Changing attitudes in nature conservation: the Nature Conservancy and Nature Conservancy Council

An official organization responsible for ecological research and nature conservation was formed in 1949. This paper traces its development and vicissitudes, first as an independent Nature Conservancy, then as a part of the Natural Environment Research Council, and finally as the Nature Conservancy Council. Much has been achieved: ecology is now a household word; there is a strong voluntary tide for nature conservation in the country; and there have been notable achievements in practical conservation. But the dangers to nature in Britain have proved to be much greater than anticipated.     

尤溪县生物多样性保护优先地区分析

选择人类活动频繁的常绿阔叶林林区具有代表性的福建尤溪县进行了生物多样性保护的优先性分析。在多次实地调查基础上,利用野生动物野外实地样带调查数据,已有的珍稀淑危鸟,兽和植物物种的分布资料,同时结合利用地理信息系统软件ARC/INFO数字化1：10万林相图和1：5万地形图,建立了基于GIS的尤溪县生物多样性信息系统,然后根据物种多样性,珍稀濒危物种保护和生态系统保护目标,确立了保护优先性分析原则,即珍稀濒危物种尽可能包含在保护区和保护小区内,同时在优先保护区尽可能包含更多的其它物种,用最新的森林分布图及调查物种分布与生境关系,生态系统在保护物种与生态系统功能等方面的作用等,提出了生态系统的保护优先地区,将提出保护优先地区与已建保护小区和保护点分布图进行叠加分析表明,保护小区和保护点的方法是保护珍稀濒危物种的有效方法,但是需要考虑保护小区之间的联系,在对大型哺乳动物保护时需要建立面积较大的自然保护区,最后,提出了建立自然保护区规划。     

Achieving True Sustainability of Zoo Populations

For the last 30 years, cooperative management of irreplaceable animal populations in zoos and aquariums has focused primarily on the goal of minimizing genetic decay within defined time frames, and large advances have been made in technologies to optimize genetic management of closed populations. However, recent analyses have shown that most zoo programs are not projected to meet their stated goals. This has been described as a lack of achieving “sustainability” of the populations, yet by definition a goal of managed decay is not a plan for sustainability. True sustainability requires management of the resource in manner that does not deplete its value for the future. Achieving such sustainability for many managed populations may require changing from managing isolated populations to managing populations that are part of a broader metapopulation, with carefully considered exchange between populations across a spectrum of ex situ to in situ. Managing zoo populations as components of comprehensive conservation strategies for the species will require research on determinants of various kinds of genetic, physiological, behavioral, and morphological variation and their roles in population viability, development of an array of management techniques and tools, training of population managers in metapopulation management and integrated conservation planning, and projections of impacts of management strategies on the viability of the captive populations and all populations that are interactively managed or affected. Such a shift in goals and methods would result in zoo population management being an ongoing part of species conservation rather than short‐term or isolated from species conservation. Zoo Biol. 32:19‐26, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Modelling of fossil and contemporary data suggest the Broad-toothed rat (Mastacomys fuscus) currently occupies a small part of its available climatic niche: Implications of paleontological data for conservation of a threatened species

We use fossil, sub-fossil and contemporary records of the Broad-toothed rat, Mastacomys fuscus, to model changes in its range over the last 21 thousand years. Mastacomys fuscus was exposed to, and flourished in, a much broader range of environmental conditions in the recent past than it occupies today. It also currently occupies a much smaller range than it did in the Late Pleistocene. Apart from a weak response to sea-level rise in the Holocene, the decline of M. fuscus does not correlate with known climate change. Instead, the contraction of the species' distribution on mainland Australia to high-elevation areas occurred recently and rapidly. Small changes in the 1000 year BP and present-day projected distributions imply some contraction of the area of suitable climate to higher elevations of the mainland subspecies M. f. mordicus, up to 2200 m above sea level. However, M. f. mordicus also persists near sea level at Cape Otway (southwestern Victoria) and from sea level to 1500 m above sea level at Barrington Tops (eastern New South Wales, Australia). This suggests suitable habitat may still exist in coastal Victoria and the central Tablelands/Blue Mountains areas. This research highlights the importance and value of using sub-fossil data to understand changes in the distribution and niche occupation of threatened species as the basis for conservation planning.     

