Beyond Tropical Forests Adoption: Contextualizing Conservation Strategies

The complexity of factors driving tropical deforestation demand integrated approaches from concerned researchers and policy makers. Strict protection is sometimes the most appropriate mode of conservation, but conservation through management is often the better option. In either case, this essay highlights the importance of considering the social/cultural, economic, and political contexts in which these forests are threatened. By attempting to understand the cultural settings, institutional architectures and dynamics, and local expectations, and then by combining the concepts and tools of a range of disciplines, researchers will be more likely to forge lasting partnerships and increase their potential for sustained improvement in resource management and overall forest conservation.     

Fragmentation,Cooperation and Power: Institutional Dynamics in Natural Resource Governance in North-Western Namibia

Contemporary theoretical accounts of common pool resource management assume that communities are able to develop institutions for sustainable resource management if they are given security of access and appropriate rights of management. In recent years comprehensive legal reforms of communal rural resource management in Namibia have sought to create an institutional framework linking the sustainable use of natural resources (game, water, forest) and rural development. The state, however, ceded rights to rural communities in an ambiguous and fragmented manner, creating a number of instances of overlapping property rights and different legal conditions for different natural resources. Nowadays communities grapple with the challenge of developing institutions for these resource-centered “new commons”. This paper describes the process of local institutional development, focusing on the challenges arising from the necessity to define group boundaries, the issues arising from monitoring and sanctioning within newly defined institutions, and the ideological underpinnings of different trajectories of communal resource management.     

A systems approach to unravel complex water management institutions

The study unravels the complexity of water management institutions by analysing the interactive nature of actors and rules to a particular water-related problem, using a systems approach in a hamlet in the Indian Himalayas. The approach builds on the strengths of institutional analysis development framework, but makes amendments to suit complex and adaptive water management institutions. It applies multiple research methods to collect both qualitative and quantitative information at different contextual levels. The information collected is applied in Bayesian belief network model to identify differential rules in influencing water management. Systems perspective in a problem context helped to comprehensively understand the socio-political process of water management by identifying broad array of actors and rules constraining water management, and at the same time identify actors and rules facilitating agents and their agency for a change in the water management process. In this socio-political process, the study reveals human entities – stakeholders, actors and agents – occupy different positions, which they actively shift in a problem context and when agents pursue ‘projects’ by integrating diverse rules and resources to remain adaptive. It is this adaptive and dynamic behaviour that contemporary programmes and policies fail to acknowledge. In this dynamic behaviour of the transformative capacity or power is everywhere, but they are displayed, maintained and upheld, only when agents pursue their ‘project’ by negotiating with other agents. The paper highlights the importance of comprehensive approach, in contrast to simplistic, linear and single package reforms to manage water. Such approach calls for conscious designing of rules and, at the same time, enabling actors to design rules. A conscious designing of rules is required to regulate water distribution, to build the capabilities of the poor, and to be adaptive to institutional and bio-physical crises. It calls for the development of infrastructures to further actors and agent's capabilities to design rules for informed water-related decisions. Such an approach will contribute towards sustainable water resource management.     

Identifying key factors,actors and relevant scales in landscape and conservation planning,management and decision making: Promoting effective citizen involvement

The paper analyses the current limitations of the constraints of decision and action processes in land-use, resource management and conservation policies and approaches, identifying their main factors, proposing alternative strategies to solve the present gaps and limitations. It identifies the need for a new paradigmatic approach based on innovative forms of involvement, commitment and individual and community rewarding systems. This approach is developed based on the characterization of the main drivers of land-use, resource management and conservation policies, namely α-perceptions (immediate and primary satisfaction) and k-perceptions (more mediate and complex consideration of satisfaction, implying long-term perceptions and collective benefits beyond the individual interests). It also analyses the effects of the introduction of new forms of income and incentives (such as trade-offs and payments for environmental services) or management approaches such as Ecological-Based Management or the use of Nature-Based Solutions. The main axioms and instruments necessary to build such a new paradigmatic approach (namely trade-offs, accountability and contractualization) are described. On this basis, it is possible to present a concept for an innovative institutional and social culture and a governance system aimed at an effective land-use, resource management and conservation policies. This governance concept is described and its sustaining individual, social and institutional drivers enunciated.     

