Strategies for rapid assessment of fungal diversity

The problems of estimating fungal diversity are considerable, due especially to the large numbers of species even in small study sites, only a small proportion of which are adequately characterized, and the lack of trained staff and appropriate identification manuals. These difficulties are multiplied in the tropics. Strategies for providing preliminary assessments of fungal diversity which can be carried out within short time-frames are discussed, which will allow initial site valuations to be made for conservation purposes. The necessity of identifying all species discovered is considered, and the need emphasized for strictly defined sampling protocols which allow proper comparison between sites. The advantages and disadvantages of preliminary diversity analyses involving different taxonomic and ecological groups, fungus/plant associations, spatial sampling, soil and litter analysis, molecular methods and indirect assessment are considered.     

Predicting the unexpected: using a qualitative model of a New Zealand dryland ecosystem to anticipate pest management outcomes

Pest management is expensive and there is often uncertainty about the benefits for the resources being protected. There can also be unintended consequences for other parts of the ecosystem, especially in complex food webs. In making decisions managers generally have to rely on qualitative information collected in a piecemeal fashion. A method to assist decision making is a qualitative modelling approach using fuzzy cognitive maps, a directed graphical model related to neural networks that can take account of interactions between pests and conservation assets in complex food webs. Using all available information on relationships between native and exotic resources and consumers, we generated hypotheses about potential consequences of single‐species and multi‐species pest control on the long‐term equilibrium abundances of other biotic components of an ecosystem. We applied the model to a dryland ecosystem in New Zealand because we had good information on its trophic structure, but the information on the strength of species interactions was imprecise. Our model suggested that pest control is unlikely to significantly boost native invertebrates and lizards in this ecosystem, suggesting that other forms of management may be required for these groups. Most of the pest control regimes tested resulted in greater abundances of at least one other pest species, which could potentially lead to other management problems. Some of the predictions were unexpected, such as more birds resulting from possum and mouse control. We also modelled the effects of an increase in invasive rabbits, which led to unexpected declines of stoats, weasels, mice and possums. These unexpected outcomes resulted from complex indirect pathways in the food web. Fuzzy cognitive maps allow rapid construction of prototype models of complex food webs using a wide range of data and expert opinion. Their utility lies in providing direction for future monitoring efforts and generating hypotheses that can be tested with field experiments.     

Patch assessment in foraging flocks of European starlings: evidence for the use of public information

A field experiment was carried out to determine whether group-foragingstarlings (Sturnus vulgaris) use public information to helpthem estimate the quality of an artificial resource patch anddepart accordingly. Three kinds of information are potentiallyavailable in a group: patch-sample information, pre-harvestinformation, and public information. These three types of informationcan be combined into four patch assessment strategies: (1) patch-samplealone; (2) patch-sample and pre-harvest; (3) patch-sample andpublic; and (4) patch-sample, pre-harvest, and public. Dependingon the foraging environment we presented to the starlings, eachassessment strategy made a unique set of predictions concerningthe patch departure decisions of pairs of birds based on differencesin their foraging success. The environment was manipulated intwo ways: by altering the variability in patch quality and bychanging compatibility, the ease with which individual birdscould simultaneously acquire both patch-sample and public information.Our observations on patch persistence and departure order demonstratethat the starlings used a combination of patch-sample and publicinformation, but not pre-harvest information, to estimate thequality of the experimental patch. Moreover, our results suggestthat starlings use public information only when it is easilyavailable and ignore it under incompatible conditions. Thisstudy provides the first evidence of public information usein a patch assessment problem.     

Contact sensitization: A new approach to risk assessment

The murine local lymph node assay is a novel predictive test for the identification of skin sensitizing chemicals. The method measures sensitization potential of a chemical in mice as a function of proliferative activity induced in lymph nodes draining the site of topical exposure to that test chemical. Here we describe the use of the local lymph node assay for evaluation of the relative potency of skin sensitizing chemicals via derivation of the concentration required to produce a threshold positive reaction. Subsequently, the development of risk assessments based on comparisons with index contact allergens is outlined.     

Effects of global change on key processes of primary production in marine ecosystems

工业革命以来, 不断加剧的人类活动所引起的大气CO₂浓度增加、温度上升等全球变化问题, 正使得海洋生态系统面临着前所未有的压力。该文通过文献计量的方法分析了国内外的研究现状, 简要地回顾了全球变化对海洋生态系统影响研究的发展简史, 并聚焦海洋暖化、海洋酸化和富营养化与缺氧这三个核心研究方向, 重点阐述了它们对海洋生态系统初级生产的关键过程的影响, 总结了已取得的重要进展以及存在的主要问题, 最后提出前沿展望。     

The New Zealand falcon and wind farms: a risk assessment framework

Abstract

Internationally, birds of prey are often reported as being relatively prone to collision with wind turbines in comparison to other groups of birds. However, as yet it is unclear to what extent New Zealand's only endemic bird of prey, the New Zealand falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae), is at risk. In this paper we summarise the potential for wind farms to impact New Zealand falcon, evaluate the efficacy of a range of risk assessment and post-consent monitoring practices, and present options for mitigating and/or offsetting any residual effects. We conclude that the lack of knowledge on the effects of wind farms on New Zealand falcon is the result of inconsistency in the assessment methods thus far employed and the absence of a coordinated approach to monitoring methods and the dissemination of results. To remedy this we present a risk assessment framework that, if adopted, will provide the information necessary to ensure alternative energy targets can be met without compromising the conservation of this threatened species.     

