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.     

临沂市区主要大气污染物的污染特征及其对居民健康的影响

大气污染是全球性的公共环境健康问题.本研究基于临沂市区2015年6种大气污染物（PM_2.5、PM₁₀、SO₂、NO₂、CO、O₃）的逐日监测数据,分析了污染物的污染特征及其与气象因子的相关性,通过构建广义相加模型,模拟分析了单个污染物与居民呼吸、循环系统疾病门诊人次的暴露-反应关系.结果表明,PM_2.5和PM₁₀是临沂市区首要大气污染物,NO₂和SO₂次之,O₃和CO浓度较低;除O₃外,其它5种污染物之间呈显著正相关,与风速、温度、相对湿度3个气象因子呈负相关,浓度水平冬季高、夏季低;O₃与温度呈显著正相关.对于呼吸系统疾病,单个污染物每增加10 μg·m^-3（CO每增加0.1 mg·m^-3）的最大效应情况是：PM₁₀、SO₂、NO₂、CO均在当天（lag0）使得门诊人次分别增加0.36%、1.77%、1.29%、0.69%,PM_2.5和O₃分别在累积滞后6 d（lag05）和单日滞后3 d（lag3）使得门诊人次分别增加0.6%和1.07%;对于循环系统疾病,单个污染物每增加10 μg·m^-3（CO每增加0.1 mg·m^-3）的最大效应是：PM_2.5、PM₁₀均在累积滞后5 d（lag04）使得门诊人次分别增加0.72%、0.80%,SO₂、NO₂均在累积滞后6 d使得门诊人次分别增加3.55%、3.54%,CO和O₃则分别在当天和单日滞后3 d使得门诊人次分别增加0.77%、1.39%.对于呼吸、循环系统疾病,PM_2.5、PM₁₀、CO、O₃对男性的影响均大于女性,SO₂则反之;NO₂对男性呼吸系统和女性循环系统影响较大.大气污染物对少年（7~17岁）呼吸系统和对中年（41~65岁）循环系统影响较大.临沂市区6种大气污染物存在不同程度的污染,对居民呼吸、循环系统疾病均有不同程度的影响,且存在性别和年龄的差异.     

喜凉作物生长期对全球变暖停滞响应的时空差异——以中国绿洲为例

基于中国绿洲喜凉作物（chimonophilous crop）分布区39个站点1960~2016年逐日平均气温资料,运用线性趋势法、反距离加权插值（IDW）、Morlet小波、Mann-Kendall检验等方法,研究中国绿洲喜凉作物气候生长期的时空变化对变暖停滞的响应.结果表明：①变暖停滞期,中国绿洲喜凉作物气候生长期起、止日及生长期日数以-0.2d/10a、0.33d/10a、0.53d/10a的趋势变化,较1960~2016年起始日提前趋势减缓1.01d/10a,终止日推迟减缓1.28d/10a,生长期日数延长减缓2.3d/10a,对变暖停滞有响应.②中国绿洲喜凉作物气候生长期起始日对变暖停滞响应的站点有44%,终止日和生长期日数均为49%,主要分布在南疆、柴达木盆地和河西绿洲,其中河西绿洲对变暖停滞响应最明显,南疆次之,柴达木最小,而北疆绿洲不存在滞缓现象,显然空间差异明显.③M-K检验显示,中国绿洲喜凉作物气候生长期起、止日及生长期日数分别在2001年、1990年和1997年发生突变,起始日晚于变暖停滞起始年份,终止日和生长期日数早于变暖停滞起始年,且分绿洲生长期日数突变年与变暖停滞起始年相接近.④Morlet小波得出变暖停滞期其变化稳定存在2.4~4.3a的震荡周期,表明未来几年中国绿洲喜凉作物气候生长期仍持续延长.     

三江源植被碳利用率动态变化及其对气候响应

本文基于MODIS GPP/NPP数据估算了三江源植被碳利用率（CUE）,结合气象数据和高程数据采用一元线性回归和相关分析法,探讨了2001~2017年三江源植被CUE的时空变化特征及植被CUE对气温、降水量和蒸散量变化的响应.结果表明：（1）三江源植被CUE年内3~10月表现为先增加后降低的变化趋势,其中6月植被CUE最高.（2）三江源年植被碳利用率位于0.73~1,平均水平为0.85;植被CUE空间上呈现北高南低,西高东低的分布特征.（3）整体上,三江源4~10月植被碳利用率与同期气温、降水量和蒸散量分别呈现正相关、负相关和负相关关系,降水量是影响三江源植被CUE变化的主要影响因素,气温为次要因素,蒸散量影响程度最小.     

石英灯辐射加热条件下低密度碳/酚醛复合材料高温响应及分析

目的研究低密度碳/酚醛复合材料在不同地面加热实验测试响应的差异性,指导材料在实际应用环境下的高温响应分析。方法对低密度碳/酚醛复合材料开展了热流为400 kW/m~2的单侧石英灯辐射加热实验,利用热电偶测温系统测量试件在加热过程中不同位置的温度时间历程,并对试件的烧蚀形貌和微观结构进行观测。同时与热流为464k W/m~2的氧乙炔加热陶瓷板辐射加热实验结果进行对比分析,并且采用有限元方法对材料的传热传质多场耦合计算进行分析。结果对于石英灯辐射加热,在测量点升温到接近200℃时,温度响应拐点都依次出现。由于加热的辐射热源不同,在不同的辐射波段下,多孔材料吸收和发射的热量不同,短时间内氧乙炔加热陶瓷板辐射加热使材料内部升温速率比石英灯辐射加热实验的要快,但长时间加热时现象刚好相反。结论进行传热传质多场耦合计算材料高温响应时,合理确定材料宏观性能随温度的变化至关重要。     

未来气候变化对武夷山自然保护区毛竹异戊二烯排放速率的影响

采用全球气候模式Nor ESM1-M产生的RCP2.6、RCP4.5、RCP6.0和RCP8.5气候变化情景数据和植物异戊二烯排放计算模型,模拟分析了未来气候变化对武夷山自然保护区毛竹(Phyllostachys pubescens)异戊二烯排放速率的影响.结果显示,气候变化下武夷山自然保护区气温上升,年降水量和辐射强度波动较大,呈增加或下降趋势.毛竹异戊二烯平均日排放速率在未来气候变化情景下比基准情景下高约30μg·g~(-1)·d~(-1),在RCP8.5情景下比基准情景下高约48μg·g~(-1)·d~(-1);毛竹异戊二烯日排放速率在未来气候变化情景与基准情景下的差异在1~90 d和301~365 d较小,在91~300 d差异较大;相比基准情景,未来气候变化情景下毛竹异戊二烯日排放速率在1~190 d(平均增加15%以上)和271~365 d(平均增加20%)增幅较大,在191~270 d增幅较小,在RCP8.5情景下增幅最大(平均增加17%).另外,毛竹异戊二烯年排放速率在未来气候变化情景下比基准情景下约高10000μg·g~(-1)·a~(-1)以上,在RCP8.5情景下比基准情景下约高13%.研究表明,未来气候变化将使毛竹异戊二烯排放速率增加.