Science, Art, or Application—the "Karma" of Restoration Ecology

The present state of restoration ecology is far away from Bradshaw’s “acid test for ecology.” The conclusions drawn from the series of papers in this issue and from the Jena workshop suggest some directions in which the field may progress. More attention must be paid to the degraded state, which should be evaluated by its specific features and carefully analyzed before any restoration plan is laid down. Restoration goals have to be realistic, which includes the appreciation of globally changing conditions, resulting in a paradigm‐shift toward “forward‐restoration.” Basically, the transition from the degraded state conditions to the target state is a kind of succession that is manipulated by the application of goal‐orientated and system‐specific disturbances. Whenever possible, restorationists should step back and make use of naturally occurring succession, which requires a sophisticated restoration strategy, involving flexible management responses, multiple alternative target states, robust measurements for the restoration progress, and careful long‐term monitoring. The unique feature of restoration ecology is the involvement of socioeconomic decisions, and conceptual frameworks for ecological restoration have to implement the specific links to natural succession. To bridge the gap between ecological theory and on the ground restoration, it is essential that restoration practice is translated into the vocabulary and thinking of basic ecology. If all these aspects are integrated, ecological restoration as an application—and restoration ecology as an applied science—may develop into an acid test for our understanding of interactions between people and their environment, rather than for pure ecology.     

Political ecology and environmental management in the Loess Plateau,China

This paper explores the changing political ecology of soil and water management—the articulation of physical and political-economic processes—in the Loess Plateau of north-central China. Market-oriented reforms and the shift from collective to household farming have created a diverse array of tenure, management, and financing arrangements. In the process relationships between farm households, the collective, and the state have been altered, with profound implications for land use and sustainability. The paper reviews the political ecology approach and its relevance to environmental management in China. An outline of the physical and economic context of soil erosion in the Loess Plateau is followed by examination of the impact of reform on rural environmental management. Local innovations in the organization of environmental management are highlighted. The conclusion comments on the utility of the regional political ecology approach and suggests some critical issues for further research.     

The New Ecological Anthropology

Older ecologies have been remiss in the narrowness of their spatial and temporal horizons, their functionalist assumptions, and their apolitical character. Suspending functionalist assumptions and an emphasis upon (homeo)stasis, "the new ecological anthropology" is located at the intersection of global, national, regional, and local systems, studying the outcome of the interaction of multiple levels and multiple factors. It blends theoretical and empirical research with applied, policy-directed, and critical work in what Rappaport called an "engaged" anthropology; and it is otherwise attuned to the political aspects and implications of ecological processes. Carefully laying out a critique of previous ecologies by way of announcing newer approaches, the article insists on the need to recognize the importance of culture mediations in ecological processes rather than treating culture as epiphenomenal and as a mere adaptive tool. It closes with a discussion of the methodologies appropriate to the new ecological anthropology. ["the new ecology," political ecology, applied or engaged anthropology, linkages methodology]     

PHYLOGENETIC,ECOLOGICAL, AND ALLOMETRIC CORRELATES OF CRANIAL SHAPE IN MALAGASY LEMURIFORMS

Adaptive radiations provide important insights into many aspects of evolution, including the relationship between ecology and morphological diversification as well as between ecology and speciation. Many such radiations include divergence along a dietary axis, although other ecological variables may also drive diversification, including differences in diel activity patterns. This study examines the role of two key ecological variables, diet and activity patterns, in shaping the radiation of a diverse clade of primates, the Malagasy lemurs. When phylogeny was ignored, activity pattern and several dietary variables predicted a significant proportion of cranial shape variation. However, when phylogeny was taken into account, only typical diet accounted for a significant proportion of shape variation. One possible explanation for this discrepancy is that this radiation was characterized by a relatively small number of dietary shifts (and possibly changes in body size) that occurred in conjunction with the divergence of major clades. This pattern may be difficult to detect with the phylogenetic comparative methods used here, but may characterize not just lemurs but other mammals.     

