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.     

The place of nature in conservation conflicts

Conservation conflicts are gaining importance in contemporary conservation scholarship such that conservation may have entered a conflict hype. We attempted to uncover and deconstruct the normative assumptions behind such studies by raising several questions: what are conservation conflicts, what justifies the attention they receive, do conservation-conflict studies limit wildlife conservation, is scientific knowledge stacked against wildlife in conservation conflicts, do conservation-conflict studies adopt a specific view of democracy, can laws be used to force conservation outcomes, why is flexibility needed in managing conservation conflicts, can conservation conflicts be managed by promoting tolerance, and who needs to compromise in conservation conflicts? We suggest that many of the intellectual premises in the field may defang conservation and prevent it from truly addressing the current conservation crisis as it accelerates. By framing conservation conflicts as conflicts between people about wildlife or nature, the field insidiously transfers guilt, whereby human activities are no longer blamed for causing species decline and extinctions but conservation is instead blamed for causing social conflicts. When the focus is on mitigating social conflicts without limiting in any powerful way human activities damaging to nature, conservation-conflict studies risk keeping conservation within the limits of human activities, instead of keeping human activities within the limits of nature. For conservation to successfully stop the biodiversity crisis, we suggest the alternative goal of recognizing nature's right to existence to maintenance of ecological functions and evolutionary processes. Nature being a rights bearer or legal person would imply its needs must be explicitly taken into account in conflict adjudication. If, even in conservation, nature's interests come second to human interests, it may be no surprise that conservation cannot succeed.     

Quantifying the impact of vegetation-based metrics on species persistence when choosing offsets for habitat destruction

Developers are often required by law to offset environmental impacts through targeted conservation actions. Most offset policies specify metrics for calculating offset requirements, usually by assessing vegetation condition. Despite widespread use, there is little evidence to support the effectiveness of vegetation-based metrics for ensuring biodiversity persistence. We compared long-term impacts of biodiversity offsetting based on area only; vegetation condition only; area × habitat suitability; and condition × habitat suitability in development and restoration simulations for the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. We simulated development and subsequent offsetting through restoration within a virtual landscape, linking simulations to population viability models for 3 species. Habitat gains did not ensure species persistence. No net loss was achieved when performance of offsetting was assessed in terms of amount of habitat restored, but not when outcomes were assessed in terms of persistence. Maintenance of persistence occurred more often when impacts were avoided, giving further support to better enforce the avoidance stage of the mitigation hierarchy. When development affected areas of high habitat quality for species, persistence could not be guaranteed. Therefore, species must be more explicitly accounted for in offsets, rather than just vegetation or habitat alone. Declines due to a failure to account directly for species population dynamics and connectivity overshadowed the benefits delivered by producing large areas of high-quality habitat. Our modeling framework showed that the benefits delivered by offsets are species specific and that simple vegetation-based metrics can give misguided impressions on how well biodiversity offsets achieve no net loss.     

Experience in quantitative analysis of floristic structure and diversity in Samarskaya Luka

Quantitative methods have been applied to the study of floristic structure and diversity in Samarskaya Luka. The results show that Samarskaya Luka is a floristically heterogeneous area in which six elementary floras can be distinguished. This area has been assessed as a floristically autonomous formation, and its floristic representativeness was estimated.     

神农架主峰南坡猕猴桃种质资源调查及保护策略

巴东县北部神农架主峰南坡的送子园原始森林保护区内具有种类繁多的猕猴桃种质资源，经调查发现共分布有中华猕猴桃（A.chiensis)、美味猕猴桃（A.deliciosa)、革叶猕猴桃(A．rubricalis var.coriacea)、葛枣猴桃(A．ploygama)、京梨猕猴桃(A．callosa var．henryi)、软枣猕猴桃(A．arguta)、巴东猕猴桃(A．tetramera var.badongenisis)、紫果猕猴桃(A．arguta var.purpurea)及紫果新变型、绵毛藤山柳(Clematoclthra lanosa)10种(包括变种、变型)。简述了各种类的植物学性状和果实经济性状，种质资源分布的主要特点以及生态环境，指出由于砍伐森林和环境条件的恶化使猕猴桃资源已受到威胁和破坏，提出保护策略的重点是提高全民的生态保护意识；可持续开发利用资源；加大科技对猕猴桃资源保护支撑的力度。其主要保育措施：一是在保护区内就地进一步加强物种全面保护；二是省级以上科研单位分区建立猕猴桃后种质资源圃，对濒危物种或持有物种进行迁地保护；三是开展超低温保存技术的研究，建立种子和花粉基因库。并建立完善与国际接轨的信息数据库平台，便于国际合作与交流。     

