The urbanization of wildlife management: Social science, conflict, and decision making

Increasing urbanization of rural landscapes has created new challenges for wildlife management. In addition to changes in the physical landscape, urbanization has also produced changes in the socio-cultural landscape. The greater distancing from direct interaction with wildlife in urbanized societies has led to the emergence of a culture whose meanings for wildlife are less grounded in the utilitarian/instrumental orientation of rural agrarian systems. Urban perspectives on wildlife are comprised of more highly individualized emotional/symbolic values. This shift creates two problems with respect to managing wildlife in an urbanizing landscape. First the increased diversity in values and meanings increases the likelihood for social conflicts regarding wildlife management while at the same time making socially acceptable resolutions more intractable. This in turn requires fundamental changes in decision-making paradigms and the research approaches used to inform decision making. Second, as remaining rural communities feel the pressures of urbanization, wildlife conflicts become conflicts not just over wildlife but conflict over larger socio-political concepts such as equity, tradition, private property rights, government control, power, and acceptable forms of knowledge. This paper examines the wildlife management implications of changes associated with increasing urbanization and employs two case studies to illustrate these issues. First a study of a controversy over urban deer management provides insights into how to map conflicting values and search for common ground in an urban culture with increasingly individualistic values for wildlife. Specifically, the analysis illustrates that common ground may, at times, be found even among people with conflicting value systems. The second case study examined a ranching community faced with predator reintroduction. This case study illustrates tensions that occur when the community of interest (i.e. a national public) is broader than the community of place in which the problem occurs. In this latter situation, the debate centers around more than just different views about the rights of animals. It also entailed the rights of individuals and communities to decide their future. The conclusion discusses the need for wildlife institutions to adapt their underlying decision making philosophy including the way science is integrated into decision making processes in light of the changes in social context caused by urbanization.     

Combining competition from Lolium perenne and an insect–fungus combination to control Rumex obtusifolius seedlings

Although adult Rumex obtusifolius are problematic weeds, their seedlings are poor competitors against Lolium perenne, particularly in established swards. We investigated the possibility of using this weakness to augment control of R. obtusifolius seedlings with combinations of Gastrophysa viridula (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and the rust fungus Uromyces rumicis. Rumex obtusifolius seedlings were grown in competition with L. perenne sown at different rates and times after R. obtusifolius: they competed successfully with L. perenne when sown 21 days before the grass. Sowing both species at the same time resulted in a dominant grass sward, with R. obtusifolius becoming dominant when sown 42 days prior to L. perenne. Grass sowing rate had no effect on R. obtusifolius growth or biomass. A second experiment investigated how competition from L. perenne sown 21 days after R. obtusifolius combined with damage from G. viridula and/or U. rumicis (applied at either the 3–4‐ or 10–13‐leaf stage, or at both stages) affected the growth and final biomass of R. obtusifolius. Beetle grazing at the latter leaf stage was the only treatment that reduced R. obtusifolius biomass, although rust infection at the earlier application led to an increase in shoot and root weight. The results are discussed in terms of the potential for use of these agents in the field.     

Path analysis of spatial predictors of front-yard landscape in an anthropogenic environment

Contagious spatial patterns were shown to exist in the landscape of front-yards in street sections of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Montréal. Neighbour mimicry was hypothesized as the mechanism behind this pattern (Zmyslony and Gagnon 1998). To assess the role of spatial environmental factors in structuring this pattern, we carried out a path analysis on the front-yard landscape with five spatial factors: relative distance, street side, width, depth and type of front-yard. We removed all non-significant factors from our model with simple Mantel tests and untangled the common spatial component from the relationship between spatial factors and front-yard landscape with partial Mantel tests. We then used path analysis to evaluate the relative importance of all significant spatial factors in structuring front-yard landscape and to determine the r ² (% of landscape variation explained by spatial factors). Results showed that (1) among all spatial environmental factors, distance (proximity) remained the best predictor of front-yard vegetation – distance alone explained an average of 20% of the landscape variation of a street section, (2) depth, width and type of front-yard also structured the front-yard landscape independently of distance, (3) front-yard landscape expresses greater similarity within the same side of a street section, and (4) in two street sections of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, spatial factors predicted over 40% of the landscape variation. This suggests (1) that landscape contagion exists also in highly humanized environments and (2) that the mimicry phenomenon was induced not only by proximity, but also by similar environmental conditions in same side street sections and whole street sections. Finally, we suggest that street sections are a very useful and appropriate unit of analysis of urban ecosystems.     

