Conservation and Wildlife Management in South African National Parks 1930s–1960s

In recent decades conservation biology has achieved a high position among the sciences. This is certainly true of South Africa, a small country, but the third most biodiverse in the world. This article traces some aspects of the transformation of South African wildlife management during the 1930s to the 1960s from game reserves based on custodianship and the “balance of nature” into scientifically managed national parks with a philosophy of “command and control” or “management by intervention.” In 1910 the four British colonies had formed the Union of South Africa, and by the 1920s there was wide acceptance of national parks, a development influenced by their success in the United States. It was not, however, until after the Second World War, that management of the expanding conservation estate altered from a rather unsystematic laissez faire variety, into more scientifically informed management practices with an efficient bureaucracy in charge. This was achieved by modifications in organizational structures and institutional cultures initiated by a change of government in 1948 which, this article argues, impacted in turn on wildlife management and shaped and professionalized many aspects of that field science. “Management by intervention” was the hallmark of South African wildlife and conservation biology from the 1960s until recently, when there have been shifts towards “adaptive resource management” in a period of further change in the country’s politics.     

Estimated Ultraviolet Radiation Doses in Wetlands in Six National Parks

Ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B, 280–320-nm wavelengths) doses were estimated for 1024 wetlands in six national parks: Acadia (Acadia), Glacier (Glacier), Great Smoky Mountains (Smoky), Olympic (Olympic), Rocky Mountain (Rocky), and Sequoia/Kings Canyon (Sequoia). Estimates were made using ground-based UV-B data (Brewer spectrophotometers), solar radiation models, GIS tools, field characterization of vegetative features, and quantification of DOC concentration and spectral absorbance. UV-B dose estimates were made for the summer solstice, at a depth of 1 cm in each wetland. The mean dose across all wetlands and parks was 19.3 W-h m⁻² (range of 3.4–32.1 W-h m⁻²). The mean dose was lowest in Acadia (13.7 W-h m⁻²) and highest in Rocky (24.4 W-h m⁻²). Doses were significantly different among all parks. These wetland doses correspond to UV-B flux of 125.0 μW cm⁻² (range 21.4–194.7 μW cm⁻²) based on a day length, averaged among all parks, of 15.5 h. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), a key determinant of water-column UV-B flux, ranged from 0.6 (analytical detection limit) to 36.7 mg C L⁻¹ over all wetlands and parks, and reduced potential maximal UV-B doses at 1-cm depth by 1%–87 %. DOC concentration, as well as its effect on dose, was lowest in Sequoia and highest in Acadia (DOC was equivalent in Acadia, Glacier, and Rocky). Landscape reduction of potential maximal UV-B doses ranged from zero to 77% and was lowest in Sequoia. These regional differences in UV-B wetland dose illustrate the importance of considering all aspects of exposure in evaluating the potential impact of UV-B on aquatic organisms.     

South African Museums and the Creation of a New National Identity

Museums are important sites of national cultural production, collective memory making, and the construction of national narratives. Contemporary South Africa is a particularly interesting place to study these processes. With the demise of apartheid, South Africa faces the difficult challenge of creating a new national identity that incorporates an examination of past oppression yet leaves the way open for building a national identity that incorporates all its diverse groups. The museums reviewed below, the Robben Island Prison Museum, the District Six Museum in Capetown, and the Kwa Muhle local history museum in Durban all make important contributions to this process.     

Local responses to conservation in the Richtersveld National Park, South Africa

Local notions of conservation deserve closer scrutiny. We cannot assume that they naturally coincide with those of the tourist core; nor that they are automatically given higher priority when local populations are induced to participate in practices which conserve flora and fauna. A case study of the establishment of the Richtersveld National Park in Namaqualand, a remote arid region of South Africa, is used to argue that local attitudes to conservation and development (associated with tourism) can become increasingly cynical and ambivalent in the context of ecotourism. Furthermore, such attitudes are shaped less by economic inducements than by the often contradictory messages about conservation that are being communicated daily.     

Grasshopper assemblage response to a restored national park (Mountain Zebra National Park, South Africa)

