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.     

Fishing‐gear restrictions and biomass gains for coral reef fishes in marine protected areas

Considerable empirical evidence supports recovery of reef fish populations with fishery closures. In countries where full exclusion of people from fishing may be perceived as inequitable, fishing‐gear restrictions on nonselective and destructive gears may offer socially relevant management alternatives to build recovery of fish biomass. Even so, few researchers have statistically compared the responses of tropical reef fisheries to alternative management strategies. We tested for the effects of fishery closures and fishing gear restrictions on tropical reef fish biomass at the community and family level. We conducted 1,396 underwater surveys at 617 unique sites across a spatial hierarchy within 22 global marine ecoregions that represented 5 realms. We compared total biomass across local fish assemblages and among 20 families of reef fishes inside marine protected areas (MPAs) with different fishing restrictions: no‐take, hook‐and‐line fishing only, several fishing gears allowed, and sites open to all fishing gears. We included a further category representing remote sites, where fishing pressure is low. As expected, full fishery closures, (i.e., no‐take zones) most benefited community‐ and family‐level fish biomass in comparison with restrictions on fishing gears and openly fished sites. Although biomass responses to fishery closures were highly variable across families, some fishery targets (e.g., Carcharhinidae and Lutjanidae) responded positively to multiple restrictions on fishing gears (i.e., where gears other than hook and line were not permitted). Remoteness also positively affected the response of community‐level fish biomass and many fish families. Our findings provide strong support for the role of fishing restrictions in building recovery of fish biomass and indicate important interactions among fishing‐gear types that affect biomass of a diverse set of reef fish families.     

基于遥感尾气监测的柴油车气态污染物排放因子计算方法研究

采用遥感尾气测试系统实测了柴油车在实际道路工况下的CO、HC和NO排放特征,修正了排放因子的计算方法,并与车载排放测试系统（PEMS）实测结果进行了验证,获得了实测车辆的CO、HC和NO排放因子.测试结果显示,在各种遥感监测的工况下柴油车尾气中均含有较高浓度的氧气,未考虑氧气影响的燃烧方程反演获得的各污染物体积浓度计算值与PEMS实测值的偏差较大,且氧气浓度越大,偏差越大.经过氧气修正的燃烧方程反演计算的尾气浓度与PEMS实测值吻合度大幅提升,适用于实际工况下遥感检测车辆尾气的反演计算.修正算法得到CO、HC和NO的排放因子离散性较小,精确度较高,可以为量化柴油车尾气排放贡献提供科学依据.     

基于稳定氢同位素的太原市大气单环芳烃来源

采集太原市城北和城南区域环境空气和5类污染源挥发性有机物样品,测定样品中典型单环芳烃稳定氢同位素（δD）组成,基于同位素质量平衡原理计算单环芳烃从源到环境空气受体的δD初始混合值,探讨单环芳烃来源.结果表明,柴油挥发源、溶剂挥发源、汽油挥发源（97^#）、汽油挥发源（95^#）、机动车尾气（97^#）、机动车尾气（95^#）和民用燃煤源中单环芳烃δD范围依次为：（-138.7‰~-115.5‰）、（-147.0‰~-121.0‰）、（-150.8‰~-117.6‰）、（-131.8‰~-113.8‰）、（-171.2‰~-120.0‰）、（-138.9‰~-102.7‰）和（-168.3‰~-142.3‰）,民用燃煤源中单环芳烃δD显著贫重氢同位素（D）组成,机动车尾气源与汽油挥发源中苯的δD相比显著贫D,可用于探索污染物转化过程;城北和城南环境空气中δD范围为（-131.7‰~-115.1‰）和（-131.9‰~-74.9‰）,δD初始混合值为-138.4‰和-173.9‰,体现了其来源差异.     

新型厌氧多级喷动床及其厌氧氨氧化脱氮性能分析

为改善厌氧反应器内的流态,加快污泥的颗粒化和形成具有生态梯度的微生物生态系统,设计并制作了新型厌氧多级喷动床,实验测试了反应器的水力喷动、气体喷涌和污泥分层分级现象。在常温下,利用新型厌氧多级喷动床接种混合污泥,经过42 d的培养,成功启动厌氧氨氧化反应器,稳定运行18 d后,NH₄+-N、NO₂--N去除率均达到90%以上。启动60 d后,反应器底部出现大量粒径2 mm左右的颗粒污泥,且污泥具有良好的稳定性和沉降性能,沉降速度达到70 m/h。结果表明:厌氧多级喷动床因其特殊的水力结构,可有效加快污泥的颗粒化。     

Aerosol optical properties under different pollution levels in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of China

To clarify the aerosol hygroscopic growth and optical properties of the Pearl River Delta(PRD)region,integrated observations were conducted in Heshan City of Guangdong Province from October 19 to November 17,2014.The concentrations and chemical compositions of PM_(2.5),aerosol optical properties and meteorological parameters were measured.The mean value of PM_(2.5) increased from less than 35(excellent) to 35-75 μg/m~3(good) and then to greater than 75 μg/m~3(pollution),corresponding to mean PM_(2.5) values of 24.9,51.2,and 93.3 μg/m~3,respectively.The aerosol scattering hygroscopic growth factor(f(RH = 80%)) values were 2.0,2.12,and 2.18 for the excellent,good,and pollution levels,respectively.The atmospheric extinction coefficient(σext)and the absorption coefficient of aerosols(σ_(ap)) increased,and the single scattering albedo(SSA)decreased from the excellent to the pollution levels.For different air mass sources,under excellent and good levels,the land air mass from northern Heshan had lower f(RH) and σ_(sp) values.In addition,the mixed aerosol from the sea and coastal cities had lower f(RH) and showed that the local sources of coastal cities have higher scattering characteristics in pollution periods.     

Development of a static test apparatus for evaluating the performance of three PM2.5 separators commonly used in China

PM_(2.5) separator directly affects the accuracy of PM_(2.5) sampling.The specification testing and evaluation for PM_(2.5) separator is particularly important,especially under China's wide variation of terrain and climate.In this study,first a static test apparatus based on polydisperse aerosol was established and calibrated to evaluate the performance of the PM_(2.5) separators.A uniform mixing chamber was developed to make particles mix completely.The aerosol concentration relative standard deviations of three test points at the same horizontal chamber position were less than 0.57%,and the particle size distribution obeyed logarithmic normal distribution with an R~2 of 0.996.The flow rate deviation between the measurement and the set point flow rate agreed to within ± 1.0% in the range of -40 to 50℃.Secondly,the separation,flow and loading characteristics of three cyclone separators(VSCC-A,SCC-A and SCC112) were evaluated using this system.The results showed that the 50% cutoff sizes(D_(50)) of the three cyclones were 2.48,2.47 and 2.44 μm when worked at the manufacturer's recommended flow rates,respectively.The geometric standard deviation(GSD) of the capture efficiency of VSCCA was 1.23,showed a slightly sharper than SCC-A(GSD = 1.27),while the SCC112 did not meet the relevant indicator(GSD = 1.2 ± 0.1) with a GSD = 1.44.The flow rate and loading test had a great effect on D_(50),while the GSD remained almost the same as before.In addition,the maintenance frequency under different air pollution conditions of the cyclones was summarized according to the loading test.