生物保护的经济学

生物保护研究已经从保护生物学发展到保护生态学,在社会经济因素对自然保护影响日益广泛深刻的今天,我们应该更加主动地从经济学角度进行生物多样性保护。建立自然保护区是生物多样性就地保护的重要措施之一。目前的自然保护区管理研究基本上是以生物学和生态学为主,缺乏系统的经济学考虑,导致一些自然保护区的管理效果不理想,可持续性受到威胁。本文在回顾生物保护的相关经济学研究的同时,提出保护经济学的概念和研究框架,以期为自然保护区的经济管理提供一种新思路,为管理部门的保护投资决策提供支持。     

Reasons for the loss and degradation of Australian wetlands

Wetland conservation and management in Australia is not supported by a comprehensive information base. A national inventory has not been compiled and we have very little information on the areal extent and loss of wetlands. Further, we have little information on the values and benefits (products, functions and attributes) derived from wetlands and how these have been degraded or lost. We do know, however, that in some areas at least, wetland loss and degradation has been severe and may even be still occurring. Much of the scientific attention to wetland management has been directed towards the apparent (or ecological) reasons for wetland loss and degradation – changes to the water regime, physical modification of the habitat, eutrophication and other pollution, and invasion by exotic pest species. Lists of threats to wetlands have been compiled, but these rarely address the non-ecological reasons that have resulted in so many wetlands being lost or degraded. In this paper we summarize the key points made from a number of case studies of Australian wetlands that highlight the non-ecological causes of wetland loss and degradation. From this analysis we conclude that awareness and understanding about the non-ecological causes of wetland loss and degradation need to be as well understood as the ecological causes. Foremost amongst these we highlight greater attention to the following issues: economic development in wetlands, bureaucratic obstacles, lack of information or poor access to information, and poor general awareness of the values and benefits derived from wetlands. We further conclude that wetland loss and degradation does not need to happen – our wetlands are valuable and already severely degraded. For this situation to be rectified we need to ensure that the knowledge and expertise of wetland scientists is heard and heeded by decision-makers and wetland users and owners.     

Crane reproductive physiology and conservation

Some unique features of crane reproduction, management, and conservation are described. Because cranes are sexually monomorphic, sexing is difficult and must be accomplished using behavior, laparoscopy, cloacal examination, genetic techniques, or fecal steroid analysis. Although husbandry techniques for cranes are similar to those used with other nondomestic birds, a number of basic characteristics, such as extreme aggressiveness, imprinting by the crane chick on man, a delayed molt in the immature crane, delayed sexual maturity, and infertility, pose special problems for the propagator. Artificial insemination is a practical solution to crane infertility. Vigorous captive management and propagation efforts must become increasingly important if several endangered crane species are to survive the continuing decline in wild populations. The ultimate goal is the restoration of suitable habitat and sustainable native populations.     

Founder contribution and pedigree inference in a captive breeding colony of lion-tailed macaques,using mitochondrial DNA and DNA fingerprint analyses

Captive colony genetic management is dependent on knowledge of the colony pedigree. In most zoos, records for colonies held prior to the past decade are incomplete or nonexistent. We have used a nested set of molecular techniques to infer genetic relationships in a colony of 15 lion-tailed macaques after twenty years of unmonitored reproduction. The troop was first divided into lines of matrilineal descent using mitochondrial DNA RFLP patterns. Paternity and maternity were then assigned on the basis of DNA fingerprint analysis. As mtDNA is maternally inherited, it is of no use in paternity assessment, but enabled subdivision of the colony into maternal lines. DNA fingerprinting would have been of little use by itself because of high levels of relatedness in several generations of offspring within the colony. The combination of the two techniques, however, enabled strong inference of both paternity and maternity in all cases. These data were instrumental in the inclusion of this troop in the AAZPA Species Survival Plan.     

Potential expansion in the spatial distribution of subtropical and temperate west Australian sharks

Fishery-dependent and -independent data collected since 1975 were examined to explore the spatial distribution of 30 shark and ray species in the west coast of Australia. Bigeye sixgill (Hexanchus nakamurai), tiger (Galeocerdo cuvier) and spinner (Carcarhinus brevipinna) sharks, and scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) were observed >1000 and 300 km to the east of the edge of their reported distributions. Broadnose sevengill sharks (Notorhyncus cepedianus) and southern sawsharks (Pristiophorus nudipinnis) were observed >1000 km to the west of the edge of their reported distributions. Our study highlights the value of collecting and examining long time-series of data for understanding the spatial distribution of large marine predators.     

