Where the bears roam in Majella National Park,Italy

The Brown bear (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758) occupies contiguous areas in Eastern and Northern Europe. In Western Europe, the largest remnant populations occur in Cantabria, Spain and the Apennines, Italy. Under Italian law the bear and its occupied range are protected. The occupied range of the Apennine brown bear includes Majella National Park. However, information on the distribution within Majella NP is extrapolated and inconsistent, thus precluding evidence-based protected area and species management. To address this lack of information, bear presence records (1996–2010) were collated and corrected for observational bias. Multiple Species Distribution Models (SDMs) were created at 800 m resolution to predict year-round and seasonal bear distribution. A hierarchical, stepwise maxent SDM approach was applied using climatic, terrain, vegetation, and anthropogenic predictors of bear distribution. Occupied ranges were identified by point density analysis of bear presence. Our climate-only SDMs predicted bear presence in areas with relatively low snowfall and temperate temperatures. Year-round bear distribution was also accurately predicted by using temperate-montane elevations and mesic, mesotrophic vegetation substrates, irrespective of vegetation. Ski-resorts were negative predictors of year-round bear occurrence. Bears were predicted in autumn and winter by beech forest, in spring by meadows and in summer by a variety of vegetation categories. The regional and our local models predicted bear throughout the south. However, our predicted and occupied range in the north includes the Orta valley and exclude alpine heights, contrary to the regional models. Only our summer bear range is similar to a regional SDM. We demonstrated that multiple maxent SDMs using a modest number of observations and a comprehensive set of environmental variables may generate essential distributional information for protected area and species management where full wildlife and food source censuses are lacking.     

长白山阔叶红松林生态价位分级与生态系统经营对策

引入生态价位概念,以长白山阔叶红松林为对象,采用层次分析法进行了生态价位划分．长白山阔叶红松林的生态系统价值评价综合指数由物理环境因素、群落结构组成、干扰状况3方面8个指标构成,包括坡度、土层厚度、土壤母质稳定性、结构盖度指数、物种多样性指数、更新力指数、优势种寿命和干扰度．采用层次分析法取得相应指标的系数;根据综合评价指数分布范围划分了3个生态价位类型,即低生态价位,综合指数1～1．874;中生态价位,综合指数1．874～2．749;高生态价位,综合指数2．749～3．623;对典型样地进行了生态价位分级,分析了各个生态价位类型森林的主要特征,据此提出了相应的生态系统管理对策,即高生态价位阔叶红松林采用封禁保护型自然经营,中生态价位阔叶红松林采用生态修复型半自然经营,低生态价位阔叶红松林采用近自然生态重建型经营。     

Integration of research and management in optimizing multiple uses of reservoirs: the experience in South America and Brazilian case studies

The construction of large reservoirs in South America and particularly in Brazil has intensified within the last 50 years. Built up primarily for hydroelectricity production, these artificial ecosystems now serve purposes such as: water storage for public use; fisheries and aquaculture; recreation; tourism, and irrigation. These artificial ecosystems were also built up with the purpose of enhancing the regional development. These activities produce multiple impacts among which are eutrophication, a serious problems with various ecological, economic, and social consequences. Basic studies on reservoirs have identified their main ecological characteristics and described some of their fundamental mechanisms of functioning. This information cover: factors involved in reservoir complexity, such as spatial scale, vertical and horizontal heterogeneity, temporal variation at several time scales and, in some cases, watershed/reservoir relationships, and the impact of non-point and point sources of nutrients. Numerous studies have been dedicated to describing aquatic biota, its relationship with environmental factors, and the impacts of degradation/pollution/ eutrophication on biodiversity. Research priorities have been established mainly by limnologists in response to needs identified by environmental impact assessment. Due to the pressure of multiple uses, population growth, and economic factors, aquatic scientists now face a number of questions being posed by managers and engineers. These questions relate to a wide range of practical problems, the solutions to which depend on accumulated data related to the structural complexities and function mechanisms previously referred to. These problems can be divided into three main groups: (i) eutrophication processes and their characteristics, and water quality control; (ii) impact of fisheries, aquaculture, and exotic species introduction on the biota and the water quality; (iii) sustainable development of reservoirs and optimization management of their multiple uses. Predictive capabilities required in the face of these problems should be based on modeling development and intensive use of data-bases resulting from long-term studies on reservoirs. The predictions thus made possible would involve economic factors and the costs of recovery of eutrophic reservoirs. The experience of reservoir research and management in South America and in Brazil is, probably part of a world wide tendency on reservoir research and development with the aim to optimize multiple uses. Based on the cooperation of limnologists and engineers, ecosystem management models must eventually be applied at the watershed / reservoir level, where demands on the part of managers and decision makers will certainly promote a predictive, integrated, and adaptive approach,based on fundamental research.     

