Integration of Regional Mitigation Assessment and Conservation Planning

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James H. Thorne

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Government agencies that develop infrastructure such as roads, waterworks, and energy delivery often impact natural ecosystems, but they also have unique opportunities to contribute to the conservation of regional natural resources through compensatory mitigation. Infrastructure development requires a planning, funding, and implementation cycle that can frequently take a decade or longer, but biological mitigation is often planned and implemented late in this process, in a project-by-project piecemeal manner. By adopting early regional mitigation needs assessment and planning for habitat-level impacts from multiple infrastructure projects, agencies could secure time needed to proactively integrate these obligations into regional conservation objectives. Such practice can be financially and ecologically beneficial due to economies of scale, and because earlier mitigation implementation means potentially developable critical parcels may still be available for conservation. Here, we compare the integration of regional conservation designs, termed greenprints, with early multi-project mitigation assessment for two areas in California, USA. The expected spatial extent of habitat impacts and associated mitigation requirements from multiple projects were identified for each area. We used the reserve-selection algorithm MARXAN to identify a regional greenprint for each site and to seek mitigation solutions through parcel acquisition that would contribute to the greenprint, as well as meet agency obligations. The two areas differed in the amount of input data available, the types of conservation objectives identified, and local land-management capacity. They are representative of the range of conditions that conservation practitioners may encounter, so contrasting the two illustrates how regional advanced mitigation can be generalized for use in a wide variety of settings. Environmental organizations can benefit from this approach because it provides a

Delineation of Suitable Cropland Areas Using a GIS Based Multi-Criteria Evaluation Approach in the Tam Dao National Park Region, Vietnam

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duong Dang Khoi

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Land degradation is recognized as one of the major threats to the buffer zones of protected areas (PAs in Vietnam. In particular, the expansion of land degradation into the PAs is exerting pressure on biodiversity conservation efforts. This degradation is partially the result of mismanagement: the utilization of the land is often unmatched with the inherent suitability of the land. Identification of the spatial distribution of suitable areas for cropland is essential for sustainable land-use recommendation. This paper aims to delineate the areas suitable for cropland in the Tam Dao National Park (TDNP region using a GIS-based multi-criteria evaluation of biophysical factors and Landsat ETM+ imagery. GIS is used to generate the factors, while MCE is used to aggregate them into a land suitability index. The results indicate the location and extent of crop farming areas at different suitability levels, i.e., most suitable (28.10%, moderately suitable (23.96%, marginally suitable (28.77%, and least suitable (19.17%. The current cropland covers 46.5% of the study area, while most and moderately suitable areas are estimated to be 52.06% of the territory. The results can be used to identify priority areas for crop farming and sustainable land-use management. The GIS-MCE approach provides an effective assessment tool for land-use managers working in protected areas of Vietnam.

Conservation status and regional habitat priorities for the Orinoco crocodile: Past, present, and future.

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Sergio A Balaguera-Reina

Full Text Available Conservation of large predator species has historically been a challenge because they often overlap in resource utilization with humans; furthermore, there is a general lack of in-depth knowledge of their ecology and natural history. We assessed the conservation status of the Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius, defining regional habitat priorities/crocodile conservation units (RHP/CCU and regional research priorities (RRP for this species. We also estimated a species distribution model (SDM to define current suitable areas where the species might inhabit and/or that might be successfully colonized. The SDM area obtained with a suitable habitat probability ≥ 0.5 was 23,621 km2. Out of 2,562 km2 are included within protected areas in both Colombia (1,643 km2 and Venezuela (919 km2, which represents only 10.8% of C. intermedius' potential range. Areas such as Laguna de Chigüichigüe (flood plain lagoon exhibited an increase in population abundance. In contrast, localities such as the Cojedes and Manapire Rivers reported a significant reduction in relative abundance values. In Colombia, disparity in previous survey methods prevented accurate estimation of population trends. Only one study in this country described an increase over a 13 years span in the Ele, Lipa, and Cravo Norte River populations based on nest surveys. We defined 34 critical areas (16 in Colombia, 17 in Venezuela, and one covering both countries where we need to preserve/research/monitor and/or generate management actions, 10 RHP/CCU (six from Venezuela and four from Colombia and 24 RRP (11 from Venezuela, 12 from Colombia, and one in both countries. Caño Guaritico (Creek and the Capanaparo River in Venezuela and the Ele, Lipa, Cravo Norte River System and the Guayabero River in Colombia were defined as areas with the most optimal conditions for long-term preservation and maintenance of C. intermedius populations. We conclude that the conservation status of this species

Conservation status and regional habitat priorities for the Orinoco crocodile: Past, present, and future

Science.gov (United States)

Espinosa-Blanco, Ariel S.; Morales-Betancourt, Mónica A.; Seijas, Andrés E.; Lasso, Carlos A.; Antelo, Rafael; Densmore, Llewellyn D.

2017-01-01

Conservation of large predator species has historically been a challenge because they often overlap in resource utilization with humans; furthermore, there is a general lack of in-depth knowledge of their ecology and natural history. We assessed the conservation status of the Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius), defining regional habitat priorities/crocodile conservation units (RHP/CCU) and regional research priorities (RRP) for this species. We also estimated a species distribution model (SDM) to define current suitable areas where the species might inhabit and/or that might be successfully colonized. The SDM area obtained with a suitable habitat probability ≥ 0.5 was 23,621 km2. Out of 2,562 km2 are included within protected areas in both Colombia (1,643 km2) and Venezuela (919 km2), which represents only 10.8% of C. intermedius’ potential range. Areas such as Laguna de Chigüichigüe (flood plain lagoon) exhibited an increase in population abundance. In contrast, localities such as the Cojedes and Manapire Rivers reported a significant reduction in relative abundance values. In Colombia, disparity in previous survey methods prevented accurate estimation of population trends. Only one study in this country described an increase over a 13 years span in the Ele, Lipa, and Cravo Norte River populations based on nest surveys. We defined 34 critical areas (16 in Colombia, 17 in Venezuela, and one covering both countries) where we need to preserve/research/monitor and/or generate management actions, 10 RHP/CCU (six from Venezuela and four from Colombia) and 24 RRP (11 from Venezuela, 12 from Colombia, and one in both countries). Caño Guaritico (Creek) and the Capanaparo River in Venezuela and the Ele, Lipa, Cravo Norte River System and the Guayabero River in Colombia were defined as areas with the most optimal conditions for long-term preservation and maintenance of C. intermedius populations. We conclude that the conservation status of this species is

Maximizing species conservation in continental Ecuador: a case of systematic conservation planning for biodiverse regions

Science.gov (United States)

Lessmann, Janeth; Muñoz, Jesús; Bonaccorso, Elisa

2014-01-01

Ecuador has the largest number of species by area worldwide, but also a low representation of species within its protected areas. Here, we applied systematic conservation planning to identify potential areas for conservation in continental Ecuador, with the aim of increasing the representation of terrestrial species diversity in the protected area network. We selected 809 terrestrial species (amphibians, birds, mammals, and plants), for which distributions were estimated via species distribution models (SDMs), using Maxent. For each species we established conservation goals based on conservation priorities, and estimated new potential protected areas using Marxan conservation planning software. For each selected area, we determined their conservation priority and feasibility of establishment, two important aspects in the decision-making processes. We found that according to our conservation goals, the current protected area network contains large conservation gaps. Potential areas for conservation almost double the surface area of currently protected areas. Most of the newly proposed areas are located in the Coast, a region with large conservation gaps and irreversible changes in land use. The most feasible areas for conservation were found in the Amazon and Andes regions, which encompass more undisturbed habitats, and already harbor most of the current reserves. Our study allows defining a viable strategy for preserving Ecuador's biodiversity, by combining SDMs, GIS-based decision-support software, and priority and feasibility assessments of the selected areas. This approach is useful for complementing protected area networks in countries with great biodiversity, insufficient biological information, and limited resources for conservation. PMID:25360277

Climate Change, Northern Birds of Conservation Concern and Matching the Hotspots of Habitat Suitability with the Reserve Network

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Virkkala, Raimo; Heikkinen, Risto K.; Fronzek, Stefan; Leikola, Niko

2013-01-01

National reserve networks are one of the most important means of species conservation, but their efficiency may be diminished due to the projected climatic changes. Using bioclimatic envelope models and spatial data on habitats and conservation areas, we studied how efficient the reserve network will be in preserving 100 forest, mire, marshland, and alpine bird species of conservation concern in Finland in 2051–2080 under three different climate scenarios. The occurrences of the studied bird species were related to the amount of habitat preferred by each species in the different boreal zones. We employed a novel integrated habitat suitability index that takes into account both the species’ probability of occurrence from the bioclimatic models and the availability of suitable habitat. Using this suitability index, the distribution of the topmost 5% suitability squares (“hotspots”) in the four bird species groups in the period 1971–2000 and under the three scenarios were compared with the location of reserves with the highest amounts of the four habitats to study the efficiency of the network. In species of mires, marshlands, and Arctic mountains, a high proportion of protected habitat was included in the 5% hotspots in the scenarios in 2051–2080, showing that protected areas cover a high proportion of occurrences of bird species. In contrast, in forests in the southern and middle boreal zones, only a small proportion of the protected habitat was included in the 5% hotspots, indicating that the efficiency of the protected area network will be insufficient for forest birds in the future. In the northern boreal zone, the efficiency of the reserve network in forests was highly dependent on the strength of climate change varying between the scenarios. Overall, there is no single solution to preserving biodiversity in a changing climate, but several future pathways should be considered. PMID:23700420

[Research on climatic factors of ecology suitability regionalization of atractylodis].

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Zhe-tian; Wang, Hao; Zhu, Shou-dong; Yan, Yu-ping; Guo, Lan-ping; Zheng, Yu-guang

2015-11-01

Through study on the correlation between atractylodis lactones ingredient content and climatic factors, we research regionalization from climatic of five main producing provinces of the country, in order to provide a scientific basis for atractylodis' conscious cultivation. By sampling from 40 origins which from five main producing provinces of the country, we use SPSS to analysis variation of atractylodis lactones ingredient content in different conditions of climatic factors and the effect of each factors. Then according to the relationship between atractylodis lactones ingredient content and climatic factors, we use ArcGIS to conduct ecological suitability regionalization based on climatic factors. The most suitable climatic condition for cultivation of atractylodis: the wettest month precipitation 220-230 mm, the warmest average temperature 25 degrees C, the average temperature of driest season 10 degrees C.

ANALYSIS OF LAND RESOURCES SUITABILITY BY FUNCTIONAL MODEL IN EASTERN CROATIA REGION

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Vladimir Vukadinović

2011-06-01

Full Text Available A total of 17405 soil samples (2003rd-2009th years were analyzed in the eastern part of Croatia. The aim of this paper is to assess land suitability for crops i.e. to describe quantitatively land quality and indicate disadvantages of land using system in investigated area. The described mathematical model uses score functions for estimating indicators of soil suitability. Soil suitability assessment computer model for crops, supported by GIS, proved to be fast, efficient and enough reliable. Using GIS tool it is possible to visualize land suitability and present it in different cartographic bases such as maps whereas using geostatistical method – kriging enables to possible to provide regionalization of production area based on quantitative assessment of land suitability for crops.

A computational method for identification of vaccine targets from protein regions of conserved human leukocyte antigen binding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Lars Rønn; Simon, Christian; Kudahl, Ulrich J.

2015-01-01

Background: Computational methods for T cell-based vaccine target discovery focus on selection of highly conserved peptides identified across pathogen variants, followed by prediction of their binding of human leukocyte antigen molecules. However, experimental studies have shown that T cells often...... target diverse regions in highly variable viral pathogens and this diversity may need to be addressed through redefinition of suitable peptide targets. Methods: We have developed a method for antigen assessment and target selection for polyvalent vaccines, with which we identified immune epitopes from...... variable regions, where all variants bind HLA. These regions, although variable, can thus be considered stable in terms of HLA binding and represent valuable vaccine targets. Results: We applied this method to predict CD8+ T-cell targets in influenza A H7N9 hemagglutinin and significantly increased...

Applying a framework for landscape planning under climate change for the conservation of biodiversity in the Finnish boreal forest

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mazziotta, Adriano; Triviño, Maria; Tikkanen, Olli Pekka

2015-01-01

= 0.6%), intact areas with low vulnerability that represent potential climate refugia and require conservation capacity maintenance; (iii) resistant (B1 = 6.7%, A1B = 0.8%, A2 = 1.1%), landscapes with low current conservation capacity and low vulnerability that are suitable for restoration projects......Conservation strategies are often established without consideration of the impact of climate change. However, this impact is expected to threaten species and ecosystem persistence and to have dramatic effects towards the end of the 21st century. Landscape suitability for species under climate...... change is determined by several interacting factors including dispersal and human land use. Designing effective conservation strategies at regional scales to improve landscape suitability requires measuring the vulnerabilities of specific regions to climate change and determining their conservation...

Predicted Habitat Suitability for Leptoseris in the Au'au Channel Region

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This raster denotes predicted habitat suitability for Leptoseris in the Au'au Channel region. Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling software was used to create this...

Predicted Habitat Suitability for Porites in the Au'au Channel Region

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This raster denotes predicted habitat suitability for Porites in the Au'au Channel region. Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling software was used to create this...

Modifications in climate suitability for wine production of Romanian wine regions as a result of climate change

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Irimia Liviu Mihai

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to reveal the shifts in climate suitability for wine production affecting Romanian wine growing regions. For this, we analyzed the spatial distribution over Romanian territory of the oenoclimate aptitude index (IAOe for the 1961 to 1990 and 1991 to 2013 time periods. The IAOe has been calculated based on gridded data at 10 × 10 km resolution of average daily temperature, precipitation and sunshine duration between 1961–2013, originating from about 150 weather stations across Romanian territory and recorded in the ROCADA database. The study reveals: northward shifts and to higher altitudes of suitability for wine production; the appearance of new areas suitable for wine production; the expansion or the shrinkage of the current areas suitable for wine production; shifts in classes of suitability for wine production in the current wine regions and appearance of premises of replacing their specific varieties and traditional wine type production; the tendency to level climate suitability at regional scale by diminishing suitability for white wines and replacing it with climate suitability for red wines. The study provides a solid support for developing strategies to adapt Romanian viticulture to climate change.

Predicted Habitat Suitability for Montipora Corals in the Au'au Channel Region

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This raster denotes predicted habitat suitability for Montipora in the Au'au Channel region. Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling software was used to create this...

Predicted Habitat Suitability for Leptoseris Corals in the Au'au Channel Region

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This raster denotes predicted habitat suitability for Leptoseris in the Au'au Channel region. Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling software was used to create this...

CORAL: aligning conserved core regions across domain families.

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Fong, Jessica H; Marchler-Bauer, Aron

2009-08-01

Homologous protein families share highly conserved sequence and structure regions that are frequent targets for comparative analysis of related proteins and families. Many protein families, such as the curated domain families in the Conserved Domain Database (CDD), exhibit similar structural cores. To improve accuracy in aligning such protein families, we propose a profile-profile method CORAL that aligns individual core regions as gap-free units. CORAL computes optimal local alignment of two profiles with heuristics to preserve continuity within core regions. We benchmarked its performance on curated domains in CDD, which have pre-defined core regions, against COMPASS, HHalign and PSI-BLAST, using structure superpositions and comprehensive curator-optimized alignments as standards of truth. CORAL improves alignment accuracy on core regions over general profile methods, returning a balanced score of 0.57 for over 80% of all domain families in CDD, compared with the highest balanced score of 0.45 from other methods. Further, CORAL provides E-values to aid in detecting homologous protein families and, by respecting block boundaries, produces alignments with improved 'readability' that facilitate manual refinement. CORAL will be included in future versions of the NCBI Cn3D/CDTree software, which can be downloaded at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Structure/cdtree/cdtree.shtml. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Developments in conservation tillage in rainfed regions of North China

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, X.B.; Cai, D.X.; Hoogmoed, W.B.; Oenema, O.; Perdok, U.D.

2007-01-01

Dryland regions in northern China account for over 50% of the nation's total area, where farming development is constrained by adverse weather, topography and water resource conditions, low fertility soils, and poor soil management. Conservation tillage research and application in dryland regions of

Roles of the conserved cytoplasmic region and non-conserved carboxy-terminal region of SecE in Escherichia coli protein translocase.

Science.gov (United States)

Kontinen, V P; Yamanaka, M; Nishiyama, K; Tokuda, H

1996-06-01

SecE, an essential membrane component of the Escherichia coli protein translocase, consists of 127 amino acid residues. Only a part of the second putative cytoplasmic region comprising some 13 residues is essential for the SecE function as long as the proper topological arrangement is retained. The Trp84 and Pro85 residues of this region are conserved in all eubacterial SecE homologues. The conservation of positively charged residues corresponding to Arg80 and Lys81 is also substantial. We deleted or replaced these residues to assess their roles in the SecE function. Deletion of the Arg80-Lys81 dipeptide did not abolish the SecE function whereas that of Trp84 or Pro85 caused a loss of the function. Strikingly, however, replacement of Pro85 with either Gly, Ser, or Ala, and that of Trp84 with Lys did not abolish the SecE function. These results indicate that the strong conservation of these residues does not reflect their obligatory requirement for the SecE function. A chimeric SecE possessing the cytoplasmic region of the E. coli SecE and the following region of the Bacillus subtilis SecE was able to form the translocation machinery together with SecA, SecY, and SecG. Although a Leu to Arg mutation at position 108 has been thought to cause a loss of signal recognition fidelity and thereby suppress a signal sequence defect, the same mutation at position 111 caused a complete loss of the function. The levels of SecY and SecG in the secEcsE501 mutant, which expresses SecE at a decreased level and is sensitive to low temperature, increased upon the expression of functional SecE derivatives, irrespective of the site of mutation, suggesting that the levels of SecY and SecG are co-operatively determined by the level of functional, but not non-functional, SecE. Based on these results, the SecE function in the translocase is discussed.

Fast discovery and visualization of conserved regions in DNA sequences using quasi-alignment.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagar, Anurag; Hahsler, Michael

2013-01-01

Next Generation Sequencing techniques are producing enormous amounts of biological sequence data and analysis becomes a major computational problem. Currently, most analysis, especially the identification of conserved regions, relies heavily on Multiple Sequence Alignment and its various heuristics such as progressive alignment, whose run time grows with the square of the number and the length of the aligned sequences and requires significant computational resources. In this work, we present a method to efficiently discover regions of high similarity across multiple sequences without performing expensive sequence alignment. The method is based on approximating edit distance between segments of sequences using p-mer frequency counts. Then, efficient high-throughput data stream clustering is used to group highly similar segments into so called quasi-alignments. Quasi-alignments have numerous applications such as identifying species and their taxonomic class from sequences, comparing sequences for similarities, and, as in this paper, discovering conserved regions across related sequences. In this paper, we show that quasi-alignments can be used to discover highly similar segments across multiple sequences from related or different genomes efficiently and accurately. Experiments on a large number of unaligned 16S rRNA sequences obtained from the Greengenes database show that the method is able to identify conserved regions which agree with known hypervariable regions in 16S rRNA. Furthermore, the experiments show that the proposed method scales well for large data sets with a run time that grows only linearly with the number and length of sequences, whereas for existing multiple sequence alignment heuristics the run time grows super-linearly. Quasi-alignment-based algorithms can detect highly similar regions and conserved areas across multiple sequences. Since the run time is linear and the sequences are converted into a compact clustering model, we are able to

Making the Most of World Natural Heritage—Linking Conservation and Sustainable Regional Development?

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Katharina Conradin

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Today, more than 1000 World Heritage (WH sites are inscribed on UNESCO’s list, 228 of which are natural and mixed heritage sites. Once focused primarily on conservation, World Natural Heritage (WNH sites are increasingly seen as promoters of sustainable regional development. Sustainability-oriented regions, it is assumed, are safeguards for conservation and positively influence local conservation goals. Within UNESCO, discussions regarding the integration of sustainable development in official policies have recently gained momentum. In this article, we investigate the extent to which WNH sites trigger sustainability-oriented approaches in surrounding regions, and how such approaches in turn influence the WNH site and its protection. The results of the study are on the one hand based on a global survey with more than 60% of the WNH sites listed in 2011, and on the other hand on a complementary literature research. Furthermore, we analyze the policy framework necessary to support WNH sites in this endeavor. We conclude that a regional approach to WNH management is necessary to ensure that WNH sites support sustainable regional development effectively, but that the core focus of WNH status must remain environmental conservation.

Estimating Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR Regional and Local Suitability: A Case Study in Washington State, USA

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Maria T. Gibson

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Developing aquifers as underground water supply reservoirs is an advantageous approach applicable to meeting water management objectives. Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR is a direct injection and subsequent withdrawal technology that is used to increase water supply storage through injection wells. Due to site-specific hydrogeological quantification and evaluation to assess ASR suitability, limited methods have been developed to identify suitability on regional scales that are also applicable at local scales. This paper presents an ASR site scoring system developed to qualitatively assess regional and local suitability of ASR using 9 scored metrics to determine total percent of ASR suitability, partitioned into hydrogeologic properties, operational considerations, and regulatory influences. The development and application of a qualitative water well suitability method was used to assess the potential groundwater response to injection, estimate suitability based on predesignated injection rates, and provide cumulative approximation of statewide and local storage prospects. The two methods allowed for rapid assessment of ASR suitability and its applicability to regional and local water management objectives at over 280 locations within 62 watersheds in Washington, USA. It was determined that over 50% of locations evaluated are suitable for ASR and statewide injection potential equaled 6400 million liters per day. The results also indicate current limitations and/or potential benefits of developing ASR systems at the local level with the intent of assisting local water managers in strategic water supply planning.

Predicted Habitat Suitability for All Mesophotic Corals in the Au'au Channel Region

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This raster denotes predicted habitat suitability for all mesophotic corals in the Au'au Channel region. Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling software was used to...

Turning strategy into action: implementing a conservation action plan in the Cape Floristic Region

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Gelderblom, CM

2003-07-01

Full Text Available for conservation. These pressures are predicted to intensify, as the region acts as a magnet for settlement and development. This paper thus describes the development of a conservation action plan for the region, arising from the Cape Action Plan...

Regional effects of agricultural conservation practices on nutrient transport in the Upper Mississippi River Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, Ana Maria.; Alexander, Richard B.; Arnold, Jeffrey G.; Norfleet, Lee; White, Michael J.; Robertson, Dale M.; Schwarz, Gregory E.

2016-01-01

Despite progress in the implementation of conservation practices, related improvements in water quality have been challenging to measure in larger river systems. In this paper we quantify these downstream effects by applying the empirical U.S. Geological Survey water-quality model SPARROW to investigate whether spatial differences in conservation intensity were statistically correlated with variations in nutrient loads. In contrast to other forms of water quality data analysis, the application of SPARROW controls for confounding factors such as hydrologic variability, multiple sources and environmental processes. A measure of conservation intensity was derived from the USDA-CEAP regional assessment of the Upper Mississippi River and used as an explanatory variable in a model of the Upper Midwest. The spatial pattern of conservation intensity was negatively correlated (p = 0.003) with the total nitrogen loads in streams in the basin. Total phosphorus loads were weakly negatively correlated with conservation (p = 0.25). Regional nitrogen reductions were estimated to range from 5 to 34% and phosphorus reductions from 1 to 10% in major river basins of the Upper Mississippi region. The statistical associations between conservation and nutrient loads are consistent with hydrological and biogeochemical processes such as denitrification. The results provide empirical evidence at the regional scale that conservation practices have had a larger statistically detectable effect on nitrogen than on phosphorus loadings in streams and rivers of the Upper Mississippi Basin.

Regional Effects of Agricultural Conservation Practices on Nutrient Transport in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.

Science.gov (United States)

García, Ana María; Alexander, Richard B; Arnold, Jeffrey G; Norfleet, Lee; White, Michael J; Robertson, Dale M; Schwarz, Gregory

2016-07-05

Despite progress in the implementation of conservation practices, related improvements in water quality have been challenging to measure in larger river systems. In this paper we quantify these downstream effects by applying the empirical U.S. Geological Survey water-quality model SPARROW to investigate whether spatial differences in conservation intensity were statistically correlated with variations in nutrient loads. In contrast to other forms of water quality data analysis, the application of SPARROW controls for confounding factors such as hydrologic variability, multiple sources and environmental processes. A measure of conservation intensity was derived from the USDA-CEAP regional assessment of the Upper Mississippi River and used as an explanatory variable in a model of the Upper Midwest. The spatial pattern of conservation intensity was negatively correlated (p = 0.003) with the total nitrogen loads in streams in the basin. Total phosphorus loads were weakly negatively correlated with conservation (p = 0.25). Regional nitrogen reductions were estimated to range from 5 to 34% and phosphorus reductions from 1 to 10% in major river basins of the Upper Mississippi region. The statistical associations between conservation and nutrient loads are consistent with hydrological and biogeochemical processes such as denitrification. The results provide empirical evidence at the regional scale that conservation practices have had a larger statistically detectable effect on nitrogen than on phosphorus loadings in streams and rivers of the Upper Mississippi Basin.

Fungal conservation: Protected species of fungi in South Serbia region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sadiković, D.

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Protection and conservation of fungi has only recently became an issue of concern. Main motives for increased attention are uncontrolled, mass collecting of edible wild mushrooms and environmental pollution which leads to the rapid decline of their natural habitats, some of which are rich with rare and endangered species. By Serbian Nature Conservation Law 2010. there are 38 strictly protected fungal species of which 17 species are recorded in this paper. 11 of those recorded species are on European and/or National Red List of endangered fungal species. All investigated territories were in South Serbia region. This study is a contribution to conservation of protected and threatened fungi and their respective habitats in Serbia.

The relevance of the Mediterranean Region to colonial waterbird conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Erwin, R.M.; Crivelli, Alain J.; Hafner, Heinz; Fasola, Mauro; Erwin, R. Michael; McCrimmon, Donald A.=

1996-01-01

The Mediterranean Sea is the largest partially enclosed sea in the world and provides habitat to more than 100 species of waterbirds from the Palearctic-North African-Middle Eastern regions. Even though the Mediterranean suffers from pollution, has little tidal influence, and is oligotrophic, more than half of the western Palearctic populations of numerous waterfowl species winter in the region. Thirty-three species of colonial waterbirds breed along the 46,000 km Mediterranean coastline with nine species considered threatened or endangered, mostly because of wetland loss and degradation. The long history of human activity and scientific investigations in the region has taught some valuable lessons. In the area of colonial waterbird biology and conservation, we have learned important lessons about the value of long-term monitoring and research on selected populations. From marking studies of Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber roseus) and Little Egrets (Egretta garzetta) results have been used to derive useful information about metapopulation dynamics. Involvement of both African and European biologists allowed year-round Studies of these species that yielded valuable spin-offs for training in avian and wetland conservation. We have also learned the value of man-made wetlands as feeding and nesting sites for some colonial waterbirds. Careful evaluations of the habitat quality of different types of wetlands are required, as in contaminant levels such as lead shot and pesticides. Wetland conservationists have also learned from some instructive mistakes. Dam construction and agricultural incentive programs sponsored by the European Community, the World Bank, and others from the past have largely ignored impacts on wetlands and wildlife. In some areas, economic ventures such as aquaculture operations and salt mining have not involved waterbird habitat needs in their planning. Research and conservation needs include: (1) establishing regional monitoring programs and

[Study on ecological suitability regionalization of Corni Fructus based on Maxent and ArcGIS model].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Fei; Chen, Sui-Qing; Wang, Li-Li; Zhang, Tao; Zhang, Xiao-Bo; Zhu, Shou-Dong

2017-08-01

Through planting regionalization the scientific basis for planting area of high-quality medicinal materials was predicted. Through interview investigation and field survey, the distribution information of Corni Fructus in China was collected,and 89 sampling point from 14 producing areas were collected. Climate and topography of Corni Fructus were analyzed, the ecological adaptability of study was conducted based on ArcGIS and Maxent. Different suitability grade at potential areas and regionalization map were formulated. There are nine ecological factors affecting the growth of Corni Fructus, for example precipitation in November and March and vegetation type. The results showed that the most suitable habitats are Henan, Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Chongqing, Hubei, Sichuan, Anhui, Hunan and Shandong province. Using the spatial analysis method,the study not only illustrates the most suitable for the surroundings of Corni Fructus,but also provides a scientific reference for wild resource tending, introduction and cultivation, and artificial planting base and directing production layout. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

A trans-national monarch butterfly population model and implications for regional conservation priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Oberhauser, Karen; Wiederholt, Ruscena; Diffendorfer, James E.; Semmens, Darius J.; Ries, Leslie; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Lopez-Hoffman, Laura; Semmens, Brice

2017-01-01

1. The monarch has undergone considerable population declines over the past decade, and the governments of Mexico, Canada, and the United States have agreed to work together to conserve the species.2. Given limited resources, understanding where to focus conservation action is key for widespread species like monarchs. To support planning for continental-scale monarch habitat restoration, we address the question of where restoration efforts are likely to have the largest impacts on monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus Linn.) population growth rates.3. We present a spatially explicit demographic model simulating the multi-generational annual cycle of the eastern monarch population, and use the model to examine management scenarios, some of which focus on particular regions of North America.4. Improving the monarch habitat in the north central or southern parts of the monarch range yields a slightly greater increase in the population growth rate than restoration in other regions. However, combining restoration efforts across multiple regions yields population growth rates above 1 with smaller simulated improvements in habitat per region than single-region strategies.5. Synthesis and applications: These findings suggest that conservation investment in projects across the full monarch range will be more effective than focusing on one or a few regions, and will require international cooperation across many land use categories.

A statistically rigorous sampling design to integrate avian monitoring and management within Bird Conservation Regions.

Science.gov (United States)

Pavlacky, David C; Lukacs, Paul M; Blakesley, Jennifer A; Skorkowsky, Robert C; Klute, David S; Hahn, Beth A; Dreitz, Victoria J; George, T Luke; Hanni, David J

2017-01-01

Monitoring is an essential component of wildlife management and conservation. However, the usefulness of monitoring data is often undermined by the lack of 1) coordination across organizations and regions, 2) meaningful management and conservation objectives, and 3) rigorous sampling designs. Although many improvements to avian monitoring have been discussed, the recommendations have been slow to emerge in large-scale programs. We introduce the Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR) program designed to overcome the above limitations. Our objectives are to outline the development of a statistically defensible sampling design to increase the value of large-scale monitoring data and provide example applications to demonstrate the ability of the design to meet multiple conservation and management objectives. We outline the sampling process for the IMBCR program with a focus on the Badlands and Prairies Bird Conservation Region (BCR 17). We provide two examples for the Brewer's sparrow (Spizella breweri) in BCR 17 demonstrating the ability of the design to 1) determine hierarchical population responses to landscape change and 2) estimate hierarchical habitat relationships to predict the response of the Brewer's sparrow to conservation efforts at multiple spatial scales. The collaboration across organizations and regions provided economy of scale by leveraging a common data platform over large spatial scales to promote the efficient use of monitoring resources. We designed the IMBCR program to address the information needs and core conservation and management objectives of the participating partner organizations. Although it has been argued that probabilistic sampling designs are not practical for large-scale monitoring, the IMBCR program provides a precedent for implementing a statistically defensible sampling design from local to bioregional scales. We demonstrate that integrating conservation and management objectives with rigorous statistical

A statistically rigorous sampling design to integrate avian monitoring and management within Bird Conservation Regions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David C Pavlacky

Full Text Available Monitoring is an essential component of wildlife management and conservation. However, the usefulness of monitoring data is often undermined by the lack of 1 coordination across organizations and regions, 2 meaningful management and conservation objectives, and 3 rigorous sampling designs. Although many improvements to avian monitoring have been discussed, the recommendations have been slow to emerge in large-scale programs. We introduce the Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR program designed to overcome the above limitations. Our objectives are to outline the development of a statistically defensible sampling design to increase the value of large-scale monitoring data and provide example applications to demonstrate the ability of the design to meet multiple conservation and management objectives. We outline the sampling process for the IMBCR program with a focus on the Badlands and Prairies Bird Conservation Region (BCR 17. We provide two examples for the Brewer's sparrow (Spizella breweri in BCR 17 demonstrating the ability of the design to 1 determine hierarchical population responses to landscape change and 2 estimate hierarchical habitat relationships to predict the response of the Brewer's sparrow to conservation efforts at multiple spatial scales. The collaboration across organizations and regions provided economy of scale by leveraging a common data platform over large spatial scales to promote the efficient use of monitoring resources. We designed the IMBCR program to address the information needs and core conservation and management objectives of the participating partner organizations. Although it has been argued that probabilistic sampling designs are not practical for large-scale monitoring, the IMBCR program provides a precedent for implementing a statistically defensible sampling design from local to bioregional scales. We demonstrate that integrating conservation and management objectives with rigorous

Conservation status of the American horseshoe crab, (Limulus polyphemus): A regional assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, David R.; Brockmann, H. Jane; Beekey, Mark A.; King, Timothy L.; Millard, Michael J.; Zaldívar-Rae, Jaime

2017-01-01

Horseshoe crabs have persisted for more than 200 million years, and fossil forms date to 450 million years ago. The American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), one of four extant horseshoe crab species, is found along the Atlantic coastline of North America ranging from Alabama to Maine, USA with another distinct population on the coasts of Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo in the Yucatán Peninsula, México. Although the American horseshoe crab tolerates broad environmental conditions, exploitation and habitat loss threaten the species. We assessed the conservation status of the American horseshoe crab by comprehensively reviewing available scientific information on its range, life history, genetic structure, population trends and analyses, major threats, and conservation. We structured the status assessment by six genetically-informed regions and accounted for sub-regional differences in environmental conditions, threats, and management. The transnational regions are Gulf of Maine (USA), Mid-Atlantic (USA), Southeast (USA), Florida Atlantic (USA), Northeast Gulf of México (USA), and Yucatán Peninsula (México). Our conclusion is that the American horseshoe crab species is vulnerable to local extirpation and that the degree and extent of risk vary among and within the regions. The risk is elevated in the Gulf of Maine region due to limited and fragmented habitat. The populations of horseshoe crabs in the Mid-Atlantic region are stable in the Delaware Bay area, and regulatory controls are in place, but the risk is elevated in the New England area as evidenced by continuing declines understood to be caused by over-harvest. The populations of horseshoe crabs in the Southeast region are stable or increasing. The populations of horseshoe crabs in the Florida Atlantic region show mixed trends among areas, and continuing population reductions at the embayment level have poorly understood causes. Within the Northeast Gulf of Mexico, causes of population trends are

Spatial transferability of habitat suitability models of Nephrops norvegicus among fished areas in the Northeast Atlantic: sufficiently stable for marine resource conservation?

