Trends and prospects for local knowledge in ecological and conservation research and monitoring

Local ecological knowledge (LEK) of those who earn their livelihoods from natural environments has long been recognized as providing far-reaching insights into ecological processes. It is being increasingly used by ecologists to address diverse questions that often focus on applied conservation issues and may incorporate local knowledge with biological data from more conventional research and monitoring. We characterize how LEK has been used in the ecological and conservation literature over the last 25 years by broadly examining 360 journals and by evaluating 12 prominent ecological and conservation journals in greater detail. Over this period, the use of LEK has increased considerably, although only 0.01% of papers in the broad and 0.42% of those in the more detailed evaluation incorporated LEK. Despite this increase, LEK-based publications remain nearly absent from the more established theoretical literature and are largely restricted to more recent and arguably less prestigious applied and interdisciplinary journals. Most LEK studies used interviews, but generally failed to actively include community members in the research process. Changes to the research and publishing process that include local people and address these shortcomings and the broader issues of power and influence in the sciences are critical to the successful utilization of LEK. These changes are necessary for the appropriate depiction of these knowledge systems and to ensure that local knowledge holders will continue participating in ecological research aimed at conservation.     

GIS在描述某城区大气二氧化硫分布中的应用初探

应用地理信息系统（GIS）技术对1996年重庆市主城区大气二氧化硫分布进行了描述和分析。采用GIS的空间分析方法泰森多边形分析和区域插值对大气环境监测数据进行分析处理,避免了以点代面的缺陷,使大气污染物分布描述更为合理。     

A decade of colonization: the spread of the Asian tiger mosquito in Pennsylvania and implications for disease risk

In recent decades, the Asian tiger mosquito expanded its geographic range throughout the northeastern United States, including Pennsylvania. The establishment of Aedes albopictus in novel areas raises significant public health concerns, since this species is a highly competent vector of several arboviruses, including chikungunya, West Nile, and dengue. In this study, we used geographic information systems (GIS) to examine a decade of colonization by Ae. albopictus throughout Pennsylvania between 2001 and 2010. We examined the spatial and temporal distribution of Ae. albopictus using spatial statistical analysis and examined the risk of dengue virus transmission using a model that captures the probability of transmission. Our findings show that since 2001, the Ae. albopictus population in Pennsylvania has increased, becoming established and expanding in range throughout much of the state. Since 2010, imported cases of dengue fever have been recorded in Pennsylvania. Imported cases of dengue, in combination with summer temperatures conducive for virus transmission, raise the risk of local disease transmission.     

遥感与GIS支持下的盘锦湿地水禽栖息地适宜性评价

盘锦湿地位于辽河三角洲的核心地带,是重要的水禽栖息地。受自然和人类活动的影响,该地区水禽栖息的生境面积不断缩小,致使湿地生态系统受到严重破坏,生物种群数量急剧下降。在此背景下,以GIS/RS为技术手段,根据盘锦湿地环境特点,采用层次分析法,从干扰条件、水源状况、遮蔽物以及食物丰富度4个方面对盘锦湿地水禽栖息地适宜性进行空间分析,再按照不同指标因子的等级划分,得到适宜性最好、适宜性良好、适宜性一般以及适宜性最差4个等级的盘锦湿地水禽栖息地适宜性评价图。结果表明:(1)盘锦湿地水禽栖息地适宜性最好、适宜性良好、适宜性一般、适宜性差的面积分别为803.79,913.47,905.29,1023.65hm2,分别占总面积的22.04%,25.05%,24.83%,28.07%;(2)前三类总面积为2622.55 hm2,占71.93%,说明盘锦地区水禽栖息的适宜地区较多,主要分布于流域、河漫滩等人为干扰较少的芦苇湿地以及食物和水源比较充足的大面积耕地中;(3)基于遥感分析和GIS空间分析技术,能有效、简便地对湿地生态环境处于快速动态变化中的水禽栖息地适宜性进行快速、客观准确的评价分析,其结果能为盘锦湿地水禽种群及其生存环境的规划、保护、管理和决策提供数据支持和科学依据。     

地理信息系统及其在动物空间行为研究中的应用

空间属性是动物行为的重要特征,也是行为生态学研究中必须要面对的难题之一。地理信息系统(Geographic Information System,GIS)具有强大的空间分析功能,它在动物行为生态学研究中得到了越来越广泛的应用,如生境选择、领域分析、迁徙路线、活动节律等。本文较系统地阐述了GIS的原理以及在行为生态学研究中所涉及的基本概念和原理,对近年来利用GIS进行的行为生态学研究做了回顾和总结,并对其未来的发展进行了展望。     

A GIS-based tool for storage,selection and visualization of time series 4D marine datasets