烟碱乙酰胆碱受体及其与新烟碱类相互作用的研究进展

对烟碱乙酰胆碱受体(nAChRs)的结构与功能、配体结合部位、门控机理以及与新烟碱类的相互作用进行了综述,并对nAChRs亚基基因突变和敲除对新烟碱类和多杀菌素敏感性的影响进行了讨论。nAChRs在脊椎动物和昆虫的胆碱能突触的快速神经传递中起着重要作用,其在昆虫中仅存在于中枢神经系统(CNS)中,而在脊椎动物中同时存在于CNS和神经肌肉连接处。nAChRs是新烟碱类杀虫剂、多杀菌素和杀螟丹的作用靶标。肌肉和CNS中的nAChRs是一个由两个α和三个非α(β,γ和δ)亚基组成的异数五聚体,该受体主要有三部分:一个在细胞外发现的区域(胞外区)、一个位于膜内的区域(跨膜区),另一个是位于细胞内的区域(胞质区)。每个亚基(从N-C端)都具有一个包含乙酰胆碱(ACh)结合部位的细胞外结构域;4个跨膜结构域(M1~4),其中M2的大部分氨基酸位于离子通道的内壁;一个胞质噜扑(loop)和一个胞外C端。通道门位于孔道内的疏水区。ACh结合部位位于天然和功能受体的两个亚基的界面,是由一个亚基的3个噜扑(A-C)和另一个亚基的3个噜扑(D-F)构成。每当受体与ACh(或其他激动剂)分子结合时,M2 α螺旋体的构象发生改变,使通道开启,处于阳离子传导状态,直至一个或两个激动剂分子从结合口袋解离,通道才关闭。如果激动剂一直存在,并反复结合,则通道处于脱敏状态。nAChRs与新烟碱类的各种选择性作用取决于新烟碱类的结构以及nAChRs的亚基组成。     

Effects of weed control practices on surface-dwelling arthropod predators in tomato agroecosystems

Weed control, an important practice in agroecosystems to protect crop production, is usually achieved with herbicides. However, these pesticides are expensive, pose potential risks to the environment, may affect some beneficial organisms indirectly, and decrease overall arthropod biodiversity, including pests and their natural enemies, by removing weeds that might act as hosts or shelters for many organisms. The activity density response of important surface-dwelling arthropod predators (ground beetles [Coleoptera: Carabidae], ants [Hymenoptera: Formicidae] and spiders [Arachnida: Araneae]) to herbicides (trifluralin and paraquat), and to two alternative weed management practices (rye straw mulch and mechanical treatment to maintain weeds below threshold levels, in comparison with an untreated check), was assessed using pitfall traps. The mulch treatment had the greatest effect on activity density, reducing the number of predators trapped significantly (P<0.05). Herbicide use resulted in significant (P<0.05) reductions in the activity density of ground beetles. Most predators were trapped in the check plots — which had the highest weed biomass, followed in turn by numbers trapped in the threshold weed control treatment, the full herbicide application and the mulch treatment plots. http://www.phytoparasitica.org posting July 10, 2002.     

Distribution of Megastigmus aculeatus (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) and the levels of seed predation of Rosa multiflora (Rosaceae)

