Impact of landscape patterns on ecological vulnerability and ecosystem service values: An empirical analysis of Yancheng Nature Reserve in China

In this study, an ecological vulnerability assessment indicator system was constructed using the “exposure–climate sensitivity–adaptive capacity” framework according to the theory of ecological vulnerability. An improved ecosystem service value calculation model was proposed based on empirical parameters. Using Yancheng Nature Reserve in China as an example, we employed remote sensing data to conduct an empirical analysis of the changes in the spatiotemporal pattern, ecological vulnerability, and ecosystem services of typical landscape types over the period from 1987 to 2013. The statistical results derived from landscape pattern indices (LPIs) showed that during the investigation period, three natural wetland landscape types (i.e., Spartina alterniflora, Suaeda glauca, and Phragmites australis) showed gradually increased fragmentation in the study area. The ecological vulnerability scores of the major landscape types (in descending order) were P. australis (0.053), farmland (0.047), S. alterniflora (0.042), S. glauca (0.031), and bare mud flat (0.002). The results derived from the ecosystem service value fluctuation index (ESVFI) showed that from 1987 to 1997, the value of the ecosystem services provided by S. glauca and P. australis wetlands decreased, whereas that of S. alterniflora wetlands increased continuously. From 2002 to 2013, the value of the ecosystem services provided by all three types of natural wetland showed a downward trend. In conclusion, the combined effects of human and natural factors, including the expansion of farmland and the invasion of S. alterniflora, and changes in seawater erosion and deposition led to changes in the landscape patterns, ecological vulnerability, and ecosystem services of the Yancheng Nature Reserve during the investigation period. The results indicate that a “dual adaptive” management system based on natural succession and supplemented by appropriate manual intervention should be implemented, and the management efficiency and flexibility should be improved to meet the common needs of biodiversity conservation and economic development.     

Evaluation of environmentally conscious manufacturing programs using a three-hybrid multi-criteria decision analysis method

Environmental management, being an important component in strategies for achieving sustainable development of processes and products, has emerged as a proactive approach in majority of the manufacturing organizations. From the strategic perspective environmentally conscious manufacturing (ECM) programs lead to better environmental management practice. The objective of the current paper is to present an integrated and holistic framework to evaluate ECM programs. This framework combines three multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods to consider eight major environmentally conscious manufacturing indicators (ECMI) in order to identify the efficiency of each ECM program. First the interdependence relationship among the ECMIs is established using decision-making trail and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL). Then a range of weightage (i.e. upper and lower bounds) is created for each ECMI using analytic network process (ANP) to include managerial preferences. Finally, this range of weightage for each indicator is applied to perform restricted multiplier data envelopment analysis (RMDEA). Results show that the technical efficiency of the inefficient ECM programs for integrated RMDEA, on average, is calculated as 53.2% whereas traditional input oriented DEA provides the same score as 72.3%. This clearly indicates that integrated RMDEA is better than the input oriented DEA because same level of output could be produced with lesser resources if the ECM programs perform on the frontier. Hence, the advantage of this methodology is that the managerial preferences are successfully implemented through this newly developed hybrid methodology that will help to reduce less resource consumption and lead to better environmental policy.     

Biodiversity on the brink: Evaluating a transdisciplinary research collaboration

Global biodiversity is facing an extinction crisis. Australia has one of the highest terrestrial species extinction rates in the world. Scientists, policy advisors and governments have recommended that the issue be addressed at a landscape-scale, while noting that there are significant knowledge gaps that are hampering implementation of such an approach. From 2011–2015, the Australian Government funded a transdisciplinary research program, the Landscapes and Policy Hub, to meet this need. Transdisciplinary research is widely acknowledged as essential to address the complexity of contemporary environmental problems. Given that such research programs are in their infancy, it is important to evaluate their efficacy and provide an empirical basis for improving their design. This paper presents an evaluation of the strategies fostering transdisciplinarity adopted by the Landscapes and Policy Hub. A heavy emphasis on communication, with skilled knowledge brokering, regular face-to-face meetings using participatory activities and shared field engagements enhanced transdisciplinary interaction between researchers and research users. However, establishing a fully integrated interdisciplinary research program remained a challenge. Efforts to enable shared conceptual frameworks to emerge through adaptive application of theory in practice could have been balanced with increased effort at the outset for researchers and research users to collaboratively formulate shared research questions, leading to the establishment of teams that could address these questions through cross-mobilisation of interdisciplinary expertise.     

