Climate readiness of recovery plans for threatened Australian species

The rapidly changing climate is posing growing threats for all species, but particularly for those already considered threatened. We reviewed 100 recovery plans for Australian terrestrial threatened species (50 fauna and 50 flora plans) written from 1997 to 2017. We recorded the number of plans that acknowledged climate change as a threat and of these how many proposed specific actions to ameliorate the threat. We classified these actions along a continuum from passive or incremental to active or interventionist. Overall, just under 60% of the sampled recovery plans listed climate change as a current or potential threat to the threatened taxa, and the likelihood of this acknowledgment increased over time. A far smaller proportion of the plans, however, identified specific actions associated with ameliorating climate risk (22%) and even fewer (9%) recommended any interventionist action in response to a climate-change-associated threat. Our results point to a disconnect between the knowledge generated on climate-change-related risk and potential adaptation strategies and the extent to which this knowledge has been incorporated into an important instrument of conservation action.     

Traditional agriculture in transition: examining the impacts of agricultural modernization on smallholder farming in Ghana under the new Green Revolution

Following the renewed effort at achieving a new green revolution for Africa, emphasis has been placed on modernizing smallholder agriculture through the deployment of improved inputs especially mechanized technologies. In Ghana, the government has in the last decade emphasized the provision of subsidized mechanized ploughing services to farmers alongside a rapidly growing private sector tractor service market. While mechanized technology adoption rates have increased rapidly, the deployment of these technologies has been without critical analysis of the impacts on production patterns and local agrarian systems. This paper examines the distributional impacts of agriculture mechanization on cropping patterns and farm sizes of smallholder farmers in northern Ghana using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques, and semi-structured interviews with smallholder farmers (n=60). Specifically, comparative analysis of the field sizes and cropping patterns of participant farmers prior to and after the adoption of mechanized technologies was conducted. In-depth interviews were used to contextualize the experiences of smallholder farmers toward understanding how mechanization may be impacting traditional agriculture. Our findings reveal a mechanization paradox in which farm sizes are expanding, while cropping patterns are shifting away from traditional staple crops (pearl millet and sorghum bicolor) to market-oriented crops (maize, rice and groundnuts). This transition we argue, has adverse implications on the cultural dimension of food security, the organization of social life, and climate change adaptation. We recommend a retooling of the current agricultural policy focus to ensure context sensitivity for a more robust battle against food insecurity.     

Using fuzzy set theory to address the uncertainty of susceptibility to drought

This paper presents the technical aspects of a new methodology for assessing the susceptibility of society to drought. The methodology consists of a combination of inference modelling and fuzzy logic applications. Four steps are followed: (1) model input variables are selected—these variables reflect the main factors influencing susceptibility in a social group, population or region, (2) fuzzification—the uncertainties of the input variables are made explicit by representing them as ‘fuzzy membership functions’, (3) inference modelling—the input variables are used to construct a model made up of linguistic rules, and (4) defuzzification—results from the model in linguistic form are translated into numerical form, also through the use of fuzzy membership functions. The disadvantages and advantages of this methodology became apparent when it was applied to the assessment of susceptibility from three disciplinary perspectives: Disadvantages include the difficulty in validating results and the subjectivity involved with specifying fuzzy membership functions and the rules of the inference model. Advantages of the methodology are its transparency, because all model assumptions have to be made explicit in the form of inference rules; its flexibility, in that informal and expert knowledge can be incorporated through ‘fuzzy membership functions’ and through the rules in the inference model; and its versatility, since numerical data can be converted to linguistic statements and vice versa through the procedures of ‘fuzzification’ and ‘defuzzification’.     

Long-Term Changes in the Fauna of Diurnal Lepidopterans (Lepidoptera,Diurna) in the Northern Taiga Subzone of the Western Russian Plain

In the diurnal lepidopteran fauna of the northern taiga subzone in the western Russian Plain, the species inhabiting primary biotopic complexes typical of this subzone currently account for slightly more than 60% of the total species richness and abundance. A large part of the fauna is represented by the species of more southern origin, whose expansion to the northern taiga was caused by anthropogenic transformation of landscapes between the 12th and 20th centuries and recent climate warming.     

降水空间异质性对非点源关键源区识别面积变化的影响

针对地形起伏和降水空间差异较大的农业区非点源污染问题,基于SWAT模型评估了阿什河流域在异质性降水和均匀降水两种情景下总氮、总磷关键源区空间变化规律,统计了两种情景下识别的关键源区面积变化,并分析其与降水特征参数的关系.结果表明,降水量一定时,两种情景下识别的总氮、总磷关键源区面积变化趋势大致相同,且总磷关键源区面积不易受降水空间异质性的影响,但总氮关键源区面积却明显受到其影响.对各年份总氮和总磷关键源区面积与降水特征参数的相关分析表明,总磷关键源区面积与当年降水量呈显著正相关,而总氮关键源区面积却与前一年降水量呈显著正相关.研究结果对进一步探讨降水这一重要驱动因子的不确定性对非点源污染关键源区的影响,以及农业非点源污染的治理具有重要意义.     