Looking where it's hard to see: a case study documenting rare Eucyclogobius newberryi presence in a California lagoon

Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis is increasingly used for biomonitoring and research of fish populations and communities by environmental resource managers and academic researchers. Although managers are much interested in expanding the use of eDNA as a survey technique, they are sceptical about both its utility (given that information is often limited to presence/absence of a species) and feasibility (given the need for proper laboratory facilities for sample processing). Nonetheless, under the right circumstances, eDNA analysis is cost-effective compared to many traditional aquatic survey methods and does not disturb habitat or harm the animals being surveyed. This article presents a case study in which eDNA analysis was successfully used to document the presence of a rare fish species in a waterway earmarked for restoration. The authors discuss the conditions that allowed this study to occur quickly and smoothly and speculate on how the goals of researchers and managers can be integrated for efficient and informative use of this tool.     

Lethal 1080 baiting continues to reduce European Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) abundance after more than 25 years of continuous use in south‐west Western Australia

European Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) baiting with 1080 poison (sodium fluoroacetate) is undertaken in many Australian sites to reduce fox abundance and to protect vulnerable native species from predation. The longest continuous use of fox baiting for fauna conservation commenced in south‐west Western Australia in the 1980s and includes baiting Dryandra Woodland and Tutanning Nature Reserve. The trap success of the Woylie (Bettongia penicillata) in these two reserves initially increased more than 20‐fold after the commencement of baiting and was maintained until 2000. Woylie captures then decreased rapidly, despite ongoing fox baiting, so the long‐term efficacy of 1080 baiting was questioned. Here, fox density and probabilities of detection, re‐detection and survival between replicated baited and unbaited sites were compared by modelling capture–recapture of individual foxes. These were identified from microsatellite DNA genotypes obtained non‐invasively from hair, scat and saliva samples. The frequency and duration of fox residencies were also quantified. Remote cameras were used to determine the fate of baits but uptake by foxes was low, whereas nontarget species' bait uptake was high. Nevertheless, foxes inhabiting baited reserves had significantly higher mortality, shorter residency times, and 80% lower density than foxes inhabiting unbaited reserves. Baiting continues to significantly reduce fox abundance after more than 25 years of continuous use. This has positive implications for fox control programmes throughout Australia but reduced fox abundance may facilitate increased predation by feral Cats (Felis catus).     

Ecosystem stability and resilience: a review of their relevance for the conservation management of lowland heaths

Ecosystem stability and the response of ecosystems to disturbance are of crucial importance for conservation management, especially when the object is to maintain and/or to restore early-successional communities. This paper provides a selective review of ecosystem stability from a conservation perspective. Existing models of ecosystem resilience are discussed in relation to the management of successional habitats. A multivariate model for measuring stability and resilience based on Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) is outlined. The criteria for the model to work are explained and the model is tested on vegetation and soil data from the Dorset Heaths. The model provides a mechanism for bringing together measurements of both structure (species composition) and function (ecosystem properties, both biotic and abiotic), to measure stability and resilience of ecosystems. The model can also be used to measure the success of management in restoring communities and to provide information to conservation policy makers and land managers.     

黄河流域水鸟保护优先区及空缺

黄河流域为迁徙水鸟提供重要的繁殖地、越冬地和停歇地。然而,黄河流域正面临着农业开垦、城市化、水资源分布不均等一系列的生态安全问题,威胁迁徙水鸟种群及其栖息地稳定性。因此,识别黄河流域重要的水鸟栖息地分布区域,分析当前的保护现状对于开展水鸟及栖息地保护至关重要。以黄河流域为研究区,搜集整合来自国内外观鸟网站(eBird、全球生物多样性信息库(GBIF)和中国观鸟记录中心(BirdReport))、文献和水鸟调查报告中的水鸟调查数据,沿用三个国际上通用的水鸟重要栖息地识别标准,确定了黄河流域水鸟保护优先区。在此基础上,使用水鸟栖息地重要性指数确定水鸟保护优先区保护优先等级,结合国家自然保护地名录,分析水鸟保护优先区保护空缺状况。结果显示:黄河流域共有47个水鸟保护优先区,主要分布在黄河流域中游和下游,其中河南省和山东省水鸟保护优先区较多。满足水鸟保护优先区识别标准的水鸟共14种,其中,极危物种有2个,濒危物种有1个,易危物种有5个。水鸟保护优先区保护优先等级处于I、II和III类的分别有2个、8个和37个。有20个水鸟保护优先区处于保护空缺状态,占总数的42.55%,主要集中在黄河中游和下游,其中,水鸟保护优先等级处于I类或II类的地块有3个,建议将这些保护空缺地以自然保护区、保护小区或国家公园形式纳入湿地保护地体系,并加强长期监测。     