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Valentina Lauria

Full Text Available Knowledge of the spatial distribution and habitat associations of species in relation to the environment is essential for their management and conservation. Habitat suitability models are useful in quantifying species-environment relationships and predicting species distribution patterns. Little is known, however, about the stability and performance of habitat suitability models when projected into new areas (spatial transferability and how this can inform resource management. The aims of this study were to model habitat suitability of Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus in five fished areas of the Northeast Atlantic (Aran ground, Irish Sea, Celtic Sea, Scotland Inshore and Fladen ground, and to test for spatial transferability of habitat models among multiple regions. Nephrops burrow density was modelled using generalised additive models (GAMs with predictors selected from four environmental variables (depth, slope, sediment and rugosity. Models were evaluated and tested for spatial transferability among areas. The optimum models (lowest AICc for different areas always included depth and sediment as predictors. Burrow densities were generally greater at depth and in finer sediments, but relationships for individual areas were sometimes more complex. Aside from an inclusion of depth and sediment, the optimum models differed between fished areas. When it came to tests of spatial transferability, however, most of the models were able to predict Nephrops density in other areas. Furthermore, transferability was not dependent on use of the optimum models since competing models were also able to achieve a similar level of transferability to new areas. A degree of decoupling between model 'fitting' performance and spatial transferability supports the use of simpler models when extrapolating habitat suitability maps to different areas. Differences in the form and performance of models from different areas may supply further information on the processes

CO2 emissions reduction using energy conservation measures: EPA Region IV's experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berish, C.; Day, R.; Sibold, K.; Tiller, J.

1994-01-01

EPA Region 4 concluded in a recent comparative environmental risk evaluation that global climate change could substantially impact the Southeast. To address this risk, Region 4 developed an action plan to promote cost-effective pollution prevention and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, The regional plan contains programs that aye specific to Region 4 as well as geographic components of the national Climate Change Action Plan. Sources of carbon dioxide emissions were targeted for pollution prevention based on an energy model that allows the user to create energy efficiency scenarios in four sectors: residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation. Activities were selected using the modeled information on sector reduction potentials and resource and cost-effectiveness criteria. Given the high level of uncertainty associated with climate change projections, the programs developed are all cost effective, prevent pollution and/or result in sound adaptation policies. Currently, policy makers at national, regional, and local levels are deciding on what types of energy efficiency programs to implement. The region's action plan is composed of several programs and approaches. The authors have developed implemented, and/or participated in the following: energy scenario model. EARTHWALK (residential energy conservation); energy conservation in affordable homes (new residences); Cool Communities Program (strategic tree planting and light colored surfaces); EPA's Green Lights Program; WAVE (water conservation), the Plant Protection Center; QUEST TO SAVE THE EARTH (outreach tools); energy and water use planning for the 1996 Olympic Games, and planning for sea-level rise. Reviewing the practices of the above programs will be the focus of this paper

The integration of bioclimatic indices in an objective probabilistic model for establishing and mapping viticulture suitability in a region

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Moral García, Francisco J.; Rebollo, Francisco J.; Paniagua, Luis L.; García, Abelardo

2014-05-01

Different bioclimatic indices have been proposed to determine the wine suitability in a region. Some of them are related to the air temperature, but the hydric component of climate should also be considered which, in turn, is influenced by the precipitation during the different stages of the grapevine growing and ripening periods. In this work we propose using the information obtained from 10 bioclimatic indices and variables (heliothermal index, HI, cool night index, CI, dryness index, DI, growing season temperature, GST, the Winkler index, WI, September mean thermal amplitude, MTA, annual precipitation, AP, precipitation during flowering, PDF, precipitation before flowering, PBF, and summer precipitation, SP) as inputs in an objective and probabilistic model, the Rasch model, with the aim of integrating the individual effects of them, obtaining the climate data that summarize all main bioclimatic indices which could influence on wine suitability, and utilize the Rasch measures to generate homogeneous climatic zones. The use of the Rasch model to estimate viticultural suitability constitutes a new application of great practical importance, enabling to rationally determine locations in a region where high viticultural potential exists and establishing a ranking of the bioclimatic indices or variables which exerts an important influence on wine suitability in a region. Furthermore, from the measures of viticultural suitability at some locations, estimates can be computed using a geostatistical algorithm, and these estimates can be utilized to map viticultural suitability potential in a region. To illustrate the process, an application to Extremadura, southewestern Spain, is shown. Keywords: Rasch model, bioclimatic indices, GIS.

Application of models to conservation planning for terrestrial birds in North America

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Fitzgerald, Jane A.; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Dettmers, Randy; Jones, Tim; Rustay, Christopher; Ruth, Janet M.; Thompson, Frank R.; Will, Tom; Millspaugh, Joshua J.; Thompson, Frank R.

2009-01-01

Partners in Flight (PIF), a public–private coalition for the conservation of land birds, has developed one of four international bird conservation plans recognized under the auspices of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI). Partners in Flight prioritized species most in need of conservation attention and set range-wide population goals for 448 species of terrestrial birds. Partnerships are now tasked with developing spatially explicit estimates of the distribution, and abundance of priority species across large ecoregions and identifying habitat acreages needed to support populations at prescribed levels. The PIF Five Elements process of conservation design identifies five steps needed to implement all bird conservation at the ecoregional scale. Habitat assessment and landscape characterization describe the current amounts of different habitat types and summarize patch characteristics, and landscape configurations that define the ability of a landscape to sustain healthy bird populations and are a valuable first step to describing the planning area before pursuing more complex species-specific models. Spatially linked database models, landscape-scale habitat suitability models, and statistical models are viable alternatives for predicting habitat suitability or bird abundance across large planning areas to help assess conservation opportunities, design landscapes to meet population objectives, and monitor change in habitat suitability or bird numbers over time.Bird conservation in the United States is a good example of the use of models in large-scale wildlife conservation planning because of its geographic extent, focus on multiple species, involvement of multiple partners, and use of simple to complex models. We provide some background on the recent development of bird conservation initiatives in the United States and the approaches used for regional conservation assessment and planning. We focus on approaches being used for landscape

Factors associated with patients in the Scottish Highlands who chose mastectomy when suitable for breast conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Shearer, Rosalyn; Rashid, Majid; Hubbard, Gill; Abbott, Nick; Daltrey, Ian; Mullen, Russell

2016-08-01

Despite being suitable for breast conservation surgery (BCS) a proportion of women choose mastectomy. This study aimed to assess the pre-operative pathological and geographic factors associated with choosing mastectomy rather than BCS in a single centre that serves a large geographical area encompassing urban, rural and remote island populations. A retrospective analysis of all patients suitable for BCS between January 2011 and December 2013 was undertaken. Pre-operative pathological features were compared using the Pearson chi squared test as was distance to the treatment centre from the patient's home. A questionnaire was sent to all those who chose mastectomy to identify the factors that influenced their decision. A total of 446 patients suitable for BCS were identified of which 46 (11%) chose to undergo mastectomy. Patients choosing mastectomy were more likely to present symptomatically (P=0.009), have tumours larger than 20 mm at diagnostic imaging (P=0.001) and have positive axillary staging (P=0.004). Patients choosing mastectomy were more likely to live remotely (P=0.051). Those patients who chose mastectomy felt this gave a better long-term outcome (18 patients, 44%) and peace of mind (14 patients, 34%). Adverse pre-operative pathological features were associated with patients choosing mastectomy rather than BCS. There was a trend for patients who chose mastectomy to live remotely from the treatment centre. Patients choosing mastectomy most commonly cited a better long-term outcome and peace of mind as the reason behind their decision. Understanding what influences a patient's surgical choice will allow clinicians and patients to engage in a fully informed pre-operative decision making process.

WeederH: an algorithm for finding conserved regulatory motifs and regions in homologous sequences

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Pesole Graziano

2007-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This work addresses the problem of detecting conserved transcription factor binding sites and in general regulatory regions through the analysis of sequences from homologous genes, an approach that is becoming more and more widely used given the ever increasing amount of genomic data available. Results We present an algorithm that identifies conserved transcription factor binding sites in a given sequence by comparing it to one or more homologs, adapting a framework we previously introduced for the discovery of sites in sequences from co-regulated genes. Differently from the most commonly used methods, the approach we present does not need or compute an alignment of the sequences investigated, nor resorts to descriptors of the binding specificity of known transcription factors. The main novel idea we introduce is a relative measure of conservation, assuming that true functional elements should present a higher level of conservation with respect to the rest of the sequence surrounding them. We present tests where we applied the algorithm to the identification of conserved annotated sites in homologous promoters, as well as in distal regions like enhancers. Conclusion Results of the tests show how the algorithm can provide fast and reliable predictions of conserved transcription factor binding sites regulating the transcription of a gene, with better performances than other available methods for the same task. We also show examples on how the algorithm can be successfully employed when promoter annotations of the genes investigated are missing, or when regulatory sites and regions are located far away from the genes.

Lessons from Transportation Agency Participation In Regional Conservation Initiatives

OpenAIRE

Lederman, Jaimee

2017-01-01

Transportation agencies struggle to maximize the benefits of transportation infrastructure while minimizing environmental harm. This dissertation examines institutional collaborations that integrate capital investments (e.g. highway and rail projects) with regional Habitat Conservation Plans (RHCPs) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). It addresses ways of maintaining these collaborations over time. The ESA requires that public and private project developers mitigate any harm to endangered...

Global conservation model for a mushy region over a moving substrate

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kyselica, Juraj; Šimkanin, Ján

2018-01-01

Roč. 276, March (2018), s. 60-67 ISSN 0031-9201 Institutional support: RVO:67985530 Keywords : solidification * binary alloy * mushy region * global conservation * boundary-layer flow Subject RIV: DE - Earth Magnetism, Geodesy, Geography Impact factor: 2.075, year: 2016

Conservation in metropolitan regions: assessing trends and threats of urban development and climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Thorne, J. H.; Santos, M. J.; Bjorkman, J.

2011-12-01

Two global challenges to successful conservation are urban expansion and climate change. Rapid urban growth threatens biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, while climate change may make currently protected areas unsuitable for species that exist within them. We examined three measures of landscape change for 8800 km2 of the San Francisco Bay metropolitan region over 80 years past and future: urban growth, protected area establishment, and natural vegetation type extents. The Bay Area is a good test bed for conservation assessment of the impacts of temporal and spatial of urban growth and land cover change. The region is geographically rather small, with over 40% of its lands already dedicated to protected park and open space lands, they are well-documented, and, the area has had extensive population growth in the past and is projected to continue to grow. The ten-county region within which our study area is a subset has grown from 1.78 million people in 1930, to 6.97 million in 2000 and is estimated to grow to 10.94 million by 2050. With such an influx of people into a small geographic area, it is imperative to both examine the past urban expansion and estimate how the future population will be accommodated into the landscape. We quantify these trends to assess conservation 'success' through time. We used historical and current landcover maps to assess trend, and a GIS-based urban modeling (UPlan) to assess future urban growth impacts in the region, under three policy scenarios- business as usual, smart growth, and urban redevelopment. Impacts are measured by the amount of open space targeted by conservation planners in the region that will be urbanized under each urban growth policy. Impacts are also measured by estimates of the energy consumption projected for each of the scenarios on household and business unit level. The 'business as usual' and 'smart growth' scenarios differed little in their impacts to targeted conservation lands, because so little

Green Infrastructure and Ecological Corridors: A Regional Study Concerning Sardinia

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Ignazio Cannas

2018-04-01

Full Text Available We propose a methodological approach to identify a multifunctional green infrastructure (GI on the basis of four values (conservation value, natural value, recreation value and anthropic heritage that represent many functions (biodiversity conservation, supply of ecosystem services, recreation, identity building performed by the landscape. By taking the Italian region of Sardinia as a case study, we argue that the methodology can support the making of landscape plans as understood in the European Landscape Convention. Moreover, we propose and implement a methodology to identify ecological corridors (ECs connecting Natura 2000 sites (N2Ss, based on the prioritization of functional land patches related to their suitability to ecosystem services delivery, paying particular attention to biodiversity maintenance and enhancement, and taking Sardinia as spatial regional context. The methodology consists of two steps: (i identifying the most suitable patches to be included in ECs on the basis of their connectivity, that is, on their negative attitude towards contributing to landscape fragmentation; (ii assessing, through a discrete-choice-model, the suitability of these ECs to be included in a regional GI, starting from the territorial taxonomy based on biodiversity characteristics related to N2Ss, habitat suitability, and recreational and landscape potentials.

Federal Conservation Units in Brazil: The Situation of Biomes and Regions

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Eduardo Pacca Luna Mattar

2018-03-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Federal conservation units (FCU are areas legally established by the government, in order to meet the needs of protection and sustainable exploitation of biodiversity. A way to ensure the efficiency of public management is to systematize data. Therefore, the present study grouped and analyzed public data about FCU. Brazil has 309 federal conservation units, which represent 9.06% of the national territory and 45305 residents households. The Northern Region covers 84.80% of these families and 79.20% of its area belongs to FCU. The Amazônia biome has 14.57% of its territory occupied by FCU; on the other hand, Pantanal has only 0.98% of its area protected. There is a higher concentration of public agents in the FCU of the Southeastern region and in the Mata Atlântica biome. The analysis of this information reveals significant differences between the biomes and the federation units, a fact that reflects the importance of the organization of public data.

Motor fuel taxation, energy conservation, and economic development: A regional approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

England, Richard W.

2007-01-01

Combustion of motor fuels has a variety of environmental impacts on local, regional and global scales. Taxing motor fuels more heavily would mitigate those environmental impacts. However, many governments are reluctant to increase motor fuel taxes because they fear that the tax incidence will be regressive and that economic development will be impeded. Using data for the New England region of the United States, this paper argues that an oil-importing region can conserve energy, avoid regressive impacts and encourage economic development by taxing motor fuels more heavily and rebating the incremental revenues to owners of motor vehicles. (author)

Building on IUCN regional red lists to produce lists of species of conservation priority: a model with Irish bees.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzpatrick, Una; Murray, Tomás E; Paxton, Robert J; Brown, Mark J F

2007-10-01

A World Conservation Union (IUCN) regional red list is an objective assessment of regional extinction risk and is not the same as a list of conservation priority species. Recent research reveals the widespread, but incorrect, assumption that IUCN Red List categories represent a hierarchical list of priorities for conservation action. We developed a simple eight-step priority-setting process and applied it to the conservation of bees in Ireland. Our model is based on the national red list but also considers the global significance of the national population; the conservation status at global, continental, and regional levels; key biological, economic, and societal factors; and is compatible with existing conservation agreements and legislation. Throughout Ireland, almost one-third of the bee fauna is threatened (30 of 100 species), but our methodology resulted in a reduced list of only 17 priority species. We did not use the priority species list to broadly categorize species to the conservation action required; instead, we indicated the individual action required for all threatened, near-threatened, and data-deficient species on the national red list based on the IUCN's conservation-actions template file. Priority species lists will strongly influence prioritization of conservation actions at national levels, but action should not be exclusive to listed species. In addition, all species on this list will not necessarily require immediate action. Our method is transparent, reproducible, and readily applicable to other taxa and regions.

Exploring spatial patterns of vulnerability for diverse biodiversity descriptors in regional conservation planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Vimal, Ruppert; Pluvinet, Pascal; Sacca, Céline; Mazagol, Pierre-Olivier; Etlicher, Bernard; Thompson, John D

2012-03-01

In this study, we developed a multi-criteria assessment of spatial variability of the vulnerability of three different biodiversity descriptors: sites of high conservation interest by virtue of the presence of rare or remarkable species, extensive areas of high ecological integrity, and landscape diversity in grid cells across an entire region. We assessed vulnerability in relation to (a) direct threats in and around sites to a distance of 2 km associated with intensive agriculture, building and road infrastructure and (b) indirect effects of human population density on a wider scale (50 km). The different combinations of biodiversity and threat indicators allowed us to set differential priorities for biodiversity conservation and assess their spatial variation. For example, with this method we identified sites and grid cells which combined high biodiversity with either high threat values or low threat values for the three different biodiversity indicators. In these two classes the priorities for conservation planning will be different, reduce threat values in the former and restrain any increase in the latter. We also identified low priority sites (low biodiversity with either high or low threats). This procedure thus allows for the integration of a spatial ranking of vulnerability into priority setting for regional conservation planning. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Energy Conservation and Development Plan. Southern Tier Central Region, New York

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1979-07-01

A summary is presented of the work of 40 volunteers working with regional planners to imagine, assess, and prescribe for the development of local energy resources (wind, solar, biomass, and water) and for conservation of all forms of energy. The plan contains a brief summary of the process the citizens followed in formulating the plan, the plans themselves, and appendices which contain more detailed comments by citizens on the possible consequences of the development of each resource. The areas (Chemung, Steuben, and Schuyler counties) experienced severe natural gas curtailments during the winter of 1976-1977. The formulation of an emergency energy conservation plan is also presented.

Assessing the suitability of commercial fisheries data for local-scale ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... are suitable for systematic spatial planning on a local scale and can be used for future spatial management and conservation. Keywords: chokka-squid, conservation planning, demersal trawl, linefish, logbooks, observer data, shark longline, small pelagic, vessel monitoring system. African Journal of Marine Science 2014, ...

The research on regional conservation planning of urban historical and cultural areas based on GIS

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shangli; Xu, Jian; Li, Qian

2017-06-01

With the rapid economic development and the growth of population happening in the urban historical and cultural areas, heritage and historical buildings along with their natural and artificial surrounding environments are suffering constructive destruction. Due to the lack of precise partition of protection region and construction control region in the local cultural relics protection law, traditional regional conservation planning cannot engaged with the urban controllability detailed planning very well. According to the several protection regulations about heritage and historical buildings from latest laws, we choose Baxian Temple area to study on the improvments of traditional regional conservation planning. The technical methods of this study mainly rely on GIS, which can complete the fundamental work of each stage. With the analytic hierarchy process(AHP), the comprehensive architectural value assessments can be calculated according to the investigation results. Based on the calculation results and visual corridor analysis, the precise range of protection region and construction control region can be decided and the specific protection measures can be formulated.

Development of a landscape integrity model framework to support regional conservation planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Walston, Leroy J; Hartmann, Heidi M

2018-01-01

Land managers increasingly rely upon landscape assessments to understand the status of natural resources and identify conservation priorities. Many of these landscape planning efforts rely on geospatial models that characterize the ecological integrity of the landscape. These general models utilize measures of habitat disturbance and human activity to map indices of ecological integrity. We built upon these modeling frameworks by developing a Landscape Integrity Index (LII) model using geospatial datasets of the human footprint, as well as incorporation of other indicators of ecological integrity such as biodiversity and vegetation departure. Our LII model serves as a general indicator of ecological integrity in a regional context of human activity, biodiversity, and change in habitat composition. We also discuss the application of the LII framework in two related coarse-filter landscape conservation approaches to expand the size and connectedness of protected areas as regional mitigation for anticipated land-use changes.

Regional Conservation Status of Scleractinian Coral Biodiversity in the Republic of the Marshall Islands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zoe Richards

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Preventing the loss of biodiversity is a major challenge in mega-diverse ecosystems such as coral reefs where there is a critical shortage of baseline demographic data. Threatened species assessments play a valuable role in guiding conservation action to manage and mitigate biodiversity loss, but they must be undertaken with precise information at an appropriate spatial scale to provide accurate classifications. Here we explore the regional conservation status of scleractinian corals on isolated Pacific Ocean atolls in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. We compile an integrated regional species list based upon new and historical records, and compare how well the regional threat classifications reflect species level priorities at a global scale. A similar proportion of the 240 species of hard coral recorded in the current survey are classified as Vulnerable at the regional scale as the global scale using the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN Red List criteria (23% and 20% respectively, however there are distinct differences in the composition of species. When local abundance data is taken into account, a far greater proportion of the regional diversity (up to 80% may face an elevated risk of local extinction. These results suggest coral communities on isolated Pacific coral reefs, which are often predicted to be at low risk, are still vulnerable due to the small and fragmented nature of their populations. This reinforces that to adequately protect biodiversity, ongoing threatened species monitoring and the documentation of species-level changes in abundance and distribution is imperative.

DisoMCS: Accurately Predicting Protein Intrinsically Disordered Regions Using a Multi-Class Conservative Score Approach.

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Zhiheng Wang

Full Text Available The precise prediction of protein intrinsically disordered regions, which play a crucial role in biological procedures, is a necessary prerequisite to further the understanding of the principles and mechanisms of protein function. Here, we propose a novel predictor, DisoMCS, which is a more accurate predictor of protein intrinsically disordered regions. The DisoMCS bases on an original multi-class conservative score (MCS obtained by sequence-order/disorder alignment. Initially, near-disorder regions are defined on fragments located at both the terminus of an ordered region connecting a disordered region. Then the multi-class conservative score is generated by sequence alignment against a known structure database and represented as order, near-disorder and disorder conservative scores. The MCS of each amino acid has three elements: order, near-disorder and disorder profiles. Finally, the MCS is exploited as features to identify disordered regions in sequences. DisoMCS utilizes a non-redundant data set as the training set, MCS and predicted secondary structure as features, and a conditional random field as the classification algorithm. In predicted near-disorder regions a residue is determined as an order or a disorder according to the optimized decision threshold. DisoMCS was evaluated by cross-validation, large-scale prediction, independent tests and CASP (Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction tests. All results confirmed that DisoMCS was very competitive in terms of accuracy of prediction when compared with well-established publicly available disordered region predictors. It also indicated our approach was more accurate when a query has higher homologous with the knowledge database.The DisoMCS is available at http://cal.tongji.edu.cn/disorder/.

[Ecological suitability regionalization for Gastrodia elata in Zhaotong based on Maxent and ArcGIS].

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Zi-Wei; Ma, Cong-Ji; Kang, Chuan-Zhi; Wang, Li; Zhang, Zhi-Hui; Chen, Jun-Fei; Zhang, Xiao-Bo; Liu, Da-Hui

2016-09-01

In this paper, the potential distribution information and ecological suitability regionalization for Gastrodia elata in Zhaotong were studied based on the climate, terrain, soil and vegetation factors analysis by Maxent and ArcGIS. The results showed that the highly potential distribution (suitability index>0.6) mainly located in Zhaotong, Yunnan province（Zhenxiong,Yiliang and Daguan county, with an area of 2 872 km²）, and Bijie, Guizhou province （Hezhang,Bijie,Weining county, 1 251 km²）. The AUC of ROC curve was above 0.99, indicating that the predictive results with the Maxent model were highly precise. The main ecological factors determining the potential distribution were the altitude, average rainfall in November, average rainfall in October, vegetation types, average rainfall in March, average rainfall in April,soil types,isothermal characteristic and average rainfall in June. The environmental variables in the highly potential areas were determined as altitude around 1 450-2 200 m,annual average temperature around 18.0-20.4 ℃,annual average precipitation around 900 mm,yellow soil or yellow brown soil,and acid sandy loam or slightly acidic sandy loam.The results will provide valuable references for plantation regionalization and the siting for imitation wild planting of G. elata in Zhaotong. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Shifts in climate suitability for wine production as a result of climate change in a temperate climate wine region of Romania

Science.gov (United States)

Irimia, Liviu Mihai; Patriche, Cristian Valeriu; Quenol, Hervé; Sfîcă, Lucian; Foss, Chris

2018-02-01

Climate change is causing important shifts in the suitability of regions for wine production. Fine scale mapping of these shifts helps us to understand the evolution of vineyard climates, and to find solutions through viticultural adaptation. The aim of this study is to identify and map the structural and spatial shifts that occurred in the climatic suitability for wine production of the Cotnari wine growing region (Romania) between 1961 and 2013. Discontinuities in trends of temperature were identified, and the averages and trends of 13 climatic parameters for the 1961 to 1980 and 1981 to 2013 time periods were analysed. Using the averages of these climatic parameters, climate suitability for wine production was calculated at a resolution of 30 m and mapped for each time period, and the changes analysed. The results indicate shifts in the area's historic climatic profile, due to an increase of heliothermal resources and precipitation constancy. The area's climate suitability for wine production was modified by the loss of climate suitability for white table wines, sparkling wines and wine for distillates; shifts in suitability to higher altitudes by about 67 m, and a 48.6% decrease in the area suitable for quality white wines; and the occurrence of suitable climates for red wines at lower altitudes. The study showed that climate suitability for wine production has a multi-level spatial structure, with classes requiring a cooler climate being located at a higher altitude than those requiring a warmer climate. Climate change has therefore resulted in the shift of climate suitability classes for wine production to higher altitudes.

[Climatic suitability of citrus in subtropical China].

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, Hai-Lai; Qian, Huai-Sui; Li, Ming-Xia; Du, Yao-Dong

2010-08-01

By applying the theories of ecological suitability and the methods of fuzzy mathematics, this paper established a climatic suitability model for citrus, calculated and evaluated the climatic suitability and its spatiotemporal differences for citrus production in subtropical China, and analyzed the climatic suitability of citrus at its different growth stages and the mean climatic suitability of citrus in different regions of subtropical China. The results showed that the citrus in subtropical China had a lower climatic suitability and a higher risk at its flower bud differentiation stage, budding stage, and fruit maturity stage, but a higher climatic suitability and a lower risk at other growth stages. Cold damage and summer drought were the key issues affecting the citrus production in subtropical China. The citrus temperature suitability represented a latitudinal zonal pattern, i. e., decreased with increasing latitude; its precipitation suitability was high in the line of "Sheyang-Napo", medium in the southeast of the line, low in the northwest of the line, and non in high mountainous area; while the sunlight suitability was in line with the actual duration of sunshine, namely, higher in high-latitude areas than in low-latitude areas, and higher in high-altitude areas than in plain areas. Limited by temperature factor, the climatic suitability was in accordance with temperature suitability, i. e., south parts had a higher suitability than north parts, basically representing latitudinal zonal pattern. From the analysis of the inter-annual changes of citrus climatic suitability, it could be seen that the citrus climatic suitability in subtropical China was decreasing, and had obvious regional differences, suggesting that climate change could bring about the changes in the regions suitable for citrus production and in the key stages of citrus growth.

Delineating priority habitat areas for the conservation of Andean bears in northern Ecuador

Science.gov (United States)

Peralvo, M.F.; Cuesta, F.; Van Manen, F.

2005-01-01

We sought to identify priority areas for the conservation of Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) habitat in the northern portion of the eastern Andean cordillera in Ecuador. The study area included pa??ramo and montane forest habitats within the Antisana and Cayambe-Coca ecological reserves, and unprotected areas north of these reserves with elevations ranging from 1,800 to 4,300 m. We collected data on bear occurrence along 53 transects during 2000-01 in the Oyacachi River basin, an area of indigenous communities within the Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve. We used those data and a set of 7 environmental variables to predict suitability of Andean bear habitat using Mahalanobis distance, a multivariate measure of dissimilarity. The Mahalanobis distance values were classified into 5 classes of habitat suitability and generalized to a resolution of 1,650-m ?? 1,650-m grid cells. Clusters of grid cells with high suitability values were delineated from the generalized model and denned as important habitat areas (IHAs) for conservation. The IHAs were ranked using a weighted index that included factors of elevation range, influence from disturbed areas, and current conservation status. We identified 12 IHAs, which were mainly associated with pa??ramo and cloud forest habitats; 2 of these areas have high conservation priorities because they are outside existing reserves and close to areas of human pressure. The distribution of the IHAs highlighted the role of human land use as the main source of fragmentation of Andean bear habitat in this region, emphasizing the importance of preserving habitat connectivity to allow the seasonal movements among habitat types that we documented for this species. Furthermore, the existence of areas with high habitat suitability close to areas of intense human use indicates the importance of bear-human conflict management as a critical Andean bear conservation strategy. We suggest that a promising conservation opportunity for this species is

Characterization of chromosomal regions conserved in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and lost by Yersinia pestis.

Science.gov (United States)

Pouillot, Flavie; Fayolle, Corinne; Carniel, Elisabeth

2008-10-01

The transformation of the enteropathogenic bacterium Yersinia pseudotuberculosis into the plague bacillus, Yersinia pestis, has been accompanied by extensive genetic loss. This study focused on chromosomal regions conserved in Y. pseudotuberculosis and lost during its transformation into Y. pestis. An extensive PCR screening of 78 strains of the two species identified five regions (R1 to R5) and four open reading frames (ORFs; orf1 to orf4) that were conserved in Y. pseudotuberculosis and absent from Y. pestis. Their conservation in Y. pseudotuberculosis suggests a positive selective pressure and a role during the life cycle of this species. Attempts to delete two ORFs (orf3 and orf4) from the chromosome of strain IP32953 were unsuccessful, indicating that they are essential for its viability. The seven remaining loci were individually deleted from the IP32953 chromosome, and the ability of each mutant to grow in vitro and to kill mice upon intragastric infection was evaluated. Four loci (orf1, R2, R4, and R5) were not required for optimal growth or virulence of Y. pseudotuberculosis. In contrast, orf2, encoding a putative pseudouridylate synthase involved in RNA stability, was necessary for the optimal growth of IP32953 at 37 degrees C in a chemically defined medium (M63S). Deletion of R1, a region predicted to encode the methionine salvage pathway, altered the mutant pathogenicity, suggesting that the availability of free methionine is severely restricted in vivo. R3, a region composed mostly of genes of unknown functions, was necessary for both optimal growth of Y. pseudotuberculosis at 37 degrees C in M63S and for virulence. Therefore, despite their loss in Y. pestis, five of the nine Y. pseudotuberculosis-specific chromosomal loci studied play a role in the survival, growth, or virulence of this species.

Setting practical conservation priorities for birds in the Western Andes of Colombia.