We present an initial attempt for the development of a distributed and scalable GIS-like tool for the storage, selection and visualization of 4D marine datasets. The aim of this tool is to standardize the variety of data available for the water column and support non-technical marine biologists in manipulating 4D marine datasets. The tool is developed towards answering specific environmental and biological questions regarding ocean processes and essential fish habitat mapping in three dimensions. Guest editor: V. D. Valavanis Essential Fish Habitat Mapping in the Mediterranean     

Habitat use for warren building by European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in relation to landscape structure in a sand dune system

Several conservation efforts are being made to recover European rabbit populations (Oryctolagus cuniculus) on the Iberian Peninsula. Some of them focus on burrow management; others involve building different types of warren. A few studies have examined site selection for warren building, and these studies have considered only warren placement within sites and not the broader area surrounding these locations. The objective of this study was to evaluate how landscape pattern determines habitat selection by rabbits for warren building at different spatial scales. Landscape, home range scale, and microhabitat were the spatial scales used in this study. Warrens were not uniformly distributed over the study area but, rather were concentrated in areas with a high abundance and cover of Retama monosperma and high vegetation cover. Rabbits preferred digging warrens in areas with low fragmentation and where patches are few, large, and contiguous. Based on our results, we suggest that a study of landscape structure should be carried out before design habitat management, recovery or translocation programs. Such studies will need to take into account the physiognomy and size, shape, and continuity of patches in fragmented landscapes. Rabbit conservation programs must address areas that provide not only the maximum potential rate of intake, but also good soil and vegetation cover conditions for warren building and suitable surrounding areas.     

《昆明-蒙特利尔全球生物多样性框架》核心目标与我国的保护行动建议

在中国作为主席国的引领下,联合国《生物多样性公约》(以下简称《公约》)第十五次缔约方大会(以下简称COP15)第二阶段会议通过了62项决定,特别是达成了以变革理论为基础的《昆明-蒙特利尔全球生物多样性框架》(以下简称《昆蒙框架》),为全球生物多样性治理擘画了新的蓝图。该文就《昆蒙框架》的三个核心目标——保护地“3030目标”、资源调动、遗传资源数字序列信息进行解读,对保障《昆蒙框架》落地的相关决议进行简要介绍,并就我国未来的保护行动提出了相关建议:(1)加强生物多样性保护的主流化;(2)进一步制定详细的保护计划,明确保护区域的范围、目的和管理措施,并落实实施计划的责任部门和具体措施;(3)根据框架目标的监测要求,制定可操作的指标体系和监测计划;(4)继续加强生物多样性保护的意识和教育,提高公众对生物多样性保护的认识和重视程度,促进全社会的可持续生产和可持续消费;(5)大力推进国际合作,在更大尺度上探索和促进基于自然的解决方案,寻找对自然产生正面、积极效果的经济和社会发展路径。     

Geographic patterns of change over time in mammography: Differences between Black and White U.S. Medicare enrollees

U.S. Black women have higher breast cancer mortality compared to White women while their rate of ever having a mammogram has become equal to or slightly surpassed that of Whites. We mapped the distribution of change in screening mammography for Black and White female Medicare enrollees ages 67–69 from 2008 to 2012 by hospital referral region across the contiguous U.S., performed cluster analysis to assess spatial autocorrelation, and examined the screening differences between these groups in 2008 and 2012 respectively. Changes in screening mammography are not consistent across the U.S.: Black and White women have increased and decreased their use of mammography in different regions and Black women’s change patterns vary more widely.     

A new method for quantifying residue conservation and its applications to the protein folding nucleus

The conservation of residues in columns of a multiple sequence alignment (MSA) reflects the importance of these residues for maintaining the structure and function of a protein. To date, many scores have been suggested for quantifying residue conservation, but none has achieved the full rigor both in biology and statistics. In this paper, we present a new approach for measuring the evolutionary conservation at aligned positions. Our conservation measure is related to the logarithmic probabilities for aligned positions, and combines the physicochemical properties and the frequencies of amino acids. Such a measure is both biologically and statistically meaningful. For testing the relationship between an amino acid's evolutionary conservation and its role in the Phi-value defined protein folding kinetics, our results indicate that the folding nucleus residues may not be significantly more conserved than other residues by using the biological-relevance weighted statistical scoring method suggested in this paper as an alternative to entropy-based procedures.     