铝系混凝剂优势形态分析及其混凝特性

聚合氯化铝（PACl）是常用的水处理混凝剂,在应用过程中通常表现出比传统铝盐更为优异的效果.研究表明,这种优异性能主要得益于其特殊的组成,特别是高分子聚合物Al₁₃和Al₃₀独特的物化特性.Al₁₃和Al₃₀是铝离子水解过程中的中间产物,在地球科学和环境化学等领域有着重要的研究价值.于水处理而言,二者的结构和分子特性是研究者关注的重点,大量研究基于此展开,很多重要的发现为实际应用奠定了基础.基于对PACl及其组成性质的研究,本文对PACl的混凝特性及其优势形态分子的分析进行了综合阐述.     

高原高寒污水处理系统的微生物群落特征

为研究高原高寒污水处理系统活性污泥的微生物群落结构及多样性,以拉萨、云南、四川的3座高原污水厂作为实验组,同时以重庆2座非高原污水厂作为对照,采用PCR-DGGE技术对比分析了高原与非高原污水厂的微生物特性.研究表明：高原污水厂样品与非高原样品在聚类中展现出了较为疏远的关系,微生物群落区别明显.受强紫外线辐照的抑制,高原高寒污水处理系统微生物多样性的平均水平显著低于非高原污水厂,较低的微生物多样性是导致高原高寒地区污染物去除效果不佳的一项重要原因.群落构成方面,共鉴定出16个优势菌属,对应Proteobacteria、Bacteroidetes、Firmicutes、Verrucomicrobia 4个门.组间差异分析结果发现,高原组中丰度显著偏高的菌属只有Prosthecobacter,该菌在污水厂内分布广泛,且能够适应高原低温的条件.对于大多数活性污泥微生物而言,高原强紫外线是不利的生存条件.因此,减少高原露天污水处理系统的紫外辐照,是提升污水处理效能的一个潜在措施.     

Cytotoxicity of the soluble and insoluble fractions of atmospheric fine particulate matter

Inhaled atmospheric fine particulate matter(PM_(2.5)) includes soluble and insoluble fractions,and each fraction can interact with cells and cause adverse effects.PM_(2.5) samples were collected in Jinan,China,and the soluble and insoluble fractions were separated.According to physiochemical characterization,the soluble fraction mainly contains watersoluble ions and organic acids,and the insoluble fraction mainly contains kaolinite,calcium carbonate and some organic carbon.The interaction between PM_(2.5) and model cell membranes was examined with a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation(QCM-D) to quantify PM_(2.5) attachment on membranes and membrane disruption.The cytotoxicity of the total PM_(2.5) and the soluble and insoluble fractions,was investigated.Negatively charged PM_(2.5) can adhere to the positively charged membranes and disrupt them.PM_(2.5)also adheres to negatively charged membranes but does not cause membrane rupture.Therefore,electrostatic repulsion does not prevent PM_(2.5) attachment,but electrostatic attraction induces remarkable membrane rupture.The human lung epithelial cell line A549 was used for cytotoxicity assessment.The detected membrane leakage,cellular swelling and blebbing indicated a cell necrosis process.Moreover,the insoluble PM_(2.5) fraction caused a higher cell mortality and more serious cell membrane damage than the soluble fraction.The levels of reactive oxygen species(ROS) enhanced by the two fractions were not significantly different.The findings provide more information to better understand the mechanism of PM_(2.5) cytotoxicity and the effect of PM_(2.5) solubility on cytotoxicity.