On open access and optimal landings tax

This paper develops two types of simple models on the dynamic interaction between the stock of fish and the effort expended by fishers: continuous-time/discrete-time models in which a landings tax is incorporated as a control variable available to the management authority. The continuous-time model can describe several ideal options of the optimal tax program; however, unfortunately, it is incapable of choosing the best option. Hence, using the alternative tractable discrete-time model and a computational method, the remaining task of determining a unique optimal tax program is accomplished. The fishery thus managed exhibits a regulated open access.     

Economic and political differentiation among Galole Orma women*

The Orma are cattle‐herders living close to Tana River in Kenya. This paper gives an outline of Orma propertyholding and of women's contributions to production in terms of labor. The relationship between control over resources (either outright ownership, rights over use, or indirect control through children's ownership) is discussed in relation to the influence women wield in issues considering sale of stock, decisions to shift or not, and the use of child labor. Formal and informal positions of power held by Orma women are analysed in relation to the effectiveness of women's influence over production decisions. The access that Orma women have to property varies with the degree of integration into the cash economy and to one's position on the nomadic‐sedentary continuum. With greater sedentarization and integration into cash economy women seem to lose control over economic resources in terms of outright ownership. They participate less in manual tasks of production. However, by a variety of informal and formal means, they gain more control over economic decision‐making.     

The evolution of respect for property

Although possession is ‘nine‐tenths of the law’, respect for ownership is widespread in the animal kingdom even without third‐party enforcement. Thus, the first individuals to find objects are frequently left unchallenged by potential competitors and tend to win contests when disputes arise. Game theory has shown that respect for ownership (‘Bourgeois’ behaviour) can arise as an arbitrary convention to avoid costly disputes. However, the same theory predicts that a paradoxical respect for lack of ownership (‘anti‐Bourgeois’ behaviour) can evolve under the same conditions and in some cases is the only stable outcome. Despite these predictions, anti‐Bourgeois behaviour is rare in nature, whereas respect for ownership is frequently not absolute. Here, we review extensions of the classic models involving repeated interactions, confusion over roles, strategic coordination of behaviour (‘secret handshakes’), owner–intruder asymmetries and continuous control of fighting investment. Confusion over roles and owner–intruder asymmetries in fighting ability may explain why respect for ownership is often partial. Moreover, although most model extensions facilitate the evolution of Bourgeois‐like behaviour, secret handshakes and continuous control of fighting investment render the alternative anti‐Bourgeois convention unstable. We develop these insights to highlight several key areas for future investigation.     

基于演化博弈的煤炭矿区生态修复管理机制研究

地方政府环境监管部门和煤炭企业是煤炭矿区生态修复保证金制度实施的重要责任主体。从演化博弈论的研究视角探讨了地方政府与煤炭企业在生态修复保证金制度实施中的决策演化过程,构建了地方政府与煤炭企业演化博弈模型,根据复制动态方程规律得到了参与者的行为演化规律和行为演化稳定策略,分析了生态修复保证金制度实施的策略选择影响因素。选择龙口矿区为研究对象进行了实证研究,结果表明:地方政府的监管力度随煤炭企业的生态修复比例变化而变化,生态修复初期比例低;随着地方政府监管力度加大,生态修复比例相应提高,地方政府可以适当放松监管,但监管力度应保持在一定范围内,确保系统向最优状态演化。可通过动态调节保证金收缴金额,增加税收优惠,降低煤炭企业的治理成本,加强对地方政府环保政绩考核,引导地方政府与煤炭企业共同促进煤炭矿区生态修复工作有效实施。     

Sensory feedback in a bump attractor model of path integration

Mammalian spatial navigation systems utilize several different sensory information channels. This information is converted into a neural code that represents the animal’s current position in space by engaging place cell, grid cell, and head direction cell networks. In particular, sensory landmark (allothetic) cues can be utilized in concert with an animal’s knowledge of its own velocity (idiothetic) cues to generate a more accurate representation of position than path integration provides on its own (Battaglia et al. The Journal of Neuroscience 24(19):4541–4550 (2004)). We develop a computational model that merges path integration with feedback from external sensory cues that provide a reliable representation of spatial position along an annular track. Starting with a continuous bump attractor model, we explore the impact of synaptic spatial asymmetry and heterogeneity, which disrupt the position code of the path integration process. We use asymptotic analysis to reduce the bump attractor model to a single scalar equation whose potential represents the impact of asymmetry and heterogeneity. Such imperfections cause errors to build up when the network performs path integration, but these errors can be corrected by an external control signal representing the effects of sensory cues. We demonstrate that there is an optimal strength and decay rate of the control signal when cues appear either periodically or randomly. A similar analysis is performed when errors in path integration arise from dynamic noise fluctuations. Again, there is an optimal strength and decay of discrete control that minimizes the path integration error.     