Science.gov (United States)

Ocampo-Peñuela, Natalia; Pimm, Stuart L

2014-10-01

We aspired to set conservation priorities in ways that lead to direct conservation actions. Very large-scale strategic mapping leads to familiar conservation priorities exemplified by biodiversity hotspots. In contrast, tactical conservation actions unfold on much smaller geographical extents and they need to reflect the habitat loss and fragmentation that have sharply restricted where species now live. Our aspirations for direct, practical actions were demanding. First, we identified the global, strategic conservation priorities and then downscaled to practical local actions within the selected priorities. In doing this, we recognized the limitations of incomplete information. We started such a process in Colombia and used the results presented here to implement reforestation of degraded land to prevent the isolation of a large area of cloud forest. We used existing range maps of 171 bird species to identify priority conservation areas that would conserve the greatest number of species at risk in Colombia. By at risk species, we mean those that are endemic and have small ranges. The Western Andes had the highest concentrations of such species-100 in total-but the lowest densities of national parks. We then adjusted the priorities for this region by refining these species ranges by selecting only areas of suitable elevation and remaining habitat. The estimated ranges of these species shrank by 18-100% after accounting for habitat and suitable elevation. Setting conservation priorities on the basis of currently available range maps excluded priority areas in the Western Andes and, by extension, likely elsewhere and for other taxa. By incorporating detailed maps of remaining natural habitats, we made practical recommendations for conservation actions. One recommendation was to restore forest connections to a patch of cloud forest about to become isolated from the main Andes. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

Regional analysis of ground and above-ground climate. Part I. Regional suitability of earth-tempering practices: summary and conclusions. Part II. Bioclimatic data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Labs, K.

The regional suitability of underground construction as a climate-control technique is discussed with reference to (1) a bioclimatic analysis of long-term weather data for 29 locations in the United States to determine appropriate above-ground climate-control techniques, (2) a data base of synthesized ground temperatures for the coterminous United States, and (3) monthly dewpoint ground temperature comparisons for identifying the relative likelihood of condensation, from one region to another. It is concluded that the suitability of earth tempering as a practice and of specific earth-sheltered design stereotypes varies geographically. While the subsurface almost always provides a thermal advantage on its own terms when compared to above-ground climatic data, it can, nonetheless, compromise the effectiveness of other, regionally more important climate-control techniques. Also contained in the report are reviews of above- and below-ground climate mapping schemes related to human comfort and architectural design, and a detailed description of a theoretical model of ground temperature, heat flow, and heat storage in the ground. Strategies of passive climate control are presented in a discussion of the building bioclimatic analysis procedure which has been applied in a computer analysis of 30 years of weather data for each of 29 locations in the United States. 3 references, 12 figures, 14 tables.

Optimal portfolio design to reduce climate-related conservation uncertainty in the Prairie Pothole Region.

Science.gov (United States)

Ando, Amy W; Mallory, Mindy L

2012-04-24

Climate change is likely to alter the spatial distributions of species and habitat types but the nature of such change is uncertain. Thus, climate change makes it difficult to implement standard conservation planning paradigms. Previous work has suggested some approaches to cope with such uncertainty but has not harnessed all of the benefits of risk diversification. We adapt Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) to optimal spatial targeting of conservation activity, using wetland habitat conservation in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) as an example. This approach finds the allocations of conservation activity among subregions of the planning area that maximize the expected conservation returns for a given level of uncertainty or minimize uncertainty for a given expected level of returns. We find that using MPT instead of simple diversification in the PPR can achieve a value of the conservation objective per dollar spent that is 15% higher for the same level of risk. MPT-based portfolios can also have 21% less uncertainty over benefits or 6% greater expected benefits than the current portfolio of PPR conservation. Total benefits from conservation investment are higher if returns are defined in terms of benefit-cost ratios rather than benefits alone. MPT-guided diversification can work to reduce the climate-change-induced uncertainty of future ecosystem-service benefits from many land policy and investment initiatives, especially when outcomes are negatively correlated between subregions of a planning area.

An evolutionary model for protein-coding regions with conserved RNA structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Jakob Skou; Forsberg, Roald; Meyer, Irmtraud Margret

2004-01-01

in the RNA structure. The overlap of these fundamental dependencies is sufficient to cause "contagious" context dependencies which cascade across many nucleotide sites. Such large-scale dependencies challenge the use of traditional phylogenetic models in evolutionary inference because they explicitly assume...... components of traditional phylogenetic models. We applied this to a data set of full-genome sequences from the hepatitis C virus where five RNA structures are mapped within the coding region. This allowed us to partition the effects of selection on different structural elements and to test various hypotheses......Here we present a model of nucleotide substitution in protein-coding regions that also encode the formation of conserved RNA structures. In such regions, apparent evolutionary context dependencies exist, both between nucleotides occupying the same codon and between nucleotides forming a base pair...

Local knowledge of the flora of a region: implications in biodiversity conservation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria da Conceição Pereira

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The flora of a region is important in aesthetic, environmental and economic terms. Academic degree holders are fundamental for the sustainable development of a geographically isolated region such as the Azores, the University of Azores (UAc contributing to that goal. We assessed the perception of the UAc students about the origin and the importance of the Azorean flora for conservation, culture and economy, by applying a questionnaire to 309 students in different scientific areas, addressing origin, symbolic importance, economic importance, and environmental functions. Students showed some knowledge about the concepts of endemic, native, introduced and invasive species, but often failed to connect those to specific plant taxa. Most species cited as symbolic were animals, and the plants mentioned were mainly exotic/invasive. Respondents had a sense of the most important crops and forest species, and attributed several functions related to biodiversity and environmental conservation to the flora. Despite the many actions already implemented, more initiatives are required to increase the connection between Azoreans and Azorean flora.

Comprehensive environment-suitability evaluation model about Carya cathayensis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Da-Sheng, W.; Li-Juan, L.; Qin-Fen, Y.

2013-01-01

On the relation between the suitable environment and the distribution areas of Carya cathayensis Sarg., the current studies are mainly committed to qualitative descriptions, but did not consider quantitative models. The objective of this study was to establish a environment-suitability evaluation model which used to predict potential suitable areas of C. cathayensis. Firstly, the 3 factor data of soil type, soil parent material and soil thickness were obtained based on 2-class forest resource survey, and other factor data, which included elevation, slope, aspect, surface curvature, humidity index, and solar radiation index, were extracted from DEM (Digital Elevation Model). Additionally, the key affecting factors were defined by PCA (Principal Component Analysis), the weights of evaluation factors were determined by AHP (Analysis Hierarchy Process) and the quantitative classification of single factor was determined by membership function with fuzzy mathematics. Finally, a comprehensive environment-suitability evaluation model was established and which was also used to predict the potential suitable areas of C. cathayensis in Daoshi Town in the study region. The results showed that 85.6% of actual distribution areas were in the most suitable and more suitable regions and 11.5% in the general suitable regions

Diversity and distribution of aquatic insects in Southern Brazil wetlands: implications for biodiversity conservation in a Neotropical region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonardo Maltchik

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The selection of priority areas is an enormous challenge for biodiversity conservation. Some biogeographic methods have been used to identify the priority areas to conservation, and panbiogeography is one of them. This study aimed at the utilization of panbiogeographic tools, to identify the distribution patterns of aquatic insect genera, in wetland systems of an extensive area in the Neotropical region (~280 000km², and to compare the distribution of the biogeographic units identified by the aquatic insects, with the conservation units of Southern Brazil. We analyzed the distribution pattern of 82 genera distributed in four orders of aquatic insects (Diptera, Odonata, Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera in Southern Brazil wetlands. Therefore, 32 biogeographic nodes corresponded to the priority areas for conservation of the aquatic insect diversity. Among this total, 13 were located in the Atlantic Rainforest, 16 in the Pampa and three amongst both biomes. The distribution of nodes showed that only 15% of the dispersion centers of insects were inserted in conservation units. The four priority areas pointed by node cluster criterion must be considered in further inclusions of areas for biodiversity conservation in Southern Brazil wetlands, since such areas present species from differrent ancestral biota. The inclusion of such areas into the conservation units would be a strong way to conserve the aquatic biodiversity in this region.

Diversity and distribution of aquatic insects in Southern Brazil wetlands: implications for biodiversity conservation in a Neotropical region.

Science.gov (United States)

Maltchik, Leonardo; Dalzochio, Marina Schmidt; Stenert, Cristina; Rolon, Ana Silvia

2012-03-01

The selection of priority areas is an enormous challenge for biodiversity conservation. Some biogeographic methods have been used to identify the priority areas to conservation, and panbiogeography is one of them. This study aimed at the utilization of panbiogeographic tools, to identify the distribution patterns of aquatic insect genera, in wetland systems of an extensive area in the Neotropical region (approximately 280 000km2), and to compare the distribution of the biogeographic units identified by the aquatic insects, with the conservation units of Southern Brazil. We analyzed the distribution pattern of 82 genera distributed in four orders of aquatic insects (Diptera, Odonata, Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera) in Southern Brazil wetlands. Therefore, 32 biogeographic nodes corresponded to the priority areas for conservation of the aquatic insect diversity. Among this total, 13 were located in the Atlantic Rainforest, 16 in the Pampa and three amongst both biomes. The distribution of nodes showed that only 15% of the dispersion centers of insects were inserted in conservation units. The four priority areas pointed by node cluster criterion must be considered in further inclusions of areas for biodiversity conservation in Southern Brazil wetlands, since such areas present species from different ancestral biota. The inclusion of such areas into the conservation units would be a strong way to conserve the aquatic biodiversity in this region.

The suitability of vegetation for erosion control on uranium mill tailings: A regional analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beedlow, P.A.; McShane, M.C.

1984-01-01

Inactive uranium mill tailings (UMTRAP sites) in the West were grouped into three major climatic regions to evaluate the suitability of vegetation for long-term stabilization: the Colorado Plateau, the West Slope of the Rocky Mountains, and the Northern Great Plains. Four general vegetation types were found at western sites: grassland, shrub, salt shrub and woodland. Soil-loss rates, calculated using the Universal Soil Loss Equation, were variable within regions and vegetation types, but trends were apparent. Calculations indicated that vegetation or vegetation plus a layer of surface rock provided adequate stabilization against long-term average soil loss on slopes of less than 10%. However, at each site, detailed analyses of erosion caused by severe storm events, gully formation and channel cutting is necessary for designing protective covers

Optimal portfolio design to reduce climate-related conservation uncertainty in the Prairie Pothole Region

Science.gov (United States)

Ando, Amy W.; Mallory, Mindy L.

2012-01-01

Climate change is likely to alter the spatial distributions of species and habitat types but the nature of such change is uncertain. Thus, climate change makes it difficult to implement standard conservation planning paradigms. Previous work has suggested some approaches to cope with such uncertainty but has not harnessed all of the benefits of risk diversification. We adapt Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) to optimal spatial targeting of conservation activity, using wetland habitat conservation in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) as an example. This approach finds the allocations of conservation activity among subregions of the planning area that maximize the expected conservation returns for a given level of uncertainty or minimize uncertainty for a given expected level of returns. We find that using MPT instead of simple diversification in the PPR can achieve a value of the conservation objective per dollar spent that is 15% higher for the same level of risk. MPT-based portfolios can also have 21% less uncertainty over benefits or 6% greater expected benefits than the current portfolio of PPR conservation. Total benefits from conservation investment are higher if returns are defined in terms of benefit–cost ratios rather than benefits alone. MPT-guided diversification can work to reduce the climate-change–induced uncertainty of future ecosystem-service benefits from many land policy and investment initiatives, especially when outcomes are negatively correlated between subregions of a planning area. PMID:22451914

IRIS Reactor a Suitable Option to Provide Energy and Water Desalination for the Mexican Northwest Region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alonso, G.; Ramirez, R.; Gomez, C.; Viais, J.

2004-10-03

The Northwest region of Mexico has a deficit of potable water, along this necessity is the region growth, which requires of additional energy capacity. The IRIS reactor offers a very suitable source of energy given its modular size of 300 MWe and it can be coupled with a desalination plant to provide the potable water for human consumption, agriculture and industry. The present paper assess the water and energy requirements for the Northwest region of Mexico and how the deployment of the IRIS reactor can satisfy those necessities. The possible sites for deployment of Nuclear Reactors are considered given the seismic constraints and the closeness of the sea for external cooling. And in the other hand, the size of the desalination plant and the type of desalination process are assessed accordingly with the water deficit of the region.

IRIS Reactor a Suitable Option to Provide Energy and Water Desalination for the Mexican Northwest Region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alonso, G.; Ramirez, R.; Gomez, C.; Viais, J.

2004-01-01

The Northwest region of Mexico has a deficit of potable water, along this necessity is the region growth, which requires of additional energy capacity. The IRIS reactor offers a very suitable source of energy given its modular size of 300 MWe and it can be coupled with a desalination plant to provide the potable water for human consumption, agriculture and industry. The present paper assess the water and energy requirements for the Northwest region of Mexico and how the deployment of the IRIS reactor can satisfy those necessities. The possible sites for deployment of Nuclear Reactors are considered given the seismic constraints and the closeness of the sea for external cooling. And in the other hand, the size of the desalination plant and the type of desalination process are assessed accordingly with the water deficit of the region

Evolutionarily conserved regions of the human c-myc protein can be uncoupled from transforming activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarid, J.; Halazonetis, T.D.; Murphy, W.; Leder, P.

1987-01-01

The myc family of oncogenes contains coding sequences that have been preserved in different species for over 400 million years. This conservation (which implies functional selection) is broadly represented throughout the C-terminal portion of the human c-myc protein but is largely restricted to three cluster of amino acid sequences in the N-terminal region. The authors have examined the role that the latter three regions of the c-myc protein might play in the transforming function of the c-myc gene. Several mutations, deletions and frameshifts, were introduced into the c-myc gene, and these mutant genes were tested for their ability to collaborate with the EJ-ras oncogene to transform rat embryo fibroblasts. Complete elimination of the first two N-terminal conserved segments abolished transforming activity. In contrast, genes altered in a portion of the second or the entire third conserved segment retained their transforming activity. Thus, the latter two segments are not required for the transformation process, suggesting that they serve another function related only to the normal expression of the c-myc gene

Applying a framework for landscape planning under climate change for the conservation of biodiversity in the Finnish boreal forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Mazziotta, Adriano; Triviño, Maria; Tikkanen, Olli-Pekka; Kouki, Jari; Strandman, Harri; Mönkkönen, Mikko

2015-02-01

Conservation strategies are often established without consideration of the impact of climate change. However, this impact is expected to threaten species and ecosystem persistence and to have dramatic effects towards the end of the 21st century. Landscape suitability for species under climate change is determined by several interacting factors including dispersal and human land use. Designing effective conservation strategies at regional scales to improve landscape suitability requires measuring the vulnerabilities of specific regions to climate change and determining their conservation capacities. Although methods for defining vulnerability categories are available, methods for doing this in a systematic, cost-effective way have not been identified. Here, we use an ecosystem model to define the potential resilience of the Finnish forest landscape by relating its current conservation capacity to its vulnerability to climate change. In applying this framework, we take into account the responses to climate change of a broad range of red-listed species with different niche requirements. This framework allowed us to identify four categories in which representation in the landscape varies among three IPCC emission scenarios (B1, low; A1B, intermediate; A2, high emissions): (i) susceptible (B1 = 24.7%, A1B = 26.4%, A2 = 26.2%), the most intact forest landscapes vulnerable to climate change, requiring management for heterogeneity and resilience; (ii) resilient (B1 = 2.2%, A1B = 0.5%, A2 = 0.6%), intact areas with low vulnerability that represent potential climate refugia and require conservation capacity maintenance; (iii) resistant (B1 = 6.7%, A1B = 0.8%, A2 = 1.1%), landscapes with low current conservation capacity and low vulnerability that are suitable for restoration projects; (iv) sensitive (B1 = 66.4%, A1B = 72.3%, A2 = 72.0%), low conservation capacity landscapes that are vulnerable and for which alternative conservation measures are required depending on the

RNA expression in a cartilaginous fish cell line reveals ancient 3′ noncoding regions highly conserved in vertebrates

Science.gov (United States)

Forest, David; Nishikawa, Ryuhei; Kobayashi, Hiroshi; Parton, Angela; Bayne, Christopher J.; Barnes, David W.

2007-01-01

We have established a cartilaginous fish cell line [Squalus acanthias embryo cell line (SAE)], a mesenchymal stem cell line derived from the embryo of an elasmobranch, the spiny dogfish shark S. acanthias. Elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) first appeared >400 million years ago, and existing species provide useful models for comparative vertebrate cell biology, physiology, and genomics. Comparative vertebrate genomics among evolutionarily distant organisms can provide sequence conservation information that facilitates identification of critical coding and noncoding regions. Although these genomic analyses are informative, experimental verification of functions of genomic sequences depends heavily on cell culture approaches. Using ESTs defining mRNAs derived from the SAE cell line, we identified lengthy and highly conserved gene-specific nucleotide sequences in the noncoding 3′ UTRs of eight genes involved in the regulation of cell growth and proliferation. Conserved noncoding 3′ mRNA regions detected by using the shark nucleotide sequences as a starting point were found in a range of other vertebrate orders, including bony fish, birds, amphibians, and mammals. Nucleotide identity of shark and human in these regions was remarkably well conserved. Our results indicate that highly conserved gene sequences dating from the appearance of jawed vertebrates and representing potential cis-regulatory elements can be identified through the use of cartilaginous fish as a baseline. Because the expression of genes in the SAE cell line was prerequisite for their identification, this cartilaginous fish culture system also provides a physiologically valid tool to test functional hypotheses on the role of these ancient conserved sequences in comparative cell biology. PMID:17227856

Economic efficiency and cost implications of habitat conservation: An example in the context of the Edwards Aquifer region

Science.gov (United States)

Gillig, Dhazn; McCarl, Bruce A.; Jones, Lonnie L.; Boadu, Frederick

2004-04-01

Groundwater management in the Edwards Aquifer in Texas is in the process of moving away from a traditional right of capture economic regime toward a more environmentally sensitive scheme designed to preserve endangered species habitats. This study explores economic and environmental implications of proposed groundwater management and water development strategies under a proposed regional Habitat Conservation Plan. Results show that enhancing the habitat by augmenting water flow costs $109-1427 per acre-foot and that regional water development would be accelerated by the more extreme possibilities under the Habitat Conservation Plan. The findings also indicate that a water market would improve regional welfare and lower water development but worsen environmental attributes.

AlignMiner: a Web-based tool for detection of divergent regions in multiple sequence alignments of conserved sequences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claros M Gonzalo

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Multiple sequence alignments are used to study gene or protein function, phylogenetic relations, genome evolution hypotheses and even gene polymorphisms. Virtually without exception, all available tools focus on conserved segments or residues. Small divergent regions, however, are biologically important for specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction, genotyping, molecular markers and preparation of specific antibodies, and yet have received little attention. As a consequence, they must be selected empirically by the researcher. AlignMiner has been developed to fill this gap in bioinformatic analyses. Results AlignMiner is a Web-based application for detection of conserved and divergent regions in alignments of conserved sequences, focusing particularly on divergence. It accepts alignments (protein or nucleic acid obtained using any of a variety of algorithms, which does not appear to have a significant impact on the final results. AlignMiner uses different scoring methods for assessing conserved/divergent regions, Entropy being the method that provides the highest number of regions with the greatest length, and Weighted being the most restrictive. Conserved/divergent regions can be generated either with respect to the consensus sequence or to one master sequence. The resulting data are presented in a graphical interface developed in AJAX, which provides remarkable user interaction capabilities. Users do not need to wait until execution is complete and can.even inspect their results on a different computer. Data can be downloaded onto a user disk, in standard formats. In silico and experimental proof-of-concept cases have shown that AlignMiner can be successfully used to designing specific polymerase chain reaction primers as well as potential epitopes for antibodies. Primer design is assisted by a module that deploys several oligonucleotide parameters for designing primers "on the fly". Conclusions AlignMiner can be used

Suitability of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and artificial sweeteners (ASs) as wastewater indicators in the Pearl River Delta, South China.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yuan-Yuan; Liu, Wang-Rong; Liu, You-Sheng; Zhao, Jian-Liang; Zhang, Qian-Qian; Zhang, Min; Zhang, Jin-Na; Jiang, Yu-Xia; Zhang, Li-Juan; Ying, Guang-Guo

2017-07-15

Wastewater indicator is a useful tool for evaluating the wastewater impact on natural water, but there is little information about the suitability of wastewater indicators for different regions. This study aimed to select suitable wastewater indicators in the Pearl River Delta region, south China by screening a range of wastewater related organic compounds. The screening campaign was carried out by investigating the occurrence and removal efficiencies of 93 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and 5 artificial sweeteners (ASs) in nine wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) located in the region, and the occurrence of these target compounds in the contaminated and clean surface water of the Pearl River. An ideal wastewater indicator should be hydrophilic, source-specific for domestic wastewater, ubiquitous in contaminated surface water with detection frequency (DF) >80% and absent in background water samples. For liable indicators, high removal rates (>90%) should be observed in WWTPs and they should be detected in all the influent samples at concentrations fifty times higher than their limits of quantification. For conservative indicators, low removal rates (<50%) should be observed in WWTPs and they should be detected in all the effluent samples at concentrations fifty times higher than their limits of quantification. Based on the above criteria, sucralose and fluconazole were selected as conservative indicators in the region, while cyclamate, saccharin, methyl paraben, ethyl paraben, propyl paraben, paracetamol, salicylic acid and caffeine were selected as liable indicators. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An evolutionarily conserved intronic region controls the spatiotemporal expression of the transcription factor Sox10

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavan William J

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A major challenge lies in understanding the complexities of gene regulation. Mutation of the transcription factor SOX10 is associated with several human diseases. The disease phenotypes reflect the function of SOX10 in diverse tissues including the neural crest, central nervous system and otic vesicle. As expected, the SOX10 expression pattern is complex and highly dynamic, but little is known of the underlying mechanisms regulating its spatiotemporal pattern. SOX10 expression is highly conserved between all vertebrates characterised. Results We have combined in vivo testing of DNA fragments in zebrafish and computational comparative genomics to identify the first regulatory regions of the zebrafish sox10 gene. Both approaches converged on the 3' end of the conserved 1st intron as being critical for spatial patterning of sox10 in the embryo. Importantly, we have defined a minimal region crucial for this function. We show that this region contains numerous binding sites for transcription factors known to be essential in early neural crest induction, including Tcf/Lef, Sox and FoxD3. We show that the identity and relative position of these binding sites are conserved between zebrafish and mammals. A further region, partially required for oligodendrocyte expression, lies in the 5' region of the same intron and contains a putative CSL binding site, consistent with a role for Notch signalling in sox10 regulation. Furthermore, we show that β-catenin, Notch signalling and Sox9 can induce ectopic sox10 expression in early embryos, consistent with regulatory roles predicted from our transgenic and computational results. Conclusion We have thus identified two major sites of sox10 regulation in vertebrates and provided evidence supporting a role for at least three factors in driving sox10 expression in neural crest, otic epithelium and oligodendrocyte domains.

Predicting habitat suitability for rare plants at local spatial scales using a species distribution model.

Science.gov (United States)

Gogol-Prokurat, Melanie

2011-01-01

If species distribution models (SDMs) can rank habitat suitability at a local scale, they may be a valuable conservation planning tool for rare, patchily distributed species. This study assessed the ability of Maxent, an SDM reported to be appropriate for modeling rare species, to rank habitat suitability at a local scale for four edaphic endemic rare plants of gabbroic soils in El Dorado County, California, and examined the effects of grain size, spatial extent, and fine-grain environmental predictors on local-scale model accuracy. Models were developed using species occurrence data mapped on public lands and were evaluated using an independent data set of presence and absence locations on surrounding lands, mimicking a typical conservation-planning scenario that prioritizes potential habitat on unsurveyed lands surrounding known occurrences. Maxent produced models that were successful at discriminating between suitable and unsuitable habitat at the local scale for all four species, and predicted habitat suitability values were proportional to likelihood of occurrence or population abundance for three of four species. Unfortunately, models with the best discrimination (i.e., AUC) were not always the most useful for ranking habitat suitability. The use of independent test data showed metrics that were valuable for evaluating which variables and model choices (e.g., grain, extent) to use in guiding habitat prioritization for conservation of these species. A goodness-of-fit test was used to determine whether habitat suitability values ranked habitat suitability on a continuous scale. If they did not, a minimum acceptable error predicted area criterion was used to determine the threshold for classifying habitat as suitable or unsuitable. I found a trade-off between model extent and the use of fine-grain environmental variables: goodness of fit was improved at larger extents, and fine-grain environmental variables improved local-scale accuracy, but fine-grain variables

Global conservation model for a mushy region over a moving substrate

Science.gov (United States)

Kyselica, J.; Šimkanin, J.

2018-03-01

We study solidification over a cool substrate moving with a relative velocity with respect to the rest of the fluid. A mathematical model based on global conservation of solute is presented. The explicit solutions of the governing equations are found and analysed via the asymptotic methods. The assessment of how the boundary-layer flow influences the physical characteristics of the mushy region is given, together with the discussion of a possible connection with the solidification at the inner core boundary.

Plant diversity and conservation status of Himalayan Region Poonch Valley Azad Kashmir (Pakistan).

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Muhammad Azam; Khan, Mir Ajab; Hussain, Mazhar; Mujtaba, Ghulam

2014-09-01

The plant diversity of Himalayan region has been reduced to greater extent due to environmental degradation and human exploitation. Anthropogenic disturbance was the major factor responsible for fragmentation of forest vegetation into small patches. Little research has been conducted in the Himalayan region of Poonch Valley of North eastern Pakistan with reference to plants biodiversity and its conservation. The present research was carried out to provide a checklist of vegetation for biodiversity conservation. A total of 430 vascular and 5 nonvascular plant species with 5 species of Bryophytes (5 families), 13 species of Pteridophytes (6 families), 4 species of Gymnosperms (1 family) and 413 species of angiosperms (95 families) were enumerated from the Poonch valley Azad Kashmir. The genera were classified into three categories according to the number of species. 25 plant communities with phytosociological parameters and diversity indices were reported. Present study revealed that there were 145 threatened, 30 endangered, 68 vulnerable and 47 rare species. It is recorded that extensive grazing, uprooting of plants and soil slope erosion intensify the environmental problems. Since there is maximum exploitation of vegetation, the valley showed a decline in plant diversity. The study was also indicated that the main threats to the biodiversity are expansion of settlement and army installations in the forest area of the valley. For sustainable use In-situ and Ex-situ conservation, controlled harvesting and afforestation may be the solution. Moreover, forest area should be declared prohibited for settlements and army installations.

Regional effects of agricultural conservation practices on nutrient transport

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Anna Maria Garcia; Richard B. Alexander; Jeffrey G. Arnold; Lee Norfleet; Mike White; Dale M. Robertson; Gregory Schwarz

2016-01-01

The Conservation Effects Assessment Program (CEAP), initiated by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), has the goal of quantifying the environmental benefits of agricultural conservation practices. As part of this effort, detailed farmer surveyswere compiled to document the adoption of conservation practices. Survey data showed that up to 38...

Genome-wide identification of coding and non-coding conserved sequence tags in human and mouse genomes

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Maggi Giorgio P

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The accurate detection of genes and the identification of functional regions is still an open issue in the annotation of genomic sequences. This problem affects new genomes but also those of very well studied organisms such as human and mouse where, despite the great efforts, the inventory of genes and regulatory regions is far from complete. Comparative genomics is an effective approach to address this problem. Unfortunately it is limited by the computational requirements needed to perform genome-wide comparisons and by the problem of discriminating between conserved coding and non-coding sequences. This discrimination is often based (thus dependent on the availability of annotated proteins. Results In this paper we present the results of a comprehensive comparison of human and mouse genomes performed with a new high throughput grid-based system which allows the rapid detection of conserved sequences and accurate assessment of their coding potential. By detecting clusters of coding conserved sequences the system is also suitable to accurately identify potential gene loci. Following this analysis we created a collection of human-mouse conserved sequence tags and carefully compared our results to reliable annotations in order to benchmark the reliability of our classifications. Strikingly we were able to detect several potential gene loci supported by EST sequences but not corresponding to as yet annotated genes. Conclusion Here we present a new system which allows comprehensive comparison of genomes to detect conserved coding and non-coding sequences and the identification of potential gene loci. Our system does not require the availability of any annotated sequence thus is suitable for the analysis of new or poorly annotated genomes.

Regional assessment of the status, distribution and conservation needs of cheetahs in southern Africa

OpenAIRE

Purchase, Gianetta; Marker, Laurie; Marnewick, Kelly; Klein, Rebecca; Williams, Samual

2007-01-01

A country by country assessment of the status, distribution and conservation needs for cheetah Acinonyx jubatus in the southern African region indicates that this area holds a significant proportion of the global population of cheetahs, at least 4 500 adults. The largest proportion of this regional population occurs in four range states, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe where it is under threat as a result of conflict with livestock and wildlife ranchers, removal of animals (both ...

Gis Based Analysis For Suitability Location Finding In The Residential Development Areas Of Greater Matara Region

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H.K.G.M Madurika

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Urban Planning and Land utilization for the Residential is one of crucial factors in high density Cities. Many theories in Planning explain the Residential areas are moving to periphery areas in cities by its commercial development. Martara is one of developing city in Southern Sri Lanka and Residential land value are comparative high in city sub urban areas. In this study it is examined that where is the best locations for residential development in Grater Matara Region by using five criteria. GIS based Multi Criteria Method MCE method have been applied to find the suitable locations. The results of analysis have been shown that there are 5378.99 hectares area suitable within study area and however extremely importance areas only 1.40 hectares accordingly given criteria but very strongly importance and importance category have 1560.51 and 2468.22 respectively.

[Geographic distribution of birds in the Sierra Madre Oriental of San Luis Potosi, Mexico: a regional analysis of conservation status].

Science.gov (United States)

Sahagún Sánchez, Francisco Javier; Navarro, Jaime Castro; Reyes Hernández, Humberto

2013-06-01

The Sierra Madre Oriental region in the mexican state of San Luis Potosi is a relevant place for bird conservation at a country level. Therefore the main goal of this study was to analyze the geographic patterns of distribution and the conservation current state of the birds, to support the needs to expand the conservation areas in the future. Data was collected from various databases of zoological museums and collections, and field sampling methods conducted from January 2009 to May 2011. Potential distributions were modeled for 284 species using GARP software and then a map was developed to determine areas with favorable environmental characteristics for the distribution of species richness. Finally, the importance of conservation areas for the potential distribution of birds in the region was evaluated. A total of 359 species were recorded of which 71.4% are permanent residents, 19% are winter migrants and 4% are summer residents. From this total, 41 species were endemic, 47 were species at risk and 149 were neotropical migrants. The largest species richness correspond to oak forests, cloud forests, and tropical moist forests located at altitudes from 100m to 1 500m. Their potential distribution was concentrated towards the center and Southeast of the study area. Only 10% of areas with a high potential conservation was included in areas of priority for bird conservation (AICA) and just 3% of all potential areas were under some governmental category of protection. However, no conservation area has a management plan currently applied and monitored. The information generated is important for the development of management proposals for birds conservation in the region.

Exploring Conservation Options in the Broad-Leaved Korean Pine Mixed Forest of the Changbai Mountain Region

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Lin Ma

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The broad-leaved Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis mixed forest (BKPF is one of the most biodiverse zonal communities in the northern temperate zone. Changbai Mountain in northeastern China contains one of the largest BKPFs in the region. The government of China has established a network of 23 nature reserves to protect the BKPF and the species that depend on it for habitat, including the endangered Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica. This study used the conservation planning software C-Plan to calculate the irreplaceability value of each unit to assess how efficiently and comprehensively the existing conservation network supports biodiversity and to identify gap areas that, if integrated into the network, would expand its protection capability. Results show a number of high-conservation-value planning units concentrated along certain ridges. The existing conservation network is structured such that the habitats of only 24 species (out of a total of 75 achieve established conservation targets. Of the other 51 species, 20 achieve less than 50% of their conservation targets. However, expanding the network to include high-conservation-value gap areas could achieve conservation targets for 64 species and could provide different degrees of protection to the other 11 species. Using C-Plan software can guide decision-making to expand the conservation network in this most precious of mountainous ecological zones.

Climate change threatens European conservation areas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bastos Araujo, Miguel; Alagador, Diogo; Cabeza, Mar

2011-01-01

Europe has the world's most extensive network of conservation areas. Conservation areas are selected without taking into account the effects of climate change. How effectively would such areas conserve biodiversity under climate change? We assess the effectiveness of protected areas and the Natura...... 2000 network in conserving a large proportion of European plant and terrestrial vertebrate species under climate change. We found that by 2080, 58 ± 2.6% of the species would lose suitable climate in protected areas, whereas losses affected 63 ± 2.1% of the species of European concern occurring...