Incentives for collecting Gaharu (fungal-infected wood ofaquilaria Spp.; thymelaeaceae) in east Kalimantan

The economic importance of gaharu is assessed in three villages on the Bahau River in north-central Borneo to gain insights about the incentives for harvesting and management of a valuable nontimber forest product. Three indicators of economic value—level and proportion of income, returns to labor, and proportion of gaharu collecting households per village—are used to demonstrate the multiple incentives that NTFP income can generate. The concept of incentive logic is developed as an analytical technique to show how economic values can be linked to incentives for different types of management actions. The article discusses how incentives from gaharu income were most likely linked to the stake local people had in the resource, their preferences about which forest product to harvest, and their willingness to engage in collective action. These incentives contributed to sustainability to the extent they induced actions that reduce threats to the resource. The article suggests that an understanding of the influence of economic incentives on people’s resource management can be improved by recognizing three factors: the multiple incentives created by an income, the logical link of those incentives to a management action, and the influence of other sociocultural and biophysical factors on management.     

The Role of Habitat Complexity in Community Development Is Mediated by Resource Availability

Habitat complexity strongly affects the structure and dynamics of ecological communities, with increased complexity often leading to greater species diversity and abundance. However, habitat complexity changes as communities develop, and some species alter their environment to themselves provide habitat for other species. Most experimental studies manipulate basal substrate complexity, and while the importance of complexity likely changes during community development, few studies have examined the temporal dynamics of this variable. We used two experiments to quantify the importance of basal substrate complexity to sessile marine invertebrate community development through space and time. First, we compared effects of substrate complexity at 70 sites across ten estuaries. Sites differed in recruitment and community development rates, and after three months provided spatial variation in community development stage. Second, we tested for effects of substrate complexity at multiple times at a single site. In both experiments, complexity affected marine sessile invertebrate community composition in the early stages of community development when resource availability was high. Effects of complexity diminished through time as the amount of available space (the primary limiting resource) declined. Our work suggests the presence of a bare-space threshold, at which structural complexity of the basal substrate is overwhelmed by secondary biotic complexity. This threshold will be met at different times depending on local recruitment and growth rates and is likely to vary with productivity gradients.     

Local Ecological Knowledge and Institutional Dynamics for Ecosystem Management: A Study of Lake Racken Watershed, Sweden

The sustainable use of resources requires that management practices and institutions take into account the dynamics of the ecosystem. In this paper, we explore the role of local ecological knowledge and show how it is used in management practices by a local fishing association in a contemporary rural Swedish community. We focus on the local management of crayfish, a common-pool resource, and also address the way crayfish management is linked to institutions at different levels of Swedish society. Methods from the social sciences were used for information gathering, and the results were analyzed within the framework of ecosystem management. We found that the practices of local fishing association resemble an ecosystem approach to crayfish management. Our results indicate that local users have substantial knowledge of resource and ecosystem dynamics from the level of the individual crayfish to that of the watershed, as reflected in a variety of interrelated management practices embedded in and influenced by institutions at several levels. We propose that this policy of monitoring at several levels simultaneously, together with the interpretation of a bundle of indicators and associated management responses, enhances the possibility of building ecological resilience into the watershed. Furthermore, we found that flexibility and adaptation are required to avoid command-and-control pathways of resource management. We were able to trace the development of the local fishing association as a response to crisis, followed by the creation of an opportunity for reorganization and the recognition of slow ecosystem structuring variables, and also to define the role of knowledgeable individuals in the whole process. We discuss the key roles of adaptive capacity, institutional learning, and institutional memory for successful ecosystem management and conclude that scientific adaptive management could benefit from a more explicit collaboration with flexible community-based systems of resource management for the implementation of policies as experiments. Received 26 April 2000; accepted 13 October 2000.     

Institutions and incentives for biodiversity conservation

Incentive measures for biodiversity conservation cannot be evaluated and compared outside the context of institutional performance and relationships. The institutional framework for biodiversity incentives includes a variety of organizations operating on different spatial scales. The institutional actors with an impact on biodiversity include community groups, local and national governmental structures, NGOs, business enterprises and international organizations. But the positve influence of conservation-oriented organizations is often significantly outweighed by the negative influence of other sets of institutional actors who are largely unaware of biodiversity as a concept and not unduly concerned with its conservation. There are several options for improving the institutional framework for biodiversity incentives: (1) decentralization of resource management decision making to local levels; (2) engaging and reorienting government institutions; (3) establishing new national and international institutions; and (4) establishing functional linkages between key institutional actors. The role of local, national and international institutions in designing and implementing effective incentive measures for biodiversity conservation will be critical. But the dynamics within and between institutional actors influencing biodiversity conservation are complex, variable and insufficiently understood, somewhat like biodiversity itself.     