Modeling socio-economic aspects of ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation

For successful ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation, in addition to ecological and evolutionary processes, we need to consider social and economic influences on the management target. Here, we introduce several theoretical models that address economic and social aspects of the human society which are closely related to ecosystem management. The first model analyzes economic decisions on the use of the common fishing ground in Jeju Island, Korea, by traditional divers and tourists. We observe that the way the number of tourists increases with the availability of resources strongly influences how benefits are distributed among fishing ground stakeholders. The second model discusses activities that raise public awareness about biodiversity, which will help maintain public support for conservation in the future. Based on control theory, we derive the optimal investment in these activities to maximize the long-term quality of the conservation target. The third model analyzes punishment scheme as a mechanism to enforce people to follow the regulation on the use of common resource. An important aspect of successful management is “graduated punishment”, in which the severity of the punishment applied to deviators gradually increases with the amount of harm caused by deviation from the rule. We show that graduated punishment is the most efficient way to ensure cooperation when evaluation errors are unavoidable and when people are heterogeneous with respect to the sensitivity to utility differences. We conclude that socio-economic aspects related to ecosystem management are promising research foci of theoretical ecology.     

景感生态学在煤电基地生态建设与管理中的应用

煤电基地的开发对中国能源利用格局具有深远的影响,是煤炭行业发展的重要方向,但也对生态环境提出了严峻的挑战。在我国煤电基地的生态建设中,基于景观生态学的应用研究较多,缺乏对居民感知、愿景和福祉等方面的联系和研究。以内蒙古锡林郭勒煤电基地为例,在分析因煤电基地的开发建设而导致的生态环境问题基础上,运用景感生态学的理论和方法,从煤电基地的景感营造、景感修复、景感保护监测管理、生态文明的建设共4个方面进行了分析,为煤电基地的生态建设、保护与管理提出了具有建设性的措施和建议。结合生态环境物联网对所选景感指标的监测、谜码数据平台的评价分析及预警系统,对实现煤电基地的生态健康保障、生态服务提升、以及居民愿景和福祉的提高有着重要意义,为实现区域可持续发展的目标提供了有效措施。本研究为煤电基地相关区域的生态建设、保护与管理提供科学依据和有效对策,为后续相关研究打下基础。     

An integrated scheduling and control model for multi-mode projects

In today’s highly competitive uncertain project environments, it is of crucial importance to develop analytical models and algorithms to schedule and control project activities so that the deviations from the project objectives are minimized. This paper addresses the integrated scheduling and control in multi-mode project environments. We propose an optimization model that models the dynamic behavior of projects and integrates optimal control into a practically relevant project scheduling problem. From the scheduling perspective, we address the discrete time/cost trade-off problem, whereas an optimal control formulation is used to capture the effect of project control. Moreover, we develop a solution algorithm for two particular instances of the optimal project control. This algorithm combines a tabu search strategy and nonlinear programming. It is applied to a large scale test bed and its efficiency is tested by means of computational experiments. To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first application of optimal control theory to multi-mode project networks. The models and algorithms developed in this research are targeted as a support tool for project managers in both scheduling and deciding on the timing and quantity of control activities.     

The structure of optimal time- and age-dependent harvesting in the Lotka-McKendrik population model

The paper analyzes optimal harvesting of age-structured populations described by the Lotka-McKendrik model. It is shown that the optimal time- and age-dependent harvesting control involves only one age at natural conditions. This result leads to a new optimization problem with the time-dependent harvesting age as an unknown control. The integral Lotka model is employed to explicitly describe the time-varying age of harvesting. It is proven that in the case of the exponential discounting and infinite horizon the optimal strategy is a stationary solution with a constant harvesting age. A numeric example on optimal forest management illustrates the theoretical findings. Discussion and interpretation of the results are provided.     

