A consistent ecosystem services valuation method based on Total Economic Value and Equivalent Value Factors: A case study in the Sanjiang Plain,Northeast China

In this study, a regional revision coefficient is proposed for the Equivalent Value Factors to better valuate the Sanjiang Plain (in China) ecosystem services. An index system suitable for the valuation of the ecosystem services in the Sanjiang Plain is established. The proposed method can realize the rapid valuation of nine ecosystem service types of six different terrestrial ecosystems. Through the preliminary application of the method, the calculated total value of ecosystem services of the Sanjiang Plain in 2010 was 510.89 billion yuan, of which the forest ecosystem contributed to 37.85%, followed by water bodies and wetland ecosystems. The variations among the contributions of the different ecosystem services are considerable. The contribution attributed to regulation function was the highest, especially the value from the hydrological regulation (36.17%) and climate regulation (16.04%). The Total Economic Value (TEV) method and the Equivalent Value Factors (EVF) method are compared in this study. Results show that Equivalent Value Factors derived value of the Sanjiang Plain ecosystem services is slightly lower than the value obtained by the Total Economic Value method, i.e., 537.84 billion yuan, of which the total value of the Feature Services has reached as high as 38.35 billion yuan.     

High fidelity does not preclude colonization: range expansion of molting Black Brant on the Arctic coast of Alaska

High rates of site fidelity have been assumed to infer static distributions of molting geese in some cases. To test this assumption, we examined movements of individually marked birds to understand the underlying mechanisms of range expansion of molting Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) on the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) of Alaska. The Teshekpuk Lake Special Area (TLSA) on the ACP was created to protect the primary molting area of Brant. When established in 1977, the TLSA was thought to include most, if not all, wetlands used by molting Brant on the ACP. From 2010 to 2013, we surveyed areas outside the TLSA and counted an average of 9800 Brant per year, representing 29–37% of all molting Brant counted on the ACP. We captured and banded molting Brant in 2011 and 2012 both within the TLSA and outside the TLSA at the Piasuk River Delta and Cape Simpson to assess movements of birds among areas across years. Estimates of movement rates out of the TLSA exceeded those into the TLSA, demonstrating overall directional dispersal. We found differences in sex and age ratios and proportions of adult females with brood patches, but no differences in mass dynamics for birds captured within and outside the TLSA. Overall fidelity rates to specific lakes (0.81, range = 0.49–0.92) were unchanged from comparable estimates obtained in the early 1990s. We conclude that Brant are dispersing from the TLSA into new molting areas while simultaneously redistributing within the TLSA, likely as a consequence of changes in relative habitat quality. Shifts in distribution resulted from colonization of new areas by young birds as well as low levels of directional dispersal of birds that previously molted in the TLSA. Based on combined counts, the overall number of molting Brant across the ACP has increased substantially.     

宋元时期江南运河对嘉湖平原圩田体系的影响

嘉湖平原传统的圩田开发过程形成的农业模式是中国经典的生态农业模式的代表，其中湖州的桑基鱼塘系统被认定为全球重要农业文化遗产（GIASH），通过对本区域内圩田相关的历史文献记载的梳理与分析发现：嘉湖平原的圩田农业开发历史悠久，宋元时期嘉湖平原地区沼泽地开发过程中形成以江南运河为主干河道的河网，以运河为框架进行了圩田水利的开发。宋元时期根据嘉湖平原内部的地势与水环境差异，北部形成以荻塘运河为中心的溇港圩田开发模式，中部形成以运河和塘河为中心的围田开发模式，南部以湖杭运河和杭嘉运河为中心形成桑基鱼塘和桑基稻田圩田体系。     

Introduction to Asian Herpetological Research

Asian Herpetological Research （AHR）, an international English language journal, is published quarterly by the Chengdu Institute of Biology （CIB）, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Science Press of China, cooperated with the Asiatic Herpetological Research Society （AHRS）, with its registered numbers： CN 51-1735/Q and ISSN 2095-0357, and post distribution code： 62-218. AHR has an international Editorial Board consisting of many top herpetologists from different countries in the world. The journal＇s website can be found at： http：//www.ahr-journal.com.