The role of corporations in ensuring biodiversity

Corporations own approximately 25% of all private land in the United States and, therefore, play an essential role in protecting biodiversity and maintaining natural habitats. The Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) is a unique joint venture between conservation organizations and corporations to utilize corporate lands for ensuring biodiversity. The following case studies demonstrate how corporations have helped ensure healthy ecosystems and provided critical leadership in regional efforts. Amoco Chemical Company's Cooper River Plant has been instrumental in developing a cooperative project that involves numerous corporations, plantation owners, private citizens, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and community groups to develop a comprehensive, ecosystem-based management plan for part of the Cooper River in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. The second case focuses on the Morie Company, a national sand quarry operator headquartered in southern New Jersey, USA. Morie Company is working with WHC, community groups, the Pinelands Commission, and other state regulatory agencies to explore sustainable development opportunities for companies within the Pinelands regulations. The third case takes us to DuPont Company's Asturias, Spain, site. A win—win success story of improved habitat and cost savings is the result of DuPont's concern for the environment, ability to work with a variety of groups, and willingness to consider innovative restoration techniques. The fourth case discusses Consumers Power Company's Campbell Plant in West Olive, Michigan, USA. In addition to implementing projects that contribute to biodiversity, Consumers Power has developed an environmental education field station to teach others about the importance of natural habitats. The final case highlights Baltimore Gas & Electric Company's efforts to maintain habitat for endangered species at their Calvert Cliffs site in Maryland.     

Human appropriation of net primary production as determinant of avifauna diversity in Austria

The relationship between land-use induced changes in production ecology and avifauna diversity was analysed using a GIS land cover dataset on a 0.25 km × 0.25 km grid covering Austria's national territory. Considering only aboveground processes, the “human appropriation of net primary production” (HANPP = potential NPP − NPP_t), actual NPP (NPP_act), harvest (NPP_h) and NPP_t (= NPP_act − harvest) were recalculated based on existing datasets. Elevation as well as indicators of land cover heterogeneity and landscape heterogeneity were also considered. Correlation analyses were performed between these potential determinants of avifauna diversity and breeding bird species richness data as well as the percentage of endangered breeding birds included in the Austrian red list. Four spatial scales—0.25 km × 0.25 km, 1 km × 1 km, 4 km × 4 km and 16 × 16 km, were analysed. It was shown that breeding bird species richness was more strongly correlated with production ecological indicators and elevation than with heterogeneity indicators. A residual analysis in which the effect of elevation (a proxy for climate) on species richness and its potential determinants was removed confirmed the importance of the availability of trophic energy (NPP) for bird diversity patterns. The results support the species-energy hypothesis, thus confirming the notion that HANPP could be a useful pressure indicator for biodiversity loss.     

The Nature Conservancy's approach to prioritizing conservation action

Like many conservation organizations and federal and state agencies, The Nature Conservancy is in the process of large-scale planning and prioritization efforts. To improve the efficiency of these planning efforts, the Conservancy has developed a methodology for these efforts. The results of these planning efforts will be a conservation blueprint which identifies the conservation areas necessary for conserving biodiversity and a subset of those areas where the Conservancy will focus its immediate efforts over the next 10 years. The subset of all the conservation areas identified in the planning process help The Nature Conservancy determine where it will work. This subset of areas (referred to as action sites) is selected using a tool which ranks key criteria for each conservation area. These criteria include the current conservation status of each area, complementarity to other areas selected, the diversity and viability of targets at the area, the urgency and degree of threats to the targets, the feasibility or opportunity to abate the threats at the area and the leverage potential of working at a conservation area. Taken together, these criteria help planners to select the areas where they will focus their conservation efforts.     

Seasonal dynamics of macro-algae in the South Lake of Tunis

The macro-algae communities observed in the south lake of Tunis are characterized by the predominance of nitrophilous algae which are in the order of biomass importance:Ulva, Cladophora andEnteromorpha. We have noted seasonal changes of alga distribution. The wind appears to be one of the most important factors influencing this distribution. The total biomass reaches a maximum in the spring. Rapid decomposition of the biomass leads to a severe ecological imbalance, resulting in crises of anoxia and fish death. A restoration project has already started. It aims at removal of contaminated muds and the introduction of a new circulation system. The main objectives of this work were to collect information on the distribution and biomass of the phytobenthic communities as a first step in the constitution of a database for further comparison.     

Modelling Change in Ground Vegetation Response to Acid and Nitrogen Pollution, Climate Change and Forest Management at in Sweden 1500–2100 a.d.

The ForSAFE model, designed for modelling biogeochemical cycles (water, acidity, base cation, nitrogen and carbon) in terrestrial ecosystems, was modified with a vegetation response module (VEG), incorporating the effects of: nitrogen pollution, acidification, soil moisture, temperature, wind chill exposure, light and shading by trees, grazing by animals, competition between plants, above ground for light and below ground for water and nutrients. The model calculates the response of number ground vegetation plant groups. The integrated model was tested and validated at integrated level II forest monitoring sites across Sweden, four have been shown here, and used to assess the effect of acidification and nitrogen pollution in relation to factors such as climate change, forest management and changing grazing pressure. The response functions have been derived from single-factor experiments and integrated through the model structure for use on whole systems. The tests with the model suggest that the ground vegetation composition is reasonably well predicted, that much research remains before the model is fully tested and operational, and that the model may serve as a tool for assessing impacts of climate change, acid rain and forest management on plant biodiversity in forested areas.     