Species of conservation concern and environmental stressors: Local, regional and global effects [Chapter 6] (Executive Summary)

Science.gov (United States)

Steven M. Ostoja; Matthew L. Brooks; Jeanne C. Chambers; Burton K. Pendleton

2013-01-01

Southern Nevada’s unique landscapes and landforms provide habitat for a diversity of plant and wildlife species of conservation concern including many locally and regionally endemic species. The high population density and urbanization of the Las Vegas metropolitan area is the source of many local and regional stressors that affect these species and their habitats:...

Evaluating the impact of water conservation on fate of outdoor water use: a study in an arid region.

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Qaiser, Kamal; Ahmad, Sajjad; Johnson, Walter; Batista, Jacimaria

2011-08-01

In this research, the impact of several water conservation policies and return flow credits on the fate of water used outdoors in an arid region is evaluated using system dynamics modeling approach. Return flow credits is a strategy where flow credits are obtained for treated wastewater returned to a water body, allowing for the withdrawal of additional water equal to the amount returned as treated wastewater. In the return credit strategy, treated wastewater becomes a resource. This strategy creates a conundrum in which conservation may lead to an apparent decrease in water supply because less wastewater is generated and returned to water body. The water system of the arid Las Vegas Valley in Nevada, USA is used as basis for the dynamic model. The model explores various conservation scenarios to attain the daily per capita demand target of 752 l by 2035: (i) status quo situation where conservation is not implemented, (ii) conserving water only on the outdoor side, (iii) conserving water 67% outdoor and 33% indoor, (iv) conserving equal water both in the indoor and outdoor use (v) conserving water only on the indoor side. The model is validated on data from 1993 to 2008 and future simulations are carried out up to 2035. The results show that a substantial portion of the water used outdoor either evapo-transpires (ET) or infiltrates to shallow groundwater (SGW). Sensitivity analysis indicated that seepage to groundwater is more susceptible to ET compared to any other variable. The all outdoor conservation scenario resulted in the highest return flow credits and the least ET and SGW. A major contribution of this paper is in addressing the water management issues that arise when wastewater is considered as a resource and developing appropriate conservation policies in this backdrop. The results obtained can be a guide in developing outdoor water conservation policies in arid regions. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conservation potential of agricultural water conservation subsidies

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Huffaker, Ray

2008-07-01

A current policy subsidizes farmers to invest in improved on-farm irrigation efficiency, expecting water to be conserved off farm. Contrary to expectation, water has been increasingly depleted in some regions after such improvements. This paper investigates the policy's failure to conserve water consistently by (1) formulating an economic model of irrigated crop production to determine a profit-maximizing irrigator's range of responses to a subsidy and (2) embedding these responses into hypothetical streamflow diagrams to ascertain their potential to conserve water under various hydrologic regimes. Testable hypotheses are developed to predict the conservation potential of a subsidy in real-world application.

An integrated assessment of Porcupine caribou seasonal distribution, movements, and habitat preferences for regional land use planning in northern Yukon Territory, Canada

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John L. Ryder

2007-04-01

Full Text Available This study was undertaken to improve understanding of Porcupine caribou herd distribution, movements, and habitat preferences to assist with developing a regional land use plan for the North Yukon Planning Region, Yukon Territory. Three different methods were used to identify current and historical patterns of caribou distribution and habitat preferences within the region to prioritize conservation areas. Two of the approaches focused on incorporating information on caribou distribution and migrations from scientific and local knowledge, while the third focused on identifying and mapping habitats suitable for supporting caribou. Local knowledge dating back to the 1930s and two decades of satellite telemetry data confirmed that most of the planning region is used by the Porcupine caribou herd and highlighted areas of concentrated use. Maps of suitable winter habitat derived from expert opinion ratings of habitat use did not agree with the other information sources. The local knowledge and satellite telemetry analyses were used to identify spatially explicit priority areas for caribou conservation and the results were applied to develop conservation recommendations for a draft regional land use plan. The plan will be submitted to government approval bodies for review in the spring of 2007. The success in implementing conservation strategies for the Porcupine caribou herd will be reviewed and evaluated following adoption of a final approved plan.

Land suitability assessment in the catchment area of four Southwestern Atlantic coastal lagoons: multicriteria and optimization modeling.

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Rodriguez-Gallego, Lorena; Achkar, Marcel; Conde, Daniel

2012-07-01

In the present study, a land suitability assessment was conducted in the basin of four Uruguayan coastal lagoons (Southwestern Atlantic) to analyze the productive development while minimizing eutrophication, biodiversity loss and conflicts among different land uses. Suitable land for agriculture, forest, livestock ranching, tourism and conservation sectors were initially established based on a multi-attribute model developed using a geographic information system. Experts were consulted to determine the requirements for each land use sector and the incompatibilities among land use types. The current and potential conflicts among incompatible land use sectors were analyzed by overlapping land suitability maps. We subsequently applied a multi-objective model where land (pixels) with similar suitability was clustered into "land suitability groups", using a two-phase cluster analysis and the Akaike Information Criterion. Finally, a linear programming optimization procedure was applied to allocate land use sectors into land suitable groups, maximizing total suitability and minimizing interference among sectors. Results indicated that current land use overlapped by 4.7 % with suitable land of other incompatible sectors. However, the suitable land of incompatible sectors overlapped in 20.3 % of the study area, indicating a high potential for the occurrence of future conflict. The highest competition was between agriculture and conservation, followed by forest and agriculture. We explored scenarios where livestock ranching and tourism intensified, and found that interference with conservation and agriculture notably increased. This methodology allowed us to analyze current and potential land use conflicts and to contribute to the strategic planning of the study area.

Combining endangered plants and animals as surrogates to identify priority conservation areas in Yunnan, China

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Yang, Feiling; Hu, Jinming; Wu, Ruidong

2016-08-01

Suitable surrogates are critical for identifying optimal priority conservation areas (PCAs) to protect regional biodiversity. This study explored the efficiency of using endangered plants and animals as surrogates for identifying PCAs at the county level in Yunnan, southwest China. We ran the Dobson algorithm under three surrogate scenarios at 75% and 100% conservation levels and identified four types of PCAs. Assessment of the protection efficiencies of the four types of PCAs showed that endangered plants had higher surrogacy values than endangered animals but that the two were not substitutable; coupled endangered plants and animals as surrogates yielded a higher surrogacy value than endangered plants or animals as surrogates; the plant-animal priority areas (PAPAs) was the optimal among the four types of PCAs for conserving both endangered plants and animals in Yunnan. PAPAs could well represent overall species diversity distribution patterns and overlap with critical biogeographical regions in Yunnan. Fourteen priority units in PAPAs should be urgently considered as optimizing Yunnan’s protected area system. The spatial pattern of PAPAs at the 100% conservation level could be conceptualized into three connected conservation belts, providing a valuable reference for optimizing the layout of the in situ protected area system in Yunnan.

Hot Spots and Hot Times: Wildlife Road Mortality in a Regional Conservation Corridor

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Garrah, Evelyn; Danby, Ryan K.; Eberhardt, Ewen; Cunnington, Glenn M.; Mitchell, Scott

2015-10-01

Strategies to reduce wildlife road mortality have become a significant component of many conservation efforts. However, their success depends on knowledge of the temporal and spatial patterns of mortality. We studied these patterns along the 1000 Islands Parkway in Ontario, Canada, a 37 km road that runs adjacent to the St. Lawrence River and bisects the Algonquin-to-Adirondacks international conservation corridor. Characteristics of all vertebrate road kill were recorded during 209 bicycle surveys conducted from 2008 to 2011. We estimate that over 16,700 vertebrates are killed on the road from April to October each year; most are amphibians, but high numbers of birds, mammals, and reptiles were also found, including six reptiles considered at-risk in Canada. Regression tree analysis was used to assess the importance of seasonality, weather, and traffic on road kill magnitude. All taxa except mammals exhibited distinct temporal peaks corresponding to phases in annual life cycles. Variations in weather and traffic were only important outside these peak times. Getis-Ord analysis was used to identify spatial clusters of mortality. Hot spots were found in all years for all taxa, but locations varied annually. A significant spatial association was found between multiyear hot spots and wetlands. The results underscore the notion that multi-species conservation efforts must account for differences in the seasonality of road mortality among species and that multiple years of data are necessary to identify locations where the greatest conservation good can be achieved. This information can be used to inform mitigation strategies with implications for conservation at regional scales.

Conserving the Greater Sage-grouse: A social-ecological systems case study from the California-Nevada region

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Duvall, Alison L; Metcalf, Alexander L.; Coates, Peter S.

2016-01-01

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) continues to serve as one of the most powerful and contested federal legislative mandates for conservation. In the midst of heated debates, researchers, policy makers, and conservation practitioners champion the importance of cooperative conservation and social-ecological systems approaches, which forge partnerships at multiple levels and scales to address complex ecosystem challenges. However, few real-world examples exist to demonstrate how multifaceted collaborations among stakeholders who share a common goal of conserving at-risk species may be nested within a systems framework to achieve social and ecological goals. Here, we present a case study of Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) conservation efforts in the “Bi-State” region of California and Nevada, United States. Using key-informant interviews, we explored dimensions and drivers of this landscape-scale conservation effort. Three themes emerged from the interviews, including 1) ESA action was transformed into opportunity for system-wide conservation; 2) a diverse, locally based partnership anchored collaboration and engagement across multiple levels and scales; and 3) best-available science combined with local knowledge led to “certainty of effectiveness and implementation”—the criteria used by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate conservation efforts when making listing decisions. Ultimately, collaborative conservation through multistakeholder engagement at various levels and scales led to proactive planning and implementation of conservation measures and precluded the need for an ESA listing of the Bi-State population of Greater Sage-grouse. This article presents a potent example of how a systems approach integrating policy, management, and learning can be used to successfully overcome the conflict-laden and “wicked” challenges that surround at-risk species conservation.

Challenges of transfrontier conservation areas: Natural resources nationalism, security and regionalism in the southern African development community region

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Oswell Rusinga

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs initiatives in the Southern African Development Community (SADC region offer hope for providing a mechanism for resolving political tensions and conflicts which are not only related to environmental issues but to security concerns as well. The geopolitical implications of TFCAs in the SADC region cannot be overemphasised with regard to international relations and regional integration. The SADS region is characterised by histories of contested military balance of power and geopolitical rivalries which have a potential to degenerate into military confrontation. Although there is a strong belief in multilateral co-operation among SADC member countries, most of them often engage the international community at the bilateral level. Moreover, there is disharmony in constitutional applications of the rule of law, respect of human rights and good governance. However, TFCAs initiatives in Southern Africa have been seen as offering an opportunity to heal the wounds of pre- and post-independence wars of destabilisation through the encouragement of inter-state collaboration and co-operation by giving governments an opportunity for mutual action on issues of common interest.

Fire mosaics and reptile conservation in a fire-prone region.

Science.gov (United States)

Nimmo, D G; Kelly, L T; Spence-Bailey, L M; Watson, S J; Taylor, R S; Clarke, M F; Bennett, A F

2013-04-01

Fire influences the distribution of fauna in terrestrial biomes throughout the world. Use of fire to achieve a mosaic of vegetation in different stages of succession after burning (i.e., patch-mosaic burning) is a dominant conservation practice in many regions. Despite this, knowledge of how the spatial attributes of vegetation mosaics created by fire affect fauna is extremely scarce, and it is unclear what kind of mosaic land managers should aim to achieve. We selected 28 landscapes (each 12.6 km(2) ) that varied in the spatial extent and diversity of vegetation succession after fire in a 104,000 km(2) area in the semiarid region of southeastern Australia. We surveyed for reptiles at 280 sites nested within the 28 landscapes. The landscape-level occurrence of 9 of the 22 species modeled was associated with the spatial extent of vegetation age classes created by fire. Biogeographic context and the extent of a vegetation type influenced 7 and 4 species, respectively. No species were associated with the diversity of vegetation ages within a landscape. Negative relations between reptile occurrence and both extent of recently burned vegetation (≤10 years postfire, n = 6) and long unburned vegetation (>35 years postfire, n = 4) suggested that a coarse-grained mosaic of areas (e.g. >1000 ha) of midsuccessional vegetation (11-35 years postfire) may support the fire-sensitive reptile species we modeled. This age class coincides with a peak in spinifex cover, a keystone structure for reptiles in semiarid and arid Australia. Maintaining over the long term a coarse-grained mosaic of large areas of midsuccessional vegetation in mallee ecosystems will need to be balanced against the short-term negative effects of large fires on many reptile species and a documented preference by species from other taxonomic groups, particularly birds, for older vegetation. © 2012 Society for Conservation Biology.

Upward Altitudinal Shifts in Habitat Suitability of Mountain Vipers since the Last Glacial Maximum.

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Masoud Yousefi

Full Text Available We determined the effects of past and future climate changes on the distribution of the Montivipera raddei species complex (MRC that contains rare and endangered viper species limited to Iran, Turkey and Armenia. We also investigated the current distribution of MRC to locate unidentified isolated populations as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of the current network of protected areas for their conservation. Present distribution of MRC was modeled based on ecological variables and model performance was evaluated by field visits. Some individuals at the newly identified populations showed uncommon morphological characteristics. The distribution map of MRC derived through modeling was then compared with the distribution of protected areas in the region. We estimated the effectiveness of the current protected area network to be 10%, which would be sufficient for conserving this group of species, provided adequate management policies and practices are employed. We further modeled the distribution of MRC in the past (21,000 years ago and under two scenarios in the future (to 2070. These models indicated that climatic changes probably have been responsible for an upward shift in suitable habitats of MRC since the Last Glacial Maximum, leading to isolation of allopatric populations. Distribution will probably become much more restricted in the future as a result of the current rate of global warming. We conclude that climate change most likely played a major role in determining the distribution pattern of MRC, restricting allopatric populations to mountaintops due to habitat alterations. This long-term isolation has facilitated unique local adaptations among MRC populations, which requires further investigation. The suitable habitat patches identified through modeling constitute optimized solutions for inclusion in the network of protected areas in the region.

[Prediction of the suitable distribution and responses to climate change of Elaeagnus mollis in Shanxi Province, China].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yin Bo; Gao, Chen Hong; Qin, Hao

2018-04-01

Understanding the responses of the habitats of endangered species to climate change is of great significance for biodiversity conservation and the maintenance of the integrity of ecosystem function. In this study, the potential suitable distribution habitats of Elaeagnus mollis in Shanxi Province was simulated by the maximum entropy model, based on 73 occurrence field records and 35 environmental factors under the current climate condition. Moreover, with the Fifth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the dynamics of distribution pattern was analyzed for E. mollis under different climate scenarios. The results showed that the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value was 0.987, indicating that the data fitted the model very well and that the prediction was highly reliable. Results from the Jackknife test showed that the main environmental variables affecting the E. mollis distribution were the precipitation seasonality, the range of annual temperature, annual mean temperature, isothermality, annual precipitation, and pH of topsoil, with the cumulative contribution reaching 94.8%. At present, the potential suitable habitats of E. mollis are mainly located in two regions, the southern of Lyuliang Mountain and Zhongtiao Mountain in Shanxi Province. Under different climate scenarios, the total suitable area of E. mollis would shrink in 2070s. In RCP 2.6 the suitable area would firstly increase and then decrease, while in RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 it would response sensitively and first decrease and then increase. Its spatial distribution in two suitable regions would show divergent responses to climate change. The distribution in southern Lyuliang Mountain would fluctuate slightly in latitudinal direction, while that in Zhongtiao Mountain would migrate along elevation.

Habitat suitability and movement corridors of grey wolf (Canis lupus) in Northern Pakistan

Science.gov (United States)

Kabir, Muhammad; Hameed, Shoaib; Ali, Hussain; Bosso, Luciano; Din, Jaffar Ud; Bischof, Richard; Redpath, Steve

2017-01-01

Habitat suitability models are useful to understand species distribution and to guide management and conservation strategies. The grey wolf (Canis lupus) has been extirpated from most of its historic range in Pakistan primarily due to its impact on livestock and livelihoods. We used non-invasive survey data from camera traps and genetic sampling to develop a habitat suitability model for C. lupus in northern Pakistan and to explore the extent of connectivity among populations. We detected suitable habitat of grey wolf using a maximum entropy approach (Maxent ver. 3.4.0) and identified suitable movement corridors using the Circuitscape 4.0 tool. Our model showed high levels of predictive performances, as seen from the values of area under curve (0.971±0.002) and true skill statistics (0.886±0.021). The main predictors for habitat suitability for C. lupus were distances to road, mean temperature of the wettest quarter and distance to river. The model predicted ca. 23,129 km2 of suitable areas for wolf in Pakistan, with much of suitable habitat in remote and inaccessible areas that appeared to be well connected through vulnerable movement corridors. These movement corridors suggest that potentially the wolf range can expand in Pakistan’s Northern Areas. However, managing protected areas with stringent restrictions is challenging in northern Pakistan, in part due to heavy dependence of people on natural resources. The habitat suitability map provided by this study can inform future management strategies by helping authorities to identify key conservation areas. PMID:29121089

EXTINCTION RISK OR LACK OF SAMPLING IN A THREATENED SPECIES: GENETIC STRUCTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUITABILITY OF THE NEOTROPICAL FROG PRISTIMANTIS PENELOPUS (ANURA: CRAUGASTORIDAE)

OpenAIRE

RESTREPO, ADRIANA; VELASCO, JULIAN A.; DAZA, JUAN M.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT IUCN Red Lists have been a valuable tool to prioritize conservation plans in endemic neotropical frogs. However, many areas in this region are poorly known in terms of their diversity and endemism. Based on examined museum specimens of the threatened species Pristimantis penelopus we revised its geographic distribution and determined the habitat suitability using niche modeling techniques. Using a mitochondrial fragment of COI gene, we determine the phylogenetic position and the exte...

Utilizing NASA Earth Observations to investigate habitat suitability of the Cape Vulture in the Western Cape Province of South Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, D.; Estes, M. G., Jr.; Griffin, R.; Estes, S. M.

2017-12-01

As the global urban population rapidly increases, many wild species lose habitat to human development. The Western Cape of South Africa contains one of Earth's 35 biodiversity hotspots, with remarkably high levels of species richness and endemism. Understanding the relationship between anthropogenic changes and key species in this region is crucial for conservation of its threatened ecosystems. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect that climate change and urbanization each have on habitat suitability of the Cape Vulture. This research utilized NASA satellite data and crowdsourced species sightings to model past, current, and future habitat suitability for this key species in the Western Cape. Data used from NASA Earth Observations included: Landsat 8- derived Land Cover, Modis Land Surface Temperature, Digital Elevation Models from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, and precipitation data which integrated in-situ stations with Infrared data. Species observations were sourced from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility online database. A geospatial modelling framework was used to generate maps of present, past and future suitable habitats for analysis and comparison. Changes in precipitation and temperature may be a factor in the extreme loss of habitat since 1995, and predict even more drastic loss in the future. This research provides insights on anthropogenic effects on a species' range which may be used to inform discussions of conservation as an element of environmentally sustainable development.

High Resolution Habitat Suitability Modelling For Restricted-Range Hawaiian Alpine Arthropod Species

Science.gov (United States)

Stephenson, N. M.

2016-12-01

Mapping potentially suitable habitat is critical for effective species conservation and management but can be challenging in areas exhibiting complex heterogeneity. An approach that combines non-intrusive spatial data collection techniques and field data can lead to a better understanding of landscapes and species distributions. Nysius wekiuicola, commonly known as the wēkiu bug, is the most studied arthropod species endemic to the Maunakea summit in Hawai`i, yet details about its geographic distribution and habitat use remain poorly understood. To predict the geographic distribution of N. wekiuicola, MaxEnt habitat suitability models were generated from a diverse set of input variables, including fifteen years of species occurrence data, high resolution digital elevation models, surface mineralogy maps derived from hyperspectral remote sensing, and climate data. Model results indicate that elevation (78.2 percent), and the presence of nanocrystalline hematite surface minerals (13.7 percent) had the highest influence, with lesser contributions from aspect, slope, and other surface mineral classes. Climatic variables were not included in the final analysis due to auto-correlation and coarse spatial resolution. Biotic factors relating to predation and competition also likely dictate wēkiu bug capture patterns and influence our results. The wēkiu bug range and habitat suitability models generated as a result of this study will be directly incorporated into management and restoration goals for the summit region and can also be adapted for other arthropod species present, leading to a more holistic understanding of metacommunity dynamics. Key words: Microhabitat, Structure from Motion, Lidar, MaxEnt, Habitat Suitability

Assessing range-wide habitat suitability for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken

Science.gov (United States)

Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Holcombe, Tracy R.; Grisham, Blake A.; Timmer, Jennifer M.; Boal, Clint W.; Butler, Matthew; Pitman, James C.; Kyle, Sean; Klute, David; Beauprez, Grant M.; Janus, Allan; Van Pelt, William E.

2016-01-01

Population declines of many wildlife species have been linked to habitat loss incurred through land-use change. Incorporation of conservation planning into development planning may mitigate these impacts. The threatened Lesser Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) is experiencing loss of native habitat and high levels of energy development across its multijurisdictional range. Our goal was to explore relationships of the species occurrence with landscape characteristics and anthropogenic effects influencing its distribution through evaluation of habitat suitability associated with one particular habitat usage, lekking. Lekking has been relatively well-surveyed, though not consistently, in all jurisdictions. All five states in which Lesser Prairie-Chickens occur cooperated in development of a Maxent habitat suitability model. We created two models, one with state as a factor and one without state. When state was included it was the most important predictor, followed by percent of land cover consisting of known or suspected used vegetation classes within a 5000 m area around a lek. Without state, land cover was the most important predictor of relative habitat suitability for leks. Among the anthropogenic predictors, landscape condition, a measure of human impact integrated across several factors, was most important, ranking third in importance without state. These results quantify the relative suitability of the landscape within the current occupied range of Lesser Prairie-Chickens. These models, combined with other landscape information, form the basis of a habitat assessment tool that can be used to guide siting of development projects and targeting of areas for conservation.

[Ecology suitability study of Chinese materia medica Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix].

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, You-Yuan; Yang, Yan-Mei; Ma, Xiao-Hui; Zhang, Xiao-Bo; Zhu, Shou-Dong; Jin, Ling

2016-09-01

This paper is aimed to predict ecology suitability distribution of Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix and search the main ecological factors affecting the suitability distribution. The 313 distribution information about G. macrophylla, 186 distribution information about G. straminea, 343 distribution information about G. dauricaand 131 distribution information about G. crasicaulis were collected though investigation and network sharing platform data . The ecology suitable distribution factors for production Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix was analyzed respectively by the software of ArcGIS and MaxEnt with 55 environmental factors. The result of MaxEnt prediction was very well (AUC was above 0.9). The results of predominant factors analysis showed that precipitation and altitude were all the major factors impacting the ecology suitable of Getiana Macrophylla Radix production. G. macrophylla ecology suitable region was mainly concentrated in south of Gansu, Shanxi, central of Shaanxi and east of Qinghai provinces. G. straminea ecology suitable region was mainly concentrated in southwest of Gansu, east of Qinghai, north and northwest of Sichuan, east of Xizang province. G. daurica ecology suitable region was mainly concentrated in south and southwest of Gansu, east of Qinghai, Shanxi and north of Shaanxi province. G. crasicaulis ecology suitable region was mainly concentrated in Sichuan and north of Yunnan, east of Xizang, south of Gansu and east of Qinghai province. The ecological suitability distribution result of Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix was consistent with each species actual distribution. The study could provide reference for the collection and protection of wild resources, meanwhile, provide the basis for the selection of cultivation area of Gentiana Macrophylla Radix. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Predicting occurrence of juvenile shark habitat to improve conservation planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Beverly Z L; Sequeira, Ana M M; Meekan, Mark G; Ruppert, Jonathan L W; Meeuwig, Jessica J

2017-06-01

Fishing and habitat degradation have increased the extinction risk of sharks, and conservation strategies recognize that survival of juveniles is critical for the effective management of shark populations. Despite the rapid expansion of marine protected areas (MPAs) globally, the paucity of shark-monitoring data on large scales (100s-1000s km) means that the effectiveness of MPAs in halting shark declines remains unclear. Using data collected by baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS) in northwestern Australia, we developed generalized linear models to elucidate the ecological drivers of habitat suitability for juvenile sharks. We assessed occurrence patterns at the order and species levels. We included all juvenile sharks sampled and the 3 most abundant species sampled separately (grey reef [Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos], sandbar [Carcharhinus plumbeus], and whitetip reef sharks [Triaenodon obesus]). We predicted the occurrence of juvenile sharks across 490,515 km 2 of coastal waters and quantified the representation of highly suitable habitats within MPAs. Our species-level models had higher accuracy (ĸ ≥ 0.69) and deviance explained (≥48%) than our order-level model (ĸ = 0.36 and deviance explained of 10%). Maps of predicted occurrence revealed different species-specific patterns of highly suitable habitat. These differences likely reflect different physiological or resource requirements between individual species and validate concerns over the utility of conservation targets based on aggregate species groups as opposed to a species-focused approach. Highly suitable habitats were poorly represented in MPAs with the most restrictions on extractive activities. This spatial mismatch possibly indicates a lack of explicit conservation targets and information on species distribution during the planning process. Non-extractive BRUVS provided a useful platform for building the suitability models across large scales to assist conservation planning across

Land Use, Land Conservation, and Wind Energy Development Outcomes in New England

Science.gov (United States)

Weimar, William Cameron

This dissertation provides three independent research inquiries. The first examines how inter-governmental policy, site-specific, and social factors lead to the success, prolonged delay, or failure of inland wind power projects in New England. The three case studies examined include the 48 megawatt Glebe Mountain Wind Farm proposal in southern Vermont, the 30 megawatt Hoosac Wind Farm in western Massachusetts, and the 24 megawatt Lempster Wind Farm in southern New Hampshire. To ascertain why the project outcomes varied, 45 semi-structured interviews were conducted with a range of stakeholders, including wind development firms, utility companies, state regulatory agencies, regional planning commissions, town officials, land conservation organizations, and opposition groups. The second study establishes a comprehensive set of thirty-seven explanatory variables to determine the amount of suitable land and the corresponding electricity generation potential within the prime wind resource areas of Western Massachusetts. The explanatory variables are incorporated into Boolean GIS suitability models which represent the two divergent positions towards wind power development in Massachusetts, and a third, balanced model. The third study determines that exurban residential development is not the only land use factor that reduces wind power development potential in Western Massachusetts. A set of Boolean GIS models for 1985 and 2009 find the onset of conservation easements on private lands having the largest impact. During this 25 year period a combination of land use conversion and land conservation has reduced the access to prime wind resource areas by 18% (11,601 hectares), an equivalent loss of 5,800--8,700 GWh/year of zero carbon electricity generation. The six main findings from this research are: (1) Visual aesthetics remain the main factor of opposition to specific projects; (2) The Not-in-my Backyard debate for wind power remains unsettled; (3) Widespread support

Density and fledging success of ground-nesting passerines in Conservation Reserve Program fields in the northeastern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Koford, Rolf R.

1999-01-01

The Conservation Reserve Program, initiated in 1985, was designed primarily to reduce soil erosion and crop surpluses. A secondary benefit was the provision of habitat for wildlife. Grassland bird populations, many of which declined in the decades prior to the Conservation Reserve Program, may have benefited from the Conservation Reserve Program if reproduction in this newly available habitat has been at least as high as it would have been in the absence of the Conservation Reserve Program. On study areas in North Dakota and Minnesota, I examined breeding densities and fledging success of grassland birds in Conservation Reserve Program fields and in an alternative habitat of similar structure, idle grassland fields on federal Waterfowl Production Areas. Fields were 10 to 25 hectares in size. The avifaunas of these two habitats were similar, although brush-dependent species were more abundant on Waterfowl Protection Areas. The common species in these habitats included ones whose continental populations have declined, such as Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis), and Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). These ground-nesting species were pooled with other ground nesters in an analysis of fledging success, which revealed no significant differences between habitats, between states, or among years (1991-1993). Predation was the primary cause of nest failure. I concluded that Conservation Reserve Program fields in this region were suitable breeding habitat for several species whose populations had declined prior to the Conservation Reserve Program era. This habitat appeared to be as secure for nests of ground-nesting birds as another suitable habitat in North Dakota and Minnesota.

Conservation policies and planning under climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strange, Niels; Thorsen, Bo Jellesmark; Bladt, Jesper Stentoft

2011-01-01

Biodiversity conservation policies focus on securing the survival of species and habitats according to their current distribution. This basic premise may be inappropriate for halting biodiversity decline under the dynamic changes caused by climate change. This study explores a dynamic spatial...... conservation prioritization problem where climate change gradually changes the future habitat suitability of a site’ current species. This has implications for survival probability, as well as for species that potentially immigrate to the site. The problem is explored using a set of heuristics for both of two...... networks. Climate change induced shifts in the suitability of habitats for species may increase the value of such adaptive strategies, the benefit decreasing with increasing migration probabilities and species distribution dynamics....

A unique genomic sequence in the Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome [WHS] region of humans is conserved in the great apes.

Science.gov (United States)

Tarzami, S T; Kringstein, A M; Conte, R A; Verma, R S

1996-10-01

The Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) is caused by a partial deletion in the short arm of chromosome 4 band 16.3 (4p 16.3). A unique-sequence human DNA probe (39 kb) localized within this region has been used to search for sequence homology in the apes' equivalent chromosome 3 by FISH-technique. The WHS loci are conserved in higher primates at the expected position. Nevertheless, a control probe, which detects alphoid sequences of the pericentromeric region of humans, is diverged in chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan. The conservation of WHS loci and divergence of DNA alphoid sequences have further added to the controversy concerning human descent.

Identifying conservation and restoration priorities for saproxylic and old-growth forest species: a case study in Switzerland.

Science.gov (United States)

Lachat, Thibault; Bütler, Rita

2009-07-01

Saproxylic (dead-wood-associated) and old-growth species are among the most threatened species in European forest ecosystems, as they are susceptible to intensive forest management. Identifying areas with particular relevant features of biodiversity is of prime concern when developing species conservation and habitat restoration strategies and in optimizing resource investments. We present an approach to identify regional conservation and restoration priorities even if knowledge on species distribution is weak, such as for saproxylic and old-growth species in Switzerland. Habitat suitability maps were modeled for an expert-based selection of 55 focal species, using an ecological niche factor analyses (ENFA). All the maps were then overlaid, in order to identify potential species' hotspots for different species groups of the 55 focal species (e.g., birds, fungi, red-listed species). We found that hotspots for various species groups did not correspond. Our results indicate that an approach based on "richness hotspots" may fail to conserve specific species groups. We hence recommend defining a biodiversity conservation strategy prior to implementing conservation/restoration efforts in specific regions. The conservation priority setting of the five biogeographical regions in Switzerland, however, did not differ when different hotspot definitions were applied. This observation emphasizes that the chosen method is robust. Since the ENFA needs only presence data, this species prediction method seems to be useful for any situation where the species distribution is poorly known and/or absence data are lacking. In order to identify priorities for either conservation or restoration efforts, we recommend a method based on presence data only, because absence data may reflect factors unrelated to species presence.

Identification of suitable sites for rainwater harvesting structures in arid and semi-arid regions: A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ammar Adham

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Harvested rainwater is an alternative source of water in arid and semi-arid regions (ASARs around the world. Many researchers have developed and applied various methodologies and criteria to identify suitable sites and techniques for rainwater harvesting (RWH. Determining the best method or guidelines for site selection, however, is difficult. The main objective of this study was to define a general method for selecting suitable RWH sites in ASARs by assembling an inventory of the main methods and criteria developed during the last three decades. We categorised and compared four main methodologies of site selection from 48 studies published in scientific journals, reports of international organisations, or sources of information obtained from practitioners. We then identified three main sets of criteria for selecting RWH locations and the main characteristics of the most common RWH techniques used in ASARs. The methods were diverse, ranging from those based only on biophysical criteria to more integrated approaches including socio-economic criteria, especially after 2000. The most important criteria for the selection of suitable sites for RWH were slope, land use/cover, soil type, rainfall, distance to settlements/streams, and cost. The success rate of RWH projects tended to increase when these criteria were considered, but an objective evaluation of these selection methods is still lacking. Most studies now select RHW sites using geographic information systems in combination with hydrological models and multi-criteria analysis.

