Fish movement and habitat use depends on water body size and shape

Abstract –  Home ranges are central to understanding habitat diversity, effects of fragmentation and conservation. The distance that an organism moves yields information on life history, genetics and interactions with other organisms. Present theory suggests that home range is set by body size of individuals. Here, we analyse estimates of home ranges in lakes and rivers to show that body size of fish and water body size and shape influence home range size. Using 71 studies including 66 fish species on five continents, we show that home range estimates increased with increasing water body size across water body shapes. This contrasts with past studies concluding that body size sets home range. We show that water body size was a consistently significant predictor of home range. In conjunction, body size and water body size can provide improved estimates of home range than just body size alone. As habitat patches are decreasing in size worldwide, our findings have implications for ecology, conservation and genetics of populations in fragmented ecosystems.     

Larger body size with higher predation rate

Abstract –  Many studies have reported that prey fish increase in body size with an increase in piscivore abundance, and this change may be explained mainly by two processes: release from intraspecific competition because of a reduction in the prey fish population and size-dependent selection by the piscivore. However, the evolutionary mechanism is not yet fully understood. Here, we first show the body-size dynamics of the semelparous gobiid fish Gymnogobius isaza , which is one of the prey fishes of the introduced largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides . The data show the possibility that the goby body size might have changed in parallel to the number of largemouth bass from 1975 to 2002, which may be one of the best examples of the positive relationship between body size and predation rate. Furthermore, we explored a mathematical model to consider a body-size change of semelparous fish from an evolutionary viewpoint. The model provided the following qualitative predictions: (1) the optimal assimilation rate increases with predation pressure; (2) a rapid large-scale increase in predation pressure may exterminate the prey fish because of delayed evolution of the assimilation rate; and (3) the optimal assimilation rate increases when the prey fish is more likely to die through predation than through natural mortality or when it is difficult to grow larger because of low resource availability or insufficient foraging efficiency. Moreover, we propose a theoretical framework to evaluate the relative effects of ecological and evolutionary processes over the long term.     

论梭罗自然观的当代意义

从梭罗的生态整体主义自然观出发,分析梭罗及其自然观的当代意义,其主要体现在三方面：对于自然环境、生态平衡以及人类精神的深刻影响。     

湿地生态系统价值评价方法研究

较为系统地介绍了湿地生态系统价值的评价方法,并指出它们的优缺点和适用条件,对今后的湿地生态系统价值评价研究有重要的指导意义。     

轮虫培育池不同粒级藻类对浮游植物生物量和生产量的贡献

研究了流水轮虫培育池(14^#)、静水轮虫培育池(15^#)和轮虫饵料培养池(11^#)中不同粒级浮游植物，特别是超微藻类对浮游植物叶绿素和初级生产力的贡献。结果表明，在14^#池中，超微藻类、微型藻类和小型藻类的叶绿素a含量分别占总叶绿素a含量的3．7％、82．9％和13．4％。各粒级浮游植物初级生产力分别占总生产力的13．6％、66．0％和20．4％。在11^#池中，超微藻类、微型藻类和小型藻类的叶绿素a含量分别占总叶绿素a含量的4．5％、16．1％和79．4％。各粒级浮游植物初级生产力分别占总生产力的9．0％、78．9％和12．1％。在15^#池超微藻类、微型藻类和小型藻类的叶绿素a含量分别占总叶绿素a含量的4．7％、22．3％和73．0％。各粒级浮游植物初级生产力分别占总生产力的12．4％、60．8％和27．8％。水体中的初级生产力主要是由微型藻类提供，占总量的60．8％～78．9％，在轮虫培育池生态系统中微型藻类是主要生产者。     

