Responses of Australian sea lions,Neophoca cinerea,to anthropogenic activities in the Perth metropolitan area,Western Australia

1. Tourist‐based activities, partly due to their rapid increase, have raised concerns regarding the impacts of anthropogenic activity on marine fauna. Documented effects on pinnipeds in proximity to humans include changes in behaviour, site use and potentially higher aggression levels towards people. Effects vary considerably between populations and sites, thus requiring separate assessment of human impacts on activity and energy budgets.
2. Responses of the endangered Australian sea lion, Neophoca cinerea, to human visitation were recorded from November 2013 through April 2014. Exposure levels and response types to anthropogenic activities were assessed at two easily accessible locations with different management schemes, Seal (landing prohibited) and Carnac (landing permitted) islands, Western Australia. Exposure levels were measured as both stimulus type (i.e. ‘People’, ‘Paddlers’, ‘Small’, ‘Medium’, and ‘Large vessels’, ‘Tour vessels’, and ‘Jet skies’), and people (‘Direct’, ‘Attract’, ‘Interact’, ‘View’, ‘Incidental’, ‘Water’, ‘Low‐level’), and vessel activities (‘Interact’, ‘Approach/Follow’, ‘Anchor noise’, ‘Engine noise’, ‘Close to beach’, ‘Moderate/Fast travel’, ‘Slow travel’, ‘Transit’, ‘Drift/At anchor’, ‘Aircraft noise’).
3. Exposure levels varied significantly between the islands in numbers, stimuli type, duration and minimum approach distances. The instantaneous behaviours of ‘Lift head’, ‘Interact’ and ‘Sit’ were the most frequent responses. ‘Aggressive’ and ‘Retreat’ responses, the highest disturbance levels measured, occurred on Carnac approximately once per day, but rarely on Seal Island. ‘Aggressive’ behaviour towards ‘People’ was observed only on Carnac Island and elicited only by ‘People’. ‘People’, ‘Tour vessels’, and scenic ‘Aircrafts’ on both islands as well as ‘Jet skis’ on Carnac Island had the highest probability of triggering responses. Owing to their relatively high visitation at Seal Island, ‘Paddle powered vessels’, followed by ‘Tour vessels’ elicited the highest number of responses, compared with ‘People’, ‘Small’, and ‘Medium vessels’ at Carnac Island. The majority of responses occurred when any stimulus type was at short‐range (≤10 m), and ‘People’ ‘Viewing’ N. cinerea elicited most. Vessels triggered more responses at larger ranges than ‘People’.
4. To limit close‐range access to N. cinerea, one possibility is to close the beach at Carnac Island to human visitation and increase the minimum approach distance by vessels and ‘People’ by installing marker buoys at least 15 m from the shore.

© 2016 The Authors. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recreational fisheries in Portofino Marine Protected Area,Italy: Some implications for the management

Since the 1970s, recreational fishing has become a mass hobby in Italy, reaching a large number of people, who, using modern equipment, increased their harvesting capacity, provoking serious conflicts with the professional fisheries. Recreational fishing is strictly regulated inside Italian Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and is generally allocated to local residents, mainly to reduce the tensions caused by limitations of access to the resources. The aim of this study was to provide an analysis of recreational fishing activities within the Portofino MPA (Mediterranean Sea), to assess the possible impact on the local fish stocks and to plan potential management actions. Furthermore, some serious inconsistencies on the minimum lengths of fish caught as defined by law relative to the minimum size of first reproduction are discussed. Since 2014, all anglers exploiting the Portofino MPA have been obliged to fill out a logbook. The compilation of these was not completely satisfactory, when compared with a group of reliable anglers whose catches were accurately monitored, but allowed for estimated yields of about 24 kg/angler/yr. After 15 years of protection, the fish biomass has increased within the Portofino MPA, generating a positive spillover effect. At the same time, it has attracted many anglers whose gross harvesting was estimated at about 8 t/year, representing about the 8% of the total yield of the local small‐scale fishery.     

Examining horizontal and vertical social ties to achieve social–ecological fit in an emerging marine reserve network

1. Most MPA networks are designed only with ecological processes in mind to increase their conservation utility. However, since MPA networks often involve large geographic areas, they also affect and involve multiple actors, institutions, and policy sectors.
2. A key challenge when establishing an effective MPA network is to align the ‘social system’ with the biophysical MPA network (the ‘ecological system’). This challenge is often denoted as ‘social–ecological fit’.
3. Facilitating collaborative social interactions among various actors and stakeholders (social connectivity) is equally as important as accomplishing ecological connectivity. New analytical approaches are required to effectively examine this ‘social’ dimension of fit.
4. An emerging marine reserve network in Jamaica and the recent invasion of Indo‐Pacific lionfish are used as a case study to: (1) examine the extent to which horizontal and vertical social ties bring local and national actors together to collaborate, coordinate, and share knowledge; and (2) assess the extent to which different attributes and features of such multilevel social networks may enhance or inhibit particular aspects of social–ecological fit.
5. Findings suggest that multilevel linkages have played the greatest role in relation to enhancing fit in the marine reserve network in the context of the recent lionfish invasion. However, the long‐term propensity of the multi‐actor and multilevel networks to enhance social–ecological fit is uncertain given the prevalence of weak social ties, lack of a culture of information sharing and collaboration, and limited financial resources.

