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.     

农业经营规模化发展对环境效率的影响——基于地块层面的实证分析

为探析农业规模化经营与农业环境可持续性之间的关系,对农业经营规模对农业环境效率的影响进行理论分析,并在此基础上构建了物料平衡原则下农业环境效率测算模型和农业环境效率影响模型.基于2004~2016年浙江省农户水稻种植地块层面的面板数据,实证检验了土地面积、劳动投入、资本投入和农业产出等农业经营规模指标对农业环境效率的影响.结果显示,农业规模化发展将因投入和产出的扩张以多种方式影响其环境效率,其中土地面积规模与农业环境效率之间呈倒U型关系,劳动投入和资本投入对农业生产环境效率均有负向的影响,而农业产出规模的增加将促进农业环境效率的提升.     

珍贵油料植物诸葛菜的研究

四川大学植物遗传研究室经过几年的调查研究,发现诸葛菜的农艺性状较好,分枝多、角果多,每果子粒多,千粒重较重,含油量较高,特别是油分品质优异,其营养价值高的脂肪酸如油酸和亚油酸的含量较高,分别为20.32％,和53.17％,其营养价值低的脂肪酸如亚麻酸和芥酸的含量较低,分别为4.76％和0.94％,是油菜优质育种的优异新种源,可以作为油菜远缘杂交育种亲本,并可能选育出优质油料新作物。本文对诸葛菜的开花授粉习性作了观察,对核型特点作了分析,可供育种工作的参考,诸葛菜主产中国。四川大学在国内外首先推荐这种有希望的油料新种源。     

论DNA分子标记在家畜遗传多样性保护中的应用

本文就ＤＮＡ分子遗传标记在家畜遗传多样性保护中应用的可行性及途径进行了探讨，提出了家畜遗传多样性标记辅助保护新策略。     

UASB反应器常温下处理生活污水的中试研究

中试试验研究讨论了利用颗粒污泥接种的UASB反应器常温下处理生活污水的运行性能。在7～31℃温度范围内处理生活污水,考察了不同温度、不同负荷条件下反应器的处理效率,讨论了各参数对反应器运行的影响,为UASB反应器常温下处理生活污水提供理论和实践指导。     

新型内电解铁屑过滤塔在印染废水工业化规模处理中的应用

介绍了一种新型内电解铁屑过滤塔在印染废水工业化规模处理中的应用。在弱酸性条件下 ,该类型铁屑滤塔色度去除率高达 90 % ,废水可生化性提高 30 % ,运行一年半无板结和钝化现象。与后续的生化处理单元结合 ,出水稳定 ,实现达标排放。     

红树林系统处理牲畜废水营养盐的研究

在2种盐度条件下（淡水与盐度30的人工海水）通过温室盆栽系统对比研究了2种主红树植物木榄和秋茄对牲畜废水的处理效应。牲畜废水的加入使植物体P含量增加1－4倍，N含量增加0.04-1.30倍。淡水条件 下秋茄和木榄系统N的处理效率分别为84.3%和95.5%，海水条件 下则为92.7%和98.0%，淡水条件下秋茄和木榄系统P的处理效率分别为79.2%和91.8%，海水条件下则为88.0%和97.8%，盐度对秋茄植物体N的去除无显著效应。2种植物体对P的处理效率为4％，远比N的处理效率低，废水来源的营养 盐大多被土壤去除。     

炼铁高炉净环水高pH碱性运行的阻垢缓蚀研究

以某炼铁高炉妆环水为对象，对循环冷却水高ＰＨ碱性运行阻垢缓蚀进行了研究，筛选出了一复合配方。工业应用试验结果表明，此配方对Ａ３钢的污垢附着速率，腐蚀速率和污垢热阻均低于国家规定的指标要求，说明该配方具有良好的阻垢缓蚀性能。     

Risk attitudes and mitigation among gold miners and others in the Suriname rainforest

This article analyses the question: do attitudes towards risk influence participation in small‐scale gold mining, a hazardous activity that generates uncertain income? This question is examined by measuring and comparing the risk attitudes of gold miners and non‐mining community members in the rainforest of Suriname, South America. The author presents a multivariate model to predict the duration of work in mining areas as a function of risk tolerance, age, education, and household demographics. The results suggest that a greater tolerance to risk increases the duration of a person's mining career. However, attitudes explain only a fraction of the variation in occupational choices. Qualitative data suggest that these choices are primarily shaped by local barriers to human capital development and by national economic volatility. Given their marginal position in society and the multitude of mining risk mitigation strategies, it is questionable whether gold mining exposes Suriname forest peoples to greater risks than other subsistence alternatives. The author argues that sensitivity to local historical and cultural conditions would improve the efficiency of policies aimed at developing a more sustainable mining industry. By zooming in on the daily lives of miners, anthropology can complement macro‐scale analyses and contribute to policy interventions in the small‐scale mining sector.