Seen by the state: Bureaucracy,visibility and governmentality in a Papua New Guinean hospital

Drawing on ethnographic material from a government hospital in Papua New Guinea (PNG), this paper examines the relationship between power and visibility in two kinds of bureaucratic practice: hospital managers’ performance of institutional ‘transparency’ and patients’ careful management of their government health documents. In both examples, people engage with bureaucratic and biomedical technologies of visibility to entice governing actors to see and enter into a relationship with them. Against dominant Foucauldian theories of power‐vision, the article shows that, in the institutional crevices of a ‘weak state’, bureaucratic technologies operate as relational technologies that elicit affective motivations rather than as disciplinary technologies that transform the self.     

Failed promises: economic integration, bureaucratic encounters, and the EU-Turkey Customs Union

European integration is based upon the promise to bring prosperity by creating economic and social equilibrium among member states and its regions via integrationist policies jointly managed by states and the institutions of the EU. As one common market initiative for greater economic integration in the wider region, goods circulate without tariff and customs duty barriers in the EU’s common customs area. Turkey, not an EU member, has been in this common market since 1996. The EU-Turkey Customs Union, which promised to bring deeper economic and political integration through eventual Turkish membership, represents Turkey’s aspirations to move from the periphery of Europe into its core. As an anthropological contribution to investigations of advanced European capitalism, this paper examines fundamental conflicts of interest between the EU and Turkey and locates them in their unequal power relations and in the disjuncture of each side’s overall objectives from economic integration. Most importantly, it shows that these interest conflicts have ramifications at the individual bureaucratic level and in daily bureaucratic practice. Dramatic expressions of Turkish state power, which are initially geared toward balancing out power inequities, exacerbate Turkish and EU officials’ failures to maintain at least a facade of mutually sustainable interests. Interpreted by EU officials as Turkish bureaucratic inertia, such disintegration of interests has implications for ongoing economic integration and membership negotiations between the two parties, with Turkish officials experiencing loss of control. The paper calls for a critical political economy that pays due attention to the cultural settings in which the former is embedded.     

具有天敌捕食的鼠害综合防治模型研究

鼠害综合防治是以生态学为基础综合考察各种措施的有机结合与协调 ,综合运用生态学、经济学、环境保护学、系统工程学的观点 ,充分利用自然因素控制鼠害 ,以取得较好的经济效益、生态效益和社会效益。害鼠种群动态、天敌类群动态以及植物群体生长动态是综合防治的基本理论问题 ,确定经济阈值是实现害鼠种群数量科学控制的重要前提[1] 。在综合防治过程中 ,如何最大限度地发挥天敌的作用 ,并将这种作用与其他自然限制因素以及人为防治措施相互协调 ,共同作用 ,是鼠害防治实践中最重要的课题之一 [2 ]。本文先简要综述天敌控制鼠害的研究成果 …     

Autoethnographic Challenges: Confronting Self,Field and Home

Anthropologists working at ‘home’ or in realms of the familiar often share a considerable sense of connection with participants. In these contexts, the researcher's potential position as an ‘insider’ offers particular opportunities for utilising self as a key resource. Through my own fieldwork at ‘home’ in Melbourne as an ‘insider’ among Bosnian migrants, I was confronted with the challenge of using my self to understand others' experiences. In this paper I discuss the autoethnographic process and consider how its application enabled me to consciously understand my own experiences and utilise my experiential self to inform my study.     

Evaluation of models capacity to predict size spectra parameters in ecosystems under stress

Size spectra are important indicators of biomass distribution, for fundamental understanding as well as for application in management. While many size spectra models have been developed, it is unclear how response to stress varies across models and in comparison to data. In the present study, we therefor collected papers on empirical size spectra in stressed aquatic ecosystems and compared the results to theoretical models’ predictions from literature. A general decrease of the slope, as suggested by most of the studied models, is supported by the data found. The investigated empirical studies revealed a strong trend for the slope: 40 out of 57 studies reported a decrease with stress. Deviations from the linear model increased in 10 out of 20 cases and the intercept became larger in 25 out of 43 cases. The data concerning specific impact drivers is generally consistent and supportive of current expert opinions. Our results support that an integration of deviation from the linear model and intercept in the size spectra models could provide better coupling between modeling and field surveys for some stressors.     