Assignment and evaluation of ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages to sites on different scales in a grassland landscape

Carabid beetles and environmental parameters were investigated in 52 grassland sites with three replicate pitfall traps in each site and in the valley of the River Eider in Schleswig–Holstein (northern Germany) with 61 pitfall traps. Environmental parameters included water content of soil, sand content, organic matter content and pH. Ground beetle assemblages were derived by detrended correspondence analyses (DCA) and characterised by the specific environmental conditions as means for each assemblage. On the regional scale including all investigated sites of Schleswig–Holstein, five assemblages were differentiated. On the local scale including the investigated sites in the valley of the River Eider, three assemblages were found corresponding well with those found on the regional scale. Environmental conditions at the sites of the five assemblages were correlated with land use data, soil types, and water level stages provided by three maps of a geographic information system (GIS). The GIS maps were combined to develop smaller areas with land use, soil type and water level stage information. The characteristic environmental conditions were assigned to each area to derive the spatial distribution of the five ground beetle assemblages. Spatial prediction was correct for 65% of investigated sites. The potential area of each assemblage was estimated for the valley. The different grassland areas were evaluated as potential habitats for ground beetle species comparing total species richness with the regional species richness of each assemblage. The comparison shows that species richness in the evaluated assemblages is relatively low compared to the regional potential.     

盘鮈属鱼类的分类研究及两新种记述(鲤形目:鲤科)

盘鮈属是我国鲤科鱼类的一个特有属,过去已记录7种,因早期发表的云南盘鮈原始描述简略,国内又无人察看过模式标本,造成一些种名归属混乱。本工作在核对多数种的模式标木或地模标本的基础上,对盘鮈属鱼类的分类性状重新估价,认为多鳞盘鮈 D.polylepis Huang不能成立,为长鳔盘鮈 D.macrophysallidos Huang的同物异名,予以归并,经整理本属鱼类可分为8个种,其中具2个新种,文中给出了分种检索表,还就过去分类中存在的其他问题进行了讨论。     

Evaluating the ability of regional models to predict local avian abundance

Spatial modeling over broad scales can potentially direct conservation efforts to areas with high species-specific abundances. We examined the performance of regional models for predicting bird abundance at spatial scales typically addressed in conservation planning. Specifically, we used point count data on wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) and blue-winged warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera) from 2 time periods (1995–1998 and 2006–2007) to evaluate the ability of regional models derived via Bayesian hierarchical techniques to predict bird abundance. We developed models for each species within Bird Conservation Region (BCR) 23 in the upper midwestern United States at 800-ha, 8,000-ha, and approximately 80,000-ha scales. We obtained count data from the Breeding Bird Survey and land cover data from the National Land Cover Dataset (1992). We evaluated predictions from the best models, as defined by an information-theoretic criterion, using point count data collected within an ecological subregion of BCR 23 at 131 count stations in the 1990s and again in 2006–2007. Competing (Deviance Information Criteria <5) blue-winged warbler models accounted for 67% of the variability and suggested positive associations with forest edge and proportion of forest at the 8,000-ha scale, and negative associations with forest patch area (800 ha) and wetness (800 ha and 80,000 ha). The regional model performed best for blue-winged warbler predicted abundances from point counts conducted in Iowa during 1995–1996 (r_s = 0.57; P = 0.14), the survey period that most closely aligned with the time period of data used for regional model construction. Wood thrush models exhibited positive correlations with point count data for all survey areas and years combined (r_s = 0.58, P ≤ 0.001). In comparison, blue-winged warbler models performed worse as time increased between the point count surveys and vintage of the model building data (r_s = 0.03, P = 0.92 for Iowa and r_s = 0.13, P = 0.51 for all areas, 2006–2007), likely related to the ephemeral nature of their preferred early successional habitat. Species abundance and sensitivity to changing habitat conditions seems to be an important factor in determining the predictive ability of regional models. Hierarchical models can be a useful tool for concentrating efforts at the scale of management units and should be one of many tools used by land managers, but we caution that the utility of such models may decrease over time for species preferring relatively ephemeral habitats if model inputs are not updated accordingly. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.     