晋陕宁黄土丘陵区生态修复与农林牧业持续发展仿真研究

晋陕宁黄土丘陵区土壤侵蚀严重,生态环境脆弱,不合理利用土地是其主要原因,生态修复与环境重建是该区生态与经济持续发展的重要战略措施。应用系统动力学（System Dynamic,简称SD）和“反馈控制（Feedback control）理论建立了该区生态修复和环境重建的SD模型,它分为人口、农业、林业、牧业、农村经济、土壤侵蚀和生态环境6个模块,仿真时间1990～2080年,步长1a。经检验该SD模型的有效性为93．5％,可用于未来仿真预测。根据该区的生态环境特点和农牧业发展现状,选择生态环境恢复重建的3种典型模式——同步发展模式（A模式）、逐步调整模式（B模式）和现状发展模式（C模式）进行仿真研究,预测3种模式2000～2080年的土壤侵蚀、土地利用的发展动态以及农林牧业和生态环境演化趋势。仿真结果表明：土地利用与农、林、牧业持续发展密切相关,坡耕地和草场退化是制约农林牧业发展的主要因素。合理调整土地利用结构和加速治理侵蚀,可促进生态环境逐步恢复和农林牧业持续发展。同步发展模式（A模式）是该区生态修复和环境重建的3个仿真模式中的最优策略,它可促进农林牧协调发展和生态一经济趋向良性循环,并提出该区生态修复与环境重建的对策措施。该SD模型结构合理,运行功能良好,能较真实的模拟具有多变量、非线性变量的复杂生态系统的动态行为,为生态修复研究提供一种有效工具。     

Critical historical conjunctures in the emergence of agricultural wage labor in northern Nigeria

The following analysis holds that explanation of the emergence of agricultural wage lbor in northern Nigeria depends on determining the dynamics of what are here called critical historical conjunctures. It examines three such conjunctures, historical moments in which an ecological calamity converges with a crisis in the political economy. It is proposed that identification of such conjunctures expedites the movement of the analyst from the micro to the macro level and between the domains of ecology and political economy. As such, it addresses the methodological issues of boundary definition, scale, and time depth in human ecological study.This paper was presented originally at a seminar at Hunter College, March 13, 1982.     

Developing an index of wetland condition from ecological data: An example using HGM functional variables from the Nanticoke watershed,USA

Demand for data on the ecological condition of wetlands is increasing as state and federal management programs recognize its value in reporting on the ambient condition of the resource, targeting restoration and protection efforts, evaluating the effects of mitigation and restoration practices, supporting regulatory decisions, and tracking the impact of land use decisions. We developed an approach for generating a single measure of wetland condition from ecological variables used in hydrogeomorphic (HGM) assessment. An Index of Wetland Condition (IWC) was developed from HGM field data collected to assess freshwater, non-tidal flat, riverine, and depression wetlands in the Nanticoke River watershed. The HGM variables were screened and scored based on a range check, responsiveness, and metric redundancy, employing a method used to develop indices of biotic integrity. Weights of the individual variables were adjusted to reflect our understanding of wetland ecology and to include variables that represented the vegetation, hydrology, and buffer of a wetland. The final IWC score discriminated high, medium, and low site disturbance classes in flat and riverine wetlands and high and low disturbance classes in depressions, one-way ANOVA F-values ranged from 44.5 to 79.1 (all p <0.0001). The combination of the IWC and HGM assessments provides a comprehensive evaluation of the wetland resource. HGM produces information on specific wetland functions. The IWC concisely conveys the ecological condition of the resource and maximizes the utility of the data collected in an HGM assessment.     