Twelve grassland sites were sampled inside and outside the Mountain Zebra National Park (MZNP), South Africa to assess changes in grasshopper assemblages to grazing by indigenous mammals inside the park compared to grazing by domestic cattle outside. The MZNP has been restored from cattle-grazed farmland to indigenous mammal parkland for 62 years. The number of grasshopper species and families inside the park was not significantly different from outside the park, but the number of individuals inside the park was significantly higher. Multivariate statistics did not reveal any strong site groupings based on simple inside/outside comparisons, but there were clear groupings of sites based on vegetation characteristics and other environmental variables. The park boundary, therefore, does not significantly determine grasshopper assemblages, although intensity of grazing does. The indigenous mammals inside the park had the same effect on grasshoppers as the domestic cattle outside, and it was the level of defoliation and trampling that was important rather than the type of mammal. Intensive livestock grazing and trampling leads to bush encroachment and reduction in grass cover and/or disappearance of several grass species. In response to this pressure, grasshopper populations dropped, with localized extirpation of some species. Vegetation composition and structure, particularly grass height and percentage cover, had a significant effect on grasshopper assemblages. The MZNP is thus an area of localized, elevated grasshopper abundance in comparison with the surrounding farms, and presumably represents a situation prior to the current, intensive farming activities. Such elevated grasshopper abundances are important for maintaining soil quality and hence ecological integrity of this landscape which is poor in organics and nitrogen. The MZNP could be viewed as a centre where species with high mobility may seek refuge from anthropogenic pressures. The MZNP also serves as a reference illustrating the differences between restored-through-natural-succession and anthropogenically disturbed habitats, and compares desirable with undesirable ecosystem changes for herbivorous invertebrates such as grasshoppers.     

社区为主体的保护: 对三江源国家公园生态管护公益岗位的思考

社区参与是实现生物多样性保护目标的重要途径, 也是我国国家公园建设的重要组成部分。青海省三江源国家公园在前期试点中设置了16621个生态管理公益岗位, 当地牧民因此成为三江源保护的主要力量。本文通过对三江源地区已进行的生态管理公益岗位的调研发现, 由于传统文化和环保宣传的影响, 三江源当地藏族牧民具有较高的保护环境意识和参与保护行动的强烈愿望, 生态公益岗位是对这种愿望的良好回应。但在实践中, 因为需要兼顾提升生态保护成效、提升牧民收入、扶贫等多重目标, 生态管护员的选拔、管理、考核等并未按照最大化保护成效的方式进行。国家公园试点村中, 生态管护员全部由贫困户担任的方式, 实质上是将完成扶贫目标摆在了完成自然保护目标之前。这样的选择方式有着深刻的制度根源。为了进一步提升国家公园内生态公益岗位的保护成效, 我们认为应当明确生态管理公益岗位的定位, 明确提升保护成效是第一位的任务; 应当改进现有体制, 使基层政府有更多资源和空间组织管护工作, 并增加社区的参与程度。在这一过程中, 有民间机构参与的广阔空间。     

自然保护与景观保护：英国国家公园保护的“二元方法”及机制

英国应对复杂问题形成了精细而又综合的国家公园保护机制,具有鲜明特色和重要借鉴意义。自然保护与景观保护是英国国家公园保护的“二元方法”,是国家层面保护制度在国家公园中的“投射”。基于此形成了以国家保护制度为骨架,国家公园层面补充强化的国家公园保护制度。首先,系统阐释了国家层面以生物多样性为主导的自然保护机制和国家公园层面的强化措施;其次,分析了基于景观特征评估的景观保护机制。在此基础上,提出英国国家公园自然保护与景观保护对中国当前国家公园机制建构的借鉴意义。     

八大公山自然保护区绞股蓝伴生群落特征研究

对八大公山国家级自然保护区的绞股蓝伴生群落特征进行了研究.结果表明,异叶榕、尾叶山茶和水马桑等是常见的对绞股蓝具有遮荫作用的乔灌层植物.绞股蓝伴生群落计有47科86属102种维管植物,以蓼科、伞形科、菊科和百合科种类较多,绵毛金腰是伴生群落的优势种,它与冷水花、吉祥草、楼梯草和箬竹等是绞股蓝的重要伴生种.伴生群落的物种多样性指数表明整个环境适于绞股蓝的生长.     

中国国家公园的边界、分区和土地利用管理——来自自然保护区和风景名胜区的启示

作为生态文明制度改革的具体实现方式和前沿阵地,国家公园体制建设旨在对我国多样化的保护地体系进行重组管理,实现高效合理的国土空间规划、自然资本的保护和全民公益。研究对我国自然保护区和风景名胜区这两类法定保护地的边界和区划的理论基础和实践的技术手段的发展进行梳理,并对我国国家公园体制试点进展进行总结。在此基础上提出,中国国家公园在保护地个体的边界和内部分区上应以实现保护目标为原则,借鉴自然保护区功能分区的基本原则,根据管理目标细化功能分区,借鉴风景名胜区规划实践,注重景观价值,考虑社会经济条件特别是土地权属及土地开发利用可能和方式,进而考虑气候变化和区域长期发展目标等自然和社会经济动态,形成完整的边界和分区理论体系,从而满足全民公益,实现社区经济发展。在区划理论上,一个可行的切入点是考虑空间上生态系统服务功能的差异,根据实现保护目标的管理需求和满足社区生计发展的利用需求,在土地权属和其他限制条件上实现不同组合的生态系统服务功能的空间规划,利用保护地役权来分离土地所有权、使用权和收益权,限制特定土地利用方式,进行利益相关方资源利用管理。     