Grasshopper response to a 40-year experimental burning and mowing regime, with recommendations for invertebrate conservation management

Grasshopper assemblages were sampled in 44 plots in each of three adjacent sites in a 40-year-old southern tall grassland experimental area in South Africa. Specific plots received particular mowing and/or burning treatments over the 40-year period. Grasshopper responses to vegetation type, and to different burning and mowing practices, were site-specific, despite the close proximity of sites. This suggests that grasshopper assemblage composition is not entirely deterministic and depends on the trajectory of plant succession. Grasshopper species richness and abundance decreased from annually to triennially burnt plots, and increased in plots mown once per year to plots mown three times per year. Burning in the first week of August (winter) was more favourable for grasshopper assemblages than burning in autumn or after the first spring rains. Mean grasshopper species richness was highest in plots mown after the first spring rains, and the mean number of individuals was highest i n plots mown early in summer. When annually burnt plots were compared with annually mown plots, grasshopper abundance and species richness were highest in the burnt plots. A rotational winter burning programme, which is practical under African conditions, is recommended for the conservation of grasshoppers and other invertebrates.     

生物多样性资源：利用、保护与管理

生物多样性在本质上是一种具有多重价值,高度综合的资源形式,是人类社会生存与发展的物质基础,在人类社会发展过程中,生物多样性资源利用与保护之间日益表现为彼此冲突的特征,但并非不可调和。本文认为,协调二者关系,实现生物多样性资源可持续利用和区域社会经济可持续发展的根本途径是生物多样性资源管理,它由主体层,客体层和目标层构成,应该具备主体多元化,参与的广泛性,过程的动态性与持续性,尺度性与地域性和公平性等基本特征,主体层是由以人为核心的各种组织形式构成的,是从社会经济系统中分化出来的一个职能层次;客体层也就是管理的对象层,是生物多样性资源系统和社会经济系统的耦合体,目标层包括生物多样性资源的可持续利用,生态文明的构建与发展和区域社会经济的可持续发展,生态文明是生物多样性资源可持续利用和区域社会可持续发展的根本保障,其中,主体层和客体层构成了生物多样性资源管理的实体部分,而目标层则是生物多样性资源管理的参照体系,生物多样性资源管理包括管理范围界定,问题辨识,目标确定,政策制定与方案运筹,实施,监测与评价,适应性调整6个基本步骤,是一个复杂的多层次动态反馈过程,这一过程中,科学研究发挥着非常重要的作用,因此应该在加强生物多样性科学研究的同时融合科学与管理的关系,使科学成果真正转化成效的管理行为。     

Usefulness of molecular markers for detecting population bottlenecks via monitoring genetic change

It is important to detect population bottlenecks in threatened and managed species because bottlenecks can increase the risk of population extinction. Early detection is critical and can be facilitated by statistically powerful monitoring programs for detecting bottleneck-induced genetic change. We used Monte Carlo computer simulations to evaluate the power of the following tests for detecting genetic changes caused by a severe reduction in a population's effective size ( N _e): a test for loss of heterozygosity, two tests for loss of alleles, two tests for change in the distribution of allele frequencies, and a test for small N _e based on variance in allele frequencies (the 'variance test'). The variance test was most powerful; it provided an 85% probability of detecting a bottleneck of size N _e = 10 when monitoring five microsatellite loci and sampling 30 individuals both before and one generation after the bottleneck. The variance test was almost 10-times more powerful than a commonly used test for loss of heterozygosity, and it allowed for detection of bottlenecks before 5% of a population's heterozygosity had been lost. The second most powerful tests were generally the tests for loss of alleles. However, these tests had reduced power for detecting genetic bottlenecks caused by skewed sex ratios. We provide guidelines for the number of loci and individuals needed to achieve high-power tests when monitoring via the variance test. We also illustrate how the variance test performs when monitoring loci that have widely different allele frequency distributions as observed in five wild populations of mountain sheep ( Ovis canadensis ).     

