Optimal Dynamic Allocation of Conservation Funding Among Priority Regions

The optimal allocation of conservation resources between biodiverse conservation regions has generally been calculated using stochastic dynamic programming, or using myopic heuristics. These solutions are hard to interpret and may not be optimal. To overcome these two limitations, this paper approaches the optimal conservation resource allocation problem using optimal control theory. A solution using Pontryagin’s maximum principle provides novel insight into the general properties of efficient conservation resource allocation strategies, and allows more extensive testing of the performance of myopic heuristics. We confirmed that a proposed heuristic (minimize short-term loss) yields near-optimal results in complex allocation situations, and found that a qualitative allocation feature observed in previous analyses (bang-bang allocation) is a general property of the optimal allocation strategy.     

Allocation of Sample Size to Strata and Related Problems

In this paper, we shall study an alternative method of deriving Neyman's Optimum allocation of sample size to strata for simple random sampling which is intuitive and simple. In order to obtain this allocation, the within stratum standard deviations of the study variate are required which are unknown and hence are substituted by known quantities. We shall discuss the effects of deviations from the optimum allocation and other related problems.     

How many eggs should be laid in one's own nest and others’ in intra-specific brood parasitism?

Recent field studies have demonstrated that many bird species practice intra-specific brood parasitism. They lay eggs in the nests of other individuals of the same species, let the foster parents rear their offspring and avoid the cost of parental care. It has been shown that many birds, including starlings, swallows and geese, practice intra-specific brood parasitism in various forms. Intra-specific brood parasitism can be viewed in terms of optimal resource allocation: how many eggs should be put in the nests of other individuals under the risk of being parasitized by others. The situation here is a game, because the fitness of a parasitic individual depends on how other individuals behave (how many individuals practice parasitism and to what extent). The ecology of intra-specific brood parasitism has been investigated extensively by field ornithologists recently and it is full of material for modeling population/evolutionary biology. In this paper, I present a simple individual-based model to challenge the resource allocation problem in intra-specific brood parasitism. Previous theoretical studies of intra-specific brood parasitism have been based on ESS or quantitative genetics models, where a population is implicitly assumed to be homogeneous and the distribution form of the trait being studied (the allocation rate or the number of eggs laid parasitically) is inherently monomorphic. This paper aims to explore the evolution of intra-specific brood parasitism without these restrictions. In the model, an individual is assigned a strategy, an allocation ratio of eggs that are laid parasitically in the nests of other individuals, and the strategy is inherited by offspring either asexually or sexually. Based on the simulation analysis, the evolution of the allocation rate (the extent of intra-specific brood parasitism) is discussed. The extension of this model to a tractable analytical model is also discussed.     

Sex allocation and reproductive success in the andromonoecious perennial Solanum carolinense (Solanaceae). I. Female

Relative allocation of resources to growth vs. reproduction has long been known to be an important determinant of reproductive success. The importance of variation in allocation to different structures within reproductive allocation is somewhat less clear. This study was designed to elucidate the importance of allocation to vegetative vs. reproductive functions, and allocation within reproductive functions (sex allocation), to realized female success in an andromonoecious plant, Solanum carolinense. Allocation measurements were taken on plants in experimental arrays exposed to natural pollination conditions. These measurements included total flower number, the proportion of flowers that were male, flower size, and vegetative size. Flower number explained the majority of the variation among individuals in their success-that is, there was strong selection for increased flower production. There was also selection to decrease the proportion of flowers that were male, but neither flower size nor vegetative size (a measure of overall resource availability) were direct determinants of female success. After Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons, most phenotypic correlations among the traits measured were nonsignificant. Thus, in this andromonoecious species there is not a strong relationship between resource availability (vegetative size) and female success, and female success is instead determined by the relative production of the two different flower types.     

Determining Allocation: From Paper to Practice in the Distribution of Fishing Rights Between Countries

This article discusses the allocation problem in international fisheries management, which is critical to effective resource management. A number of cases where allocation problems exist are reviewed and trends identified. It is concluded that power relationships between the states involved are an important determinant of allocation outcomes. While this may seem a frustrating conclusion, it nevertheless reflects the realities of international cooperation.     