Implementation of hypocalcaemia prevention programmes in commercial dairy herds: From theory to practice

Hypocalcaemia prevention programmes have been widely studied in experimental settings, but their feasibility has not been assessed under field conditions. The main objective of this study was to evaluate, in the context of small dairy farms in western France, whether and how dairy farmers implement prevention programmes and manage the feeding of dry cows to prevent hypocalcaemia. Seventy-nine commercial Holstein dairy farms in Brittany (France) were enrolled in a qualitative study in 2019. We conducted in-person interviews with the farmers to 1) understand the rationale behind the type and seasonality of prevention programmes they implemented and 2) assess how closely they followed common recommendations when implementing them. Most farmers (80 %) used at least one prevention programme, especially supplying a mineral mix formulated to meet the needs of dry cows in late gestation (53 %), acidifying the diet in late gestation (37 %), and supplying calcium at calving (oral or injectable form, 37 %). The use of programmes depended on whether the diet composition varied throughout the year. Among farmers who provided an acidified diet, 25 % did not supply a specific mineral mix to dry cows to ensure an adequate amount of P, Ca, and Mg, which could decrease the effectiveness of the acidification programme. A lack of reliability in feeding practices, such as not weighing feed or not delivering feed frequently enough, was identified for 61 % of contributing farms. Management practices could result in supplying an unsuitable amount of P, Ca, or Mg immediately before calving; for example, inappropriate batching practices around calving were identified for 22 % (cows) to 32 % (heifers) of farms. In addition, nearly all contributing farmers had no processes in place to monitor the effectiveness of the programmes implemented. Reasons for this overall lack of compliance should be explored.     

A fusion gene coding for two different δ-endotoxinsof Bacillus thuringiensis toxic to Plutella xylostella and usefulfor resistance management

Two truncated Bacillus thuringiensis -endotoxin genes, belonging to the classes cry1Ab and cry1B, and both coding for N-terminal toxic fragments of the corresponding crystal proteins, were translationally fused. Expression of the fusion gene driven by the cry1C promoter in Escherichia coli at a very high level resulted in a protein with enhanced toxicity to the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella).     

Vegetation responses to landscape structure at multiple scales across a Northern Wisconsin,USA, pine barrens landscape

Increasing awareness of the importance of scale and landscape structure to landscape processes and concern about loss of biodiversity has resulted in efforts to understand patterns of biodiversity across multiple scales. We examined plant species distributions and their relationships to landscape structure at varying spatial scales across a pine barrens landscape in northern Wisconsin, U.S.A. We recorded plant species cover in 1×1 m plots every 5 m along a 3575 m transect, along with variables describing macro- and micro-landscape structure. A total of 139 understory plant species were recorded. The distributions of many species appeared to be strongly associated with landscape structural features, such as distinct management patches and roads. TWINSPAN and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) identified three groups of species that overlapped extensively in the ordination, possibly reflecting the relatively homogeneous nature of disturbance in the pine barrens landscape. Distribution of understory plants did not reflect all of the patch types we identified along the transect; plot ordination and classification resulted in three to five plot groups that differed in niche breadth. Wavelet transforms showed varying relationships between landscape features and plant diversity indices (Shannon–Weiner, Simpson's Dominance) at different resolutions. Wavelet variances indicated that patterns of Shannon diversity were dominated by coarse resolutions ranging from 900–1500 m, which may have been related to topography. Patterns of Simpson's Dominance were dominated by 700 m resolution, possibly associated with canopy cover. However, a strong correspondence between overstory patch type and diversity was found for several patch types at ranges of scales that varied by patch type. Effects of linear features such as roads were apparent in the wavelet transforms at resolutions of about 5–1000 m, suggesting roads may have an important impact on plant diversity at landscape scales. At broad scales, landscape context appeared more important to diversity than individual patches, suggesting that changes in structure at fine resolutions could alter overall diversity characteristics of the landscape. Therefore, a hierarchical perspective is necessary to recognize potential large-scale change resulting from small-scale activities.     

Applications of biotope mapping for spatial environmental planning and policy: case studies in urban ecosystems in Korea

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current status and method of biotope mapping for practical use for landscape planning and environmental policy in urban ecosystem in Korea. We examine current ecological mapping of Seoul, Seongnam, Daegu, and Yongin. Ecological mapping is examined closely in terms of investigation methodology, investigation subject, classification of urban landscape, and the present condition of application. Biotope mapping in Seoul and Seongnam were carried out by the city governments concerned with the pre-set budgets earmarked for mapping. In order to promote the utilization of biotope maps for city planning in Korea, the following actions should be considered. First, the survey method should be standardized by introducing a uniform standard with respect to the scope of survey, the quality of primary data used, the survey method, and the level of the survey. Second, it is necessary to identify a basic category of biotope for each area by consolidating the outcome of the previous surveys. Third, it is highly desirable to minimize the differences between the evaluation criteria and the assessment factors. Fourth, it is ideal to apply the results of the biotope evaluation to city planning in an indirect manner through reflecting the results first in the landscape plans. In order to facilitate this alternative utilization, it is necessary to strengthen the control provisions contained in the ordinances of the city concerned or to enact a set of new provisions in the ordinances so that biotope mapping could be used more widely as a criterion for the spatial environmental impact assessment.