The evolution and maintenance of delayed implantation in the mustelidae (mammalia: carnivora)

Diapause, the temporary cessation of development at an early life-history stage, is widespread among animals and plants. The range of taxa exhibiting various forms of diapause indicates its enormous ecological significance and highlights its value as a model for examining life-history trait evolution. However, despite the impact of diapause on species ecology, there is little understanding of its adaptive value in many groups. Furthermore, the relative roles of phylogeny and ecology in determining the contemporary expression of the trait remain unresolved. Delayed implantation (DI) is a type of diapause found in several orders of mammals. It is particularly prevalent in the Mustelidae, with mustelids making up more than half of all mammals known to exhibit DI. This taxon is thus ideal for examining life-history predictors of DI and investigating the mode of evolution. Both maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony methods of ancestral state reconstruction indicated DI to be plesiomorphic in the mustelids, although multiple state changes are required to explain its contemporary distribution. After controlling for phylogeny, species with and without DI could be discriminated using just three variables: longevity, maximum latitude of the geographical distribution, and a term describing maternal investment. Our analyses supported the hypothesis that DI is more prevalent in seasonal climates. We also showed that longer-lived species are more likely to exhibit DI, suggesting a time cost to the trait. We found no correlate for the highly variable duration of DI, which remains unexplained. Although ecological factors can predict the distribution of DI in modern mustelids, phylogenetic constraint is likely to play an important role.     

Pyrogeography,historical ecology,and the human dimensions of fire regimes

In our 2011 synthesis (Bowman et al., Journal of Biogeography, 2011, 38 , 2223–2236), we argued for a holistic approach to human issues in fire science that we term ‘pyrogeography’. Coughlan & Petty (Journal of Biogeography, 2013, 40 , 1010–1012) critiqued our paper on the grounds that our ‘pyric phase’ model was built on outdated views of cultural development, claiming we developed it to be the unifying explanatory framework for all human–fire sciences. Rather, they suggest that ‘historical ecology’ could provide such a framework. We used the ‘pyric transition’ for multiple purposes but did not offer it as an exclusive explanatory framework for pyrogeography. Although ‘historical ecology’ is one of many useful approaches to studying human–fire relationships, scholars should also look to political and evolutionary ecology, ecosystems and complexity theories, as well as empirical generalizations to build an interdisciplinary fire science that incorporates human, ecological and biophysical dimensions of fire regimes.     

Ecological gradients driving the distribution of four Ericaceae in boreal Quebec,Canada

Understory species play a significant role in forest ecosystem dynamics. As such, species of the Ericaceae family have a major effect on the regeneration of tree species in boreal ecosystems. It is thus imperative to understand the ecological gradients controlling their distribution and abundance, so that their impacts can be taken into account in sustainable forest management. Using innovative analytical techniques from landscape ecology, we aimed to position, along ecological gradients, four Ericaceae found in the boreal forest of Quebec (Canada) (Rhododendron groenlandicum, Kalmia angustifolia, Chamaedaphne calyculata, and Vaccinium spp), to regionalize these species into landscape units relevant to forest management, and to estimate the relative importance of several ecological drivers (climate, disturbances, stand attributes, and physical environment) that control the species distribution and abundance. We conducted our study in boreal Quebec, over a study area covering 535,355 km². We used data from 15,339 ecological survey plots and forest maps to characterize 1422 ecological districts covering the study region. We evaluated the relative proportion of each ericaceous species and explanatory variables at the district level. Vegetation and explanatory variables matrices were used to conduct redundancy, cluster, and variation partitioning analyses. We observed that ericaceous species are mainly distributed in the western part of the study area and each species has a distinct latitudinal and longitudinal gradient distribution. On the basis of these gradients, we delimited 10 homogeneous landscape units distinct in terms of ericaceous species abundance and environmental drivers. The distribution of the ericaceous species along ecological gradients is closely related to the overlaps between the four sets of explanatory variables considered. We conclude that the studied Ericaceae occupy specific positions along ecological gradients and possess a specific abundance and distribution controlled by the integration of multiple explanatory variables.     