Managed and unmanaged floral margins for the conservation of bee communities in intensive agricultural areas

Floral resources on crop field margins are a well-accepted measure to increase bee abundance in agricultural landscapes. However, studies have mainly focused on managed margins, while studies on the effect of unmanaged floral margins for the conservation of bees are still scarce. This work aims to test and compare the effects of three types of floral margins (managed herbaceous, managed shrubby, and unmanaged herbaceous) on the abundance and diversity of bees in order to propose a management strategy for the conservation of pollinating insects. Bee abundance was recorded by visual samplings in plots of 2 × 2 square meters over two years in the three margin types in four localities in southern Spain. The diversity of plant species and the flowers they supported were measured to explain the associated bee communities. Differences in the relative abundances of bee families and the number and abundance of bee genera were observed between margin types. Andrenidae was generally more abundant in the herbaceous margins regardless of whether these were managed or not. With the exception of the Halictidae, the majority of bees families (wild Apidae, Apis mellifera, Colletidae and Megachilidae) were more abundant in the managed than unmanaged margins. Moreover, the number of bee genera was higher in managed than in unmanaged margins. In addition, here we show that managed margins supported at least 30% more rare bee genera than unmanaged margins, highlighting the importance of floral margins management for the enhancement and conservation of bee communities, restoring habitat and food resources for pollinators across the Mediterranean agricultural landscape.     

我国生物多样性保护自然-社会科学交叉融合与发展

保护科学前沿研究重视克服单一学科的局限而向超越自然科学和社会科学跨学科交叉融合转型。基于世界自然保护联盟-世界保护区委员会(IUCN-WCPA)自然保护地管理有效性框架,从规划制定、执行和评估三个方面系统梳理了我国保护科学的研究进展,分析了保护自然科学和社会科学在研究内容、方法和视角等方面的差异,识别出潜在的跨学科综合研究领域。结果表明,我国保护自然科学与社会科学研究大多相互独立、缺乏融合协作,少有的跨学科研究在整体性、系统性、兼容性、深入性和规范性上有待提高。自然科学家在介入社会科学研究时缺乏对现实制度的科学理解,所提出的保护政策和行动建议偏向理想主义,阻碍保护科学跨学科知识生产;社会科学家则缺乏自然科学方法和数据的知识积累,所提出的政策和行动建议脱离事实和证据,偏向主观主义,不利于保护科学知识进步。为此,构建了基于自然保护地适应性管理逻辑下的保护科学跨学科整合框架,以推动保护科学共同话语的形成,实现社会与生态的耦合协调发展。     

Why monitoring often fails to inform adaptive management: a case study

Monitoring that facilitates adaptive management requires us to link observed changes in resource condition with management actions. Here, we present a case study to discuss how monitoring should be undertaken so it can facilitate adaptive management. Drawing on monitoring data collected by landholders as part of an incentive programme for native vegetation conservation on private land, we examined whether it was possible to determine to what extent changes in native vegetation condition were affected by funded management actions. Using a simple statistical technique (linear regression), we were unable to find strong links between the intended natural resource management (NRM) outcomes and funded management actions because (i) we could only use data from 22% of the 55 monitored sites as most data sheets were incomplete; (ii) sampling was undertaken in different seasons making it difficult to distinguish change due to management from change due to natural variability; and (iii) management actions were recorded in a generic way only, and not monitored through time, thus making it difficult to link observed changes in vegetation condition to on‐ground management. We suggest that monitoring programmes will only inform adaptive management where NRM bodies can prosecute (i) sampling designs that enable change as a result of management to be distinguished from change due to natural variability, and (ii) protocols that provide consistent data capture between sites and through time.     

The role of the National Trust in the conservation of British butterflies

The National Trust is of paramount importance in the conservation of butterflies in the UK on account of the scale of its land holding and its ability to manage habitats beneficially. Fifty two of the fifty four species currently regarded as resident in Britain occur on Trust land. The Trust has major responsibilities for the conservation of all bar one of the British rarities, and is of special significance in the conservation of the high brown fritillary and heath fritillary, two protected species. The Trust owns some 35 areas (many of which are large) of national importance for butterflies, plus much other property where the butterfly fauna is of regional importance. The Trust is implementing many dynamic projects aimed at conserving rare species, maintains a butterfly site data base and is developing a butterfly population monitoring programme. It is well placed to address the key issue of butterfly conservation on a metapopulation scale. To do this, it must work in partnership with other conservation organizations.