2nd East Africa Regional Workshop Report: Conservation Agriculture in AFRICA - Analysing and Foreseeing its Impact - Comprehending its Adoption

OpenAIRE

Apina, T.; Mkomwa, S.; Mutai, W.; Njeri, A.

2011-01-01

This resource provides a summary of the 2nd East Africa Sub-regional workshop held in Nanyuki, Kenya, on 28-30 March 2011. Attendees included the African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT), Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF/AFNET), Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), LEIBNIZ-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) UYOLE, SELIAN Agricultural Research Institute (SARI-MAFC), Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Agr...

Applying spatial analysis techniques to assess the suitability of multipurpose uses of spring water in the Jiaosi Hot Spring Region, Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Cheng-Shin

2016-04-01

The Jiaosi Hot Spring Region is located in northeastern Taiwan and is rich in geothermal springs. The geothermal development of the Jiaosi Hot Spring Region dates back to the 18th century and currently, the spring water is processed for various uses, including irrigation, aquaculture, swimming, bathing, foot spas, and recreational tourism. Because of the proximity of the Jiaosi Hot Spring Region to the metropolitan area of Taipei City, the hot spring resources in this region attract millions of tourists annually. Recently, the Taiwan government is paying more attention to surveying the spring water temperatures in the Jiaosi Hot Spring Region because of the severe spring water overexploitation, causing a significant decline in spring water temperatures. Furthermore, the temperature of spring water is a reliable indicator for exploring the occurrence and evolution of springs and strongly affects hydrochemical reactions, components, and magnitudes. The multipurpose uses of spring water can be dictated by the temperature of the water. Therefore, accurately estimating the temperature distribution of the spring water is critical in the Jiaosi Hot Spring Region to facilitate the sustainable development and management of the multipurpose uses of the hot spring resources. To evaluate the suitability of spring water for these various uses, this study spatially characterized the spring water temperatures of the Jiaosi Hot Spring Region by using ordinary kriging (OK), sequential Gaussian simulation (SGS), and geographical information system (GIS). First, variogram analyses were used to determine the spatial variability of spring water temperatures. Next, OK and SGS were adopted to model the spatial distributions and uncertainty of the spring water temperatures. Finally, the land use (i.e., agriculture, dwelling, public land, and recreation) was determined and combined with the estimated distributions of the spring water temperatures using GIS. A suitable development strategy

Management of the Regional Lymph Nodes Following Breast-Conservation Therapy for Early-Stage Breast Cancer: An Evolving Paradigm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Warren, Laura E.G. [Harvard Radiation Oncology Program, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Punglia, Rinaa S.; Wong, Julia S. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women' s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Bellon, Jennifer R., E-mail: jbellon@lroc.harvard.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women' s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts (United States)

2014-11-15

Radiation therapy to the breast following breast conservation surgery has been the standard of care since randomized trials demonstrated equivalent survival compared to mastectomy and improved local control and survival compared to breast conservation surgery alone. Recent controversies regarding adjuvant radiation therapy have included the potential role of additional radiation to the regional lymph nodes. This review summarizes the evolution of regional nodal management focusing on 2 topics: first, the changing paradigm with regard to surgical evaluation of the axilla; second, the role for regional lymph node irradiation and optimal design of treatment fields. Contemporary data reaffirm prior studies showing that complete axillary dissection may not provide additional benefit relative to sentinel lymph node biopsy in select patient populations. Preliminary data also suggest that directed nodal radiation therapy to the supraclavicular and internal mammary lymph nodes may prove beneficial; publication of several studies are awaited to confirm these results and to help define subgroups with the greatest likelihood of benefit.

How to reconcile wood production and biodiversity conservation? The Pan-European boreal forest history gradient as an "experiment".

Science.gov (United States)

Naumov, Vladimir; Manton, Michael; Elbakidze, Marine; Rendenieks, Zigmars; Priednieks, Janis; Uhlianets, Siarhei; Yamelynets, Taras; Zhivotov, Anton; Angelstam, Per

2018-07-15

There are currently competing demands on Europe's forests and the finite resources and services that they can offer. Forestry intensification that aims at mitigating climate change and biodiversity conservation is one example. Whether or not these two objectives compete can be evaluated by comparative studies of forest landscapes with different histories. We test the hypothesis that indicators of wood production and biodiversity conservation are inversely related in a gradient of long to short forestry intensification histories. Forest management data containing stand age, volume and tree species were used to model the opportunity for wood production and biodiversity conservation in five north European forest regions representing a gradient in landscape history from very long in the West and short in the East. Wood production indicators captured the supply of coniferous wood and total biomass, as well as current accessibility by transport infrastructure. Biodiversity conservation indicators were based on modelling habitat network functionality for focal bird species dependent on different combinations of stand age and tree species composition representing naturally dynamic forests. In each region we randomly sampled 25 individual 100-km 2 areas with contiguous forest cover. Regarding wood production, Sweden's Bergslagen region had the largest areas of coniferous wood, followed by Vitebsk in Belarus and Zemgale in Latvia. NW Russia's case study regions in Pskov and Komi had the lowest values, except for the biomass indicator. The addition of forest accessibility for transportation made the Belarusian and Swedish study region most suitable for wood and biomass production, followed by Latvia and two study regions in NW Russian. Regarding biodiversity conservation, the overall rank among regions was opposite. Mixed and deciduous habitats were functional in Russia, Belarus and Latvia. Old Scots pine and Norway spruce habitats were only functional in Komi. Thus

Conserved regions of ribonucleoprotein ribonuclease MRP are involved in interactions with its substrate.

Science.gov (United States)

Esakova, Olga; Perederina, Anna; Berezin, Igor; Krasilnikov, Andrey S

2013-08-01

Ribonuclease (RNase) MRP is a ubiquitous and essential site-specific eukaryotic endoribonuclease involved in the metabolism of a wide range of RNA molecules. RNase MRP is a ribonucleoprotein with a large catalytic RNA moiety that is closely related to the RNA component of RNase P, and multiple proteins, most of which are shared with RNase P. Here, we report the results of an ultraviolet-cross-linking analysis of interactions between a photoreactive RNase MRP substrate and the Saccharomyces cerevisiae RNase MRP holoenzyme. The results show that the substrate interacts with phylogenetically conserved RNA elements universally found in all enzymes of the RNase P/MRP family, as well as with a phylogenetically conserved RNA region that is unique to RNase MRP, and demonstrate that four RNase MRP protein components, all shared with RNase P, interact with the substrate. Implications for the structural organization of RNase MRP and the roles of its components are discussed.

A methodology for evaluating land suitability for medicinal plants at a regional level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Barbaro

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Before introducing a new crop in an area, such as medicinal plant species, crop-land suitability analysis is a prerequisite to achieve an optimum exploitation of the available land resources for a sustainable agricultural production. To evaluate the land suitability it is important to take into account the habitats of the plant species. Moreover, agronomic, logistic and product quality aspects have to be considered. The importance of these aspects changes according to the stakeholders: the local government is more involved in supporting environmental suitability and production sustainability, farmers need areas which satisfy agronomic and logistic requirements, while industry is interested in the quality of production. A methodology was developed and implemented to create suitability maps for medicinal plants. Because of the generally limited information about medicinal plant adaptation, a simple methodology, based on a priori information has been developed, based on three different criteria: i environmental suitability (point of view of local government; ii agronomic, productivity and logistic suitability (point of view of the farmer; iii quality suitability (point of view of industry. For each of the three criteria, a specific macro-indicator, based on land characteristics, was calculated using membership functions. Here, a methodology to create maps for the introduction of such species was developed and implemented. This methodology can be repeated by command scripts in an easy-to-use freeware GIS. The structure of the evaluation model can be easily adapted to consider more detailed land information like climate and soil. The methodology (implemented by scripts in a freeware GIS, can be easily repeated and adapted for other situations.

Agroforestry suitability analysis based upon nutrient availability mapping: a GIS based suitability mapping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Firoz Ahmad

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Agroforestry has drawn the attention of researchers due to its capacity to reduce the poverty and land degradation, improve food security and mitigate the climate change. However, the progress in promoting agroforestry is held back due to the lack of reliable data sets and appropriate tools to accurately map and to have an adequate decision making system for agroforestry modules. Agroforestry suitability being one special form of land suitability is very pertinent to study in the current times when there is tremendous pressure on the land as it is a limited commodity. The study aims for applying the geo-spatial tools towards visualizing various soil and environmental data to reveal the trends and interrelationships and to achieve a nutrient availability and agroforestry suitability map. Using weight matrix and ranks, individual maps were developed in ArcGIS 10.1 platform to generate nutrient availability map, which was later used to develop agroforestry suitability map. Watersheds were delineated using DEM in some part of the study area and were evaluated for prioritizing it and agroforestry suitability of the watersheds were also done as per the schematic flowchart. Agroforestry suitability regions were delineated based upon the weight and ranks by integrated mapping. The total open area was identified 42.4% out of which 21.6% area was found to have high suitability towards agroforestry. Within the watersheds, 22 village points were generated for creating buffers, which were further evaluated showing its proximity to high suitable agroforestry sites thus generating tremendous opportunity to the villagers to carry out agroforestry projects locally. This research shows the capability of remote sensing in studying agroforestry practices and in estimating the prominent factors for its optimal productivity. The ongoing agroforestry projects can be potentially diverted in the areas of high suitability as an extension. The use of ancillary data in GIS

[Preparation and characterization of mouse polyclonal antibody against conserved region of human FOXO3].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Lei; Lyu, Dan

2017-06-01

Objective To purify the recombinant protein specific to conserved region of forkhead box O3 (FOXO3) and prepare mouse anti-human FOXO3 polyclonal antibody. Methods The DNA fragment (aa290-472) encoding conserved domain of FOXO3 was amplified by PCR, and subsequently cloned into pET28a vector. Following transformation into E.coli BL21, the soluble fusion protein His-FOXO3 was induced by IPTG and purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. The purified protein was used to immunize BALB/c mice to generate polyclonal antibody. The characteristics of the polyclonal antibody were assessed by ELISA, Western blotting and immunoprecipitation assays. Results We successfully prepared the expression vector pET28a-FOXO3 (aa290-472) and expressed the purified fusion protein in a soluble form. By immunizing mice with the fusion protein, we obtained anti-human FOXO3 polyclonal antibody. ELISA and Western blotting showed that the mouse antibody could recognize specifically the endogenous FOXO3 protein. Conclusion The polyclonal antibody against conserved domain of FOXO3 can identify the endogenous FOXO3 protein. It can be used to analyze the endogenous FOXO3 expression level.

SPECIES DISTRIBUTIONS, SURROGACY, AND IMPORTANT CONSERVATION REGIONS IN CANADA

Science.gov (United States)

Conservation actions could be more efficient if there is congruence among taxa in the distribution of species. Patterns in the geographic distribution of species of six taxa were used to identify nationally important sites for conservation in Canada. Species richness and a meas...

Soils and irrigation of three areas in the Lower Tana Region, Kenya : a comparative study of soil conditions and irrigation suitability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Muchena, F.N.

1987-01-01

The soils and soil conditions of three areas situated in different physiographic positions in the Lower Tana Region of Kenya were investigated in respect of their suitability for irrigated agriculture. The soils vary widely in both physical and chemical properties. Most of the soils have an

Selection of suitable sites for NPP in Slovenia (stage 3)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grgic, M.; Fabjan, L.; Premru, U.

1977-01-01

Selection of suitable sites for nuclear power plants in Slovenia is considered. This includes the studies of available data on regional and local characteristics specified in general site suitability criteria for NPP. The most suitable selected sites will be included into land use urbanistic planning of Slovenia

Attitudes and treatment outcome of breast conservation therapy for stage I and II breast cancer using peroperative iridium-192 implant boost to the tumour bed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deo, S.V.S.; Shukla, N.K.; Mohanti, B.K.; Chawla, S.; Julka, P.K.; Rath, G.K.; Raina, V.

2001-01-01

Breast conservation therapy for early breast cancer is an established but grossly under-utilized treatment option in India for various reasons. Breast conservation therapy was offered to 200 suitable breast cancer patients between June 1993 and June 1998. Fifty-one patients (25%) opted for breast conservation and the remaining preferred mastectomy. In patients agreeing to conservation therapy, surgery was performed first along with peroperative implantation of iridium-192 to deliver a boost. Whole breast irradiation of 45 Gy was delivered 3-4 weeks after the boost. Cosmesis was assessed at the end of 6 months from completion of therapy. The main reason for refusal of breast conservation therapy was fear of recurrence in the remaining breast (60%). There were no loco-regional failures in our study at a median follow up of 42 months; one patient experienced a systemic relapse. Cosmesis was good to excellent in 80% of patients. Breast conservation therapy using peroperative iridium-192 implant provides excellent loco-regional disease control and cosmesis. The results of our study indicate that patient preference for mastectomy is an important reason for the under-utilization of breast conservation therapy in India. Copyright (2001) Blackwell Science Pty Ltd

Rational sub-division of plant trypanosomes (Phytomonas spp.) based on minicircle conserved region analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sturm, Nancy R; Dollet, Michel; Lukes, Julius; Campbell, David A

2007-09-01

The sequences of minicircle conserved regions from various plant trypanosomatids have been determined and analyzed. The goal of this study was to add another tool to the arsenal of molecular probes for distinguishing between the different trypanosomatids occurring in plants: systemic trypanosomatids multiplying in the sap, those from the laticiferous tubes, and those developing in fruits, seeds or flowers but not in the plant itself and that are frequently considered as opportunistic insect trypanosomatids. As some plant intraphloemic trypanosomatids are the causative agents of important diseases, a clear definition of the different types of trypanosomatids is critical. The conserved region of the mitochondrial minicircle provides several specific features in a small sequence region containing three functionally elements required for minicircle replication. Trees generated from the analysis recapitulated trees drawn from analyses of isoenzymes, RAPD, and particular gene sequences, supporting the validity of the small region used in this work. Three groups of isolates were significant and in accordance with previous work. The peculiarity of phloem-restricted trypanosomatids associated with wilts of coconut and oil palm in Latin America - group H - is confirmed. In agreement with previous studies on their biological and serological properties the results highlighted this group called 'phloemicola'. It always differentiated from all other latex and fruit isolates or opportunistic trypanosomatids, like insect trypanosomatids. We can assert that phloemicola is the only well-defined taxon among all plant trypanosomatids. A group of non-pathogenic latex isolates from South American euphorbs (G), and a heterogenous group (A) including one fruit, one possible latex and one insect isolate are clearly distinct groups. The group of Mediterranean isolates from latex (D), even with a low boostrap, stood out well from other groups. The remainder of the isolates fell into a

Rewilding the tropics, and other conservation translocations strategies in the tropical Asia-Pacific region

Science.gov (United States)

Louys, Julien; Corlett, Richard T; Price, Gilbert J; Hawkins, Stuart; Piper, Philip J

2014-01-01

Alarm over the prospects for survival of species in a rapidly changing world has encouraged discussion of translocation conservation strategies that move beyond the focus of ‘at-risk’ species. These approaches consider larger spatial and temporal scales than customary, with the aim of recreating functioning ecosystems through a combination of large-scale ecological restoration and species introductions. The term ‘rewilding’ has come to apply to this large-scale ecosystem restoration program. While reintroductions of species within their historical ranges have become standard conservation tools, introductions within known paleontological ranges—but outside historical ranges—are more controversial, as is the use of taxon substitutions for extinct species. Here, we consider possible conservation translocations for nine large-bodied taxa in tropical Asia-Pacific. We consider the entire spectrum of conservation translocation strategies as defined by the IUCN in addition to rewilding. The taxa considered are spread across diverse taxonomic and ecological spectra and all are listed as ‘endangered’ or ‘critically endangered’ by the IUCN in our region of study. They all have a written and fossil record that is sufficient to assess past changes in range, as well as ecological and environmental preferences, and the reasons for their decline, and they have all suffered massive range restrictions since the late Pleistocene. General principles, problems, and benefits of translocation strategies are reviewed as case studies. These allowed us to develop a conservation translocation matrix, with taxa scored for risk, benefit, and feasibility. Comparisons between taxa across this matrix indicated that orangutans, tapirs, Tasmanian devils, and perhaps tortoises are the most viable taxa for translocations. However, overall the case studies revealed a need for more data and research for all taxa, and their ecological and environmental needs. Rewilding the Asian

Bird Conservation Planning and Implementation in Canada's Intermountain Region

Science.gov (United States)

Ilia Hartasanchez; Krista De Groot; Andre Breault; Rob W. Butler

2005-01-01

Bird conservation planning in British Columbia and Yukon has been carried out by each of the major bird initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to provide a status report of planning activities and to discuss how integration of the initiatives is being accomplished for efficient and effective implementation of bird conservation actions.

Land Suitability Assessment for Camelina (Camelina sativa L. Development in Chile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Celián Román-Figueroa

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Camelina (Camelina sativa L. is an oilseed with potential for use as a raw material in second-generation biofuels. Camelina has a seed yield of up to 2380 kg·ha−1 and contains around 45% fatty acids. Selection of a suitable site is critical for production optimization. The objective of this study was to determine Chilean agro-climatic suitability for establishing camelina as a productive alternative. Climate and soil requirements and geographical restraints were evaluated for the species, considering the climatological characteristics of its regions of origin, as well as regions where camelina is successfully grown in the rest of the world. The variables considered included factors (maximum temperatures of the warmest month, water deficits, and degree days and limitations (altitude, geomorphology, and current land use, which permitted the evaluation of the national territory for a certain level of suitability. It was determined that 1.3% of the national territory (960,664 ha has some degree of suitability for camelina adoption. Between the Biobío and Los Lagos regions, 49.0% of the land (471,203 ha is in the category of no thermic restrictions, with mild water restrictions, and mild soil restrictions or without information, which can be used for camelina production. The Los Ríos region has 21.4% surface area (321,176 ha with some level of suitability for camelina, the most suitable region to establish this crop in Chile. This research has provided valuable information applicable to new species and geographic areas which facilitate the adaptation of agricultural and forestry production to global changes.

The non-conserved region of MRP is involved in the virulence of Streptococcus suis serotype 2.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Quan; Fu, Yang; Ma, Caifeng; He, Yanan; Yu, Yanfei; Du, Dechao; Yao, Huochun; Lu, Chengping; Zhang, Wei

2017-10-03

Muramidase-released protein (MRP) of Streptococcus suis serotype 2 (SS2) is an important epidemic virulence marker with an unclear role in bacterial infection. To investigate the biologic functions of MRP, 3 mutants named Δmrp, Δmrp domain 1 (Δmrp-d1), and Δmrp domain 2 (Δmrp-d2) were constructed to assess the phenotypic changes between the parental strain and the mutant strains. The results indicated that MRP domain 1 (MRP-D1, the non-conserved region of MRP from a virulent strain, a.a. 242-596) played a critical role in adherence of SS2 to host cells, compared with MRP domain 1* (MRP-D1*, the non-conserved region of MRP from a low virulent strain, a.a. 239-598) or MRP domain 2 (MRP-D2, the conserved region of MRP, a.a. 848-1222). We found that MRP-D1 but not MRP-D2, could bind specifically to fibronectin (FN), factor H (FH), fibrinogen (FG), and immunoglobulin G (IgG). Additionally, we confirmed that mrp-d1 mutation significantly inhibited bacteremia and brain invasion in a mouse infection model. The mrp-d1 mutation also attenuated the intracellular survival of SS2 in RAW246.7 macrophages, shortened the growth ability in pig blood and decreased the virulence of SS2 in BALB/c mice. Furthermore, antiserum against MRP-D1 was found to dramatically impede SS2 survival in pig blood. Finally, immunization with recombinant MRP-D1 efficiently enhanced murine viability after SS2 challenge, indicating its potential use in vaccination strategies. Collectively, these results indicated that MRP-D1 is involved in SS2 virulence and eloquently demonstrate the function of MRP in pathogenesis of infection.

An Expert-Based Assessment Model for Evaluating Habitat Suitability of Pond-Breeding Amphibians

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shin-Ruoh Juang

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Farm ponds are important habitats for amphibians, birds, and other wildlife. In Taiwan, artificial ponds were originally created on farmlands for irrigation purposes and the needs of the domestic water supply. Although pond creation is a typical farming practice, it also provides habitats for pond-breeding amphibians. Thus, it is essential to understand the current status of habitats and their vulnerability regarding urgent conservation needs for target species. Günther’s frog (Hylarana guentheri, a pond-breeding amphibian, has a high sensitivity towards surrounding environmental changes, and can be used as an indicator species to assess habitat suitability. The purpose of this study is to establish a systematic framework to assess the habitat suitability of pond-breeding amphibians by using Günther’s frog as a pilot-study species. First, we collected frog survey data from Chiayi, Taiwan, from winter 2013 to spring 2015, and investigated the present status of the environmental conditions around the ponds. Next, expert questionnaires and the fuzzy Delphi method were applied to establish the hierarchical evaluation criteria regarding the habitat suitability assessment. Four indicators: the aquatic environments of farm ponds; the terrestrial environments around ponds; landscape connectivity; and the conservation perceptions of the residents, were determined as first-layer factors in the assessment criteria, while ten other indicators were defined as second-layer factors. Based on the established assessment criteria, we performed in situ habitat suitability evaluations on 69 selected sites and surveyed the perceptions of the residents using questionnaires. Results revealed that 19% of locations were rich in frog species with a high habitat suitability. However, 67% of locations showed signs of habitat degradation, which may imply a higher need in practicing habitat improvement or restoration. The Kappa value was 0.6061, which indicated a high

Biodiversity conservation values of fragmented communally reserved forests, managed by indigenous people, in a human-modified landscape in Borneo.

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Takeuchi, Yayoi; Soda, Ryoji; Diway, Bibian; Kuda, Tinjan Ak; Nakagawa, Michiko; Nagamasu, Hidetoshi; Nakashizuka, Tohru

2017-01-01

This study explored the conservation values of communally reserved forests (CRFs), which local indigenous communities deliberately preserve within their area of shifting cultivation. In the current landscape of rural Borneo, CRFs are the only option for conservation because other forested areas have already been logged or transformed into plantations. By analyzing their alpha and beta diversity, we investigated how these forests can contribute to restore regional biodiversity. Although CRFs were fragmented and some had been disturbed in the past, their tree species diversity was high and equivalent to that of primary forests. The species composition of intact forests and forests disturbed in the past did not differ clearly, which indicates that past logging was not intensive. All CRFs contained unique and endangered species, which are on the IUCN Red List, Sarawak protected plants, or both. On the other hand, the forest size structure differed between disturbed and intact CRFs, with the disturbed CRFs consisting of relatively smaller trees. Although the beta diversity among CRFs was also high, we found a high contribution of species replacement (turnover), but not of richness difference, in the total beta diversity. This suggests that all CRFs have a conservation value for restoring the overall regional biodiversity. Therefore, for maintaining the regional species diversity and endangered species, it would be suitable to design a conservation target into all CRFs.

Quantifying the National Significance of Local Areas for Regional Conservation Planning: North Carolina’s Mountain Treasures

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R. Travis Belote

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Conservation scientists recognize that additional protected areas are needed to maintain biological diversity and ecological processes. As regional conservation planners embark on recommending additional areas for protection in formal ecological reserves, it is important to evaluate candidate lands for their role in building a resilient protected areas system of the future. Here, we evaluate North Carolina’s Mountain Treasures with respect to their (1 ecological integrity, (2 role in connecting existing core protected areas, (3 potential to diversify the ecosystem representation of reserves, and (4 role in maintaining hotspots of biologically-rich areas that are not well protected. Mountain Treasures represent a citizen inventory of roadless areas and serve as candidates for elevated levels of conservation protection on U.S. federal lands. We compared Mountain Treasures to other candidate lands throughout the country to evaluate their potential national significance. While the Mountain Treasures tended to be more impacted by human modifications than other roadless areas, they are as important as other roadless areas with respect to their role in connecting existing protected areas and diversifying representation of ecosystems in conservation reserves. However, Mountain Treasures tended to have a much higher biodiversity priority index than other roadless areas leading to an overall higher composite score compared to other roadless areas. Our analysis serves as an example of how using broad-scale datasets can help conservation planners assess the national significance of local areas.

Conservation Objectives for Wintering and Breeding Waterbirds in California’s Central Valley

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W. David Shuford

2017-03-01

Full Text Available http://escholarship.org/uc/item/5tp5m718Birds associated with wetlands have declined historically across North America from extensive habitat loss and degradation. Among the regions most affected is California’s Central Valley, where over 90% of the wetland base has been lost. Still, this region remains of continental importance to waterbirds. On-the-ground conservation efforts for all bird groups are the focus of the Central Valley Joint Venture, guided by a periodically updated implementation plan. To track progress toward goal attainment, that plan sets time-bound, quantitative conservation goals. Lacking robust data on the size and trends of populations of most species of waterbirds in the Central Valley, we set conservation goals for this group by selecting 10 focal species. These species are of heightened conservation concern or are otherwise representative of the habitat needs of Central Valley waterbirds. Given the great loss of historical habitat, we assumed focal species populations have declined by ≥ 50%. Hence, we defined population objectives for most focal species as increasing their current populations by 10% over 10 years and doubling them in 100 years. The corresponding habitat objectives are to increase wetlands or enhance suitable crops for waterbirds in proportion to the population objectives. These include an increase over 10 years of 7,948 ha (19,641 acres of winter seasonal wetlands, 921 ha (2,276 acres each of semi-permanent and summer seasonal wetlands, and 573 ha (1,416 acres of strategically placed riparian forest. Agricultural needs include additional winter flooding of 15,160 ha (37,461 acres of rice and 2,137 ha (5,281 acres of corn. We distributed the habitat objectives across five planning regions, in some cases favoring proportionally larger increases in those regions with the greatest need. To maximize success, however, conservationists must take into account the specific needs of individual waterbird

[Cultural regionalization for Notopterygium incisum based on 3S technology platform. I. Evaluation for growth suitability for N. incisum based on ecological factors analysis by Maxent and ArcGIS model].

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Sun, Hong-bing; Sun, Hui; Jiang, Shun-yuan; Zhou, Yi; Cao, Wen-long; Ji, Ming-chang; Zhy, Wen-tao; Yan, Han-jing

2015-03-01

Growth suitability as assessment indicators for medicinal plants cultivation was proposed based on chemical quality determination and ecological factors analysis by Maxent and ArcGIS model. Notopterygium incisum, an endangered Chinese medicinal plant, was analyzed as a case, its potential distribution areas at different suitability grade and regionalization map were formulated based on growth suitability theory. The results showed that the most suitable habitats is Sichuan province, and more than 60% of the most suitable areawas located in the western Sichuan such as Aba and Ganzi prefectures for N. incisum. The results indicated that habitat altitude, average air temperature in September, and vegetation types were the dominant factors contributing to the grade of plant growth, precipitation and slope were the major factors contributing to notopterol accumulation in its underground parts, while isoimperatorin in its underground parts was negatively corelated with precipitation and slope of its habitat. However, slope as a factor influencing chemical components seemed to be a pseudo corelationship. Therefore, there were distinguishing differences between growth suitability and quality suitability for medicinal plants, which was helpful to further research and practice of cultivation regionalization, wild resource monitoring and large-scale cultivation of traditional Chinese medicine plants.

Bactericidal activity of M protein conserved region antibodies against group A streptococcal isolates from the Northern Thai population

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Pruksachatkunakorn Chulabhorn

2006-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Most group A streptococcal (GAS vaccine strategies have focused on the surface M protein, a major virulence factor of GAS. The amino-terminus of the M protein elicits antibodies, that are both opsonic and protective, but which are type specific. J14, a chimeric peptide that contains 14 amino acids from the M protein conserved C-region at the carboxy-terminus, offers the possibility of a vaccine which will elicit protective opsonic antibodies against multiple different GAS strains. In this study, we searched for J14 and J14-like sequences and the number of their repeats in the C-region of the M protein from GAS strains isolated from the Northern Thai population. Then, we examined the bactericidal activity of J14, J14.1, J14-R1 and J14-R2 antisera against multiple Thai GAS strains. Results The emm genes of GAS isolates were sequenced and grouped as 14 different J14-types. The most diversity of J14-types was found in the C1-repeat. The J14.1 type was the major sequence in the C2 and C3-repeats. We have shown that antisera raised against the M protein conserved C-repeat region peptides, J14, J14.1, J14-R1 and J14-R2, commonly found in GAS isolates from the Northern Thai population, are able to kill GAS of multiple different emm types derived from an endemic area. The mean percent of bactericidal activities for all J14 and J14-like peptide antisera against GAS isolates were more than 70%. The mean percent of bactericidal activity was highest for J14 antisera followed by J14-R2, J14.1 and J14-R1 antisera. Conclusion Our study demonstrated that antisera raised against the M protein conserved C-repeat region are able to kill multiple different strains of GAS isolated from the Northern Thai population. Therefore, the four conserved "J14" peptides have the potential to be used as GAS vaccine candidates to prevent streptococcal infections in an endemic area.

Conservation businesses and conservation planning in a biological diversity hotspot.

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Di Minin, Enrico; Macmillan, Douglas Craig; Goodman, Peter Styan; Escott, Boyd; Slotow, Rob; Moilanen, Atte

2013-08-01

The allocation of land to biological diversity conservation competes with other land uses and the needs of society for development, food, and extraction of natural resources. Trade-offs between biological diversity conservation and alternative land uses are unavoidable, given the realities of limited conservation resources and the competing demands of society. We developed a conservation-planning assessment for the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, which forms the central component of the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany biological diversity hotspot. Our objective was to enhance biological diversity protection while promoting sustainable development and providing spatial guidance in the resolution of potential policy conflicts over priority areas for conservation at risk of transformation. The conservation-planning assessment combined spatial-distribution models for 646 conservation features, spatial economic-return models for 28 alternative land uses, and spatial maps for 4 threats. Nature-based tourism businesses were competitive with other land uses and could provide revenues of >US$60 million/year to local stakeholders and simultaneously help meeting conservation goals for almost half the conservation features in the planning region. Accounting for opportunity costs substantially decreased conflicts between biological diversity, agricultural use, commercial forestry, and mining. Accounting for economic benefits arising from conservation and reducing potential policy conflicts with alternative plans for development can provide opportunities for successful strategies that combine conservation and sustainable development and facilitate conservation action. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Optimal conservation of migratory species.

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Tara G Martin

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Migratory animals comprise a significant portion of biodiversity worldwide with annual investment for their conservation exceeding several billion dollars. Designing effective conservation plans presents enormous challenges. Migratory species are influenced by multiple events across land and sea-regions that are often separated by thousands of kilometres and span international borders. To date, conservation strategies for migratory species fail to take into account how migratory animals are spatially connected between different periods of the annual cycle (i.e. migratory connectivity bringing into question the utility and efficiency of current conservation efforts. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we report the first framework for determining an optimal conservation strategy for a migratory species. Employing a decision theoretic approach using dynamic optimization, we address the problem of how to allocate resources for habitat conservation for a Neotropical-Nearctic migratory bird, the American redstart Setophaga ruticilla, whose winter habitat is under threat. Our first conservation strategy used the acquisition of winter habitat based on land cost, relative bird density, and the rate of habitat loss to maximize the abundance of birds on the wintering grounds. Our second strategy maximized bird abundance across the entire range of the species by adding the constraint of maintaining a minimum percentage of birds within each breeding region in North America using information on migratory connectivity as estimated from stable-hydrogen isotopes in feathers. We show that failure to take into account migratory connectivity may doom some regional populations to extinction, whereas including information on migratory connectivity results in the protection of the species across its entire range. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We demonstrate that conservation strategies for migratory animals depend critically upon two factors: knowledge of

Suitability

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Bokdam, J.; Braeckel, van A.

2002-01-01

The suitability of grazing, burning, mowing and cutting as tools for succession control in peatland was assessed and expressed on a scale from 0 - 1. All management tools are suitable, but their effects are conditional. The suitability depends on the targeted vegetation transition and on their

Viable contribution of Tibetan sacred mountains in southwestern China to forest conservation.