Location Optimization of Urban Mining Facilities with Maximal Covering Model in GIS: A Case of China

Urban mining offers an efficient supply of resources because of rich mines and low environmental impacts. Location selection and optimization for urban mining facilities is more complicated than for natural mines, given that it may vary according to the urban population, consumption habits, and economic development. China initiated the National Urban Mining Pilot Bases program in 2010 that targeted 50 national urban mining pilot bases, but unfortunately neglected the location planning issue. Twenty‐eight bases have already been selected, which are concentrated in the central and eastern areas of China. This article combines the use of analytic hierarchy process, maximal covering location model, and geographical information systems (GIS) software to optimize locations for China's urban mining pilot bases. Primary findings show that, theoretically, 40 urban mining pilot bases can sufficiently provide maximum gross domestic product (GDP) and population coverage service for China. Taking the current 28 bases as a precondition and 50 bases as the remaining policy target, our second optimization results in a list of 22 cities for the location selection of future urban mining pilot bases. In total, the optimized 22 cities, together with the selected 28 bases, can provide a maximum 97.5% of GDP and 95.1% of population coverage in China. This study illustrates the optimization process for urban mining recycling facilities in general and provides policy advice for China in a specific case.     

Estimates of Lost Material Stock of Buildings and Roads Due to the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

This article describes research conducted for the Japanese government in the wake of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck eastern Japan on March 11, 2011. In this study, material stock analysis (MSA) is used to examine the losses of building and infrastructure materials after this disaster. Estimates of the magnitude of material stock that has lost its social function as a result of a disaster can indicate the quantities required for reconstruction, help garner a better understanding of the volumes of waste flows generated by that disaster, and also help in the course of policy deliberations in the recovery of disaster‐stricken areas. Calculations of the lost building and road materials in the five prefectures most affected were undertaken. Analysis in this study is based on the use of geographical information systems (GIS) databases and statistics; it aims to (1) describe in spatial terms what construction materials were lost, (2) estimate the amount of infrastructure material needed to rehabilitate disaster areas, and (3) indicate the amount of lost material stock that should be taken into consideration during government policy deliberations. Our analysis concludes that the material stock losses of buildings and road infrastructure are 31.8  and 2.1 million tonnes, respectively. This research approach and the use of spatial MSA can be useful for urban planners and may also convey more appropriate information about disposal based on the work of municipalities in disaster‐afflicted areas.     

Conserving the Sacred Medicine Mountains: A Vegetation Analysis of Tibetan Sacred Sites in Northwest Yunnan

Mount Kawa Karpo of the Menri ('Medicine Mountains' in Tibetan), in the eastern Himalayas, is one of the most sacred mountains to Tibetan Buddhists. Numerous sacred sites are found between 1900 and 4000 m, and at higher elevations the area as a whole is considered a sacred landscape. Religious beliefs may affect the ecology of these sacred areas, resulting in unique ecological characteristics of importance to conservation; recent studies have demonstrated that sacred areas can often play a major role in conservation. The goal of this study is to preliminarily analyze the vegetation of sacred areas in the Menri region using existing vegetation maps and a Geographical Information System (GIS) for remote assessment. Sacred sites are compared to random points in the landscape, in terms of: elevation, vegetation, and nearness to villages; species composition, diversity, and richness; and frequency of useful and endemic plant species. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) ordination reveals that sacred sites differ significantly in both useful species composition (p=0.034) and endemic species composition (p=0.045). Sacred sites are located at lower elevations, and closer to villages, than randomly selected, non-sacred sites (p< 0.0001), and have higher overall species richness (p=0.033) and diversity (p=0.042). In addition, the high-elevation (> 4000 m) areas of the mountain - a sacred landscape - are found to have significantly more endemics than low-elevation areas (p<0.0001). These findings represent an initial analysis of sacred sites and suggest that sacred sites in the Menri region may be ecologically and ethnobotanically unique.     

Blue green algal (cyanobacterial) toxins, surface drinking water, and liver cancer in Florida

The blue green algae or cyanobacteria represent a diverse group of organisms that produce potent natural toxins. There have been case reports of severe morbidity and mortality in domestic animals through drinking water contaminated by these toxins. Microcystins, in particular, have been associated with acute liver damage and possibly liver cancer in laboratory animals. Although, there has been little epidemiologic research on toxin effects in humans, a study by Yu (1995) found an association between primary liver cancer and surface water. Surface water drinking supplies are particularly vulnerable to the growth of these organisms; current US drinking water treatment practices do not monitor or actively treat for blue green algal toxins including the microcystins.After a monitoring survey in Florida found organisms and microcystins (among other cyanobacterial toxins) in surface water drinking sources, a pilot ecological study was performed using a Geographic Information System (GIS) to evaluate the risk of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and proximity to a surface water treatment plant at cancer diagnosis. The study linked all HCC cancers diagnosed in Florida from 1981 to 1998 with environmental databases.A significantly increased risk for HCC with residence within the service area of a surface water treatment plant was found compared to persons living in areas contiguous to the surface water treatment plants. However, this increased risk was not seen in comparison to persons living in randomly selected ground water treatment service areas or compared to the Florida cumulative incidence rate for the study period, using various comparison and GIS methodologies. Furthermore, these findings must be interpreted in light of significant issues of latency, high population mobility, and the lack of individual exposure information. Nevertheless, the issue of acute and chronic human health effects associated with the consumption of surface waters possibly contaminated by blue green algal toxins merits further investigation.     