Do-not-resuscitate policy on acute geriatric wards in Flanders, Belgium

This study describes the historical development and status of a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) policy on acute geriatric wards in Flanders, Belgium. In 2002 (the year Belgium voted a law on euthanasia), a structured mail questionnaire was sent to all head geriatricians of acute geriatric wards in Flanders (N=94). Respondents were asked about the existence, development, and implementation of the DNR policy (guidelines and order forms). The response was 76.6%. Development of DNR policy began in 1985, with a step-up in 1997 and 200l. In 2002, a DNR policy was available in 86.1% of geriatric wards, predominantly with institutional DNR guidelines and individual, patient-specific DNR order forms. The policy was initiated and developed predominantly from an institutional perspective by the hospital. The forms were not standardized and generally lacked room to document patient involvement in the decision making process. Implementation of institutional DNR guidelines and individual DNR order forms on geriatric wards in Flanders lagged behind that of other countries and was still incomplete in 2002. DNR policies varied in content and scope and were predominantly an expression of institutional defensive attitudes rather than a tool to promote patient involvement in DNR and other end-of-life decisions.     

Institutions,Biophysical Factors and History: An Integrative Analysis of Private and Common Property Forests in Guatemala and Honduras

Attention to institutional arrangements has become integral to research on forest management and conservation. While strong institutions typically are associated with better forest conditions, few institutional studies have evaluated the influence of underlying biophysical factors on forest conditions. Our research compared institutional arrangements and forest conditions across nine forests in Guatemala and Honduras while accounting for biophysical characteristics. Statistical analyses found that soil nitrogen concentration, annual temperature, and annual rainfall were positively correlated with better forest conditions. Better forest conditions were in turn associated with stronger institutions. In part, the results suggest that the biophysical characteristics most favorable for high productivity, given the socioeconomic context, constitute an incentive for strong institutions. One common-property forest presented strong institutions with very good forest conditions, but stronger institutions and better forest conditions in this region typically occur with private property. The situation reflects historical contexts that have supported private property and undermined common property. The findings indicate that efforts to improve natural resource management should recognize the biophysical factors and historical contexts that facilitate or constrain strong institutions.     

Groundwater: the processes and global significance of aquifer degradation

The exploitation of groundwater resources for human use dates from the earliest civilizations, but massive resource development has been largely restricted to the past 50 years. Although global in scope, the emphasis of this paper is on groundwater-based economies in a developing nation context, where accelerated resource development has brought major social and economic benefits over the past 20 years. This results from groundwater's significant role in urban water supply and in rural livelihoods, including irrigated agriculture. However, little of the economic benefit of resource development has been reinvested in groundwater management, and concerns about aquifer degradation and resource sustainability began to arise. A general review, for a broad-based audience, is given of the mechanisms and significance of three semi-independent facets of aquifer degradation. These are (i) depletion of aquifer storage and its effects on groundwater availability, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems; (ii) groundwater salinization arising from various different processes of induced hydraulic disturbance and soil fractionation; and (iii) vulnerability of aquifers to pollution from land-use and effluent discharge practices related to both urban development and agricultural intensification. Globally, data with which to assess the status of aquifer degradation are of questionable reliability, inadequate coverage and poor compilation. Recourse has to be made to 'type examples' and assumptions about the extension of similar hydrogeological settings likely to be experiencing similar conditions of groundwater demand and subsurface contaminant load. It is concluded that (i) aquifer degradation is much more than a localized problem because the sustainability of the resource base for much of the rapid socio-economic development of the second half of the twentieth century is threatened on quite a widespread geographical basis; and (ii) major (and long overdue) investments in groundwater resource and quality protection are urgently needed. These investments include appropriate institutional provisions, demand-side management, supply-side enhancement and pollution control.     