岑溪市森林资源生态系统服务功能及价值评估 — 以岑溪市中林林业发展有限公司森林资源为例

本研究选取岑溪市中林林业发展有限公司 2445. 33hm2森林资源的 4个龄组类型作为研究对象,采用 2021年 度森林资源规划设计调查的基本数据,从固碳释氧、涵养水源、净化空气、杀菌、土壤保持、生物多样性保护这 6 个方面 13 个指标来评估其生态系统服务价值。 结果表明:2445. 33hm2森林资源生态系统服务总价值高达 1. 16亿元,其中固碳释氧 价值总量为 3349. 46万元,涵养水源价值总量为 1309. 49万元,净化空气价值总量为 1077. 47万元,杀菌总价值为 72. 38 万元,土壤保持价值总量为 3296万元,生物多样性保护价值总量为 2445. 35万元;在 4种龄组类型中, 中龄林的生态价值 总量为 4612. 22万元,幼龄林的生态价值总量为 2921. 69万元,近熟林的生态价值总量为 2726. 09万元,成熟林的生态价 值总量为 1290. 14万元,各龄组林分的生态价值与其面积和蓄积呈正相关性。 此次生态价值核算结果为当地森林生态价 值实现机制和林业可持续发展提供了一定参考依据。     

准噶尔盆地南缘降水脉冲量级分布及其变化规律

对干旱区降水脉冲发生规律的分析,将为理解荒漠生态系统结构与功能提供新的视野。选择准噶尔盆地南缘的温泉、精河、乌苏、蔡家湖、奇台和巴里坤6个气象站近50多年的逐日降水资料,分析不同量级降水脉冲对年总降水频次和降水量的贡献以及变化规律。结果表明：小降水脉冲（≤5 mm）占到全年总降水频次87.5%,而大降水脉冲（>10 mm）只占到了4.3%。然而,小降水脉冲对年降水量的贡献为47.5%,大降水脉冲却贡献26.6%。近50多年来,准噶尔盆地南缘的年降水量有显著增加,但是,年降水频次的变化却不显著。这可以归结为小脉冲呈下降趋势,而大脉冲则显著增加。总之,近50多年来,准噶尔盆地南缘的降水脉冲在放大。     

Towards the sustainable intensification of agriculture—a systems approach to policy formulation

The sustainable intensification of agriculture involves providing sufficient food and other ecosystem services without going beyond the limits of the earth’s system. Here a project management approach is suggested to help guide agricultural policy to deliver these objectives. The first step is to agree measurable outcomes, integrating formal policy goals with the often much less formal and much more diverse goals of individual farmers. The second step is to assess current performance. Ideally, this will involve the use of farm-scale metrics that can feed into process models that address social and environmental domains as well as production issues that can be benchmarked and upscaled to landscape and country. Some policy goals can be delivered by supporting ad hoc interventions, while others require the redesign of the farming system. A pipeline of research, knowledge and capacity building is needed to ensure the continuous increase in farm performance. System models can help prioritise policy interventions. Formal optimization of land use is only appropriate if the policy goals are clear, and the constraints understood. In practice, the best approach may depend on the scale of action that is required, and on the amount of resource and infrastructure available to generate, implement and manage policy.     

Greening plans as (re)presentation of the city: Toward an inclusive and gender-sensitive approach to urban greenspaces

Cities around the world are increasingly expanding their sustainability agendas and adopting urban green and blue infrastructure planning as a strategy to become more resilient, healthy and sustainable. However, the development of urban greening governance often lacks a holistic vision that considers social inequities within the planning, implementation and management of green and blue spaces. Further, gender inequities have been a specific dimension particularly overlooked in urban greening planning, despite gender concerns gaining increasing political relevance in recent years. In this research, we assessed the extento to which social and gender equity are being considered in urban greening plans and projects at the local level. We chose Barcelona (Spain) as main case study due to its pioneering role in implementing crosscutting equity and gender policies at the municipal level. Building on document analysis and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, we examined how social justice and gender are understood and operationalized in practice, from the design phase to implementation and maintenance of greening projects. Our findings suggest a shift in the role of urban greening which evolved from an ornamental role to a multifunctional vision of greening and is recently incorporating equity and inclusivity concerns. We identified three action areas of inclusive, gender-sensitive urban green planning practices: first, the incorporation of inclusivity and care as guiding visible values to recognize multiple needs of city residents; second, urban design for different uses and perceptions of greenspaces, particularly in relation to accessibility and autonomy; and third, the awareness and expertise from municipal staff vis-à-vis the consideration of social and gender equity in green planning and participatory approaches. Finally, we provide practical examples of the strategies that the City of Barcelona is implementing in each area and discuss some challenges and limitations, including what we identify as ad hoc intersectional greening.