北京南部城区PM2.5中碳质组分特征

为了解《大气污染防治行动计划》实施后北京市大气PM_2.5中碳质组分特征,于2017年12月至2018年12月在北京污染较重的南部城区进行了PM_2.5连续采样,对其中的有机碳（OC）和元素碳（EC）进行了全面研究.结果表明,北京大气PM_2.5、OC和EC浓度变化范围分别为4.2~366.3、0.9~74.5和0.0~5.5 μg ·m^-3,平均浓度分别为（77.1±52.1）、（11.2±7.8）和（1.2±0.8）μg ·m^-3,碳质组分（OC和EC）整体占PM_2.5的16.1%.OC质量浓度季节特征表现为：冬季[（13.8±8.7）μg ·m^-3] > 春季[（12.7±9.6）μg ·m^-3] > 秋季[（11.8±6.2）μg ·m^-3] > 夏季[（6.5±2.1）μg ·m^-3],EC四季质量浓度水平均较低,范围为0.8~1.5 μg ·m^-3.二次有机碳（SOC）年均质量浓度为（5.4±5.8）μg ·m^-3,四季贡献比例范围为45.7%~52.3%,年均贡献为48.2%,凸显了二次形成的重要贡献.随污染加重,尽管OC和EC贡献比例均降低,但浓度水平却成倍升高,OC和EC浓度在严重污染天分别是空气质量为优天的6.3和3.2倍.与非供暖时段相比,供暖时段PM_2.5、OC和SOC浓度分别增加了14.4%、47.9%和72.1%,体现了OC对供暖季PM_2.5污染的重要贡献.PSCF分析表明,位于北京西南的山西省和河南省部分区域是PM_2.5和OC的主要潜在源区,且PM_2.5潜在源区更为集中;EC的PSCF高值（>0.7）区域较少,主要位于北京南部,如山东省和河南省部分地区,且北京市及周边地区贡献明显.     

基于绝对主成分-多元线性回归的滇池污染源解析

定量解析污染源是湖泊流域水环境管理的重要基础.基于滇池草海和外海多年水质监测数据,采用主成分分析（PCA）方法识别了主要水质指标的污染源类型,利用绝对主成分-多元线性回归模型（APCS-MLR）得到不同污染源对水质的贡献程度.结果表明,草海主要的污染源有农业面源、城市面源和内源3类,外海的主要污染源是农业面源、城镇生活污染源、城市面源和内源4类.与河流水污染源解析结果不同,底泥内源与气象因子对滇池主要水质指标的影响较大.     

基于LOADEST和数字滤波的水源地基流氮素输出定量方法应用实例

地表直接径流和基流均是流域非点源氮/磷养分输出的重要水文途径.科学认识和定量模拟基流氮/磷养分输出对于准确解析水源地水体非点源污染来源至关重要.基于Load Estimator模型和数字滤波算法,建立了定量水源地基流氮素输出的方法体系.以浙江省珊溪水源地的玉泉溪流域为例,利用玉泉溪2010-01—2013-12期间逐月总氮(TN)水质监测数据和逐日流量数据,展示了该方法的计算过程.结果表明,本文建立的水源地基流氮素输出定量方法结果合理,模拟精度高,决定系数和纳什系数分别为0.83和0.80;玉泉溪流域2010—2013年TN负荷量为141.21～274.68 t·a~(-1),平均208.63 t·a~(-1),年基流TN负荷量为84.39～168.68 t·a~(-1),平均127.69 t·a~(-1);基流对玉泉溪年均TN负荷量贡献率高达60%以上,流域基流养分输出对地表水体的污染应引起足够重视.     

基于改进遗传算法的河流水污染源反演方法

针对河流水污染应急响应过程中污染源排放历史迟知、未知的问题,结合多种群遗传算法和自适应遗传算法,利用一维河流水质模型和水质监测数据,研究建立了基于改进遗传算法的河流水污染定量源反演方法,实现了对河流污染源排放历史的识别与重构.将该方法应用于美国特拉基河流的3个不同流量下的示踪剂实验中,对示踪剂排放历史进行定量源反演分析.结果表明：IGA算法对高、中、低不同流量下的3次示踪剂实验均可以很好的重构和识别示踪剂排放历史,对于实际河流水污染源反演分析的误差均在可接受范围内.IGA算法在河流水污染源反演分析中具有一定的可靠性和稳定性,可为河流水污染精准溯源与治理提供科学的技术支撑.