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Shen, Xiaoli; Li, Sheng; Wang, Dajun; Lu, Zhi

2015-12-01

The Tibetan sacred mountains (TSMs) cover a large area and may represent a landscape-scale conservation opportunity. We compared the conservation value of forests in these mountains with the conservation value of government-established nature reserves and unmanaged open-access areas in Danba County, southwestern China. We used Landsat satellite images to map forest cover and to estimate forest loss in 1974-1989, 1989-1999, and 1999-2013. The TSMs (n = 41) and nature reserves (n = 4) accounted for 21.6% and 29.7% of the county's land area, respectively. Remaining land was open-access areas (i.e., areas without any restrictions on resource use) (56.2%) and farmlands (2.2%). Within the elevation range suitable for forests, forest cover did not differ significantly between nature reserves (58.8%) and open-access areas (58.4%), but was significantly higher in TSMs (65.5%) after controlling for environmental factors such as aspect, slope, and elevation. The TSMs of great cultural importance had higher forest cover, but patrols by monastery staff were not necessarily associated with increased forest cover. The annual deforestation rate in nonsacred areas almost tripled in 1989-1999 (111.4 ha/year) relative to 1974-1989 (40.4 ha/year), whereas the rate in TSMs decreased in the later period (19.7 ha/year vs. 17.2 ha/year). The reduced forest loss in TSMs in 1989-1999 was possibly due to the renaissance of TSM worship and strengthened management by the local Buddhist community since late 1980s. The annual deforestation rate in Danba decreased dramatically to 4.4 ha/year in 1999-2013, which coincided with the implementation of a national ban on logging in 1998. As the only form of protected area across the Tibetan region during much of its history, TSMs have positively contributed to conserving forest at a landscape scale. Conservation of TSM forests largely relied on the strength of local religious institutions. Integrating community-based conservation of TSMs within the

Using Species Distribution Models to Predict Potential Landscape Restoration Effects on Puma Conservation.

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Angelieri, Cintia Camila Silva; Adams-Hosking, Christine; Ferraz, Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros; de Souza, Marcelo Pereira; McAlpine, Clive Alexander

2016-01-01

A mosaic of intact native and human-modified vegetation use can provide important habitat for top predators such as the puma (Puma concolor), avoiding negative effects on other species and ecological processes due to cascade trophic interactions. This study investigates the effects of restoration scenarios on the puma's habitat suitability in the most developed Brazilian region (São Paulo State). Species Distribution Models incorporating restoration scenarios were developed using the species' occurrence information to (1) map habitat suitability of pumas in São Paulo State, Southeast, Brazil; (2) test the relative contribution of environmental variables ecologically relevant to the species habitat suitability and (3) project the predicted habitat suitability to future native vegetation restoration scenarios. The Maximum Entropy algorithm was used (Test AUC of 0.84 ± 0.0228) based on seven environmental non-correlated variables and non-autocorrelated presence-only records (n = 342). The percentage of native vegetation (positive influence), elevation (positive influence) and density of roads (negative influence) were considered the most important environmental variables to the model. Model projections to restoration scenarios reflected the high positive relationship between pumas and native vegetation. These projections identified new high suitability areas for pumas (probability of presence >0.5) in highly deforested regions. High suitability areas were increased from 5.3% to 8.5% of the total State extension when the landscapes were restored for ≥ the minimum native vegetation cover rule (20%) established by the Brazilian Forest Code in private lands. This study highlights the importance of a landscape planning approach to improve the conservation outlook for pumas and other species, including not only the establishment and management of protected areas, but also the habitat restoration on private lands. Importantly, the results may inform environmental

Ligand deconstruction: Why some fragment binding positions are conserved and others are not

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Kozakov, Dima; Hall, David R.; Jehle, Stefan; Luo, Lingqi; Ochiana, Stefan O.; Jones, Elizabeth V.; Pollastri, Michael; Allen, Karen N.; Whitty, Adrian; Vajda, Sandor

2015-01-01

Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) relies on the premise that the fragment binding mode will be conserved on subsequent expansion to a larger ligand. However, no general condition has been established to explain when fragment binding modes will be conserved. We show that a remarkably simple condition can be developed in terms of how fragments coincide with binding energy hot spots—regions of the protein where interactions with a ligand contribute substantial binding free energy—the locations of which can easily be determined computationally. Because a substantial fraction of the free energy of ligand binding comes from interacting with the residues in the energetically most important hot spot, a ligand moiety that sufficiently overlaps with this region will retain its location even when other parts of the ligand are removed. This hypothesis is supported by eight case studies. The condition helps identify whether a protein is suitable for FBDD, predicts the size of fragments required for screening, and determines whether a fragment hit can be extended into a higher affinity ligand. Our results show that ligand binding sites can usefully be thought of in terms of an anchor site, which is the top-ranked hot spot and dominates the free energy of binding, surrounded by a number of weaker satellite sites that confer improved affinity and selectivity for a particular ligand and that it is the intrinsic binding potential of the protein surface that determines whether it can serve as a robust binding site for a suitably optimized ligand. PMID:25918377

Ligand deconstruction: Why some fragment binding positions are conserved and others are not.

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Kozakov, Dima; Hall, David R; Jehle, Stefan; Jehle, Sefan; Luo, Lingqi; Ochiana, Stefan O; Jones, Elizabeth V; Pollastri, Michael; Allen, Karen N; Whitty, Adrian; Vajda, Sandor

2015-05-19

Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) relies on the premise that the fragment binding mode will be conserved on subsequent expansion to a larger ligand. However, no general condition has been established to explain when fragment binding modes will be conserved. We show that a remarkably simple condition can be developed in terms of how fragments coincide with binding energy hot spots--regions of the protein where interactions with a ligand contribute substantial binding free energy--the locations of which can easily be determined computationally. Because a substantial fraction of the free energy of ligand binding comes from interacting with the residues in the energetically most important hot spot, a ligand moiety that sufficiently overlaps with this region will retain its location even when other parts of the ligand are removed. This hypothesis is supported by eight case studies. The condition helps identify whether a protein is suitable for FBDD, predicts the size of fragments required for screening, and determines whether a fragment hit can be extended into a higher affinity ligand. Our results show that ligand binding sites can usefully be thought of in terms of an anchor site, which is the top-ranked hot spot and dominates the free energy of binding, surrounded by a number of weaker satellite sites that confer improved affinity and selectivity for a particular ligand and that it is the intrinsic binding potential of the protein surface that determines whether it can serve as a robust binding site for a suitably optimized ligand.

The conserved 12-amino acid stretch in the inter-bromodomain region of BET family proteins functions as a nuclear localization signal.

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Fukazawa, Hidesuke; Masumi, Atsuko

2012-01-01

The bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) family is a group of chromatin-binding proteins characterized by two bromodomains, an extraterminal (ET) domain, and several other conserved regions of unknown function. In humans, the BET family consists of four members, BRD2, BRD3, BRD4 and BRDT, that all normally localize to the nucleus. We identified a 12-amino acid stretch in the inter-bromodomain region that is perfectly conserved among the BET family members. We deleted these residues and expressed the mutant proteins in HEK293T cells to investigate the function of this motif. We found that the deletion of this motif alters the localization of BET proteins. Mutated BRD3 and BRD4 were excluded from the nucleus, and BRDT was found to be diffused throughout the nucleus and cytoplasm. Although the mutant BRD2 remained predominantly in the nucleus, a punctate distribution was also observed in the cytosol. It has been reported that a conserved motif between the second bromodomain and the ET domain serves as a nuclear localization signal for BRD2. Nevertheless, BET mutants lacking the reported nuclear localization signal motif but retaining the 12-amino acid stretch resided in the nucleus. Furthermore, these mutants were diffused throughout the cytoplasm when the 12 residues were removed. These results indicate that the conserved amino acid stretch in the inter-bromodomain region of the BET family functions as a nuclear localization signal.

Ensemble modeling to predict habitat suitability for a large-scale disturbance specialist

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Quresh S. Latif; Victoria A. Saab; Jonathan G. Dudley; Jeff P. Hollenbeck

2013-01-01

To conserve habitat for disturbance specialist species, ecologists must identify where individuals will likely settle in newly disturbed areas. Habitat suitability models can predict which sites at new disturbances will most likely attract specialists. Without validation data from newly disturbed areas, however, the best approach for maximizing predictive accuracy can...

The bioenergy potential of conservation areas and roadsides for biogas in an urbanized region

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Van Meerbeek, Koenraad; Ottoy, Sam; De Meyer, Annelies; Van Schaeybroeck, Tom; Van Orshoven, Jos; Muys, Bart; Hermy, Martin

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We assessed the bioenergy potential of conservation areas and roadsides in Flanders. • An area of 31,055 ha produces 203 kton DM of herbaceous biomass annually. • The associated biomass supply chain was optimized with OPTIMASS in four scenarios. • The net energy balance of the studied systems was 7 GJ ha −1 in the 2020 scenarios. • We show that this biomass can play a role to meet the increased biomass demand in 2020. - Abstract: In many urbanized areas the roadside and nature conservation management offers a biomass-for-bioenergy resource potential which is barely valorized, because of the fragmented biomass production sites and the scarcity of accurate data on the spatial availability of the biomass. In this study, a GIS based assessment was performed to determine the regional non-woody biomass-for-bioenergy potential for biogas from conservation areas and roadsides in Flanders, Belgium. These systems, with an area of 31,055 ha, have an annual herbaceous biomass production of 203 kton dry matter. The full associated biomass-to-bioenergy supply chain was optimized in four scenarios to maximize the net energy output and the profit. The scenario analysis was performed with OPTIMASS, a recently developed GIS based strategic decision support system. The analysis showed that the energetic valorization of conservation and roadside biomass through anaerobic digestion had a positive net energy balance, although there is still much room for improvements. Economically, however, it is a less interesting biomass resource. Most likely, the economic picture would change when other ecosystem services delivered by the protected biodiversity would be taken into account. Future technical advances and governmental incentives, like green energy certificates, will be necessary to incorporate the biomass into the energy chain. By tackling the existing barriers and providing a detailed methodology for biomass potential assessments, this study tries to

Recreation economics to inform migratory species conservation: Case study of the northern pintail

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Mattsson, Brady J.; Dubovsky, James A.; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Bagstad, Kenneth J.; Goldstein, Joshua H.; Loomis, John B.; Diffendorfer, James E.; Semmens, Darius J.; Wiederholt, Ruscena; Lopez-Hoffman, Laura

2018-01-01

Quantification of the economic value provided by migratory species can aid in targeting management efforts and funding to locations yielding the greatest benefits to society and species conservation. Here we illustrate a key step in this process by estimating hunting and birding values of the northern pintail (Anas acuta) within primary breeding and wintering habitats used during the species’ annual migratory cycle in North America. We used published information on user expenditures and net economic values (consumer surplus) for recreational viewing and hunting to determine the economic value of pintail-based recreation in three primary breeding areas and two primary wintering areas. Summed expenditures and consumer surplus for northern pintail viewing were annually valued at $70M, and annual sport hunting totaled $31M (2014 USD). Expenditures for viewing ($42M) were more than twice as high than those for hunting ($18M). Estimates of consumer surplus, defined as the amount consumers are willing to pay above their current expenditures, were $15M greater for viewing ($28M) than for hunting ($13M). We discovered substantial annual consumer surplus ($41M) available for pintail conservation from birders and hunters. We also found spatial differences in economic value among the primary regions used by pintails, with viewing generally valued more in breeding regions than in wintering regions and the reverse being true for hunting. The economic value of pintail-based recreation in the Western wintering region ($26M) exceeded that in any other region by at least a factor of three. Our approach of developing regionally explicit economic values can be extended to other taxonomic groups, and is particularly suitable for migratory game birds because of the availability of large amounts of data. When combined with habitat-linked population models, regionally explicit values could inform development of more effective conservation finance and policy mechanisms to enhance

Recreation economics to inform migratory species conservation: Case study of the northern pintail.

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Mattsson, Brady J; Dubovsky, James A; Thogmartin, Wayne E; Bagstad, Kenneth J; Goldstein, Joshua H; Loomis, John B; Diffendorfer, James E; Semmens, Darius J; Wiederholt, Ruscena; López-Hoffman, Laura

2018-01-15

Quantification of the economic value provided by migratory species can aid in targeting management efforts and funding to locations yielding the greatest benefits to society and species conservation. Here we illustrate a key step in this process by estimating hunting and birding values of the northern pintail (Anas acuta) within primary breeding and wintering habitats used during the species' annual migratory cycle in North America. We used published information on user expenditures and net economic values (consumer surplus) for recreational viewing and hunting to determine the economic value of pintail-based recreation in three primary breeding areas and two primary wintering areas. Summed expenditures and consumer surplus for northern pintail viewing were annually valued at $70M, and annual sport hunting totaled $31M (2014 USD). Expenditures for viewing ($42M) were more than twice as high than those for hunting ($18M). Estimates of consumer surplus, defined as the amount consumers are willing to pay above their current expenditures, were $15M greater for viewing ($28M) than for hunting ($13M). We discovered substantial annual consumer surplus ($41M) available for pintail conservation from birders and hunters. We also found spatial differences in economic value among the primary regions used by pintails, with viewing generally valued more in breeding regions than in wintering regions and the reverse being true for hunting. The economic value of pintail-based recreation in the Western wintering region ($26M) exceeded that in any other region by at least a factor of three. Our approach of developing regionally explicit economic values can be extended to other taxonomic groups, and is particularly suitable for migratory game birds because of the availability of large amounts of data. When combined with habitat-linked population models, regionally explicit values could inform development of more effective conservation finance and policy mechanisms to enhance

Genes involved in complex adaptive processes tend to have highly conserved upstream regions in mammalian genomes

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Kohane Isaac

2005-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent advances in genome sequencing suggest a remarkable conservation in gene content of mammalian organisms. The similarity in gene repertoire present in different organisms has increased interest in studying regulatory mechanisms of gene expression aimed at elucidating the differences in phenotypes. In particular, a proximal promoter region contains a large number of regulatory elements that control the expression of its downstream gene. Although many studies have focused on identification of these elements, a broader picture on the complexity of transcriptional regulation of different biological processes has not been addressed in mammals. The regulatory complexity may strongly correlate with gene function, as different evolutionary forces must act on the regulatory systems under different biological conditions. We investigate this hypothesis by comparing the conservation of promoters upstream of genes classified in different functional categories. Results By conducting a rank correlation analysis between functional annotation and upstream sequence alignment scores obtained by human-mouse and human-dog comparison, we found a significantly greater conservation of the upstream sequence of genes involved in development, cell communication, neural functions and signaling processes than those involved in more basic processes shared with unicellular organisms such as metabolism and ribosomal function. This observation persists after controlling for G+C content. Considering conservation as a functional signature, we hypothesize a higher density of cis-regulatory elements upstream of genes participating in complex and adaptive processes. Conclusion We identified a class of functions that are associated with either high or low promoter conservation in mammals. We detected a significant tendency that points to complex and adaptive processes were associated with higher promoter conservation, despite the fact that they have emerged

Species distribution modeling in regions of high need and limited data: waterfowl of China

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Prosser, Diann J.; Ding, Changqing; Erwin, R. Michael; Mundkur, Taej; Sullivan, Jeffery D.; Ellis, Erle C.

2018-01-01

BackgroundA number of conservation and societal issues require understanding how species are distributed on the landscape, yet ecologists are often faced with a lack of data to develop models at the resolution and extent desired, resulting in inefficient use of conservation resources. Such a situation presented itself in our attempt to develop waterfowl distribution models as part of a multi-disciplinary team targeting the control of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus in China.MethodsFaced with limited data, we built species distribution models using a habitat suitability approach for China’s breeding and non-breeding (hereafter, wintering) waterfowl. An extensive review of the literature was used to determine model parameters for habitat modeling. Habitat relationships were implemented in GIS using land cover covariates. Wintering models were validated using waterfowl census data, while breeding models, though developed for many species, were only validated for the one species with sufficient telemetry data available.ResultsWe developed suitability models for 42 waterfowl species (30 breeding and 39 wintering) at 1 km resolution for the extent of China, along with cumulative and genus level species richness maps. Breeding season models showed highest waterfowl suitability in wetlands of the high-elevation west-central plateau and northeastern China. Wintering waterfowl suitability was highest in the lowland regions of southeastern China. Validation measures indicated strong performance in predicting species presence. Comparing our model outputs to China’s protected areas indicated that breeding habitat was generally better covered than wintering habitat, and identified locations for which additional research and protection should be prioritized.ConclusionsThese suitability models are the first available for many of China’s waterfowl species, and have direct utility to conservation and habitat planning and prioritizing management of critically

Conservation of Repeats at the Mammalian KCNQ1OT1-CDKN1C Region Suggests a Role in Genomic Imprinting

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Marcos De Donato

2017-06-01

Full Text Available KCNQ1OT1 is located in the region with the highest number of genes showing genomic imprinting, but the mechanisms controlling the genes under its influence have not been fully elucidated. Therefore, we conducted a comparative analysis of the KCNQ1/KCNQ1OT1-CDKN1C region to study its conservation across the best assembled eutherian mammalian genomes sequenced to date and analyzed potential elements that may be implicated in the control of genomic imprinting in this region. The genomic features in these regions from human, mouse, cattle, and dog show a higher number of genes and CpG islands (detected using cpgplot from EMBOSS, but lower number of repetitive elements (including short interspersed nuclear elements and long interspersed nuclear elements, compared with their whole chromosomes (detected by RepeatMasker. The KCNQ1OT1-CDKN1C region contains the highest number of conserved noncoding sequences (CNS among mammals, where we found 16 regions containing about 38 different highly conserved repetitive elements (using mVista, such as LINE1 elements: L1M4, L1MB7, HAL1, L1M4a, L1Med, and an LTR element: MLT1H. From these elements, we found 74 CNS showing high sequence identity (>70% between human, cattle, and mouse, from which we identified 13 motifs (using Multiple Em for Motif Elicitation/Motif Alignment and Search Tool with a significant probability of occurrence, 3 of which were the most frequent and were used to find transcription factor–binding sites. We detected several transcription factors (using JASPAR suite from the families SOX, FOX, and GATA. A phylogenetic analysis of these CNS from human, marmoset, mouse, rat, cattle, dog, horse, and elephant shows branches with high levels of support and very similar phylogenetic relationships among these groups, confirming previous reports. Our results suggest that functional DNA elements identified by comparative genomics in a region densely populated with imprinted mammalian genes may be

Future habitat suitability for coral reef ecosystems under global warming and ocean acidification.

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Couce, Elena; Ridgwell, Andy; Hendy, Erica J

2013-12-01

Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations are placing spatially divergent stresses on the world's tropical coral reefs through increasing ocean surface temperatures and ocean acidification. We show how these two stressors combine to alter the global habitat suitability for shallow coral reef ecosystems, using statistical Bioclimatic Envelope Models rather than basing projections on any a priori assumptions of physiological tolerances or fixed thresholds. We apply two different modeling approaches (Maximum Entropy and Boosted Regression Trees) with two levels of complexity (one a simplified and reduced environmental variable version of the other). Our models project a marked temperature-driven decline in habitat suitability for many of the most significant and bio-diverse tropical coral regions, particularly in the central Indo-Pacific. This is accompanied by a temperature-driven poleward range expansion of favorable conditions accelerating up to 40-70 km per decade by 2070. We find that ocean acidification is less influential for determining future habitat suitability than warming, and its deleterious effects are centered evenly in both hemispheres between 5° and 20° latitude. Contrary to expectations, the combined impact of ocean surface temperature rise and acidification leads to little, if any, degradation in future habitat suitability across much of the Atlantic and areas currently considered 'marginal' for tropical corals, such as the eastern Equatorial Pacific. These results are consistent with fossil evidence of range expansions during past warm periods. In addition, the simplified models are particularly sensitive to short-term temperature variations and their projections correlate well with reported locations of bleaching events. Our approach offers new insights into the relative impact of two global environmental pressures associated with rising atmospheric CO2 on potential future habitats, but greater understanding of past and current controls on coral

Hydro-power production and fish habitat suitability: Assessing impact and effectiveness of ecological flows at regional scale

Science.gov (United States)

Ceola, Serena; Pugliese, Alessio; Ventura, Matteo; Galeati, Giorgio; Montanari, Alberto; Castellarin, Attilio

2018-06-01

Anthropogenic activities along streams and rivers may be of major concern for fluvial ecosystems, e.g. abstraction and impoundment of surface water resources may profoundly alter natural streamflow regimes. An established approach aimed at preserving the behavior and distribution of fluvial species relies on the definition of ecological flows (e-flows) downstream of dams and diversion structures. E-flow prescriptions are usually set by basin authorities at regional scale, often without a proper assessment of their impact and effectiveness. On the contrary, we argue that e-flows should be identified on the basis of (i) regional and (ii) quantitative assessments. We focus on central Italy and evaluate the effects on habitat suitability of two near-threatened fish species (i.e. Barbel and Chub) and an existing hydro-power network when shifting from the current time-invariant e-flow policy to a tighter and seasonally-varying soon-to-be-enforced one. Our example clearly shows that: (a) quantitative regional scale assessments are viable even when streamflow observations are entirely missing at study sites; (b) aprioristic e-flows policies may impose releases that exceed natural streamflows for significantly long time intervals (weeks, or months); (c) unduly tightening e-flow policies may heavily impact regional hydro-power productivity (15% and 42% losses on annual and seasonal basis, respectively), yet resulting in either marginal or negligible improvements of fluvial ecosystem.

Conservation policies and planning under climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strange, Niels; Thorsen, Bo Jellesmark; Bladt, Jesper Stentoft

2011-01-01

Biodiversity conservation policies focus on securing the survival of species and habitats according to their current distribution. This basic premise may be inappropriate for halting biodiversity decline under the dynamic changes caused by climate change. This study explores a dynamic spatial...... conservation prioritization problem where climate change gradually changes the future habitat suitability of a site’ current species. This has implications for survival probability, as well as for species that potentially immigrate to the site. The problem is explored using a set of heuristics for both of two...... distributions as the basis of decision rules can be crucial for ensuring the effectiveness of conservation plans. Finally, it is discussed how more adaptive strategies, that allow for the redirection of resources from protected sites to privately-owned sites, may increase the effectiveness of the conservation...

The Neutron-Moisture Meter in Studies of the Effect of Fallow on Water Conservation in Arid Regions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oezbek, Nurinnisa; Aksoy, Tevfik; Celebi, Gurkan [Radiophysiology and Soil Fertility Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ankara, Ankara (Turkey)

1967-11-15

For a long time it has been a common practice for the Central Anatolian farmers to leave half the land fallow the whole year in order to increase the amount of water conserved. The main object of these studies was to ascertain whether fallow has an effect on moisture conservation in soils of this region and if so what was its degree of efficiency on a yearly basis. In view of the intensity and distribution of rainfall Ankara, Konya and Eski$ehir were selected for moisture-measurement areas. Altogether 60 holes were dug and 60 access tubes were used for moisture measurements by a neutron- moisture meter, and they were placed at six different locations on either state farms or a dry-farming experimental station. In each location the first group of access tubes were placed in fallow soil, the second in a wheat field and the third in a wheat field after harvest. Each treatment had three replicates. In all holes the moisture measurements were made at five different depths at intervals of either 15 days or one month. At the beginning of the moisture measurements a separate calibration curve was prepared for each location and for each treatment. The measurements were begun in 1964 and are continuing, but with some variations in the sampling technique. Some physical properties of the soils that were sampled from measurement areas, such as texture, field capacity and wilting point, were determined. Some bulk-density measurements were also made by gamma-ray transmission. The results obtained are averaged and illustrated in tables and figures. Necessary calculations and comparisons were made to show the efficiency of the fallow system in the moisture conservation in this dry soil. The results can be summarized as follows: (1) The total amount of water conserved in the soil down to a depth of 1.80 cm was higher in fallow soil than in the other two cases. This was true for all locations over a period of two years. (2) The amounts of water conserved by the effect of fallow

MOUNTAIN NATURAL BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN RUSSIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arkady Tishkov

2012-01-01

Full Text Available High biodiversity and degree of endemism of mountain biota strengthen the mountain regions’ status for the territorial nature conservation. Analysis of the protected areas’ representativeness in various mountain regions of Russia shows some discrepancy between their quantity, square and regional biodiversity originality. The biggest divergences are marked for the Northern Caucasus. The main problems: small area of the protected territories and also cluster character of their spatial distribution, mostly in the high mountains are not supposed to conform with the highest values of the regional flora’s and fauna’s uniqueness, to compensate representativeness of the protected biota and, in anyway, to correspond with the purpose of nature protection frame—the protected territories ecologic network’s forming. The situation in the Urals, Siberia and the Far East seems to be better. The large areas of the protected territories are in general agreement with the high originality of the nature ecosystems. Nevertheless each concrete case needs analysis of the regional biota’s and ecosystems’ biodiversity distribution within the protected areas, including character and (or unique elements of the regional biodiversity to be held. The development of the effectual territorial conservation of mountain regions needs differential approach. The creation of the large representative parcels of nature landscapes in the key-areas has the considerable meaning in the low-developed regions, difficult to access. And well-developed regions have the necessity of nature protected territories’ network development and the planning of the ecological frame’s forming. The territorial biodiversity conservation, including the system of federal, regional and local levels with protective conservation of the rare species has to be combined with ecosystem’s restoration, especially in the zones disturbed by erosion, recreation and military actions. Also it is

[Cultural regionalization for Coptis chinensis based on 3S technology platform Ⅰ. Study on growth suitability for Coptis chinensis based on ecological factors analysis by Maxent and ArcGIS model].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xin; Yang, Yan-Fang; Song, Hong-Ping; Zhang, Xiao-Bo; Huang, Lu-Qi; Wu, He-Zhen

2016-09-01

At the urgent request of Coptis chinensis planting,growth suitability as assessment indicators for C. chinensis cultivation was proposed and analyzed in this paper , based on chemical quality determination and ecological fators analysis by Maxent and ArcGIS model. Its potential distribution areas at differernt suitability grade and regionalization map were formulated based on statistical theory and growth suitability theory. The results showed that the most suitable habitats is some parts of Chongqing and Hubei province, such as Shizhu, Lichuan, Wulong, Wuxi, Enshi. There are seven ecological factor is the main ecological factors affect the growth of Coptidis Rhizoma, including altitude, precipitation in February and September and the rise of precipitation and altitude is conducive to the accumulation of total alkaloid content in C. chinensis. Therefore, The results of the study not only illustrates the most suitable for the surroundings of Coptidis Rhizoma, also helpful to further research and practice of cultivation regionalization, wild resource monitoring and large-scale cultivation of traditional Chinese medicine plants. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Are women in the MENA region really that different from women in Europe? Globalization, conservative values and female labor market participation.

OpenAIRE

Fischer, Justina AV; Aydıner-Avşar, Nursel

2015-01-01

This article aims to compare women in the MENA region with women in Europe as to how globalization affects their conservative values and attitudes, and, thereby, their labor market participation. The authors define conservative values as both religious values and socio-political attitudes relating to family issues and leadership. Using micro data from the World Values Survey covering over 80 countries between 1981 and 2014, we employ three distinct indicators of globalization that reflect, fi...

River and wetland classifications for freshwater conservation ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

River and wetland classifications for freshwater conservation planning in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. ... regional- or provincial-scale conservation planning. The hierarchical structure of the classifications provides scope for finer resolution, by the addition of further levels, for application at a sub-regional or municipal scale.

Application of polynomial preconditioners to conservation laws

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geurts, Bernardus J.; van Buuren, R.; Lu, H.

2000-01-01

Polynomial preconditioners which are suitable in implicit time-stepping methods for conservation laws are reviewed and analyzed. The preconditioners considered are either based on a truncation of a Neumann series or on Chebyshev polynomials for the inverse of the system-matrix. The latter class of

Suitability of amphibians and reptiles for translocation.

Science.gov (United States)

Germano, Jennifer M; Bishop, Phillip J

2009-02-01

Translocations are important tools in the field of conservation. Despite increased use over the last few decades, the appropriateness of translocations for amphibians and reptiles has been debated widely over the past 20 years. To provide a comprehensive evaluation of the suitability of amphibians and reptiles for translocation, we reviewed the results of amphibian and reptile translocation projects published between 1991 and 2006. The success rate of amphibian and reptile translocations reported over this period was twice that reported in an earlier review in 1991. Success and failure rates were independent of the taxonomic class (Amphibia or Reptilia) released. Reptile translocations driven by human-wildlife conflict mitigation had a higher failure rate than those motivated by conservation, and more recent projects of reptile translocations had unknown outcomes. The outcomes of amphibian translocations were significantly related to the number of animals released, with projects releasing over 1000 individuals being most successful. The most common reported causes of translocation failure were homing and migration of introduced individuals out of release sites and poor habitat. The increased success of amphibian and reptile translocations reviewed in this study compared with the 1991 review is encouraging for future conservation projects. Nevertheless, more preparation, monitoring, reporting of results, and experimental testing of techniques and reintroduction questions need to occur to improve translocations of amphibians and reptiles as a whole.

Designing conservation strategies to preserve the genetic diversity of Astragalus edulis Bunge, an endangered species from western Mediterranean region

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Julio Peñas

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Astragalus edulis (Fabaceae is an endangered annual species from the western Mediterranean region that colonized the SE Iberian Peninsula, NE and SW Morocco, and the easternmost Macaronesian islands (Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. Although in Spain some conservation measures have been adopted, it is still necessary to develop an appropriate management plan to preserve genetic diversity across the entire distribution area of the species. Our main objective was to use population genetics as well as ecological and phylogeographic data to select Relevant Genetic Units for Conservation (RGUCs as the first step in designing conservation plans for A. edulis. We identified six RGUCs for in situ conservation, based on estimations of population genetic structure and probabilities of loss of rare alleles. Additionally, further population parameters, i.e. occupation area, population size, vulnerability, legal status of the population areas, and the historical haplotype distribution, were considered in order to establish which populations deserve conservation priority. Three populations from the Iberian Peninsula, two from Morocco, and one from the Canary Islands represent the total genetic diversity of the species and the rarest allelic variation. Ex situ conservation is recommended to complement the preservation of A. edulis, given that effective in situ population protection is not feasible in all cases. The consideration of complementary phylogeographic and ecological data is useful for management efforts to preserve the evolutionary potential of the species.

Designing conservation strategies to preserve the genetic diversity of Astragalus edulis Bunge, an endangered species from western Mediterranean region.

Science.gov (United States)

Peñas, Julio; Barrios, Sara; Bobo-Pinilla, Javier; Lorite, Juan; Martínez-Ortega, M Montserrat

2016-01-01

Astragalus edulis (Fabaceae) is an endangered annual species from the western Mediterranean region that colonized the SE Iberian Peninsula, NE and SW Morocco, and the easternmost Macaronesian islands (Lanzarote and Fuerteventura). Although in Spain some conservation measures have been adopted, it is still necessary to develop an appropriate management plan to preserve genetic diversity across the entire distribution area of the species. Our main objective was to use population genetics as well as ecological and phylogeographic data to select Relevant Genetic Units for Conservation (RGUCs) as the first step in designing conservation plans for A. edulis. We identified six RGUCs for in situ conservation, based on estimations of population genetic structure and probabilities of loss of rare alleles. Additionally, further population parameters, i.e. occupation area, population size, vulnerability, legal status of the population areas, and the historical haplotype distribution, were considered in order to establish which populations deserve conservation priority. Three populations from the Iberian Peninsula, two from Morocco, and one from the Canary Islands represent the total genetic diversity of the species and the rarest allelic variation. Ex situ conservation is recommended to complement the preservation of A. edulis, given that effective in situ population protection is not feasible in all cases. The consideration of complementary phylogeographic and ecological data is useful for management efforts to preserve the evolutionary potential of the species.

Habitat association and conservation implications of endangered Francois' langur (Trachypithecus francoisi.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yajie Zeng

Full Text Available Francois' langur (Trachypithecus francoisi is an endangered primate and endemic to the limestone forests of the tropical and subtropical zone of northern Vietnam and South-west China with a population of about 2,000 individuals. Conservation efforts are hampered by limited knowledge of habitat preference in its main distribution area. We surveyed the distribution of Francois' langur and modeled the relationship between the probability of use and habitat features in Mayanghe National Nature Reserve, Guizhou, China. The main objectives of this study were to provide quantitative information on habitat preference, estimating the availability of suitable habitat, and providing management guidelines for the effective conservation of this species. By comparing 92 used locations with habitat available in the reserve, we found that Francois' langur was mainly distributed along valleys and proportionally, used bamboo forests and mixed conifer-broadleaf forests more than their availability, whereas they tended to avoid shrubby areas and coniferous forests. The langur tended to occur at sites with lower elevation, steeper slope, higher tree canopy density, and a close distance to roads and water. The habitat occupancy probability was best modeled by vegetation type, vegetation coverage, elevation, slope degree, distances to nearest water, paved road, and farmland edge. The suitable habitat in this reserve concentrated in valleys and accounted for about 25% of the total reserve area. Our results showed that Francois' langur was not only restricted at the landscapes level at the regions with karst topography, limestone cliffs, and caves, but it also showed habitat preference at the local scale. Therefore, the protection and restoration of the langur preferred habitats such as mixed conifer-broadleaf forests are important and urgent for the conservation of this declining species.