全球气候治理新进展——区域碳排放权分配研究综述

碳排放权作为稀缺的公共资源,其实质是一种新型发展权。科学合理分配有限的碳排放权对实现《巴黎协定》温控目标至关重要。从原则、方法、尺度与方案等维度对碳排放权分配的文献成果进行了系统梳理与归纳。研究表明,国内外学者大多基于公平性和效率性原则探索碳排放权分配;分配方法分为指标法、博弈论法、数据包络分析法和综合法等,各有利弊和适用条件;分配尺度大多涉及国际和区际两个层面,前者由于各国不同的利益诉求较难形成共识性方案,后者主要关注省际分配,更小尺度的研究相对较少。未来碳排放权分配研究趋向于多原则兼顾、多方法联用,涵盖国际、省际、市际及行业、企业等不同尺度。本研究可为制定科学合理的碳排放权分配方案提供理论依据,为我国更为积极有效地参与全球气候治理提供决策参考。     

In Search of a Consistent Solution to Allocation of Joint Production

Three consistency problems are identified that arise when partitioning a product system with joint production according to an allocation key, such as revenue or mass of the joint products, namely: lacking consistency of rationales and procedures; lacking consistency of monetary, mass, and energy balances in the partitioned product systems; and lacking consistency of results across model resolution and classification of the intermediate flows. Different solutions to these consistency problems are described, including the attempt of ecoinvent to solve the third consistency problem with a system model that uses revenue allocation at the point of substitution. The problems with the different practical implementations are described. For each of the three consistency problems, a solution is proposed and combined into a single consistent solution. The consistency of rationales and procedures is ensured by asking only one question at a time and performing a separate allocation and calculation for each question. The problem of maintaining monetary, mass, and energy balances is solved by a generalized allocation correction. The identified problem with consistency of results across model resolution and classification is solved by redefining the point of substitution. It is described what consequences the solutions will have if their results are misused for decision making that will shift demand between products.     

Sex‐allocation conflict and sexual selection throughout the lifespan of eusocial colonies

Models of sex‐allocation conflict are central to evolutionary biology but have mostly assumed static decisions, where resource allocation strategies are constant over colony lifespan. Here, we develop a model to study how the evolution of dynamic resource allocation strategies is affected by the queen‐worker conflict in annual eusocial insects. We demonstrate that the time of dispersal of sexuals affects the sex‐allocation ratio through sexual selection on males. Furthermore, our model provides three predictions that depart from established results of classic static allocation models. First, we find that the queen wins the sex‐allocation conflict, while the workers determine the maximum colony size and colony productivity. Second, male‐biased sex allocation and protandry evolve if sexuals disperse directly after eclosion. Third, when workers are more related to new queens, then the proportional investment into queens is expected to be lower, which results from the interacting effect of sexual selection (selecting for protandry) and sex‐allocation conflict (selecting for earlier switch to producing sexuals). Overall, we find that colony ontogeny crucially affects the outcome of sex‐allocation conflict because of the evolution of distinct colony growth phases, which decouples how queens and workers affect allocation decisions and can result in asymmetric control.     

Reproductive allocation patterns in different density populations of spring wheat

The effects of increased intraspecific competition on size hierarchies （size inequality） and reproductive allocation were investigated in populations of the annual plant, spring wheat （Triticurn aestivurn）. A series of densities （100, 300, 1 000, 3 000 and 10 000 plants/m^2） along a gradient of competition intensity were designed in this experiment. The results showed that average shoot biomass decreased with increased density. Reproductive allocation was negatively correlated to Gini coefficient （R^2 = 0.927）, which suggested that reproductive allocation is inclined to decrease as size inequality increases. These results suggest that both vegetative and reproductive structures were significantly affected by intensive competition. However, results also indicated that there were different relationships between plant size and reproductive allocation pattern in different densities. In the lowest density population, lacking competition （100 plants/m^2）, individual reproductive allocation was size independent but, in high density populations （300, 1 000, 3 000 and 10 000 plants/m^2）, where competition occurred, individual reproductive allocation was size dependent： the small proportion of larger individuals were winners in competition and got higher reproductive allocation （lower marginal reproductive allocation; MRA）, and the larger proportion of smaller individuals were suppressed and got lower reproductive allocation （higher MRA）. In conclusion, our results support the prediction that elevated intraspecific competition would result in higher levels of size inequality and decreased reproductive allocation （with a negative relationship between them）. However, deeper analysis indicated that these frequency- and size-dependent reproductive strategies were not evolutionarily stable strategies.     