自然生态价值、生态资产管理及价值实现的生态经济学基础研究——科学概念、基础理论及实现途径

自然界的生态系统为人类繁衍发展提供各式各样的生活、生产和生计的环境条件与自然资源。基于自然规律的生态系统管理是人类社会不断认知自然生态价值、保护利用自然环境和资源、创造积累生态资产、维持社会经济系统永续发展的基本途径。以此为核心认知的区域生态经济学或经济生态学,正在成为探讨人类世地球系统演变及社会经济可持续发展问题的科学研究前沿。本文以大尺度区域宏观生态系统科学为学术视角,以生态系统的多功能性与多元价值观为基础,综合论述了自然生态价值、生态资产、生态产品等基本概念;从生态学、社会学和经济学融合角度,分析讨论了生态资产形成与变化、生态产品生产与消费、生态投资与生态资产损益等过程原理;提出了区域生态资产的系统经营与生态价值实现途径,期望为我国及区域生态系统价值及生态资产的评估,生态产业及生态价值实现体系的发展提供理论和方法学参考。     

War, Factionalism, and the State in Afghanistan

Since September 11, 2001, the explanations offered to account for the rise of a foreign-led terrorist network on Afghan soil have variously focused on the political vacuum opened up by the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in February 1989, interference by foreign powers in Afghanistan's internal affairs, the failure of Afghanistan to produce a "strong state" because of ethnic factionalism, and an internal moral incoherence inherent to Afghan culture. I argue that none of these explanations is entirely satisfactory in itself. To understand the situation in Afghanistan, we must recognize that its political and military chaos is not an isolated or unique phenomenon, and at the same time acknowledge the particular social and political dynamics of Afghanistan's history that have set the parameters for current events. I show that communal conflicts in Afghanistan are part of a much wider affliction common to many postcolonial states and multinational societies, and that Afghanistan's current situation can only be understood by focusing on its failed attempts at nation-state building within the broader geopolitical circumstance of foreign manipulation and proxy wars that have given rise to particular forms of ethnic division. [Keywords: Afghanistan, nation-building, ethnic factionalism, warfare, the State]     

Cognizing "Cognized Models"

In his later work Rappaport acknowledged that his earlier efforts had overemphasized organic and ecological functions in the explanation of cultural phenomena. He then distanced himself from both idealism and reductive materialism and set out to understand the complexities of cultural understandings and ritual. Specifically, he shifted from functionalism to formalism in an effort to understand ritual and its language in relation to cultural norms. Ultimately his analysis was implicitly structural, understanding the part as a constituent of an overarching arrangement and in terms of what Althusser would have called "structural causality." Although his work benefited from this shift from function to structure, Rappaport did not use it to explore the political dimension. However, a holistic ecology such as the one Rappaport essayed must ultimately embrace both political ecology and historical ecology, [cognized models, ritual, political ecology, structural causality-]     

如何写好数据分析和几个相关的统计问题

该文就生态学论文“材料和方法”部分中“数据分析”的写作规范进行讨论, 希望对论文写作有所帮助。还讨论了在生态学论文数据分析部分常遇到的几个统计问题, 如采用更有效的统计方法、相关因变量、方差不齐性、统计显著性与生物学/生态学显著性、伪重复问题。     

林业资源型城市生态-经济-社会协调发展的定量测度——以黑龙江省伊春市为例

把握城市独特的生态-经济-社会系统协调优化特性是实现林业资源型城市可持续发展的重要前提。研究从生态、经济、社会3个维度构建了林业资源型城市复合系统的测度评价指标体系,应用熵值法、耦合协调度模型,采用2005-2018年时段生态、经济、社会数据,对伊春协调发展状况进行实证测度评价,运用障碍度模型分析影响系统协调发展的主要因素,采用GM （1,1）灰色预测模型进行发展预测。结果表明：（1）综合发展指数呈上升态势,促进生态-经济-社会综合发展的主要动能历经了从生态到经济,再到生态为主要动力的发展过程,三个子系统发展水平呈趋同态势,推动三维系统的均衡协同是未来发展的重要方向;（2）三维系统耦合度稳定在较高水平,系统间相互依赖、相互作用程度较高,协调度呈波动上升,实现了由勉强协调、经济滞后发展向良好协调、同步发展的转变,协调状态趋向良好;（3）三维系统中社会子系统对协调发展的障碍度最大;人口自然增长率、建成区绿化覆盖率、GDP增长率、第三产业就业人数比重4个指标是制约近期协调发展的主要障碍因子;（4）2019-2030年,生态、经济、社会子系统发展指数及协调度的预测值均呈上升态势,生态-经济-社会复合系统将向更高级的协调发展状态演进,经济发展将再次成为促进生态-经济-社会综合发展的主要动力;加强生态建设,引领生态创新,大力发展生态经济,提高社会发展水平,着力降低障碍因子对协调发展的阻力作用,实现生态-经济-社会的联动健康发展是伊春未来重要的努力方向。     