不同蕨类植物提取物乙酰胆碱酯酶抑制活性的评价

为对采自浙江天目山的40种蕨类植物乙醇提取物进行乙酰胆碱酯酶抑制活性研究。本文采用乙酰胆碱酯酶抑制活性筛选模型。结果表明：在供试质量浓度在1mg／mL时,40种植物的乙醇提取物均具有明显的乙酰胆碱酯酶抑制活性,其中密羽贯众、野雉尾金粉蕨和狗脊等13种蕨类植物表现出较强的抑制活性,抑制率均大于90％,其余大部分植物的抑制率均大于60％。而在供试质量浓度在0．025mg／mL时,只有少数植物表现出较高的乙酰胆碱酯酶抑制活性,其中狭顶鳞毛蕨的抑制率为62．63％&#177;3．72％,蜈松草的抑制率为48．01％&#177;2．87％,其余大部分植物的抑制活性均小于40％,甚至有些植物提取物不仅对乙酰胆碱酯酶没有抑制活性,反而表现出一定的增强作用。     

Comprehensive evaluation of multiple cropping systems on upland red soil

According to the principles and methods of ecology and system engineering, we set up an evaluation indicator system for multi-component and multiple cropping systems, evaluated the comprehensive benefits of multi-component and multiple cropping systems using grey relation clustering analysis and screened out the optimized model based on research done in the upland red soil in Jiangxi Agricultural University from 1984 to 2004. The results show that the grey relation degree of “cabbage/potato/maize — sesame” was the highest among 23 multi-component and multiple cropping systems and was clustered into the optimized system. This indicates that “cabbage/potato/maize — sesame” can bring the best social, economic and ecological benefits, increase product yield and farmers’ income and promote sustainable development of agricultural production. Therefore, it is suitable for promotion on upland red soil. The grey relation degree of “canola/Chinese milk vetch/maize/mung bean/maize” was second, which is suitable for implementation at the city outskirts. In conclusion, these two planting patterns are expected to play important roles in the reconstruction of the planting structure and optimization of the planting patterns on upland red soil. __________ Translated from Acta Ecologica Sinica, 2006, 26(8): 2532–2539 [译自: 生态学报]     

江西珍稀濒危植物优先保护定量研究

以江西省50种珍稀濒危植物为定量研究对象,采用以濒危系数、遗传价值系数、物种价值系数和生物学特征系数4个指标构成的珍稀濒危植物等级综合评价值的方法对上述植物优先保护顺序进行了定量研究。对50种珍稀植物进行排序的结果基本符合《中国珍稀濒危植物》和《中国植物红皮书》第1册的分析,但也有不同：属一级保护的有长柄双花木、天目木姜子和长序榆等共10种,占研究物种总数的20．00％,其中有浙江楠和华东黄杉等2渐危种;二级保护的有胡豆莲、连香树、伯乐树、银钟花等共26种,占52．00％,其中胡豆莲属于濒危种;三级的有小花木兰、观光木等12种,占24．00％,其中有4种属稀有种,8种属渐危种;此外,八角莲、野大豆等在江西可以暂不列入保护,这两者均属渐危种,占4．00％。     

分子标记辅助选择改良蜀恢527对白叶枯病的抗性

以含抗性基因Xa2 1和Xa4的抗白叶枯病近等基因系IRBB6 0为供体亲本 ,以不抗白叶枯病强恢复系蜀恢5 2 7为轮回受体亲本 ,连续回交 3代 ,自交 1代 ,在分离世代用分别与Xa2 1和Xa4紧密连锁的标记pTA2 48和MP12对目标基因Xa2 1和Xa4进行辅助选择 ,直至BC3F2 。在BC3F2 中选出株型、粒型、播抽期等农艺性状与蜀恢 5 2 7相似且pTA2 48和MP12的扩增带型纯合的 10个单株 ,用 10 0个RAPD和 12 0对SSR引物进行背景选择 ,决选出 5个单株 ,作为改良的蜀恢 5 2 7。抗性分析表明 ,这些改良的蜀恢 5 2 7株系对我国菌系CⅠ CⅦ和来自菲律宾的P1 和P6 均表现抗性 ,说明抗性基因已成功导入蜀恢 5 2 7中并表达。同时对pTA2 48和MP12在亲本间的多态性和选择的准确性也进行了分析 ,结果显示这两个标记在亲本间的多态性明显 ,共显性 ;选择的准确率分别在 97%和 83%以上 ,可以用其进行标记辅助选择。