Rosa multiflora Thunb. (Rosaceae), an invasive plant that currently infests millions of hectares in the eastern half of the USA, was planted initially in the 1940s as a “living fence”, cover for game animals and for erosion control. The larvae of Megastigmus aculeatus var. nigroflavus Hoffmeyer (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) feed on the developing R. multiflora seeds and have the potential to reduce the seed output of R. multiflora. Rosehips were collected from 49 sites across eastern and southern Iowa, USA, to determine the presence and distribution of M. aculeatus, the larvae of which were found in 266 of the 979 (27%) rosehips that were dissected and at 31 of the 49 sites (63%) that were sampled. The levels of M. aculeatus infestation over 2–3 years were determined at three selected sites and it was documented that more seeds were aborted than were viable or contained wasp larvae. A negative relationship was observed between the numbers of both the aborted and the viable seeds and the probability of a rosehip being attacked by M. aculeatus, indicating that M. aculeatus females are not preferentially selecting rosehips with higher numbers of viable or aborted seeds for oviposition. There is a significant reduction in both the viable seeds and the aborted seeds in hips that have been attacked by M. aculeatus. Detailed knowledge of R. multiflora demography is necessary to determine the level of seed predation that is required to reduce the recruitment of new individuals into the population.     

植物-植食性昆虫互作关系中早期信号事件研究进展

诱导防御反应的产生取决于植物对植食性昆虫相关信号迅速和准确地识别。在植物与植食性昆虫互作过程中,早期信号事件是负责植物识别和触发下游信号转导途径的最早反应,它们发生在植物防御相关基因表达和防御相关代谢物产生之前,对植物的防御过程至关重要。本文将植物与植食性昆虫互作的早期事件,包括植物对植食性昆虫的感知、电信号和Ca~(2+)信号的产生和转导,活性氧的迸发以及促细胞分裂原活化蛋白激酶(MAPK)信号级联途径等研究进展进行了综述,并提出今后的研究重点与方向,促进对植物诱导防御反应调控网络的研究,以期为改进农业害虫的治理提供重要的理论和技术支撑。     

乌桕对南方根结线虫与地上不同食性昆虫互作的光合生理响应

本文通过比较乌桕对两种地上不同食性昆虫(专食性癞皮夜蛾、广食性斜纹夜蛾)与南方根结线虫互作的光合生理响应,分析不同空间植食性生物间的互作关系及植物的响应机制。结果表明:无南方根结线虫胁迫下,2种地上不同食性昆虫对乌桕的净光合速率(P_n)、气孔导度(G_s)及胞间CO_2浓度(C_i)的影响与对照组无显著差异;而南方根结线虫胁迫下,2种地上昆虫显著降低了乌桕G_s及C_i。其中,与对照组及癞皮夜蛾处理组相比,南方根结线虫与斜纹夜蛾的共同胁迫显著降低了乌桕P_n、G_s及C_i。此外,斜纹夜蛾为害增加了乌桕叶绿素含量,南方根结线虫胁迫降低了叶绿素含量。因此,南方根结线虫与斜纹夜蛾间形成一种加性效应,并对乌桕光合生理产生了拮抗效应,而这种效应在南方根结线虫与癞皮夜蛾间并不显著。由此可见,乌桕对地上-地下植食性生物胁迫形成不足补偿机制,且具体的响应机制与植食性生物的食性相关。     

Impact of soil engineering by two contrasting species of earthworms on their dispersal rates

By burrowing galleries and producing casts, earthworms are constantly changing the structure and properties of the soils in which they are living. These changes modify the costs and benefits for earthworms to stay in the environment they modify. In this paper, we measured experimentally how dispersal behaviour of endogeic and anecic earthworms responds to the cumulative changes they made in soil characteristics. The influence of earthworm activities on dispersal was studied in standardised mesocosms by comparing the influence of soils modified or not modified by earthworm activities on earthworm dispersal rates.The cumulative use of the soil by the earthworms strongly modified soil physical properties. The height of the soil decreased over time and the amount of aggregates smaller than 2 mm decreased in contrast to aggregates larger than 5 mm that increased. We found that: (i) earthworm activities significantly modified soil physical properties (such as bulk density, soil strength and soil aggregation) and decreased significantly the dispersal rates of the endogeic species, whatever the species that modified the soil; (ii) the decreasing in the dispersal proportion of the endogeic species suggests that the cost of engineering activities may be higher than the one of dispersal; (iii) the dispersal of the anecic species appeared to be not influenced by its own activities (intra-specific influences) or by the activities of the endogeic species (inter-specific influences). Overall these results suggest that the endogeic species is involved in a process of niche construction, which evolved jointly with its dispersal strategy.