     

乌鄯线冬季冷热油交替输送运行方案

为保障西部原油管道乌鄯线安全平稳运行,实现节能降耗输送,分析了乌鄯线和阿独乌线外输哈国油物性、沿线油温、地温数据,进而探讨了乌鄯线冬季运行冷热油交替输送的可行性。研究结果表明：长输原油管道冬季低输量运行,其进站油温差距不大并与地温的变化趋势一致,沿线地温为冬季冷热油交替输送的重要参数;采用冷热油交替输送工艺,哈国油常温输送对北疆油物性影响不大;乌鄯线冬季运行采用冷热油交替输送,节约燃料天然气约51.6%,节能降耗效果明显,说明乌鄯线冬季运行采用冷热油交替输送具有可行性。     

基于舟川旅游资源条件比较的川岛滨海旅游发展战略研究

川山群岛和舟山群岛均为我国八大群岛之一,具有诸多的共同之处。因此,造成两群岛滨海旅游差异甚大的深层原因值得深思。对两者旅游业发展的资源和条件进行深入的比较分析,总结出川山群岛滨海旅游发展中优劣势,提出一些川山群岛旅游业发展的一些思路和具体的实施路径,以期能为川山群岛旅游业的发展提供有用参考。     

Seasonal movements of immature Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) in the northern gulf of Mexico

1. Seasonal movements and core habitat areas of immature Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) in the northern Gulf of Mexico were tracked via satellite telemetry. Tagged turtles were incidentally captured by recreational fishermen and rehabilitated at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Mississippi.
2. The average size of the core habitat areas (50% KDE (kernel density estimation)) was 1660.2 km² ± 3438.2 SD. Turtles displayed strong intra‐ and inter‐annual site fidelity to the Mississippi Sound during the spring, summer, and autumn months. During the winter months, most turtles, probably influenced by water temperatures, migrated to nearshore waters of Louisiana on either side of the Mississippi River Delta. However, other migration strategies were also observed.
3. Overall, these data indicate that the Mississippi Sound is an important developmental habitat for this critically endangered species. In addition, their wintering grounds in Louisiana are utilized by adult Kemp's ridleys and other sea turtle species as foraging grounds and migratory corridors. The high use of these areas by sea turtle populations increases the potential for negative impacts from anthropogenic disturbances (e.g. shrimp trawling, oil production, hypoxia) that occur there.

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does full protection count for the maintenance of β‐diversity patterns in marine communities? Evidence from Mediterranean fish assemblages

1. Although it is widely recognized that protection may enhance size, abundance, and diversity of fish, its effect on spatial heterogeneity of fish assemblages and species turnover is still poorly understood.
2. Here the effect of full protection within a Mediterranean marine protected area on β‐diversity patterns of fish assemblages along a depth gradient comparing a no‐take zone with multiple unprotected areas is explored. The no‐take zone showed significantly higher synecological parameters, higher β‐diversity among depths, and lower small‐scale heterogeneity of fish assemblages relative to unprotected areas.
3. Such patterns might likely depend on the high level of fishing pressure outside the no‐take zone, as also abundance‐biomass curves seemed to indicate. Results suggested that full protection could play a role in maintaining high β‐diversity, thus reducing the fragility of marine communities and ecosystems, and spatial heterogeneity may represent a reliable predictor of how management actions could provide insurance against undesirable phase shifts.

     

定苗时间对峦大杉1年生苗木生长的影响

探究定苗时间对峦大杉苗期生长动态与生长节律影响,优化定苗时间,为育苗提供理论与技术支持。以当年生峦大杉幼苗为试验材料,开展不同定苗时间试验,采用定株观测并应用Logistic方程拟合生长动态的方法,分析定苗时间对苗木生长动态和生长节律的影响效应。研究结果表明,定苗时间影响苗高地径生长效应随处理时间推移而显现,是个动态过程。Logistic方程能够很好地拟合峦大杉苗木生长。定苗时间显著影响苗高、地径线性生长速率、最大线性生长速率和线性生长量,但对苗高地径线性生长始期、终期、线性生长持续期无显著性影响;苗高生长初期定苗较其他处理显著提高苗高和地径的线性生长量线性生长速率、最大线性生长速率,建议增加速生期的养分和水分供给以提高苗木质量。峦大杉合理定苗时间是苗高生长初期（6月30日）。     

基于道路载荷特征的整车试验场耐久性评价方法

为了获得整车试验场各路况对底盘各零部件的对应考核情况,以国内某整车大型试验场为研究对象,通过将采集到的试验场载荷分解,获得试验场各子路况的载荷时间历程。通过分别以底盘零部件各测点为基准和以试验场各路况为基准对比分析各路况对应各测点的损伤,可得到试验场路况考核表。针对考核表中不同路况考核部件的相似性,对比分析其各路况考核各部件的极值、变程、RMS、损伤,根据分析结果优化此前得到的试验场各路况考核表。此方法可为整车试验场耐久性评价提供一定参考。