Implementatie van niet-reanimeerbeleid op afdelingen acute geriatrie van Vlaamse ziekenhuizen in 2002 nog niet voltooid

Do-Not-Resuscitate Policy on Acute Geriatric Wards in Flanders, Belgium. This study describes the historical development and status of a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) policy on acute geriatric wards in Flanders, Belgium. In 2002 (the year Belgium voted a law on euthanasia), a structured mail questionnaire was sent to all head geriatricians of acute geriatric wards in Flanders (N=94). Respondents were asked about the existence, development, and implementation of the DNR policy (guidelines and order forms). The response was 76.6%. Development of DNR policy began in 1985, with a step-up in 1997 and 2001. In 2002, a DNR policy was available in 86.1% of geriatric wards, predominantly with institutional DNR guidelines and individual, patient-specific DNR order forms. The policy was initiated and developed predominantly from an institutional perspective by the hospital. The forms were not standardized and generally lacked room to document patient involvement in the decision making process. Implementation of institutional DNR guidelines and individual DNR order forms on geriatric wards in Flanders lagged behind that of other countries and was still incomplete in 2002. DNR policies varied in content and scope and were predominantly an expression of institutional defensive attitudes rather than a tool to promote patient involvement in DNR and other end-of-life decisions. Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatr 2007; 38: 246-254     

Valuing the rain forest: Economic strategies by small-scale forest extractivists in the Amazon estuary

The current interest in non-timber forest products as an economic option for the Brazilian Amazon represents a radical departure from the policies that have guided development in the region during recent decades. Despite this interest, little is currently known about the forms of resource management or economic strategies practiced by populations dependent on such resources. In this study, we measured the annual income and expenditures of ten households on Combu Island, located in the Amazon estuary near the major port city of Belém; in addition, we documented local uses and management of natural resources on the island Average annual income per household was found to be over U.S. $4000, derived primarily from the harvest and sale of non-timber forest products. The results of this study show that the combination of proximity to a major market and appropriate resource management can lead to high and apparently sustainable economic returns.Formerly Senior Researcher at the Museu Paraense Emílio GoeldiFormerly Student Fellow at the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi     

Freshwater for resilience: a shift in thinking

Humanity shapes freshwater flows and biosphere dynamics from a local to a global scale. Successful management of target resources in the short term tends to alienate the social and economic development process from its ultimate dependence on the life-supporting environment. Freshwater becomes transformed into a resource for optimal management in development, neglecting the multiple functions of freshwater in dynamic landscapes and its fundamental role as the bloodstream of the biosphere. The current tension of these differences in worldview is exemplified through the recent development of modern aquaculture contrasted with examples of catchment-based stewardship of freshwater flows in dynamic landscapes. In particular, the social and institutional dimension of catchment management is highlighted and features of social-ecological systems for resilience building are presented. It is concluded that this broader view of freshwater provides the foundation for hydrosolidarity.     

The influence of variation in litter habitats on spider communities

Summary Spider communities were sampled over an artificial gradient of litter depth (created by raking) and compared to those of two other forests exhibiting natural variation in litter depth. More species of spiders were present in areas of greater depth and/or complexity in all sites. Relative abundance of Lycosidae decreased, while relative abundance of Clubionidae, Thomisidae and Gnaphosidae increased over gradients of increasing depth and complexity. Similarity of species composition between areas within a forest was related to site differences in litter depth and structure.As litter depth increased, there were significant changes in prey species richness, litter complexity, and microclimate. Partial correlation analysis of grouped data from early-, mid-, and late season suggests that influential factors change with season. In the early season, prey abundance and temperature variation account for most of the variation in spider species richness. In mid-season, litter complexity and moisture fluctuations appear to influence richness, with complexity relatively more important. In late season, complexity and temperature range were the primary factors, with temperature relatively more influential. The relative importance of these factors in influencing community structure of spiders is discussed.     

Text mining analysis of institutional fit of Lake Basin water governance

The purpose of this work was to quantitatively determine the institutional fit of the existing and applicable water governance laws in the Songkhla Lake Basin (SLB) Thailand, using text mining analysis. The study found out that the current governance system is not fit for the purpose of the sustainability of the SLB. Data derived from text mining were able to show the weakness in the applicable/relevant water governance laws and such challenges in enforcement and compliance. Institutional priorities were identified and compared to management response to issues concerning SLB; this imbalance showed another challenge to fit. The results of this study further buttressed the need for institutional reforms towards an Adaptive Integrated Lake Basin Management (AILBM). The general assessment of degree of recognition and involvement of institutions, overlaps, gaps, institutional priorities and response to resource management show a clear picture of misfit of the water laws used to govern the SLB. To achieve institutional fit, future institutional reforms should be based on the principles of AILBM and the development of institutions that are capable of creating a singular coordinating and policy harmonization committee to clearly identify roles and responsibilities and delineate functions with appropriate management response to the socio-ecological system of the SLB.     