Restoring Ecosystems Around the Mediterranean Basin: Beyond the Frontiers of Ecological Science

Based on concrete examples gathered from the Mediterranean region, this article shows why restoration ecology around the Mediterranean Basin must go beyond ecological science to embrace a contrasting local vision which integrates social and political realities. By taking into account the growing gap between the northern and southern/eastern shores of the Mediterranean, we propose the adoption of a double agenda for restoration around the Mediterranean to overcome the fact that restoration objectives are often jeopardized by political decisions initially aimed to promote conservation and lack of available technical means (even when appropriate scientific and political means are secured), and to enhance local actions with lasting impacts on the ecosystems. Our discussion illustrates how current ecological problems have become extremely complex and how the success of restoration projects depends on effective social interactions. Here, the simple juxtaposition of disciplines is no longer sufficient. We suggest going beyond existing ecological and socioeconomic frontiers to fill three main gaps. To fill the “design gap” it is important from the outset to promote a full debate for correct definition of the project's objectives and success indicators. Second, to fill the “implementation gap” ecological restoration science should be linked to information technology and cognition science to develop tools adapted for ecological debate. Third, to fill the “evaluation gap” aesthetic, social, cultural, and economic indicators should be defined during the debate process.     

Historical and Ecological Factors in the Evolution, Adaptive Radiation, and Biogeography of Freshwater Mollusks

SYNOPSIS. There are some 36 families that are wholly freshwateror with representative species in freshwater. There are virtuallyno phylogenetic analyses for these families. Zoogeographic analysesof freshwater molluscan faunas are hindered by a lack of significantsystematic studies of these faunas. Such studies are essentialif one hopes to develop hypotheses about phylogeny or biogeography. It is clear from a phylogenetic analysis of the Pomatiopsidaethat phylogenetic, vicariance, dispersal, and ecological factorsall have significant effects on the patterns of distributionof this family. At one stage in history vicariance may be adominant factor while during another stage of history, dispersalmay be a dominant factor. At every stage, ecological considerationsare necessary to understand the phenotypes seen and the spatialrelationships among taxa. In examining the distribution patternsof dominant freshwater families with regard to their biological,ecological, and overall phylogenetic relationships it is evidentthat ecology plays a major role along with dispersal and vicariance.Clearly a synthesis is needed in biogeographical studies thatincorporates vicariance dispersal, ecology, and geology-paleontology.     

Bootlegging on a desert mountain: The political ecology of Agave (Agave spp.) demographic change in the Sonora river valley,Sonora, Mexico

Recent studies suggest that wild agave (Agavespp.) plants in Sonora, Mexico, are being over-harvested by mescal makers on communal lands. Using the conceptual framework of regional political ecology (Blaikie and Brookfield, 1987), I discuss the ecological processes of agave depletion, and investigate the social, economic, and political contexts in which unsustainable harvest practices arise. Whereas all the mescal makers have knowledge of sustainable harvest methods, population growth, expansion of agriculture onto ecologically marginal lands, and increasing dependence on wild harvested products from communal lands created the socioeconomic context for increased demand for mescal income. The ideology of household autonomy, and the belief that the village has no right to internally regulate use of the commons, created the political context for rapid, unsustainable harvesting—a tragedy of the commons. However, recent cultural changes have caused a reversal of this trend, and some wild agave populations may be recovering.