Monitoring options for visitor numbers in national parks and natural areas

Identifying the physical behaviours of visitors is an essential component of visitor impact management in protected areas. The fundamental baseline information required is visitor numbers, and particularly how these are distributed in time and space across the protected areas. However, obtaining such counts in a reliable and cost-effective manner has proven to be more difficult than commonly expected. Reasons for this difficulty are reviewed, the range of visitor monitoring options available to park managers are described, and the features that park managers want in their visitor counting tools are summarised. The management requirements for implementing and operating an effective monitoring system are also presented.     

Carbon sequestration by forests in the National Parks of Italy

Abstract

Recent attempts to mitigate global change have brought forestry-based carbon (C) sequestration into sharp focus due to its potential to absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere. However, the consequences of actual forest management practices on C storage capacity are still controversial to a certain extent. Under such a perspective, a distinctive relevant issue concerns the management of forest ecosystems within areas specifically designated for nature conservation. From the analysis of biomass data from forests in the National Parks of Italy, we found that the average forest C stock and sink per unit area is relatively higher within National Parks (81.21 and 2.18 tons ha^?1, respectively) than on the overall national territory (76.11 and 1.12 tons ha^?1 year^?1, respectively). The analysis confirms the influence of ecological conditions and management approach on C sequestration capacity. Although the results of the proposed assessment approach have to be considered as rough estimates, the trial proves interesting, given the relative lack of specific information, at least on a large scale, about C stocks and sinks within forest areas designated for nature conservation, and the direct comparison with those forest areas not designated to such an end. The C storage capacity can be enhanced by increasing the productivity of forests, minimizing the disturbance to stand structure and composition. Extending conservation strategies adopted in National Parks to other forest areas of the national territory would allow the restoration of C sequestration potential, where unsustainable management practices have degraded relatively large stocks of biomass.     

Water quality of streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Water samples from streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were analyzed for 16 physical, chemical, and bacteriological water quality parameters. Bacterial densities, pH, alkalinity, turbidity, and concentrations of Na, K, and Si were found to be higher in the low elevations than in the high. Nitrate concentrations increased with increasing elevation. Watersheds which had been logged prior to the establishment of the park had significantly lower stream water nitrate concentrations than unlogged watersheds at similar elevations. Bedrock geology was found to influence pH, alkalinity, conductivity, hardness, and concentrations of Na, K, Ca, Mg, and Si. The seasonal pattern for most water quality parameters was for higher concentrations or values in the summer and lower in the winter. Discharge was highest in the winter and spring and lowest in the summer and fall. Nitrate concentrations were highest in the late winter and early spring and lowest in the fall. Storm events often caused large changes in water quality.     

国家公园生态产品价值核算

生态产品是维系生态安全、保障生态调节功能、提供良好人居环境的自然要素,国家公园作为我国代表性生态系统、自然景观和遗产、野生动植物物种分布的重要区域,是生态产品的重要供给区域,在提供高质量调节服务和文化服务中发挥着重要作用。生态产品总值(GEP)是生态产品价值的总和,并能够客观反映生态系统状况和生态保护成效。以我国首批5处国家公园为研究对象,通过核算其2000年和2015年GEP,得出如下结论：(1)2015年国家公园总GEP为10813.6亿元,主导服务功能是水源涵养和气候调节,占总值的70.0%,单位面积GEP为652.0万元/km²,是全国均值的1.4倍。(2)三江源国家公园GEP最高(4547.7亿元),其次是大熊猫、海南热带雨林国家公园等;海南热带雨林国家公园单位面积GEP最高(5140.5万元/km²),其次是武夷山、大熊猫国家公园等。(3)2000—2015年,国家公园GEP增长1.0%,单位面积GEP基本稳定,三江源和海南热带雨林国家公园增幅较大(3.1%和1.0%),而大熊猫国家公园有所下降(-2.0%),主要与地质灾害导致的...     