Advances, challenges and a developing synthesis of ecological community assembly theory

Ecological approaches to community assembly have emphasized the interplay between neutral processes, niche-based environmental filtering and niche-based species sorting in an interactive milieu. Recently, progress has been made in terms of aligning our vocabulary with conceptual advances, assessing how trait-based community functional parameters differ from neutral expectation and assessing how traits vary along environmental gradients. Experiments have confirmed the influence of these processes on assembly and have addressed the role of dispersal in shaping local assemblages. Community phylogenetics has forged common ground between ecologists and biogeographers, but it is not a proxy for trait-based approaches. Community assembly theory is in need of a comparative synthesis that addresses how the relative importance of niche and neutral processes varies among taxa, along environmental gradients, and across scales. Towards that goal, we suggest a set of traits that probably confer increasing community neutrality and regionality and review the influences of stress, disturbance and scale on the importance of niche assembly. We advocate increasing the complexity of experiments in order to assess the relative importance of multiple processes. As an example, we provide evidence that dispersal, niche processes and trait interdependencies have about equal influence on trait-based assembly in an experimental grassland.     

国家级生物大数据中心展望

大数据时代下,科学大数据已经成为科技创新和社会经济发展的新动力。我国是生物数据生产大国,生命大数据是人口健康和国家安全的重要战略资源。面对我国生物数据因存储零散、缺乏系统监管而大量丢失和流失,以及严重依赖国际生物组学大数据中心的局面,亟需从国家层面建设我国自己的生命大数据保存和管理体系。本文以美国NCBI为例介绍了国际生物大数据中心的发展历程及现状,阐明我国建立国家级生物大数据中心的重要性、迫切性、当前历史机遇和发展前景。中国科学院北京基因组研究所生命与健康大数据中心为此做了大量努力,并在数据存储、汇交和转化应用上取得了阶段性成果,以期推进我国生物大数据中心的建设,提高生命科学研究的国际竞争力和影响力。     

基于民族生态学视角的哈尼梯田农业生态系统水资源管理

作为山地农业的典型模式之一,哈尼梯田以其悠久历史和文化景观成为世界文化遗产和全球重要农业文化遗产。哈尼梯田农业生态系统的成功之处在于有效的水资源管理,但对其制度建设和生态文化内涵的综合分析尚待完善。基于民族生态学视角,结合生态学、民族学等自然科学和社会科学的理论与方法,对哈尼梯田水资源管理的制度建设及其生态文化内涵进行解读。研究表明,哈尼族社区通过以涵养和分配为核心的水资源管理制度建设完美地解决了水资源时空分布不均这一难题,而以迁徙文化、宗教文化、习惯法以及传统知识为支柱构建的生态文化体系则是保障水资源管理制度建设和有效实施的生态文化内涵。哈尼梯田水资源管理的制度建设与生态文化理念对于应对气候变化、促进农业可持续发展以及完善我国的水资源管理制度理论体系具有重要的借鉴价值。     

The temperature‐size rule in Daphnia magna across different genetic lines and ontogenetic stages: Multiple patterns and mechanisms

Ectotherms tend to grow faster, but reach a smaller size when reared under warmer conditions. This temperature‐size rule (TSR) is a widespread phenomenon. Despite the generality of this pattern, no general explanation has been found. We therefore tested the relative importance of two proposed mechanisms for the TSR: (1) a stronger increase in development rate relative to growth rate at higher temperatures, which would cause a smaller size at maturity, and (2) resource limitation placing stronger constraints on growth in large individuals at higher temperatures, which would cause problems with attaining a large size in warm conditions. We raised Daphnia magna at eight temperatures to assess their size at maturity, asymptotic size, and size of their offspring. We used three clonal lines that differed in asymptotic size and growth rate. A resource allocation model was developed and fitted to our empirical data to explore the effect of both mechanisms for the TSR. The genetic lines of D. magna showed different temperature dependence of growth and development rates resulting in different responses for size at maturity. Also, at warm temperatures, growth was constrained in large, but not in small individuals. The resource allocation model could fit these empirical data well. Based on our empirical results and model explorations, the TSR of D. magna at maturity is best explained by a stronger increase in development rate relative to growth rate at high temperature, and the TSR at asymptotic size is best explained by a size‐dependent and temperature‐dependent constraint on growth, although resource limitation could also affect size at maturity. In conclusion, the TSR can take different forms for offspring size, size at maturity, and asymptotic size and each form can arise from its own mechanism, which could be an essential step toward finding a solution to this century‐old puzzle.