Climate change increases carbon allocation to leaves in early leaf green-up

Global greening, characterized by an increase in leaf area index (LAI), implies an increase in foliar carbon (C). Whether this increase in foliar C under climate change is due to higher photosynthesis or to higher allocation of C to leaves remains unknown. Here, we explored the trends in foliar C accumulation and allocation during leaf green-up from 2000 to 2017 using satellite-derived LAI and solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) across the Northern Hemisphere. The accumulation of foliar C accelerated in the early green-up period due to both increased photosynthesis and higher foliar C allocation driven by climate change. In the late stage of green-up, however, we detected decreasing trends in foliar C accumulation and foliar C allocation. Such stage-dependent trends in the accumulation and allocation of foliar C are not represented in current terrestrial biosphere models. Our results highlight that a better representation of C allocation should be incorporated into models.     

川西风毛菊果期资源分配对海拔的响应

以分布于青藏高原东缘的川西风毛菊为试验材料,研究了其不同海拔高度16个居群的果期资源分配。结果显示:1)随着海拔的升高,个体大小、繁殖器官生物量、营养器官生物量、根系质量、茎叶质量以及每株植物种子总数量均不断减小,但种子百粒重不断增加;2)繁殖分配和根系分配与海拔呈正相关关系,营养分配和茎叶分配与海拔呈负相关关系;3)果期繁殖分配和营养分配、根系分配和茎叶分配以及种子数量与百粒重之间均存在资源分配上的权衡。研究结论:1)海拔作为外界因子对川西风毛菊果期各生物量及资源分配有显著的影响;2)随着海拔的升高,川西风毛菊通过增加繁殖分配,根系分配以及种子百粒重来适应胁迫环境,提高自身的适合度。     

Toward an allocation scheme for global terrestrial carbon models

The distribution of assimilated carbon among the plant parts has a profound effect on plant growth, and at a larger scale, on terrestrial biogeochemistry. Although important progress has been made in modelling photosynthesis, less effort has been spent on understanding the carbon allocation, especially at large spatial scales. Whereas several individual-level models of plant growth include an allocation scheme, most global terrestrial models still assume constant allocation of net primary production (NPP) among plant parts, without any environmental coupling. Here, we use the CASA biosphere model as a platform for exploring a new global allocation scheme that estimates allocation of photosynthesis products among leaves, stems, and roots depending on resource availability. The philosophy underlying the model is that allocation patterns result from evolved responses that adjust carbon investments to facilitate capture of the most limiting resources, i.e. light, water, and mineral nitrogen. In addition, we allow allocation of NPP to vary in response to changes in atmospheric CO₂. The relative magnitudes of changes in NPP and resource-use efficiency control the response of root:shoot allocation. For ambient CO₂, the model produces realistic changes in above-ground allocation along productivity gradients. In comparison to the CASA standard estimate using fixed allocation ratios, the new allocation scheme tends to favour root allocation, leading to a 10% lower global biomass. Elevated CO₂, which alters the balance between growth and available resources, generally leads to reduced water stress and consequently, decreased root:shoot ratio. The major exception is forest ecosystems, where increased nitrogen stress induces a larger root allocation.     

Allocation of carbon and nitrogen as a function of the internal nitrogen status of a plant: Modelling allocation under non-steady-state situations

In this paper we model allocation of carbon and nitrogen to roots and leaves as a function of the nitrogen status of a plant. Under steady-state conditions, allocation of carbon and nitrogen to leaves is exponentially (positively) correlated with plant nitrogen concentration, whereas allocation to roots is correlated negatively, also in an exponential manner.Allocation functions derived under steady-state conditions are used to simulate biomass partitioning under non-steady-state nutrient conditions. Upon nitrogen deprivation, measured and simulated values are rather similar with time, suggesting that allocation functions derived under steady-state conditions also hold under non-steady-state conditions.     