粤北车八岭小红栲群落的植物区系成分分析

对粤北车八岭国家级自然保护区小红栲群落植物区系进行了分析,样地调查结果表明,该群落种类丰富,维管束植物共计有５４科,８７属１３２种。该区系的主要表征科为壳斗科Ｆａａｃｅａｅ、樟科Ｌａｕｒａｃｅａｅ、茶科Ｔｈｅａｃｅａｅ冬青科Ａｑｕｉｆｏｌｉａｃｅａｅ、木兰科Ｍａｇｎｏｌｉａｃｅａｅ杜英科Ｅｌａｅｏｃａｒｐａｃｅａｅ等。区系成分观热带亚热带成分为主。车八岭小红栲群落位于中亚热带向南亚热带过滤地。该区     

公园作为学习场所——国家公园解说和环境教育发展探讨

为游客提供教育机会在国家公园成立之初就是其核心任务之一。国家公园作为学习场所,通过提供实地体验,使公众了解这个星球的土地、自然和文化,并激励公众为公园保护建立责任意识。对美国国家公园解说和环境教育历程进行研究,分析并总结了国家公园不同发展时期解说和环境教育的经验,包括国家公园管理局发挥公园领导者的作用,建立专门的解说机构、制定政策、建立标准;联合其他机构、教育团体和社区等建立伙伴关系共同开发教育项目;各公园单元根据自身特点开发各具特色的解说设施和项目。最后提出中国国家公园应建立公园和公众教育的联结并带动其他具有重要生态和文化意义的景区,发展具有教育和激励意义的解说产品。     

Geographical patterns for relict and young species of birds in Africa and South America and implications for conservation priorities

By comparing geographical patterns of old and new species with historical and ecological processes, interpretations can be made about time patterns of diversification. Such interpretations can form a basis for developing rationales for ranking biodiversity conservation priorities. The results of the comprehensive study of avian DNA were used to compare geographical distributions in Africa and South America of species of strong Plio-Pleistocene radiations and species representing older monophyletic branches. Striking patterns, some of them overlooked so far, were found. Most old species are widespread across a physiognomic and climatic domain, such as lowland rainforests, and therefore, are not specific conservation targets. In contrast, new species have evolved in well defined places with a special local environment, in particular in ecologically equable places inside geologically complex ecotonal regions. High species richness and taxonomic diversity, where maintained over wide areas by steady habitat alteration through patch dynamics, may be easiest to protect by general reforms that integrate regional development and protection of ecosystem services, rather than by strictly site-oriented projects. Areas of active speciation, although small, may have important regulatory functions and a critical role for maintaining evolutionary fronts'. The Tropical Andes Region includes a dozen such places. There is a congruence between the occurrence of old species which have relictual distributions and aggregates of limited-range component species of recent vicariance patterns, indicating that vicariance events take place mainly by isolation in extremely ecologically stable areas. Although these places do not necessarily have the highest taxic diversity, they should be top priorities for rapid and concentrated conservation action.     

我国生物医药园区发展特点及未来发展建议

对我国生物医药园区中的108个园区进行了调研,对我国生物医药园区的发展现状有了初步的认识。经过调研发现,部分地区生物医药园区布局合理,带动区域经济健康发展。全国初步形成三大生物医药产业集群。园区成为生物医药产业发展的重要依托。最后,对我国生物医药园区发展的提出了五条建议。     

伟大的城市公园：环境、持续和连接的重要性

本文概述了《伟大的城市公园》这本专著,此书对欧洲和北美的30个公园进行了案例分析,包括其历史、原有的立地条件以及规划设计的关键人物。论证了对场地环境的认识以及建成后管理的持续性是公园兴盛的关键。阐明从城市公园始创以来,城市公园已成为城市绿色基础设施的重要要素。     

Geographic variation and plasticity of leaf shape and size in Begonia dregei and B. homonyma (Begoniaceae)

The distinction between Begonia dregei and B. homonyma has hitherto been based on differences in the shape and size of leaves. A large sample of field-collected leaves has been examined using quantitative methods to test the validity of this distinction. Comparisons of leaf shape, with and without the inclusion of size-related variables, revealed three groups with a small amount of overlap, two of which correspond to B. dregei and one to B. homonyma. Effects of environmental conditions on leaf shape and size were examined in plants from four populations grown at two light intensities and compared with field collections. Leaf size varied little with environment, while margin roughness varied with the different conditions and there was variation among populations in the magnitude and direction of responses. These results show that leaf shape and size can be used as valid discriminators of groups within this taxon. Resolution of the taxonomy of this group will require consideration of heterogeneity within each of the three groups based on leaf shape and size.     

以国家公园为主体的自然保护地体系立法思考

实现十九大报告提出的建立以国家公园为主体的自然保护地体系的改革目标需要法治保障。建设自然保护地体系涉及的不同生态系统和多个管理部门、多方利益主体, 是一个巨大的复杂系统, 需要进行整体性、系统性的立法研究。目前, 国家正在推进国家公园体制改革并已将《国家公园法》列入十三届全国人大常委会立法计划。更需要我们从自然保护地立法体系建设的高度, 正确处理《国家公园法》与未来可能制定的《自然保护地法》的关系, 在《国家公园法》制定过程中为今后出台《自然保护地法》预留空间, 并建立相应的衔接机制, 统筹谋划并协同推进国家公园法与自然保护地立法。