Hog Daddy and the Walls of Steel: Catch Shares and Ecosystem Change in the New England Groundfishery

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration implemented market-based fishery management in the New England groundfishery as catch shares, controlling aggregate harvests through tradable annual catch quotas allocated to fishing groups called sectors. Policy supporters assert that resulting markets raise conservation incentives. In compliance with the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, species assessments permit catch shares to replace more spatially and temporally specific constraints on fishing gear, time, areas, and daily harvest limits. Qualitative evidence from field interviews and participant observation questions the efficacy of catch shares. Fishing industry members observe that increased presence of large trawl vessels in previously protected areas damages fish subpopulations and benthic habitat. Regulatory bioeconomic models fail to consider these lay observations. The consequent inability of quota markets to recognize the materiality of human–environment relationships at the spatiotemporal scales of fishing activity, and to internalize associated externalities, may have devastating consequences for the fishery.     

农田背景下景观结构对半自然生境生物多样性的多尺度影响

以黄河下游典型农区封丘县为研究区,调查比较了农业景观中半自然生境(包括人工林、树篱和沟渠)与农田生境中植物和地表节肢动物的物种多样性,并应用广义线性模型(GLM)从不同的空间尺度分析半自然生境和农田中的物种多样性与景观变量之间的关系.结果表明:①林地植物多样性最高,且以人工林和沟渠中的植物物种相似度最高;各半自然生境中地表节肢动物的多度和物种丰富度明显高于农田,且以人工林和树篱间地表节肢动物的相似度最高.②在250 m景观范围内的景观变量能更好地解释植物多样性和地表节肢动物多样性,而树篱和沟渠在400 m景观范围上地表节肢动物的尺度效应最显著.③在250 m尺度上植物多样性与景观变量的拟合方面,在人工林和树篱生境中,散布与并列指数(IJI)和植物丰富度呈显著负相关;人工林中IJI和周长面积比(PA-RAMD)对植物香农多样性指数呈负相关;在树篱中,边缘密度(ED)、聚集度指数(AI)与植物香农多样性指数负相关显著,欧几里得最近距离(ENN_MN)与均匀度指数正相关;在沟渠中,ED、AI与植物丰富度显著负相关.④地表节肢动物与景观变量的拟合显示,在250 m景观范围上,人工林生境主要体现在多度与香农多样性指数(SHDI)和土地利用丰富度的负相关,而农田中则是多度与SHDI呈显著负相关,与ED、PARA_ MD、AI和土地利用丰富度(LUR)呈显著正相关;在400m景观范围上,树篱中,IJI与地表节肢动物的多度和丰富度呈显著正相关;沟渠生境中,只有多度与IJI和土地利用丰富度显著负相关,与SHDI显著正相关.     

Effects of corridor networks on plant species composition and diversity in an intensive agriculture landscape

The development of modern agriculture has resulted in much homogenization of the landscape consisting of large patches of farmland,so small remnant non-crop habitats especially linear corridors play an important role in the conservation of species and the maintenance of ecosystem functions.However,little attention has been paid to the effects of corridors structural characteristics on the plant species restricted to such habitats.In this study,we selected three types of corridors including ditch,hedgerow and road,and ana-lyzed their structural characteristics.The plant species presented in these corridors were investigated,and the species diversity,abun-dance and frequency were estimated.Moreover,spatial arrangements of corridors were classified into different types to discuss whether there were significant effects of corridor network on plant distribution.The results show that three types of corridors have different ef-fects on plant species composition and diversity.The one-one combined corridor networks and total network associated by three corri-dors have more complex structural features than each single type of corridor.However,there is no strong correlation between the corri-dor networks with their plant species.We suggest that carrying out a pointed vegetation survey at corridor intersections to further test the relationships between structural features of corridor and plants is necessary.     

迁徙季节水鸟对滨海不同类型湿地的利用——以广西山口红树林自然保护区为例

为了解迁徙季节水鸟在不同滨海湿地中的结构组成和行为特征,于2010年3月、4月、9月、11月和2011年3月,在山口自然保护区及其周边地区对不同滨海湿地类型的水鸟展开调查。结果显示:迁徙季节天然湿地共记录到水鸟6目8科39种,人工湿地有6目9科50种。天然湿地比人工湿地的物种数少,整体数量上,春季人工湿地大于天然湿地,秋季则为天然湿地水鸟数量更多。鹬鸻类在不同滨海湿地类型中觅食行为比例差异显著,在天然湿地中觅食比例达到76.67%,而在人工湿地中则以休息和睡眠等非觅食行为为主。天然湿地是鹬鸻类的重要觅食地,而人工湿地则是鹭类和鹬鸻类的主要休息地。鹭类在两种滨海湿地类型中觅食个体的数量不随潮汐的涨落而相应增减。鹬鸻类随潮汐高度上升,在两种滨海湿地类型中觅食的个体数量减少。山口地区的滨海人工湿地是水鸟在高潮期间天然湿地良好的替代栖息地。     

Vertical zonation and aggregated distribution of the Manila clam on subtidal sand flats in a coastal brackish lagoon along the Sea of Japan

The Manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum, has maintained small‐sized populations in a semi‐enclosed brackish lake along the Sea of Japan, the Honjo area of Lake Nakaumi, although the environment and biota of this area have changed dramatically due to a large‐scale reclamation project. There should be underlying processes that enable the restoration of this species from small‐sized populations, such as the existence of source (i.e. reproductive) populations in other areas and depth zones of the lake. However, there has been no robust, properly designed evaluation of the distribution of the Manila clam in the subtidal sand flats. In order to elucidate the possible mechanisms that allow for the persistence of populations of the Manila clam, we examined the spatiotemporal and vertical variation in distributions of 0‐age clams in the subtidal zone of sand flats. Seasonal effects on population variations showed erratic changes among depth zones without a decreasing trend along the depth gradient. Further, many local populations became extinct even in the shallower zones due to seasonal (summer) hypoxia at deeper zones and hypoxia by the accumulation of key benthic species (Asian mussel and decaying macroalgae) in mats at shallower zones. A few surviving local populations were stable with a spatial‐fragmental (patchy) distribution, associated with fragmented accumulations of Asian mussels and macroalgae. Efforts to maintain stable populations and to restore this species in the subtidal area may depend on these small, restricted, patchy local populations. These findings suggest that high fertility and productivity of the Manila clam as well as patchy distribution of small populations may contribute to the maintenance of the population and the avoidance of extinction (by spatially diffusing the risk of extinction) in harsh environments resulting from the reclamation project.     

Conservation of wetlands especially as waterfowl habitat in northeast China

Wetland is a special ecological system in the earth, which can provide a good habitat for many wild animals. It is a reproduction and overwintering area for many rare waterfowls, too. The northeast region, including Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning provinces, and the east of Inner Mongolia, is a district with the maximum areas and types of wetlands in China. It is the center of the waterfowls reproduction in Northeast Asia and the necessary region moving to the south. The conservation of wetland and waterfowls habitats in northeast China plays an important role in international waterfowls habitats conservation. The northeast weterfowls’ types, number and distribution specific features are studied in three aspects in the paper, so do the rare waterfowls. Existing problems and the administration polices on waterfowls and their habitats conservation in the northeast are also discussed. It shows that the conservation of wetland waterfowls habitats in northeast China is important.     

A TAXONOMICAL AND ECOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ROTIFER COMMUNITIES IU KROTTENSEE (AUSTRIA)

The composition and distribution of benthic, periphytic and planktonic rotifers in different habitatsin Krottensee were investigated. Sixty-five rotifer taxa were identified, their relative abundance estimated. Classification of the data set by cluster analysis allowed the recognition of distinct habitat groupe con-fined to acid bog ponds, macrophytes, sediments, and open water. Five groups of rotifer taxa were identifiedon the basis of their habitat preferences and the occurrence of the taxa. Highest diversities were found onmacrophytes and in acid bog ponds.     

生态模型在河口管理中的应用研究综述

河口作为河流和海洋的交汇地,具有生态交错带特性,其在自然和人类活动双重压力下发生着演变.生态模型是研究生态系统结构、功能及其时空演变规律以及生物过程对于生态系统的影响及其反馈机制的重要手段.采用不同方法对生态模型进行分类,综述各类生态模型的特性、优缺点及应用领域.讨论建模过程中模型变量与函数、模型整合及时空尺度、模型参数取值及不确定等关键技术问题.分析各类生态模型在河口生态工程设计、生态系统修复、生态系统评价、系统决策支持等管理领域的应用.尽管中国河口生态模型构建及应用已有一些成果,但与国外相比,在理论生态学及数据积累方面仍有一定差距.     

Object-based class modelling for multi-scale riparian forest habitat mapping

Object-based class modelling allows for mapping complex, hierarchical habitat systems. The riparian zone, including forests, represents such a complex ecosystem. Forests within riparian zones are biologically high productive and characterized by a rich biodiversity; thus considered of high community interest with an imperative to be protected and regularly monitored. Satellite earth observation (EO) provides tools for capturing the current state of forest habitats such as forest composition including intermixture of non-native tree species. Here we present a semi-automated object based image analysis (OBIA) approach for the mapping of riparian forests by applying class modelling of habitats based on the European Nature Information System (EUNIS) habitat classifications and the European Habitats Directive (HabDir) Annex 1. A very high resolution (VHR) WorldView-2 satellite image provided the required spatial and spectral details for a multi-scale image segmentation and rule-base composition to generate a six-level hierarchical representation of riparian forest habitats. Thereby habitats were hierarchically represented within an image object hierarchy as forest stands, stands of homogenous tree species and single trees represented by sunlit tree crowns. 522 EUNIS level 3 (EUNIS-3) habitat patches with a mean patch size (MPS) of 12,349.64 m² were modelled from 938 forest stand patches (MPS = 6868.20 m²) and 43,742 tree stand patches (MPS = 140.79 m²). The delineation quality of the modelled EUNIS-3 habitats (focal level) was quantitatively assessed to an expert-based visual interpretation showing a mean deviation of 11.71%.