Habitat modelling of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Electrona antarctica</Emphasis> (Myctophidae,Pisces) in Kerguelen by generalized additive models and geographic information systems

Electrona antarctica is one of the most abundant mesopelagic fishes in the oceanic zone surrounding the Kerguelen Archipelago in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean. Generalized additive models (GAM) combined with geographical information systems (GIS) were used to predict and map the abundance of this species according to three environmental variables: sea surface temperature, bathymetry and surface chlorophyll a. The model was applied on the Antarctic Polar Front in the eastern part of Kerguelen Archipelago. E. antarctica seems to be linked to areas presenting low chlorophyll a concentrations, depths greater than 500 m and temperatures lower than 5°C. The model was then applied to the Kerguelen’s plateau for three different years: 1998, 1999 and 2000. The position of Antarctic Polar Front and the intensity of an upwelling play an important role in the abundance variability of E. antarctica. Furthermore, the model allows the understanding of the habitat of E. antarctica and its trophic place in the pelagic ecosystem.     

Developing and testing a habitat suitability index model for Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus) and its potential for landscape management decisions in Korea

Geographic information system (GIS) and landscape-level data offer a new opportunity for modeling and evaluating the quality of wildlife habitats. Models of habitat quality have not been developed for some species, and existing models could be improved by incorporating updated information on wildlife–habitat relationships and habitat variables. We developed a GIS-based habitat suitability index (HSI) model for the Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus), which often causes human–wildlife conflicts in the Chungnam Province of Korea because of industrialization and urbanization. The model is based on logistic regression analysis, which addresses the impact of multiple habitat variables, such as habitat components, topographic characteristics, and human disturbances. The model yielded a p-value of .289 (χ²?=?9.672) and 65.4% correct prediction level with the overall observation–prediction comparison data. The model demonstrated that a large portion of the province (61.6%) could be regarded as a poor habitat (mean HSI value of the province?=?0.22), while the current habitats of the province could be considered of moderate quality (mean HSI value?=?0.31). In addition, the chance of observation of the deer increases as the HSI level increases, which means that the model yields a good predictive power. Lastly, we used the model to produce a habitat suitability map. Our HSI model enabled us to quantify habitat preferences, which could be the basis for decision-making on habitat protection, mitigation, and enhancement of the Korean water deer. The proposed model is also applicable for improving and enhancing the existing management practices, as well as for establishing an effective wildlife protection policy.     

Integrating GIS and expert judgment in a multi-criteria analysis to map and develop a habitat suitability index: A case study of large mammals on the Malayan Peninsula

Many habitat patches in tropical landscapes have become less suitable for wildlife due to an increase in anthropogenic disturbances. An index of habitat suitability based on the ecological factors that collectively determine the suitability of an organism's habitat is important for conservation planning. However, a widely accepted and comprehensive multi-criteria habitat suitability index for umbrella species is still lacking, particularly in areas where information related to the biology and ecology of the species of interest is not available. Therefore we develop preliminary habitat maps and measure the degree of habitat suitability for large mammals, focusing on four umbrella species in the State of Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia: Panthera tigris jacksoni (Malayan tiger), Tapirus indicus (Malayan tapir), Helarctos malayanus malayanus (Malayan sun bear), and Rusa unicolor cambojensis (sambar deer). The former two are endangered and the latter two are vulnerable according to the IUCN Red List. The suitability of habitat patches for each species was measured across the entire study area as well as in nine wildlife protected areas by integrating GIS data and expert opinion. Expert opinions were used as the source of information regarding the stresses faced by the species because there was insufficient information available from ground surveys.We developed an index and maps of habitat suitability for each species, which were then integrated to represent a combined index (ranging from 0 to 27) and spatially explicit maps of the area's habitat suitability for large mammals. The average large mammal habitat suitability index value of the State of Selangor (9) indicates that many habitat patches have become unsuitable for such species. Of the nine wildlife protected areas, Fraser's Hill (22), Sungai Dusun (22), and Bukit Kutu (21) are very suitable; Klang Gate (20) and Templers Park (17) are suitable; and the remaining four are unsuitable for large mammals. We assume that this preliminary habitat suitability index and mapping are useful for conservation planning of wildlife habitats at both landscape and regional scales, as well as providing an initial foundation for revision by future research with significant new information.