Allocation, plasticity and allometry in plants

Allocation is one of the central concepts in modern ecology, providing the basis for different strategies. Allocation in plants has been conceptualized as a proportional or ratio-driven process (‘partitioning’). In this view, a plant has a given amount of resources at any point in time and it allocates these resources to different structures. But many plant ecological processes are better understood in terms of growth and size than in terms of time. In an allometric perspective, allocation is seen as a size-dependent process: allometry is the quantitative relationship between growth and allocation. Therefore most questions of allocation should be posed allometrically, not as ratios or proportions. Plants evolve allometric patterns in response to numerous selection pressures and constraints, and these patterns explain many behaviours of plant populations.

In the allometric view, plasticity in allocation can be understood as a change in a plant's allometric trajectory in response to the environment. Some allocation patterns show relatively fixed allometric trajectories, varying in different environments primarily in the speed at which the trajectory is travelled, whereas other allocation patterns show great flexibility in their behaviour at a given size. Because plant growth is often indeterminate and its rate highly influenced by environmental conditions, ‘plasticity in size’ is not a meaningful concept. We need a new way to classify, describe and analyze plant allocation and plasticity because the concepts ‘trait’ and ‘plasticity’ are too broad. Three degrees of plasticity can be distinguished: (1) allometric growth (‘apparent plasticity’), (2) modular proliferation and local physiological adaptation, and (3) integrated plastic responses. Plasticity, which has evolved because it increases individual fitness, can be a disadvantage in plant production systems, where we want to optimize population, not individual, performance.     

Equivalence of three allocation currencies as estimates of reproductive allocation and somatic cost of reproduction in Pinguicula vulgaris

Which is the most appropriate currency (biomass, energy, water, or some mineral nutrient) for expressing resource allocation in plants has been repeatedly discussed. Researchers need to assess to which extent interindividual, interpopulational, or interspecific comparisons of resource allocation could be affected by the allocation currency chosen. The "currency issue" is relevant to at least three related aspects of resource allocation to reproduction: (a) reproductive allocation (RA), (b) size-dependence of reproductive allocation, and (c) somatic cost of reproduction (SCR). Empirical tests have mostly dealt with the first aspect only. We examined the equivalence of estimates for the three aspects above across three different allocation currencies (dry mass, N, P) in 11 populations of PINGUICULA VULGARIS. For RA we studied the equivalence of allocation currencies at three scales: among individuals of the same population, between populations of the same species, and among species. Equivalence of currencies in the ranking of RA for individuals within populations was high ( RS >/= 0.43) and did not strongly decrease when comparing populations or species. Excepting for size-dependence of RA, ranking of RA, or SCR between populations was equivalent for biomass and N, but not for P. Our study gives two positive guidelines for empirical plant reproductive ecologists facing the "currency issue": (1) become increasingly concerned about the "currency issue" as you increase the scale of your comparison from individuals to populations to species, and (2) avoid estimating allocation in redundant currencies (biomass and N in our case) and choose preferentially "complementary" currencies that provide a broader view of allocation patterns (biomass and P in our case).     

Sex Allocation Ratio in a Wind-Pollinated Self-Incompatible Monoecious Tree, Alnus firma Sieb. et Zucc. (Betulaceae)

Abstract Biomass sex allocation of Alnus firma , a wind-pollinated self-incompatible monoecious tree species, was directly measured at the inflorescence (prezygotic) stage. Sex allocation ratio at the fruit stage was estimated from the number of female inflorescences, percent fruit production, and the mean dry weight of a female inflorescence and a fruit catkin. Investment in male function far exceeds that in female function at the prezygotic stage. When the costs of fruit catkins and seeds were included in the estimation of female function, then the sex allocation bias was reversed towards female. Intrapopulational variation of the sex allocation ratio with respect to tree height and size was also investigated. A strong negative correlation was observed in both cases, although a positive relationship has been predicted by theorists and some previous empirical data have supported this prediction.     