Missing piece of top predator-based conservation: Demographic analysis of an owl population on a remote subtropical island

Top predators are frequently the target of conservation programs. Owls are such predators. However, previous studies of owls are biased to species occurring in temperate regions, whereas most owl species occur in tropical or subtropical regions and are understudied. Furthermore, owls are often endemic to islands and of unknown conservation status. Demographic data for such species are especially scarce although they are essential for initiating and promoting their conservation. As a case study of demographic analysis of owls in a tropical or subtropical area and on islands, we applied an integrated population model to 7-year monitoring data (2012–2018) of the Ryukyu Scops Owl population on Minami-daito Island, Japan. We used survival history data from 903 individuals, reproduction and sex ratio data from 213 broods, and count data of 2,526 individuals in total. Long-term averages of annual survival rates were 0.73 for adult females and 0.74 for adult males, although the sexual difference was not significant. Sex ratio estimates fluctuated annually and long-term averages were slightly skewed to males: 0.51 among fledglings, 0.54 among yearlings, and 0.52 among adults. Long-term averages of population size were estimated to be 273.4 females and 296.8 males. The long-term average of population growth rate was 0.98, suggesting a slightly declining trend. It was fortunate to recognize the declining trend during the early phase. Considering the general lack of fundamental ecological data on owls of tropical or subtropical areas and on islands, it seems likely that many endangered owl populations await conservation efforts.     

The method matters: A guide for indicator aggregation in ecological assessments

Ecological assessment requires the integration of many physical, chemical, and/or biological quality elements. The choice of the aggregation method of such partial assessments into an overall assessment can considerably affect the assessment outcome – an issue that has been controversially discussed within the scientific community for the last decade. Current practice often considers only two different aggregation methods, the weighted arithmetic mean (additive aggregation) and the one-out, all-out method (minimum aggregation). However, both have important drawbacks. Additive aggregation compensates a bad status of one quality element by a number of elements featuring good status. Minimum aggregation can lead to overly pessimistic assessment results, since only the quality element in the worst status is considered. Here, we introduce a toolbox containing current and new aggregation methods, demonstrate and discuss their properties with simple, didactical examples, and suggest in which situations best to use them. Then, we illustrate the consequences of selected aggregation schemes for ecological river assessment with the case study of the Swiss Modular Concept of stream assessment (SMC), which we apply to ten river reaches in the Mönchaltdorfer Aa catchment in Switzerland. To be able to do so, we used multi-criteria decision analysis, i.e., multi-attribute value theory, to arrange the SMC quality elements into an objectives hierarchy, and to translate their individual assessments into value functions. Our case study revealed that choosing the most appropriate aggregation method particularly matters, if objectives with significantly different qualities are aggregated. We argue that redundant objectives (i.e., quality elements), often found at the lower levels of the objectives hierarchy, should best be aggregated additively allowing for compensation to increase the statistical significance of the results. Further, we suggest that complementary sub-objectives that often occur at higher levels may be optimally aggregated with a mixture of additive and minimum aggregation. Such a mixed method will allow some compensation, but nevertheless penalize for very bad states. Since here we compare commonly used aggregation methods with some which we believe have never been discussed in an assessment context before, our study concurrently informs ecological assessment in theory and in practice.     

The Blue Water Footprint of Primary Copper Production in Northern Chile

Water consumption related to the life cycle of metals is seldom reported, even though mines are often situated in very dry regions. In this study we quantified the life cycle consumption of groundwater and fresh surface water (blue water footprint [WF_blue]) for the extraction and production of high‐grade copper refined from both a copper sulfide ore and a copper oxide ore in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Where possible, we used company‐specific data. The processes for extracting copper from the two types of ore are quite different from each other, and the WF_blue of the sulfide ore refining process is 2.4 times higher than that of the oxide ore refining process (i.e., 96 cubic meters per metric ton [tonne] of copper versus 40 cubic meters per tonne of copper). Most of the water consumption (59% of WF_blue) in the sulfide ore process occurred at the concentrator plant, via seepage, accumulation, and also by evaporation. In the oxide ore process, the main user of water is the heap‐leaching process, with 45% of WF_blue. The crushing and agglomeration operations, electrowinning cells, and solution pools are also significant contributors to the total consumption of water in the oxide ore process. Most of the water consumed in the oxide ore process was lost to evaporation. The WF_blue of the oxide ore process can be reduced by preventing water evaporation and using more sophisticated devices during irrigation of the leaching heaps. The WF_blue of the sulfide ore refining process can be reduced by improving water recovery (i.e., reducing seepage, accumulation, and evaporation) from the tailings dam at the concentrator plant. Using seawater in the production of copper is also a promising option to reduce the WF_blue by up to 62%.