal species. However, current modeling approaches are poorly suited for the analysis of viability in dynamic landscapes. Demographic (e.g., metapopulation) models of species living in these landscapes do not incorporate the variability in spatial patterns of early successional habitats, and landscape models have not been linked to population viability models. We link a landscape model to a metapopulation model and demonstrate the use of this model by analyzing the effect of forest management options on the viability of the Sharp-tailed Grouse (  Tympanuchus phasianellus ) in the Pine Barrens region of northwestern Wisconsin (U.S.A.). This approach allows viability analysis based on landscape dynamics brought about by processes such as succession, disturbances, and silviculture. The landscape component of the model (LANDIS) predicts forest landscape dynamics in the form of a time series of raster maps. We combined these maps into a time series of patch structures, which formed the dynamic spatial structure of the metapopulation component (RAMAS). Our results showed that the viability of Sharp-tailed Grouse was sensitive to landscape dynamics and demographic variables such as fecundity and mortality. Ignoring the landscape dynamics gave overly optimistic results, and results based only on landscape dynamics (ignoring demography) lead to a different ranking of the management options than the ranking based on the more realistic model incorporating both landscape and demographic dynamics. Thus, models of species in dynamic landscapes must consider habitat and population dynamics simultaneously.     

人口问题对我国可持续发展的制约及其对策思考

可持续发展的重要内涵是经济增长不应以损害子孙后代的环境和资源条件为代价。其核心是强调社会、经济、环境三者之间的协调关系。由于各国经济发展水平和人口再生产模式不同 ,使环境问题产生的原因和可持续发展的侧重点也不同。本文强调指出 ,目前人口问题依然是影响我国可持续发展的重要因素。因此 ,应重点从人口总量、人口构成与分布、人口质量三个方面解决人口问题对我国可持续发展的制约     

Evidence for the existence of a high-altitude white wagtail (Motacilla alba) population in the Yamal peninsula and the boundaries of its distribution

It has been shown that the white wagtail at the northern limit of its range forms a population or a group of populations with a high degree of independence from conditions of illumination (photoperiod) in the Subarctic and southern Arctic. The boundary between the tundra and boreal populations in Yamal lies in the forest-tundra: wagtails of the tundra population nest north of the 68th parallel, and wagtails of the boreal population nest south of the 66th parallel. The zone between these latitudes is inhabited by representatives of both populations, and active hybridization apparently takes place there.     

长江三角洲区域发展与人口,资源,环境

历史时期,长江三角洲地区经济发展,具有与人口增长基本同步的三个发展时期。在此过程中,人口增长因素,在不同历史时期,对区域发展起着各具特色的作用。南北朝以来,人口增长过快而产生一系列人口、资源、环境失衡问题,其中某些如水域环境变化等,对当今区域经济的发展,仍然起着深刻的作用与影响。当今随着经济的纵深发展,在历史问题基础上,深化产生了许多新问题,使人口、资源、环境关系更为复杂。对此必须抓住人口增长这个主要方面,挖掘资源潜力,统一规划,加强管理,使自然-社会-经济系统的各个方面处于最佳协调状态,控制熵增,以求区域环境的久治长安、区域经济的持续增长。     

Mortality rate and population density regulation in the great tit, Parus major L.: A review

A comparative analysis of published estimates of survival rates in different populations of great tits is made separately for adult and juvenile birds. The relationship between environmental conditions and demographic parameters in the reproduction of populations is discussed. Published in Russian in Ekologiya, 2006, No. 3, pp. 199–207. The article was translated by the author.     

The Interplay between Climate Variability and Density Dependence in the Population Viability of Chinook Salmon

Abstract:  The viability of populations is influenced by driving forces such as density dependence and climate variability, but most population viability analyses (PVAs) ignore these factors because of data limitations. Additionally, simplified PVAs produce limited measures of population viability such as annual population growth rate (λ) or extinction risk. Here we developed a "mechanistic" PVA of threatened Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) in which, based on 40 years of detailed data, we related freshwater recruitment of juveniles to density of spawners, and third-year survival in the ocean to monthly indices of broad-scale ocean and climate conditions. Including climate variability in the model produced important effects: estimated population viability was very sensitive to assumptions of future climate conditions and the autocorrelation contained in the climate signal increased mean population abundance while increasing probability of quasi extinction. Because of the presence of density dependence in the model, however, we could not distinguish among alternative climate scenarios through mean λ values, emphasizing the importance of considering multiple measures to elucidate population viability. Our sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the importance of particular parameters varied across models and depended on which viability measure was the response variable. The density-dependent parameter associated with freshwater recruitment was consistently the most important, regardless of viability measure, suggesting that increasing juvenile carrying capacity is important for recovery.     

基于水资源承载量的新疆分区域人口压力分析

新疆是典型的内陆干旱半干旱地区。全面了解新疆各区域水资源对人口的承载力以及实际存在的人口压力状况。对于深刻认识干旱区人口与环境的关系。制定有针对性的分区域可持续发展战略和决策，有着重要的意义。本文通过定性和定量的研究，对新疆不同区域的水资源人口承载密度指数以及人口承载压力指数进行了计算和区域对比分析，得到了一些基本结论：①不能一概而论机械照搬联合国关于干旱区和半干旱区人口密度的临界标准。各地应该有适合当时资源环境条件和经济技术水平的人口承载密度标准，而且这些标准是动态的而非静态的。②新疆当前平均的水资源人口承载密度是11人左右，大于联合国制定的干旱区人口密度临界标准，但小于半干旱区临界值。整个北疆的人口承载标准是23—26人／km^2，南疆的人口承载密度介于7．3～8人／km^2之间。各个地州之间也有较大差异。③目前新疆总体上看已经略微超载，人口对水资源和生态环境的压力比较大。而人口压力最大的地区在南疆塔里木盆地以南三个地州，人口严重超载。④从干旱区生态环境的保护利用来说。必须对生态用水予以充分考虑。才能在承载量研究中兼顾资源与环境对人口的双重约束。