5种毛茛科植物个体大小依赖的繁殖分配和性分配

 植物繁殖分配和性分配是生活史理论的核心问题,一直受到生态学家、进化生物学家们的关注。通过对青藏高原东部高寒草甸(3 500 m)及亚高山草甸(2 900 m)毛茛科5种虫媒两性花植物花期的繁殖分配和性分配的研究发现：1）个体越大,繁殖投入越高,繁殖分配越低,与以往研究结果一致;2）性分配是个体大小依赖的,大个体更偏向雌性器官的资源投入,花粉胚珠比与个体大小的关系较复杂,因种而异;3）花期雌雄功能之间存在资源分配上的权衡（Trade-off）,并且种群之间有差异,表明其受环境条件影响。     

多年生龙胆属植物个体大小与花期资源分配研究

于各物种花中前期对青藏高原东部高寒草甸6种多年生龙胆属植物花期的繁殖分配和性分配进行分析,结果表明:(1)多年生龙胆属植物的植株个体越大,繁殖投入越高,繁殖分配越低;(2)随着植物个体的增大,对雌性、雄性和吸引结构的投入都在增加,这可保证资源的充分利用,不会因为单一部分的增加而造成资源的浪费;(3)6种龙胆属植物中,有4种其性分配结果与性别分配(SDS)的理论预测一致,即大个体更偏向雌性器官的资源投入,但麻花艽(Gentiana atraminea)和达乌里秦艽(Gentiana dahurica)的性分配与个体大小则没有表现出负相关,可能与其本身具有的雌雄异熟———雄性先熟特点有关;(4)资源在雌雄功能间的分配没有表现出权衡关系,可能是由于植物必须在许多不同生活史性状之间进行资源分配,而不是两两之间非此即彼.     

The effect of cryptic female choice on sex allocation in simultaneous hermaphrodites

Sex allocation theory for simultaneous hermaphrodites has focused primarily on the effects of sperm competition, but the role of mate choice has so far been neglected. We present a model to study the coevolution of cryptic female choice and sex allocation in simultaneous hermaphrodites. We show that the mechanism of cryptic female choice has a strong effect on the evolutionary outcome: if individuals remove a fixed proportion of less-preferred sperm, the optimal sex allocation is more female biased (i.e. more biased towards egg production) than without cryptic female choice; conversely, if a fixed amount of sperm is removed, sex allocation is less female-biased than without cryptic female choice, and can easily become male biased (i.e. biased towards sperm production). Under male-biased sex allocation, hermaphroditism can become unstable and the population can split into pure males and hermaphrodites with a female-biased allocation. We discuss the idea that the evolution of sex allocation may depend on the outcome of sexual conflict over the fate of received sperm: the sperm donor may attempt to manipulate or by-pass cryptic female choice and the sperm recipient is expected to resist such manipulation. We conclude that cryptic female choice can have a strong influence on sex allocation in simultaneous hermaphrodites and strongly encourage empirical work on this question.     

Resource allocation in the red ant Myrmica ruginodis– an interplay of genetics and ecology

Worker‐queen conflicts over reproductive allocation (colony maintenance vs. reproduction) and sex allocation (females vs. males) were examined in two populations of the facultatively polygynous ant Myrmica ruginodis. Plasticity of social organization in the form of two co‐existing social types (microgyna and macrogyna) has a profound effect on reproductive allocation. Workers control sex allocation by biasing sex ratios towards their own interest, but local resource competition (LRC) because of restricted dispersal of microgyna females resulted in male bias in one study population. Colony sex ratios were split and followed the predictions of the split sex ratio theory: single queen colonies with higher relatedness asymmetry (RA) produced more females than multiple queen colonies with lower RA. Single and multiple queen colonies showed similar patterns in most aspects of their reproduction, and reproductive allocation could not be explained by the hypothesis tested. This suggests that reproductive allocation conflict is of minor importance in M. ruginodis.