Sustainable ecosystem management using optimal control theory: part 2 (stochastic systems)

Sustainable development of ecosystems through external ecosystem management is assuming importance for the environmentalists. To that effect, previous work by the authors looked at the option of manipulating population dynamics of the species in an ecosystem to achieve sustainability. Fisher information is used as the quantifying measure of sustainability and optimal control theory is used to derive the control profiles. However, that work considered only deterministic systems. Uncertainty being prevalent in all systems, particularly in natural systems, this paper extends that work to analyse uncertain systems. Predator-prey models are used to model the species populations and different control philosophies are compared. Ito mean reverting process is used to model the stochastic process, and stochastic maximum principle is used to derive the control profiles. The results for the objective of FI variance minimization qualitatively agree with those for the deterministic system, while the results for the FI maximization objective differ. It is observed that the instability associated with the FI maximization objective for deterministic systems is absorbed by the noise introduced by the uncertainty. Quantitatively, it is observed that the degree of uncertainty, along with its presence, is also important to identify the most appropriate management strategy.     

黄土高原水土流失治理现状、问题及对策

黄土高原位于黄河中游地区,是世界上水土流失最为严重的区域之一;黄土高原水土流失治理问题历来受到国家高度关注,涌现了种类多样的水土流失治理模式,目前还缺乏对黄土高原区域尺度水土流失治理模式的总结和整理。本文总结和整理了建国以来黄土高原主要的四类水土流失治理模式,生物措施模式主要由退耕还林、荒山造林和封山育林工程组成,工程措施模式包括修建梯田和淤地坝,以及近期涌现的治沟造地工程;小流域综合治理模式主要体现在坡面、沟道系统整治,生物和工程措施相结合的特点,区域综合整理模式则强调对生态系统进行整体保护、系统修复和综合治理,达到生态、社会、经济可持续发展。基于黄土高原水土流失治理模式存在的问题,提出了黄土高原水土流失治理模式调整和优化建议,以期对黄土高原生态恢复建设和水土流失科学治理提供科学依据。     

森林所有制对景观格局和动物生境的影响研究进展

在欧美等地区的林业发达国家,多种森林所有制长期并存,至今,多种所有制影响下森林景观和生境格局的变化以及与动物保护之间的关系成为研究热点和重点.本文首先阐述了森林所有制对森林景观格局和动物生境的影响,以及林权分散和林权流转的加剧带来的生态后果,包括提供多样化的生境和导致原有大面积生境的破碎化;其次,总结了林业发达国家解决林权分散与生物保护之间矛盾的两个理论途径--改变所有制格局和相对统一各所有制的管理行为,分析现多采用后一种途径的原因,并指出目前森林所有制研究中模拟方法的局限;最后,论述我国的研究现状以及面临的机遇和挑战,提出近期发展建议.     

Parameter inversion estimation in photosynthetic models: Impact of different simulation methods

When we apply ecological models in environmental management, we must assess the accuracy of parameter estimation and its impact on model predictions. Parameters estimated by conventional techniques tend to be nonrobust and require excessive computational resources. However, optimization algorithms are highly robust and generally exhibit convergence of parameter estimation by inversion with nonlinear models. They can simultaneously generate a large number of parameter estimates using an entire data set. In this study, we tested four inversion algorithms (simulated annealing, shuffled complex evolution, particle swarm optimization, and the genetic algorithm) to optimize parameters in photosynthetic models depending on different temperatures. We investigated if parameter boundary values and control variables influenced the accuracy and efficiency of the various algorithms and models. We obtained optimal solutions with all of the inversion algorithms tested if the parameter bounds and control variables were constrained properly. However, the efficiency of processing time use varied with the control variables obtained. In addition, we investigated if temperature dependence formalization impacted optimally the parameter estimation process. We found that the model with a peaked temperature response provided the best fit to the data.     

Mosquito management in the face of natural selection

The sterile insect technique (SIT) is an appealing method for managing mosquito populations while avoiding the environmental and social costs associated with more traditional control strategies like insecticide application. Success of SIT, however, hinges on sterile males being able to compete for females. As a result, heavy and/or continued use of SIT could potentially diminish its efficacy if prolonged treatments result in selection for female preference against sterile males. In this paper we extend a general differential equation model of mosquito dynamics to consider the role of female choosiness in determining the long-term usefulness of SIT as a management option. We then apply optimal control theory to our model and show how natural selection for female choosiness fundamentally alters management strategies. Our study calls into question the benefits associated with developing SIT as a management strategy, and suggests that effort should be spent studying female mate choice in order to determine its relative importance and how likely it is to impact SIT treatment goals.