Estimating energy conservation patterns of Greek households

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sardianou, Eleni

2007-01-01

This paper develops an empirical model to investigate the main determinants of household energy conservation patterns in Greece employing cross-section data. In the empirical analysis, household energy-conserving choices models are employed, using a discrete and a latent trait variable respectively as a dependent variable. The results show that socio-economic variables such as consumers' income and family size are suitable to explain differences towards energy conservation preferences. In addition, the results suggest that electricity expenditures and age of the respondent are negatively associated with the number of energy-conserving actions that a consumer is willing to adopt. Finally, other variables such as environmental information feedback and consciousness of energy problems are characteristics of the energy-saver consumer. By evaluating consumer's decision-making process with regards to energy conservation measures, we are able to formulate and propose an effective energy conservation framework for Greece. An energy policy framework is among the main prerequisites not only to achieve sustainable development but also to maintain consumers' quality of life

Identification of novel conserved functional motifs across most Influenza A viral strains

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El-Azab Iman

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Influenza A virus poses a continuous threat to global public health. Design of novel universal drugs and vaccine requires a careful analysis of different strains of Influenza A viral genome from diverse hosts and subtypes. We performed a systematic in silico analysis of Influenza A viral segments of all available Influenza A viral strains and subtypes and grouped them based on host, subtype, and years isolated, and through multiple sequence alignments we extrapolated conserved regions, motifs, and accessible regions for functional mapping and annotation. Results Across all species and strains 87 highly conserved regions (conservation percentage > = 90% and 19 functional motifs (conservation percentage = 100% were found in PB2, PB1, PA, NP, M, and NS segments. The conservation percentage of these segments ranged between 94 - 98% in human strains (the most conserved, 85 - 93% in swine strains (the most variable, and 91 - 94% in avian strains. The most conserved segment was different in each host (PB1 for human strains, NS for avian strains, and M for swine strains. Target accessibility prediction yielded 324 accessible regions, with a single stranded probability > 0.5, of which 78 coincided with conserved regions. Some of the interesting annotations in these regions included sites for protein-protein interactions, the RNA binding groove, and the proton ion channel. Conclusions The influenza virus has evolved to adapt to its host through variations in the GC content and conservation percentage of the conserved regions. Nineteen universal conserved functional motifs were discovered, of which some were accessible regions with interesting biological functions. These regions will serve as a foundation for universal drug targets as well as universal vaccine design.

[Identification of new conserved and variable regions in the 16S rRNA gene of acetic acid bacteria and acetobacteraceae family].

Science.gov (United States)

Chakravorty, S; Sarkar, S; Gachhui, R

2015-01-01

The Acetobacteraceae family of the class Alpha Proteobacteria is comprised of high sugar and acid tolerant bacteria. The Acetic Acid Bacteria are the economically most significant group of this family because of its association with food products like vinegar, wine etc. Acetobacteraceae are often hard to culture in laboratory conditions and they also maintain very low abundances in their natural habitats. Thus identification of the organisms in such environments is greatly dependent on modern tools of molecular biology which require a thorough knowledge of specific conserved gene sequences that may act as primers and or probes. Moreover unconserved domains in genes also become markers for differentiating closely related genera. In bacteria, the 16S rRNA gene is an ideal candidate for such conserved and variable domains. In order to study the conserved and variable domains of the 16S rRNA gene of Acetic Acid Bacteria and the Acetobacteraceae family, sequences from publicly available databases were aligned and compared. Near complete sequences of the gene were also obtained from Kombucha tea biofilm, a known Acetobacteraceae family habitat, in order to corroborate the domains obtained from the alignment studies. The study indicated that the degree of conservation in the gene is significantly higher among the Acetic Acid Bacteria than the whole Acetobacteraceae family. Moreover it was also observed that the previously described hypervariable regions V1, V3, V5, V6 and V7 were more or less conserved in the family and the spans of the variable regions are quite distinct as well.

A state-based national network for effective wildlife conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Meretsky, Vicky J.; Maguire, Lynn A.; Davis, Frank W.; Stoms, David M.; Scott, J. Michael; Figg, Dennis; Goble, Dale D.; Griffith, Brad; Henke, Scott E.; Vaughn, Jacqueline; Yaffee, Steven L.

2012-01-01

State wildlife conservation programs provide a strong foundation for biodiversity conservation in the United States, building on state wildlife action plans. However, states may miss the species that are at the most risk at rangewide scales, and threats such as novel diseases and climate change increasingly act at regional and national levels. Regional collaborations among states and their partners have had impressive successes, and several federal programs now incorporate state priorities. However, regional collaborations are uneven across the country, and no national counterpart exists to support efforts at that scale. A national conservation-support program could fill this gap and could work across the conservation community to identify large-scale conservation needs and support efforts to meet them. By providing important information-sharing and capacity-building services, such a program would advance collaborative conservation among the states and their partners, thus increasing both the effectiveness and the efficiency of conservation in the United States.

Costing and Budgeting for Preservation and Conservation in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Within the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (ESARBICA) region, little or no information is available on budgeting systems for archival institutions in the region to enhance preservation and conservation programs. Preservation and conservation requires both economic ...

Assessing the Habitat Suitability of Dam Reservoirs: A Quantitative Model and Case Study of the Hantan River Dam, South Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyeongsik Kang

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this study was to investigate ecologically healthy regions near a dam reservoir. This study developed a model for assessing habitat suitability as a proxy for the ecological value of reservoirs. Three main factors comprising nine assessment variables were selected and classified as having a habitat suitability (HS between 0 and 1: (1 geomorphic factors of altitude, slope steepness, and slope aspect; (2 vegetation factors of forest physiognomy, vegetation type, and tree age; and (3 ecological factors of land cover, ecological quality index, and environmental conservation value assessment. The spatial distribution of the nine HS indices was determined using geographic information systems and combined into one HS index value to determine ecologically healthy regions. The assessment model was applied to areas surrounding the Hantan River Dam, South Korea. To verify the model, wildlife location data from the national ecosystem survey of the Ministry of Environment were used. Areas with an HS index between 0.73 and 1 were found to contain 72% of observed wildlife locations. Ecologically healthy areas were identified by adding the indices of each variable. The methods shown here will be useful for establishing ecological restoration plans for dam reservoirs in South Korea.

Relative availability of natural prey versus livestock predicts landscape suitability for cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus in Botswana

Science.gov (United States)

Winterbach, Christiaan W.; Boast, Lorraine K.; Klein, Rebecca; Somers, Michael J.

2015-01-01

Prey availability and human-carnivore conflict are strong determinants that govern the spatial distribution and abundance of large carnivore species and determine the suitability of areas for their conservation. For wide-ranging large carnivores such as cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), additional conservation areas beyond protected area boundaries are crucial to effectively conserve them both inside and outside protected areas. Although cheetahs prefer preying on wild prey, they also cause conflict with people by predating on especially small livestock. We investigated whether the distribution of cheetahs’ preferred prey and small livestock biomass could be used to explore the potential suitability of agricultural areas in Botswana for the long-term persistence of its cheetah population. We found it gave a good point of departure for identifying priority areas for land management, the threat to connectivity between cheetah populations, and areas where the reduction and mitigation of human-cheetah conflict is critical. Our analysis showed the existence of a wide prey base for cheetahs across large parts of Botswana’s agricultural areas, which provide additional large areas with high conservation potential. Twenty percent of wild prey biomass appears to be the critical point to distinguish between high and low probable levels of human-cheetah conflict. We identified focal areas in the agricultural zones where restoring wild prey numbers in concurrence with effective human-cheetah conflict mitigation efforts are the most immediate conservation strategies needed to maintain Botswana’s still large and contiguous cheetah population. PMID:26213646

Relative availability of natural prey versus livestock predicts landscape suitability for cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus in Botswana.

Science.gov (United States)

Winterbach, Hanlie E K; Winterbach, Christiaan W; Boast, Lorraine K; Klein, Rebecca; Somers, Michael J

2015-01-01

Prey availability and human-carnivore conflict are strong determinants that govern the spatial distribution and abundance of large carnivore species and determine the suitability of areas for their conservation. For wide-ranging large carnivores such as cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), additional conservation areas beyond protected area boundaries are crucial to effectively conserve them both inside and outside protected areas. Although cheetahs prefer preying on wild prey, they also cause conflict with people by predating on especially small livestock. We investigated whether the distribution of cheetahs' preferred prey and small livestock biomass could be used to explore the potential suitability of agricultural areas in Botswana for the long-term persistence of its cheetah population. We found it gave a good point of departure for identifying priority areas for land management, the threat to connectivity between cheetah populations, and areas where the reduction and mitigation of human-cheetah conflict is critical. Our analysis showed the existence of a wide prey base for cheetahs across large parts of Botswana's agricultural areas, which provide additional large areas with high conservation potential. Twenty percent of wild prey biomass appears to be the critical point to distinguish between high and low probable levels of human-cheetah conflict. We identified focal areas in the agricultural zones where restoring wild prey numbers in concurrence with effective human-cheetah conflict mitigation efforts are the most immediate conservation strategies needed to maintain Botswana's still large and contiguous cheetah population.

Relative availability of natural prey versus livestock predicts landscape suitability for cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus in Botswana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanlie E.K. Winterbach

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Prey availability and human-carnivore conflict are strong determinants that govern the spatial distribution and abundance of large carnivore species and determine the suitability of areas for their conservation. For wide-ranging large carnivores such as cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus, additional conservation areas beyond protected area boundaries are crucial to effectively conserve them both inside and outside protected areas. Although cheetahs prefer preying on wild prey, they also cause conflict with people by predating on especially small livestock. We investigated whether the distribution of cheetahs’ preferred prey and small livestock biomass could be used to explore the potential suitability of agricultural areas in Botswana for the long-term persistence of its cheetah population. We found it gave a good point of departure for identifying priority areas for land management, the threat to connectivity between cheetah populations, and areas where the reduction and mitigation of human-cheetah conflict is critical. Our analysis showed the existence of a wide prey base for cheetahs across large parts of Botswana’s agricultural areas, which provide additional large areas with high conservation potential. Twenty percent of wild prey biomass appears to be the critical point to distinguish between high and low probable levels of human-cheetah conflict. We identified focal areas in the agricultural zones where restoring wild prey numbers in concurrence with effective human-cheetah conflict mitigation efforts are the most immediate conservation strategies needed to maintain Botswana’s still large and contiguous cheetah population.

Habitat Suitability analysis of Koklass (Pucrasia macrolopha) Pheasant in Churdhar Wildlife Sanctuary of Himachal Pradesh, India using Geospatial Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Eliza, K.; Sarma, K.

2014-12-01

Pheasants are at the brink of destruction due to degradation of forests, environmental pollution, climatic changes and extensive hunting of wild floras and faunas.The problem is more acute in the developing countries where wildlife and biodiversity conservation are often less prioritized due to more pressing demands of food security and poverty alleviation. Koklass Pheasant (Pucrasia macrolopha) species is distributed from Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east along the Himalayas to southeastern Tibet, western China and southeastern Mongolia.This species is grouped under endangered species in Red Data Book of Zoological Survey of India and also classified as least concern species according to IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.Conservation biologists and managers need a range of both classical analyses and specific modern tools to face the increasing threats to biodiversity. Among these tools, habitat-suitability modeling has recently emerged as a relevant technique to assess global impacts to define wide conservation priorities.The present study is carried out using remote sensing satellite imagery and GIS modeling technique for assessing habitat suitability of Koklass Pheasants and finding out the habitat factors influencing the Koklass distribution in Churdhar Wildlife Sanctuary, India. Effective management and conservation of wildlife populations and their habitats largely depend on our ability to understand and predict species-habitat interactions. Different thematic maps viz., land use/cover, forest types, drainage buffer, multiple ring buffers of sighting locations and multiple ring buffers of roads have been prepared to support the objective of the study. The Weighted Overlay Analysis model is used for identifying different potential areas of habitat for this endangered species. The most suitable area for Koklass Pheasant within the Wildlife Sanctuary is found to be about 23.8 percent of the total area which is due to favourable habitat conditions for the

Using maximum entropy to predict suitable habitat for the endangered dwarf wedgemussel in the Maryland Coastal Plain

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Cara; Hilderbrand, Robert H.

2017-01-01

Species distribution modelling can be useful for the conservation of rare and endangered species. Freshwater mussel declines have thinned species ranges producing spatially fragmented distributions across large areas. Spatial fragmentation in combination with a complex life history and heterogeneous environment makes predictive modelling difficult.A machine learning approach (maximum entropy) was used to model occurrences and suitable habitat for the federally endangered dwarf wedgemussel, Alasmidonta heterodon, in Maryland's Coastal Plain catchments. Landscape-scale predictors (e.g. land cover, land use, soil characteristics, geology, flow characteristics, and climate) were used to predict the suitability of individual stream segments for A. heterodon.The best model contained variables at three scales: minimum elevation (segment scale), percentage Tertiary deposits, low intensity development, and woody wetlands (sub-catchment), and percentage low intensity development, pasture/hay agriculture, and average depth to the water table (catchment). Despite a very small sample size owing to the rarity of A. heterodon, cross-validated prediction accuracy was 91%.Most predicted suitable segments occur in catchments not known to contain A. heterodon, which provides opportunities for new discoveries or population restoration. These model predictions can guide surveys toward the streams with the best chance of containing the species or, alternatively, away from those streams with little chance of containing A. heterodon.Developed reaches had low predicted suitability for A. heterodon in the Coastal Plain. Urban and exurban sprawl continues to modify stream ecosystems in the region, underscoring the need to preserve existing populations and to discover and protect new populations.

Use of inverse spatial conservation prioritization to avoid biological diversity loss outside protected areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Kareksela, Santtu; Moilanen, Atte; Tuominen, Seppo; Kotiaho, Janne S

2013-12-01

Globally expanding human land use sets constantly increasing pressure for maintenance of biological diversity and functioning ecosystems. To fight the decline of biological diversity, conservation science has broken ground with methods such as the operational model of systematic conservation planning (SCP), which focuses on design and on-the-ground implementation of conservation areas. The most commonly used method in SCP is reserve selection that focuses on the spatial design of reserve networks and their expansion. We expanded these methods by introducing another form of spatial allocation of conservation effort relevant for land-use zoning at the landscape scale that avoids negative ecological effects of human land use outside protected areas. We call our method inverse spatial conservation prioritization. It can be used to identify areas suitable for economic development while simultaneously limiting total ecological and environmental effects of that development at the landscape level by identifying areas with highest economic but lowest ecological value. Our method is not based on a priori targets, and as such it is applicable to cases where the effects of land use on, for example, individual species or ecosystem types are relatively small and would not lead to violation of regional or national conservation targets. We applied our method to land-use allocation to peat mining. Our method identified a combination of profitable production areas that provides the needed area for peat production while retaining most of the landscape-level ecological value of the ecosystem. The results of this inverse spatial conservation prioritization are being used in land-use zoning in the province of Central Finland. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Identifying designatable units for intraspecific conservation prioritization: a hierarchical approach applied to the lake whitefish species complex (Coregonus spp.).

Science.gov (United States)

Mee, Jonathan A; Bernatchez, Louis; Reist, Jim D; Rogers, Sean M; Taylor, Eric B

2015-06-01

The concept of the designatable unit (DU) affords a practical approach to identifying diversity below the species level for conservation prioritization. However, its suitability for defining conservation units in ecologically diverse, geographically widespread and taxonomically challenging species complexes has not been broadly evaluated. The lake whitefish species complex (Coregonus spp.) is geographically widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, and it contains a great deal of variability in ecology and evolutionary legacy within and among populations, as well as a great deal of taxonomic ambiguity. Here, we employ a set of hierarchical criteria to identify DUs within the Canadian distribution of the lake whitefish species complex. We identified 36 DUs based on (i) reproductive isolation, (ii) phylogeographic groupings, (iii) local adaptation and (iv) biogeographic regions. The identification of DUs is required for clear discussion regarding the conservation prioritization of lake whitefish populations. We suggest conservation priorities among lake whitefish DUs based on biological consequences of extinction, risk of extinction and distinctiveness. Our results exemplify the need for extensive genetic and biogeographic analyses for any species with broad geographic distributions and the need for detailed evaluation of evolutionary history and adaptive ecological divergence when defining intraspecific conservation units.

Salvage treatment for local or local-regional recurrence after initial breast conservation treatment with radiation for ductal carcinoma in situ

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Solin, Lawrence J.; Fourquet, Alain; Vicini, Frank A.; Taylor, Marie; Haffty, Bruce; Strom, Eric A.; Wai, Elaine; Pierce, Lori J.; Marks, Lawrence B.; Bartelink, Harry; Campana, Francois; McNeese, Marsha D.; Jhingran, Anuja; Olivotto, Ivo A.; Bijker, Nina; Hwang, Wei-Ting

2005-01-01

The present study evaluated the outcome of salvage treatment for women with local or local-regional recurrence after initial breast conservation treatment with radiation for mammographically detected ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS; intraductal carcinoma) of the breast. The study cohort consisted of

A national geographic framework for guiding conservation on a landscape scale

Science.gov (United States)

Millard, Michael J.; Czarnecki, Craig A.; Morton, John M.; Brandt, Laura A.; Briggs, Jennifer S.; Shipley, Frank S.; Sayre, Roger G.; Sponholtz, Pamela J.; Perkins, David; Simpkins, Darin G.; Taylor, Janith

2012-01-01

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with the global conservation community, has recognized that the conservation challenges of the 21st century far exceed the responsibilities and footprint of any individual agency or program. The ecological effects of climate change and other anthropogenic stressors do not recognize geopolitical boundaries and, as such, demand a national geographic framework to provide structure for cross-jurisdictional and landscape-scale conservation strategies. In 2009, a new map of ecologically based conservation regions in which to organize capacity and implement strategic habitat conservation was developed using rapid prototyping and expert elicitation by an interagency team of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey scientists and conservation professionals. Incorporating Bird Conservation Regions, Freshwater Ecoregions, and U.S. Geological Survey hydrologic unit codes, the new geographic framework provides a spatial template for building conservation capacity and focusing biological planning and conservation design efforts. The Department of Interior's Landscape Conservation Cooperatives are being organized in these new conservation regions as multi-stakeholder collaborations for improved conservation science and management.

Effects of Long-term Conservation Tillage on Soil Nutrients in Sloping Fields in Regions Characterized by Water and Wind Erosion

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Chunjian; Cao, Xue; Yuan, Shuai; Wang, Weiyu; Feng, Yongzhong; Qiao, Bo

2015-12-01

Conservation tillage is commonly used in regions affected by water and wind erosion. To understand the effects of conservation tillage on soil nutrients and yield, a long-term experiment was set up in a region affected by water and wind erosion on the Loess Plateau. The treatments used were traditional tillage (CK), no tillage (NT), straw mulching (SM), plastic-film mulching (PM), ridging and plastic-film mulching (RPM) and intercropping (In). Our results demonstrate that the available nutrients in soils subjected to non-traditional tillage treatments decreased during the first several years and then remained stable over the last several years of the experiment. The soil organic matter and total nitrogen content increased gradually over 6 years in all treatments except CK. The nutrient content of soils subjected to conservative tillage methods, such as NT and SM, were significantly higher than those in soils under the CK treatment. Straw mulching and film mulching effectively reduced an observed decrease in soybean yield. Over the final 6 years of the experiment, soybean yields followed the trend RPM > PM > SM > NT > CK > In. This trend has implications for controlling soil erosion and preventing non-point source pollution in sloping fields by sacrificing some food production.

Smart spatial incentives for market-based conservation

OpenAIRE

Hartig, Florian; Drechsler, Martin

2008-01-01

Market-based instruments such as payments, auctions or tradable permits have been proposed as flexible and cost-effective instruments for biodiversity conservation on private lands. Trading the service of conservation requires one to define a metric that determines the extent to which a conserved site adds to the regional conservation objective. Yet, while markets for conservation are widely discussed and increasingly applied, little research has been conducted on explicitly accounting for sp...

Global mapping of ecosystem services and conservation priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Naidoo, R.; Balmford, A.; Costanza, R.; Fisher, B.; Green, R. E.; Lehner, B.; Malcolm, T. R.; Ricketts, T. H.

2008-01-01

Global efforts to conserve biodiversity have the potential to deliver economic benefits to people (i.e., “ecosystem services”). However, regions for which conservation benefits both biodiversity and ecosystem services cannot be identified unless ecosystem services can be quantified and valued and their areas of production mapped. Here we review the theory, data, and analyses needed to produce such maps and find that data availability allows us to quantify imperfect global proxies for only four ecosystem services. Using this incomplete set as an illustration, we compare ecosystem service maps with the global distributions of conventional targets for biodiversity conservation. Our preliminary results show that regions selected to maximize biodiversity provide no more ecosystem services than regions chosen randomly. Furthermore, spatial concordance among different services, and between ecosystem services and established conservation priorities, varies widely. Despite this lack of general concordance, “win–win” areas—regions important for both ecosystem services and biodiversity—can be usefully identified, both among ecoregions and at finer scales within them. An ambitious interdisciplinary research effort is needed to move beyond these preliminary and illustrative analyses to fully assess synergies and trade-offs in conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services. PMID:18621701

Modeling the impact of future development and public conservation orientation on landscape connectivity for conservation planning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lechner, Alex Mark; Brown, Greg; Raymond, Christopher Mark

2015-01-01

aspects of conservation planning. Objectives We present an approach for characterizing the potential effects of public conservation orientation and projected future development land use scenarios on landscape connectivity. Methods Using public participation GIS techniques (mail-based surveys linked...... to a mapping component), we classified spatially explicit conservation values and preferences into a conservation orientation index consisting of positive, negative, or neutral scores. Connectivity was then modeled using a least-cost path and graph-network approach for a range of conservation orientation...... and development scenarios in the Lower Hunter region, Australia. Scenarios were modelled through either adding vegetation (positive orientation) or removing vegetation (negative orientation, development). Results Scenarios that included positive conservation orientation link the isolated eastern and western...

Predicted deep-sea coral habitat suitability for the U.S. West coast.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John M Guinotte

Full Text Available Regional scale habitat suitability models provide finer scale resolution and more focused predictions of where organisms may occur. Previous modelling approaches have focused primarily on local and/or global scales, while regional scale models have been relatively few. In this study, regional scale predictive habitat models are presented for deep-sea corals for the U.S. West Coast (California, Oregon and Washington. Model results are intended to aid in future research or mapping efforts and to assess potential coral habitat suitability both within and outside existing bottom trawl closures (i.e. Essential Fish Habitat (EFH and identify suitable habitat within U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries (NMS. Deep-sea coral habitat suitability was modelled at 500 m×500 m spatial resolution using a range of physical, chemical and environmental variables known or thought to influence the distribution of deep-sea corals. Using a spatial partitioning cross-validation approach, maximum entropy models identified slope, temperature, salinity and depth as important predictors for most deep-sea coral taxa. Large areas of highly suitable deep-sea coral habitat were predicted both within and outside of existing bottom trawl closures and NMS boundaries. Predicted habitat suitability over regional scales are not currently able to identify coral areas with pin point accuracy and probably overpredict actual coral distribution due to model limitations and unincorporated variables (i.e. data on distribution of hard substrate that are known to limit their distribution. Predicted habitat results should be used in conjunction with multibeam bathymetry, geological mapping and other tools to guide future research efforts to areas with the highest probability of harboring deep-sea corals. Field validation of predicted habitat is needed to quantify model accuracy, particularly in areas that have not been sampled.

Distribución potencial del jaguar Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae en Guerrero, México: persistencia de zonas para su conservación Potential distribution of jaguar, Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae in Guerrero, Mexico: per- sistence of areas for its conservation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angela P. Cuervo-Robayo

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Studies about the permanence of natural protected areas are important, because they contribute to the promotion of the conservation target and to optimize economical and human resources of specific areas. Although there are no natural protected areas in Guerrero, it has suitable habitat for the jaguar, a common species used for planning and management of conservation areas. Since, there is actual evidence that environmental and anthropogenic variables may modify vertebrate species distribution with time, in this study we predicted the potential distribution of Panthera onca using MaxEnt for this Southeastern region. In addition, we made a projection considering the effect of a moderate climate change scenario, to evaluate the stability of the conservation area for a period of 24 years. Furthermore, we applied three threat scenarios for the actual prediction to define conservation priorities areas. In our results, we have found that 18 361Km2 (29% of this state has a permanent suitable habitat for jaguar conservation in the Sierra Madre del Sur and Pacific coast, with a possible loss of 2 000km2 in 24 years. This habitat is characterized by a 56% of temperate forest (mainly conifers and hardwoods 34%, and 35% of tropical deciduous forest. With the projections, the Southeastern region resulted with the higher anthropogenic impacts, while at the same time, an area of 7 900km2 in the Central-Western state was determined as a priority for conservation. To assure jaguar conservation, we propose the inclusion of this new conservation area, which is located in the Sierra Madre del Sur, with which we may potentially preserve other 250 species of threatened vertebrates. This way, the suggested habitat conservation may represent a local effort in Guerrero and will strengthen the biological corridor network for P. onca protection in Latin America.

Optimum design of seat region in valves suitable for digital displacement machines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roemer, Daniel Beck; Johansen, Per; Pedersen, Henrik C.

2014-01-01

Digital displacement fluid power is an upcoming technology setting new standards for the achievable efficiency in variable displacement fluid power pumps and motors. In the present work, an annular seat valve suitable for use in digital displacement units is considered, and the valve geometry...

Energy conservation behavioural intention: attitudes, subjective norm and self-efficacy

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, J. W. C.; Tanusia, A.

2016-08-01

This paper examines the influence of attitude towards energy conservation at home, the attitude in the campus, subjective norm, and self-efficacy on energy conservation behavioural intention among students in a private university using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Data was collected from about 194 students using a questionnaire developed from current literature on TPB. Data analysis using Smart PLS version 3.2.4 found that attitude towards energy conservation at home has an indirect significant influence on attitude towards energy conservation behavioural intention via the mediating effect of attitude towards energy conservation in the campus. Self-efficacy and subjective norm are also positively related to energy conservation intention. The study also indicates the suitability of the TPB in predicting behavioural intention through attitudes, subjective norms, and self-efficacy. Results suggest that energy education is vital in creating a positive attitude towards energy conservation while facilities managers in institutions need to formulate appropriate policies and regulations to inculcate the right attitude and behaviour towards energy saving.

Strategies for conservation of endangered ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ashraf, M.; Hussain, M.; Ahmad, M.S.A.

2012-01-01

The planet Earth is known to host a rich biodiversity owing to its suitable environmental conditions for life and at a larger scale it is regarded as a major ecosystem. Healthy existence of living organisms in this ecosystem depends on proper functioning of all the associated environmental factors. Since millennia, living organisms have adapted to thrive under a limited range of environmental conditions. Nevertheless previous history of the earth and fossil records indicates that the biodiversity housed by the planet earth has experienced five major catastrophic extinctions due to change in physical environment. Even currently, it is undergoing sixth major extinction event mainly due to anthropogenic activities. The human activities are proving a dual menace for biodiversity. On the one hand, it is causing habitat loss through intensive deforestation, conversion of different natural plant communities for agriculture, and urbanization and industrialization. Moreover, it is resulting in habitat degradation by polluting both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, emitting air pollutants resulting in acid rains, ozone layer depletion, global warming, heavy metal contamination and eutrophication of water bodies. As a result, healthy existence of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and their associated biodiversity is altogether threatened. Worldwide efforts are underway to conserve the threatened ecosystems and their related biodiversity. A number of international conventions have been held to conserve natural ecosystems. Pakistan being a signatory of these conventions has its obligation to join hands with international community to conserve the endangered ecosystems within as well as outside its bounds. Under the existing scenario the objective of organizing this symposium was to pinpoint the threats to endangered ecosystems of the world in general and those in Pakistan in particular, and to develop suitable strategies for conservation of such paralyzed ecosystems

Conservation challenges for the Austral and Neotropical America section.

Science.gov (United States)

Ceballos, Gerardo; Vale, Mariana M; Bonacic, Cristian; Calvo-Alvarado, Julio; List, Rurik; Bynum, Nora; Medellín, Rodrigo A; Simonetti, Javier A; Rodríguez, Jon Paul

2009-08-01

The Austral and Neotropical America (ANA) section of the Society for Conservation Biology includes a vast territory with some of the largest relatively pristine ecosystems in the world. With more than 573 million people, the economic growth of the region still depends strongly on natural resource exploitation and still has high rates of environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. A survey among the ANA section membership, with more than 700 members, including most of the section's prominent ecologists and conservationists, indicates that lack of capacity building for conservation, corruption, and threats such as deforestation and illegal trade of species, are among the most urgent problems that need to be addressed to improve conservation in the region. There are, however, strong universities and ecology groups taking the lead in environmental research and conservation, a most important issue to enhance the ability of the region to solve conservation and development conflicts.

Fine-resolution conservation planning with limited climate-change information.

Science.gov (United States)

Shah, Payal; Mallory, Mindy L; Ando, Amy W; Guntenspergen, Glenn R

2017-04-01

Climate-change induced uncertainties in future spatial patterns of conservation-related outcomes make it difficult to implement standard conservation-planning paradigms. A recent study translates Markowitz's risk-diversification strategy from finance to conservation settings, enabling conservation agents to use this diversification strategy for allocating conservation and restoration investments across space to minimize the risk associated with such uncertainty. However, this method is information intensive and requires a large number of forecasts of ecological outcomes associated with possible climate-change scenarios for carrying out fine-resolution conservation planning. We developed a technique for iterative, spatial portfolio analysis that can be used to allocate scarce conservation resources across a desired level of subregions in a planning landscape in the absence of a sufficient number of ecological forecasts. We applied our technique to the Prairie Pothole Region in central North America. A lack of sufficient future climate information prevented attainment of the most efficient risk-return conservation outcomes in the Prairie Pothole Region. The difference in expected conservation returns between conservation planning with limited climate-change information and full climate-change information was as large as 30% for the Prairie Pothole Region even when the most efficient iterative approach was used. However, our iterative approach allowed finer resolution portfolio allocation with limited climate-change forecasts such that the best possible risk-return combinations were obtained. With our most efficient iterative approach, the expected loss in conservation outcomes owing to limited climate-change information could be reduced by 17% relative to other iterative approaches. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Conserving and managing the subnivium.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuckerberg, Benjamin; Pauli, Jonathan N

2018-02-08

In regions where snowfall historically has been a defining seasonal characteristic of the landscape, warming winters have reduced the depth, duration, and extent of snowpack. However, most management and conservation has focused on how aboveground wildlife will be affected by altered snow conditions, even though the majority of species that persist through the winter do so under the snowpack in a thermally stable refugium: the subnivium. Shortened winters, forest management practices, and winter recreation can alter subnivium conditions by increasing snow compaction and compromising thermal stability at the soil-snow interface. To help slow the loss of the subnivium in the face of rapidly changing winter conditions, we suggest managers adopt regional conservation plans for identifying threatened snow-covered environments; measure and predict the effects land cover and habitat management has on local subnivium conditions; and control the timing and distribution of activities that disturb and compact snow cover (e.g., silvicultural practices, snow recreation, and road and trail maintenance). As a case study, we developed a spatially explicit model of subnivium presence in a working landscape of the Chequamegon National Forest, Wisconsin. We identified landscapes where winter recreation and management practices could threaten potentially important areas for subnivium persistence. Similar modeling approaches could inform management decisions related to subnivium conservation. Current climate projections predict that snow seasons will change rapidly in many regions, and as result, we advocate for the immediate recognition, conservation, and management of the subnivium and its dependent species. © 2018 Society for Conservation Biology.