Bibliometric analysis of ecosystem monitoring-related research in Africa: implications for ecological stewardship and scientific collaboration

Regional ecosystem monitoring is a central form of knowledge sharing and collaboration amongst scientists and decision makers on environmental health, land use change, and science-policy development. Despite the proliferation of such research networks on long-term monitoring on many continents, little has been achieved in Africa. This study aims to assess and examine the spatiotemporal trend and categorical patterns in ecosystem monitoring-related research in Africa for the benefits of conserving biodiversity and sustaining natural resource sectors for well-being and livelihood security, environmental planning, and ecological stewardship. A systematic review was conducted using bibliometric tools. Based on a set of search terms and peer-reviewed publications retrieved from various ecosystem monitoring networks and journal databases, further analysis was conducted using social network approaches, mapping tools, and content analysis. About 1442 scientific publications on ecosystem monitoring and related research were documented from 1987 to 2014 mostly published in English. The number of publication increased progressively since 1992 after the Convention on Biodiversity was signed and this trend peaked till 2008. South African Journal of Science was the most leading journal and Nature the most cited. Internationally coauthored and collaborative articles represented majority of the findings with the United Kingdom at the central position in the research network due to colonial relationships. Regional collaboration amongst countries is limited owing to language barriers and other institutional constraints such as funding and short-term projects. These findings have implication for prioritizing national and regional policies toward biodiversity science and its contribution to human well-being, food security, and global change responses.     

江苏生物多样性保护的重点领域和政策创新

分析了江苏生物多样性保护现状,解读了省委办公厅、省政府办公厅《关于进一步加强生物多样性保护的实施意见》,主要涵盖完善政策法规、优化空间格局、提升系统稳定性、构建监测评估体系、提升安全管理水平、创新开发利用机制、严格执法监督评估、推动公众参与等8大工作任务,加强生态岛试验区、生态安全缓冲区等10大领域政策创新,整体提升全省生态系统质量。     

Ecological state equation

The direct equivalence between ecology and thermodynamics has not been attained despite accepted thermodynamic features of the ecosystem. This article explores the homeomorphism between ecology and statistical mechanics by analysis of ruderal vegetation. In conventional thermostatistical algorithm, the pro-kinetic effect of temperature on molecules was replaced by the anti-kinetic effect of species diversity on biological individuals. The existence of an ecological equivalent of the thermodynamic Boltzmann constant was empirically verified. From the relationship of this constant with biocenological variables, we derived a probable ecological equation of state under stationary and quasi-stationary conditions. This equation of state is homeomorphic with regard to the ideal gas state equation, and it is useful to infer the value of some biocenological parameters whose direct measurement is difficult, as biomass, energy and dispersal. According to these results, ecosystem assessment from conventional thermostatistics is plausible and empirically verifiable. This approach offers useful analytical tools for the conservation and restoration of ecosystems.     

Predictability of marine nematode biodiversity

In this paper, we investigated: (1) the predictability of different aspects of biodiversity, (2) the effect of spatial autocorrelation on the predictability and (3) the environmental variables affecting the biodiversity of free-living marine nematodes on the Belgian Continental Shelf. An extensive historical database of free-living marine nematodes was employed to model different aspects of biodiversity: species richness, evenness, and taxonomic diversity. Artificial neural networks (ANNs), often considered as “black boxes”, were applied as a modeling tool. Three methods were used to reveal these “black boxes” and to identify the contributions of each environmental variable to the diversity indices. Since spatial autocorrelation is known to introduce bias in spatial analyses, Moran's I was used to test the spatial dependency of the diversity indices and the residuals of the model. The best predictions were made for evenness. Although species richness was quite accurately predicted as well, the residuals indicated a lack of performance of the model. Pure taxonomic diversity shows high spatial variability and is difficult to model. The biodiversity indices show a strong spatial dependency, opposed to the residuals of the models, indicating that the environmental variables explain the spatial variability of the diversity indices adequately. The most important environmental variables structuring evenness are clay and sand fraction, and the minimum annual total suspended matter. Species richness is also affected by the intensity of sand extraction and the amount of gravel of the sea bed.     

Protected Area Safeguard Tree and Shrub Communities from Degradation and Invasion: A Case Study in Eastern Madagascar

Despite their prevalence in both developed and developing countries, there have been surprisingly few field assessments of the ecological effectiveness of protected areas. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a key protected area in eastern Madagascar, Ranomafana National Park (RNP). We established paired 100 × 4-m vegetation transects (400 m²) within RNP and in remnant forests in the park’s peripheral zone. In each 400-m² plot, all woody stems >1.5 cm in diameter at breast height were measured and identified to species. All species were also identified as native or non-native. We identified utilitarian species within all transects and they were sorted into use category. We calculated plot-level taxonomic biodiversity and functional diversity of utilitarian species; the latter was calculated by clustering the multivariate distances between species based on their utilitarian traits, and all metrics were tested using paired t-tests. Our results showed that there was significantly higher biodiversity inside RNP than in remnant forests and this pattern was consistent across all diversity metrics examined. Forests not located within the park’s boundary had significantly higher non-native species than within RNP. There was no statistically significant difference in functional diversity of utilitarian species inside RNP vs. remnant forests; however, the overall trend was toward higher diversity inside park boundaries. These findings suggested that RNP has been effective at maintaining taxonomic diversity relative to surrounding unprotected areas and restricting the spread of non-native plants. The results also suggested that low functional redundancy of forests outside of RNP might be of concern, because residents in surrounding villages may have few other substitutes for the services provided by species that are of critical importance to their livelihoods. This study highlights the challenges of trying to reconcile biodiversity conservation with human use of natural resources in economically poor, remote areas.