Habitat evaluation of wild Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) and conservation priority setting in north-eastern China.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiaofeng, Luan; Yi, Qu; Diqiang, Li; Shirong, Liu; Xiulei, Wang; Bo, Wu; Chunquan, Zhu

2011-01-01

The Amur Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is one of the world's most endangered species. Recently, habitat fragmentation, food scarcity and human hunting have drastically reduced the population size and distribution areas of Amur tigers in the wild, leaving them on the verge of extinction. Presently, they are only found in the north-eastern part of China. In this study, we developed a reference framework using methods and technologies of analytic hierarchy process (AHP), remote sensing (RS), geographic information system (GIS), GAP analysis and Natural Break (Jenks) classification to evaluate the habitat and to set the conservation priorities for Amur tigers in eastern areas of Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces of northeast China. We proposed a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) incorporating 7 factors covering natural conditions and human disturbance. Based on the HSI values, the suitability was classified into five levels from the most to not suitable. Finally, according to results of GAP analysis, we identified six conservation priorities and designed a conservation landscape incorporating four new nature reserves, enlarging two existing ones, and creating four linkages for Amur tigers in northeast China. The case study showed that the core habitats (the most suitable and highly suitable habitats) identified for Amur tigers covered 35,547 km(2), accounting for approximately 26.71% of the total study area (1,33,093 km(2)). However, existing nature reserves protected only (7124 km(2) or) 20.04% of the identified core habitats. Thus, enlargement of current reserves is necessary and urgent for the tiger's conservation and restoration. Moreover, the establishment of wildlife corridors linking core habitats will provide an efficient reserve network for tiger conservation to maintain the evolutionary potential of Amur tigers facing environmental changes. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

78 FR 25093 - Multistate Conservation Grant Program; Priority List and Approval for Conservation Projects

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-29

... nongovernmental organizations that represent conservation organizations, sportsmen's and women's organizations... Regionally- coordinated Science and Collaboration. 9......... Compilation of Reservoir Habitat Arkansas Game...

Plant Communities Suitable for Green Roofs in Arid Regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel Gioannini

2018-05-01

, and root-to-shoot dry weight ratio (0.45 than native Euphorbia. At the end of year 2, the relative growth rate (RGR of native Euphorbia of 0.15 g·g−1·d−1 was greater than that of Sedum. While the native succulent had a smaller root biomass, its greater RWC and RGR would indicate it had better plant water status and grew faster than the non-native. The lack of differences in plant performance regardless of assignment to monoculture or community would imply that communities and monocultures are equally suitable for arid region green roofs.

Suitable reference tissues for quantitative susceptibility mapping of the brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Straub, Sina; Schneider, Till M; Emmerich, Julian; Freitag, Martin T; Ziener, Christian H; Schlemmer, Heinz-Peter; Ladd, Mark E; Laun, Frederik B

2017-07-01

Since quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) quantifies magnetic susceptibility relative to a reference value, a suitable reference tissue has to be available to compare different subjects and stages of disease. To find such a suitable reference tissue for QSM of the brain, melanoma patients with and without brain metastases were measured. Twelve reference regions were chosen and assessed for stability of susceptibility values with respect to multiple intra-individual and inter-individual measurements, age, and stage of disease. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the internal capsule and one region in the splenium of the corpus callosum are the regions with the smallest standard deviations of the mean susceptibility value. The mean susceptibility is 0.010 ± 0.014 ppm for CSF in the atrium of the lateral ventricles (csf post ), -0.060 ± 0.019 ppm for the posterior limb of the internal capsule (ci2), and -0.008 ± 0.019 ppm for the splenium of the corpus callosum. csf post and ci2 show nearly no dependence on age or stage of disease, whereas some other regions, e.g., the red nucleus, show moderate dependence on age or disease. The internal capsule and CSF appear to be the most suitable reference regions for QSM of the brain in the melanoma patients studied. Both showed virtually no dependence on age or disease and small variations among patients. Magn Reson Med 78:204-214, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

A new method for detecting signal regions in ordered sequences of real numbers, and application to viral genomic data.

Science.gov (United States)

Gog, Julia R; Lever, Andrew M L; Skittrall, Jordan P

2018-01-01

We present a fast, robust and parsimonious approach to detecting signals in an ordered sequence of numbers. Our motivation is in seeking a suitable method to take a sequence of scores corresponding to properties of positions in virus genomes, and find outlying regions of low scores. Suitable statistical methods without using complex models or making many assumptions are surprisingly lacking. We resolve this by developing a method that detects regions of low score within sequences of real numbers. The method makes no assumptions a priori about the length of such a region; it gives the explicit location of the region and scores it statistically. It does not use detailed mechanistic models so the method is fast and will be useful in a wide range of applications. We present our approach in detail, and test it on simulated sequences. We show that it is robust to a wide range of signal morphologies, and that it is able to capture multiple signals in the same sequence. Finally we apply it to viral genomic data to identify regions of evolutionary conservation within influenza and rotavirus.

Conserved peptides within the E2 region of Hepatitis C virus induce humoral and cellular responses in goats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

El Shenawy Reem

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract The reason(s why human antibodies raised against hepatitis C virus (HCV E2 epitopes do not offer protection against multiple viral infections may be related to either genetic variations among viral strains particularly within the hypervariable region-1 (HVR-1, low titers of anti E2 antibodies or interference of non neutralizing antibodies with the function of neutralizing antibodies. This study was designed to assess the immunogenic properties of genetically conserved peptides derived from the C-terminal region of HVR-1 as potential therapeutic and/or prophylactic vaccines against HCV infection. Goats immunized with E2-conserved synthetic peptides termed p36 (a.a 430–446, p37(a.a 517–531 and p38 (a.a 412–419 generated high titers of anti-p36, anti-p37 and anti-P38 antibody responses of which only anti- p37 and anti- p38 were neutralizing to HCV particles in sera from patients infected predominantly with genotype 4a. On the other hand anti-p36 exhibited weak viral neutralization capacity on the same samples. Animals super-immunized with single epitopes generated 2 to 4.5 fold higher titers than similar antibodies produced in chronic HCV patients. Also the studied peptides elicited approximately 3 fold increase in cell proliferation of specific antibody-secreting peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC from immunized goats. These results indicate that, besides E1 derived peptide p35 (a.a 315–323 described previously by this laboratory, E2 conserved peptides p37 and p38 represent essential components of a candidate peptide vaccine against HCV infection.

The origin, current diversity and future conservation of the modern lion (Panthera leo)

Science.gov (United States)

Barnett, Ross; Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki; Barnes, Ian; Cooper, Alan

2006-01-01

Understanding the phylogeographic processes affecting endangered species is crucial both to interpreting their evolutionary history and to the establishment of conservation strategies. Lions provide a key opportunity to explore such processes; however, a lack of genetic diversity and shortage of suitable samples has until now hindered such investigation. We used mitochondrial control region DNA (mtDNA) sequences to investigate the phylogeographic history of modern lions, using samples from across their entire range. We find the sub-Saharan African lions are basal among modern lions, supporting a single African origin model of modern lion evolution, equivalent to the ‘recent African origin’ model of modern human evolution. We also find the greatest variety of mtDNA haplotypes in the centre of Africa, which may be due to the distribution of physical barriers and continental-scale habitat changes caused by Pleistocene glacial oscillations. Our results suggest that the modern lion may currently consist of three geographic populations on the basis of their recent evolutionary history: North African–Asian, southern African and middle African. Future conservation strategies should take these evolutionary subdivisions into consideration. PMID:16901830

Water conservation in semiarid dryland agriculture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Willis, W.O.

1980-01-01

Factors affecting water conservation in semiarid dryland regions are discussed. Because precipitation is the only source of water for plant growth in most semiarid regions, a good understanding of precipitation patterns (quantity, distribution, and their probable frequency) is needed for each dryland area. The various dryland practices, e.g. tillage, cultivars, residue management, fertility, erosion control, and grazing, must be considered as integral parts of an entire system to develop best management practices and to gain most efficient water conservation for food and fiber production. (author)

Developing user-friendly habitat suitability tools from regional stream fish survey data

Science.gov (United States)

Zorn, T.G.; Seelbach, P.; Wiley, M.J.

2011-01-01

We developed user-friendly fish habitat suitability tools (plots) for fishery managers in Michigan; these tools are based on driving habitat variables and fish population estimates for several hundred stream sites throughout the state. We generated contour plots to show patterns in fish biomass for over 60 common species (and for 120 species grouped at the family level) in relation to axes of catchment area and low-flow yield (90% exceedance flow divided by catchment area) and also in relation to axes of mean and weekly range of July temperatures. The plots showed distinct patterns in fish habitat suitability at each level of biological organization studied and were useful for quantitatively comparing river sites. We demonstrate how these plots can be used to support stream management, and we provide examples pertaining to resource assessment, trout stocking, angling regulations, chemical reclamation of marginal trout streams, indicator species, instream flow protection, and habitat restoration. These straightforward and effective tools are electronically available so that managers can easily access and incorporate them into decision protocols and presentations.

Ranching and conservation in the Santa Cruz River Region, Sonora: Milpillas Case Study (Ganaderia y Conservacion en la Region del Rio Santa Cruz, Sonora: El Caso del Grupo Milpillas)

Science.gov (United States)

Joaquin Murrieta-Saldivar

2006-01-01

The Sonoran Institute (SI) is a non-profit organization working with people toward common conservation goals. Two objectives guide the work of the Sonoran Institute in the Santa Cruz River Region in Sonora, Mexico: to establish projects with community participation that can result in tangible and long-lasting benefits to the environment, and to ensure success by...

Assessment of Climate Suitability of Maize in South Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Hyun, S.; Choi, D.; Seo, B.

2017-12-01

Assessing suitable areas for crops would be useful to design alternate cropping systems as an adaptation option to climate change adaptation. Although suitable areas could be identified by using a crop growth model, it would require a number of input parameters including cultivar and soil. Instead, a simple climate suitability model, e.g., EcoCrop model, could be used for an assessment of climate suitability for a major grain crop. The objective of this study was to assess of climate suitability for maize using the EcoCrop model under climate change conditions in Korea. A long term climate data from 2000 - 2100 were compiled from weather data source. The EcoCrop model implemented in R was used to determine climate suitability index at each grid cell. Overall, the EcoCrop model tended to identify suitable areas for maize production near the coastal areas whereas the actual major production areas located in inland areas. It is likely that the discrepancy between assessed and actual crop production areas would result from the socioeconomic aspects of maize production. Because the price of maize is considerably low, maize has been grown in an area where moisture and temperature conditions would be less than optimum. In part, a simple algorithm to predict climate suitability for maize would caused a relatively large error in climate suitability assessment under the present climate conditions. In 2050s, the climate suitability for maize increased in a large areas in southern and western part of Korea. In particular, the plain areas near the coastal region had considerably greater suitability index in the future compared with mountainous areas. The expansion of suitable areas for maize would help crop production policy making such as the allocation of rice production area for other crops due to considerably less demand for the rice in Korea.

Conservation Below The Species Level: Suitable Evolutionarily Significant Units Among Mountain Vipers (The Montivipera Raddei Complex) in Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Behrooz, Roozbeh; Kaboli, Mohammad; Arnal, Véronique; Nazarizadeh, Masoud; Asadi, Atefeh; Salmanian, Amin; Ahmadi, Mohsen; Montgelard, Claudine

2018-02-01

Northern and western mountains of Iran are among the most important biodiversity and endemism hot spots for reptiles in the Middle East. Among herpetofauna, the montivipers represent an emblematic and fragmented endemic group for which estimating their level of genetic differentiation and defining conservation priorities is urgently needed. Here, we present the most comprehensive phylogenetic study on the Montivipera raddei species group comprising all five known taxa, among which three are endemic to Iran. Based on two mitochondrial genes, phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses revealed three major lineages each presenting very contrasting distribution area. The Iranian montivipers are highly structured in clades showing low genetic diversity and corresponding to high altitude summits. Molecular dating revealed the role of Quaternary paleo-climatic oscillations and altitudinal movements of montivipers in shaping genetic diversity and differentiation of these sky-island taxa. In addition, the best scenario of historical biogeography allowed identifying three possible refugial areas in Iran most likely arising by vicariance. Based on our mitochondrial results and pending additional data, we recognize three candidate species among the Montivipera raddei complex: M. raddei, M.latifii and M. kuhrangica that are coherent with their geographical distribution. We propose that the most appropriate Evolutionary Significant Units for conservation of the montivipers are represented by thirteen units among which six are recognized as high priority. Finally, we suggest some recommendations to the IUCN as well as to the Iranian conservation policies with respect to conservation prioritization. © The American Genetic Association 2018. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Molecular studies of Callithrix pygmaea (Primates, Platyrrhini based on transferrin intronic and ND1 regions: implications for taxonomy and conservation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tagliaro Claudia Helena

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Traditional classifications of Platyrrhini monkeys, based mainly on morphological features, are being contested by recent molecular data. The subfamily Callitrichinae (Platyrrhini, Primates consists of a diverse group of species, many of them considered endangered. Our analysis of two DNA regions, a mtDNA gene (ND1 and a nuclear gene (intronic regions of the transferrin gene, suggests that Callithrix pygmaea may have sufficient variability to justify the existence of subspecies or even separate species. Phylogenetic dendrograms based on the ND1 region show that this species is more closely related to Amazonian than to Atlantic forest marmosets. These results reopen the discussion about diversity and conservation programs based exclusively on traditional classifications.

A GIS model of habitat suitability for Solanum conocarpum (Solanaceae) in St. John, US Virgin Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Palumbo, Matthew D.; Fleming, Jonathan P.; Monsegur, Omar A.; Vilella, Francisco

2016-01-01

Solanum conocarpum (Solanaceae) (Marron Bacora) is a rare, dry-forest shrub endemic to the island of St. John, US Virgin Islands, considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Given its status as a species of conservation concern, we incorporated environmental characteristics of 3 observed populations and 5 additional known locations into a geographic information system (GIS) analysis to create a habitat-suitability model for the species on the island of St. John. Our model identified 1929.87 ha of highly suitable and moderately suitable habitat. Of these, 1161.20 ha (60.2%) occurred within the boundaries of Virgin Islands National Park. Our model provides spatial information on potential locations for future surveys and restoration sites for this endemic species of the US Virgin Islands.

Diversity and distribution of aquatic insects in Southern Brazil wetlands: implications for biodiversity conservation in a Neotropical region

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Leonardo Maltchik

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The selection of priority areas is an enormous challenge for biodiversity conservation. Some biogeographic methods have been used to identify the priority areas to conservation, and panbiogeography is one of them. This study aimed at the utilization of panbiogeographic tools, to identify the distribution patterns of aquatic insect genera, in wetland systems of an extensive area in the Neotropical region (~280 000km², and to compare the distribution of the biogeographic units identified by the aquatic insects, with the conservation units of Southern Brazil. We analyzed the distribution pattern of 82 genera distributed in four orders of aquatic insects (Diptera, Odonata, Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera in Southern Brazil wetlands. Therefore, 32 biogeographic nodes corresponded to the priority areas for conservation of the aquatic insect diversity. Among this total, 13 were located in the Atlantic Rainforest, 16 in the Pampa and three amongst both biomes. The distribution of nodes showed that only 15% of the dispersion centers of insects were inserted in conservation units. The four priority areas pointed by node cluster criterion must be considered in further inclusions of areas for biodiversity conservation in Southern Brazil wetlands, since such areas present species from differrent ancestral biota. The inclusion of such areas into the conservation units would be a strong way to conserve the aquatic biodiversity in this region.La selección de áreas prioritarias es un enorme desafío para la conservación de la biodiversidad. Métodos biogeográficos se han utilizado para identificar áreas prioritarias para la conservación, como la panbiogeografía. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo el empleo de herramientas panbiogeográficas, para identificar los patrones de distribución de los géneros de insectos acuáticos, en los sistemas de humedales de una extensa área de la región Neotropical (~280 000km², y así comparar la distribución de las

Current conserving theory at the operator level

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Yuan, Jiangtao; Wang, Yin; Wang, Jian

The basic assumption of quantum transport in mesoscopic systems is that the total charge inside the scattering region is zero. This means that the potential deep inside reservoirs is effectively screened and therefore the electric field at interface of scattering region is zero. Thus the current conservation condition can be satisfied automatically which is an important condition in mesoscopic transport. So far the current conserving ac theory is well developed by considering the displacement current which is due to Coulomb interaction if we just focus on the average current. However, the frequency dependent shot noise does not satisfy the conservation condition since we do not consider the current conservation at the operator level. In this work, we formulate a generalized current conserving theory at the operator level using non-equilibrium Green's function theory which could be applied to both average current and frequency dependent shot noise. A displacement operator is derived for the first time so that the frequency dependent correlation of displacement currents could be investigated. Moreover, the equilibrium shot noise is investigated and a generalized fluctuation-dissipation relationship is presented.

Possible conservation units of the sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) in Sarawak based on variation of mtDNA control region.

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Onuma, Manabu; Suzuki, Masatsugu; Ohtaishi, Noriyuki

2006-11-01

The mitochondrial DNA control region of the sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) was sequenced using 21 DNA samples collected from confiscated sun bears to identify conservation units, such as evolutionarily significant units and management units, in Sarawak, Borneo Island. A total of 10 haplotypes were observed, indicating the presence of at least two lineages in the sun bear population in Sarawak. Presumably, these two lineages could represent evolutionarily significant units. However, the geographical distributions of the two lineages remained unknown due to the lack of information regarding the exact capture locations of the confiscated sun bears. It is essential to elucidate the geographical distributions of these lineages in order to create a proper conservation plan for the sun bears in Sarawak. Therefore, further studies examining the haplotype distributions using DNA samples from known localities are essential.

Assessment of Managed Aquifer Recharge Site Suitability Using a GIS and Modeling.

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Russo, Tess A; Fisher, Andrew T; Lockwood, Brian S

2015-01-01

We completed a two-step regional analysis of a coastal groundwater basin to (1) assess regional suitability for managed aquifer recharge (MAR), and (2) quantify the relative impact of MAR activities on groundwater levels and sea water intrusion. The first step comprised an analysis of surface and subsurface hydrologic properties and conditions, using a geographic information system (GIS). Surface and subsurface data coverages were compiled, georeferenced, reclassified, and integrated (including novel approaches for combining related datasets) to derive a spatial distribution of MAR suitability values. In the second step, results from the GIS analysis were used with a regional groundwater model to assess the hydrologic impact of potential MAR placement and operating scenarios. For the region evaluated in this study, the Pajaro Valley Groundwater Basin, California, GIS results suggest that about 7% (15 km2) of the basin may be highly suitable for MAR. Modeling suggests that simulated MAR projects placed near the coast help to reduce sea water intrusion more rapidly, but these projects also result in increased groundwater flows to the ocean. In contrast, projects placed farther inland result in more long-term reduction in sea water intrusion and less groundwater flowing to the ocean. This work shows how combined GIS analysis and modeling can assist with regional water supply planning, including evaluation of options for enhancing groundwater resources. © 2014, National Ground Water Association.

Fine‐resolution conservation planning with limited climate‐change information

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Shah, Payal; Mallory, Mindy L.; Ando , Amy W.; Guntenspergen, Glenn R.

2017-01-01

Climate‐change induced uncertainties in future spatial patterns of conservation‐related outcomes make it difficult to implement standard conservation‐planning paradigms. A recent study translates Markowitz's risk‐diversification strategy from finance to conservation settings, enabling conservation agents to use this diversification strategy for allocating conservation and restoration investments across space to minimize the risk associated with such uncertainty. However, this method is information intensive and requires a large number of forecasts of ecological outcomes associated with possible climate‐change scenarios for carrying out fine‐resolution conservation planning. We developed a technique for iterative, spatial portfolio analysis that can be used to allocate scarce conservation resources across a desired level of subregions in a planning landscape in the absence of a sufficient number of ecological forecasts. We applied our technique to the Prairie Pothole Region in central North America. A lack of sufficient future climate information prevented attainment of the most efficient risk‐return conservation outcomes in the Prairie Pothole Region. The difference in expected conservation returns between conservation planning with limited climate‐change information and full climate‐change information was as large as 30% for the Prairie Pothole Region even when the most efficient iterative approach was used. However, our iterative approach allowed finer resolution portfolio allocation with limited climate‐change forecasts such that the best possible risk‐return combinations were obtained. With our most efficient iterative approach, the expected loss in conservation outcomes owing to limited climate‐change information could be reduced by 17% relative to other iterative approaches.

[Research on suitable distribution of Paris yunnanensis based on remote sensing and GIS].

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Luo, Yao; Dong, Yong-Bo; Zhu, Cong; Peng, Wen-Fu; Fang, Qing-Mao; Xu, Xin-Liang

2017-11-01

Paris yunnanensis is a kind of rare medicinal herb, having a very high medicinal value. Studying its suitable ecological condition can provide a basis for its rational exploitation, artificial cultivation, and sustainable utilization. A practicable method in this paper has been proposed to research the suitable regional distribution of P. yunnanensis in Sichuan province. By the case study of P. yunnanensis in Sichuan province, and according to related literatures, the suitable ecological condition of P. yunnanensis such as altitude, mean annual temperature (MAT), annual precipitation, regional slope, slope ranges, vegetative cover, and soil types was analyzed following remote sensing (RS) and GIS.The appropriate distribution regionof P. yunnanensis and its area were extracted based on RS and GIS technology,combing with the information of the field validation data. The results showed that the concentrated distribution regions in counties of Sichuan province were, Liangshan prefecture, Aba prefecture, Sertar county of Ganzi prefecture, Panzhihua city, Ya'an city, Chengdu city, Meishan city, Leshan city, Yibin city, Neijiang city, Luzhou city, Bazhong city, Nanchong city, Guangyuan city and other cities and counties area.The suitable distribution area in Sichuan is about 7 338 km², accounting for 3.02% of the total study regional area. The analysis result has high consistency with the filed validation data, and the research method for P. yunnanensis distribution region based onspatial overlay analysis and the extracted the information of land usage and ecological factors following the RS and GIS is reliable. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Evaluating private land conservation in the Cape Lowlands, South Africa.

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Von Hase, Amrei; Rouget, Mathieu; Cowling, Richard M

2010-10-01

Evaluation is important for judiciously allocating limited conservation resources and for improving conservation success through learning and strategy adjustment. We evaluated the application of systematic conservation planning goals and conservation gains from incentive-based stewardship interventions on private land in the Cape Lowlands and Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. We collected spatial and nonspatial data (2003-2007) to determine the number of hectares of vegetation protected through voluntary contractual and legally nonbinding (informal) agreements with landowners; resources spent on these interventions; contribution of the agreements to 5- and 20-year conservation goals for representation and persistence in the Cape Lowlands of species and ecosystems; and time and staff required to meet these goals. Conservation gains on private lands across the Cape Floristic Region were relatively high. In 5 years, 22,078 ha (27,800 ha of land) and 46,526 ha (90,000 ha of land) of native vegetation were protected through contracts and informal agreements, respectively. Informal agreements often were opportunity driven and cheaper and faster to execute than contracts. All contractual agreements in the Cape Lowlands were within areas of high conservation priority (identified through systematic conservation planning), which demonstrated the conservation plan's practical application and a high level of overlap between resource investment (approximately R1.14 million/year in the lowlands) and priority conservation areas. Nevertheless, conservation agreements met only 11% of 5-year and 9% of 20-year conservation goals for Cape Lowlands and have made only a moderate contribution to regional persistence of flora to date. Meeting the plan's conservation goals will take three to five times longer and many more staff members to maintain agreements than initially envisaged. © 2010 Society for Conservation Biology.

Spatial Heterogeneity of Habitat Suitability for Rift Valley Fever Occurrence in Tanzania: An Ecological Niche Modelling Approach

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Sindato, Calvin; Stevens, Kim B.; Karimuribo, Esron D.; Mboera, Leonard E. G.; Paweska, Janusz T.; Pfeiffer, Dirk U.

2016-01-01

Background Despite the long history of Rift Valley fever (RVF) in Tanzania, extent of its suitable habitat in the country remains unclear. In this study we investigated potential effects of temperature, precipitation, elevation, soil type, livestock density, rainfall pattern, proximity to wild animals, protected areas and forest on the habitat suitability for RVF occurrence in Tanzania. Materials and Methods Presence-only records of 193 RVF outbreak locations from 1930 to 2007 together with potential predictor variables were used to model and map the suitable habitats for RVF occurrence using ecological niche modelling. Ground-truthing of the model outputs was conducted by comparing the levels of RVF virus specific antibodies in cattle, sheep and goats sampled from locations in Tanzania that presented different predicted habitat suitability values. Principal Findings Habitat suitability values for RVF occurrence were higher in the northern and central-eastern regions of Tanzania than the rest of the regions in the country. Soil type and precipitation of the wettest quarter contributed equally to habitat suitability (32.4% each), followed by livestock density (25.9%) and rainfall pattern (9.3%). Ground-truthing of model outputs revealed that the odds of an animal being seropositive for RVFV when sampled from areas predicted to be most suitable for RVF occurrence were twice the odds of an animal sampled from areas least suitable for RVF occurrence (95% CI: 1.43, 2.76, p < 0.001). Conclusion/Significance The regions in the northern and central-eastern Tanzania were more suitable for RVF occurrence than the rest of the regions in the country. The modelled suitable habitat is characterised by impermeable soils, moderate precipitation in the wettest quarter, high livestock density and a bimodal rainfall pattern. The findings of this study should provide guidance for the design of appropriate RVF surveillance, prevention and control strategies which target areas with

Regional Extinctions and Quaternary Shifts in the Geographic Range of Lestodelphys halli, the Southernmost Living Marsupial: Clues for Its Conservation.

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Anahí E Formoso

Full Text Available The Patagonian opossum (Lestodelphys halli, the southernmost living marsupial, inhabits dry and open environments, mainly in the Patagonian steppe (between ~32 °S and ~49 °S. Its rich fossil record shows its occurrence further north in Central Argentina during the Quaternary. The paleoenvironmental meaning of the past distribution of L. halli has been mostly addressed in a subjective framework without an explicit connection with the climatic "space" currently occupied by this animal. Here, we assessed the potential distribution of this species and the changes occurred in its geographic range during late Pleistocene-Holocene times and linked the results obtained with conservation issues. To this end, we generated three potential distribution models with fossil records and three with current ones, using MaxEnt software. These models showed a decrease in the suitable habitat conditions for the species, highlighting a range shift from Central-Eastern to South-Western Argentina. Our results support that the presence of L. halli in the Pampean region during the Pleistocene-Holocene can be related to precipitation and temperature variables and that its current presence in Patagonia is more related to temperature and dominant soils. The models obtained suggest that the species has been experiencing a reduction in its geographic range since the middle Holocene, a process that is in accordance with a general increase in moisture and temperature in Central Argentina. Considering the findings of our work and the future scenario of global warming projected for Patagonia, we might expect a harsh impact on the distribution range of this opossum in the near future.

Regional Extinctions and Quaternary Shifts in the Geographic Range of Lestodelphys halli, the Southernmost Living Marsupial: Clues for Its Conservation

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Formoso, Anahí E.; Martin, Gabriel M.; Teta, Pablo; Carbajo, Aníbal E.; Sauthier, Daniel E. Udrizar; Pardiñas, Ulyses F. J.

2015-01-01

The Patagonian opossum (Lestodelphys halli), the southernmost living marsupial, inhabits dry and open environments, mainly in the Patagonian steppe (between ~32°S and ~49°S). Its rich fossil record shows its occurrence further north in Central Argentina during the Quaternary. The paleoenvironmental meaning of the past distribution of L. halli has been mostly addressed in a subjective framework without an explicit connection with the climatic “space” currently occupied by this animal. Here, we assessed the potential distribution of this species and the changes occurred in its geographic range during late Pleistocene-Holocene times and linked the results obtained with conservation issues. To this end, we generated three potential distribution models with fossil records and three with current ones, using MaxEnt software. These models showed a decrease in the suitable habitat conditions for the species, highlighting a range shift from Central-Eastern to South-Western Argentina. Our results support that the presence of L. halli in the Pampean region during the Pleistocene-Holocene can be related to precipitation and temperature variables and that its current presence in Patagonia is more related to temperature and dominant soils. The models obtained suggest that the species has been experiencing a reduction in its geographic range since the middle Holocene, a process that is in accordance with a general increase in moisture and temperature in Central Argentina. Considering the findings of our work and the future scenario of global warming projected for Patagonia, we might expect a harsh impact on the distribution range of this opossum in the near future. PMID:26203650

Connecting Asian Heritage Conservation to the Idea of Performative Regionalism: A Case of Community-Enhancing Design Interventions in the Historical Art District of Liulichang Beijing

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Diana Thamrin

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The active and sometimes ruthless modernisation in Asia has triggered an urgent need to secure the protection and continuation of its rich heritage and diverse regional attributes. However, as in the case of China, the Asian perspective of conservation is different from the West in terms of the nature or ways of design interventions produced and its purposes. This phenomenon has frequently triggered criticisms from heritage conservation professionals. Hence, the objective of this paper is to explore the interventions done on Asian heritage sites, taking the Liulichang Art District in Beijing as the case study, and analyze the positive influence they have brought. The paper starts by distinguishing the Asian concept and values of authenticity in conservation that differ from the West and how these principles have been applied in Liulichang, a famous ancient street known for the selling and practice of classical Chinese arts, mostly for Chinese painting. Using the phenomenological method of analysis, the paper further elaborates on the importance of community building in learning and appreciating the art of Chinese painting and discusses the positive impact made by the design interventions in Liulichang, particularly in terms of community engagement and creation of novel ways to accommodate traditional cultural practices of Chinese painting. Results reflect that the Asian perspective of conservation do not always follow the principle of minimum intervention favoured by the West, but how contemporary interventions could be merged into the heritage site to revive regional communities and cultural activities, connecting Asian architectural conservation with the design approach coined by Barbara Allen (2005 as Performative Regionalism, hence developing the idea and practice of this approach as a result of the discussion. Rather than merely following textual or scientific procedures like in the West, this approach requires a more experiential way of

A framework for assessing the feasibility of native fish conservation translocations: Applications to threatened bull trout

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Galloway, Benjamin T.; Muhlfeld, Clint C.; Guy, Christopher S.; Downs, Christopher C.; Fredenberg, Wade A.

2016-01-01

There is an urgent need to consider more aggressive and direct interventions for the conservation of freshwater fishes that are threatened by invasive species, habitat loss, and climate change. Conservation introduction (moving a species outside its indigenous range to other areas where conditions are predicted to be more suitable) is one type of translocation strategy that fisheries managers can use to establish new conservation populations in areas of refugia. To date, however, there are few examples of successful conservation-based introductions. Many attempts fail to establish new populations—in part because environmental factors that might influence success are inadequately evaluated before the translocation is implemented. We developed a framework to assess the feasibility of rescuing threatened fish populations through translocation into historically unoccupied stream and lake habitats. The suitability of potential introduction sites was evaluated based on four major components: the recipient habitat, recipient community, donor population, and future threats. Specific questions were then developed to evaluate each major component. The final assessment was based on a scoring system that addressed each question by using criteria developed from characteristics representative of highly suitable habitats and populations. This framework was used to evaluate the proposed within-drainage translocation of three Bull Trout Salvelinus confluentus populations in Glacier National Park, Montana. Our results indicated that within-drainage translocation is a feasible strategy for conserving locally adapted populations of Bull Trout through the creation of new areas of refugia in Glacier National Park. The framework provides a flexible platform that can help managers make informed decisions for moving threatened fishes into new areas of refugia for conservation and recovery programs.

Identification of priority conservation areas and potential corridors for jaguars in the Caatinga biome, Brazil.

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Morato, Ronaldo Gonçalves; Ferraz, Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros; de Paula, Rogério Cunha; de Campos, Cláudia Bueno

2014-01-01

The jaguar, Panthera onca, is a top predator with the extant population found within the Brazilian Caatinga biome now known to be on the brink of extinction. Designing new conservation units and potential corridors are therefore crucial for the long-term survival of the species within the Caatinga biome. Thus, our aims were: 1) to recognize suitable areas for jaguar occurrence, 2) to delineate areas for jaguar conservation (PJCUs), 3) to design corridors among priority areas, and 4) to prioritize PJCUs. A total of 62 points records of jaguar occurrence and 10 potential predictors were analyzed in a GIS environment. A predictive distributional map was obtained using Species Distribution Modeling (SDM) as performed by the Maximum Entropy (Maxent) algorithm. Areas equal to or higher than the median suitability value of 0.595 were selected as of high suitability for jaguar occurrence and named as Priority Jaguar Conservation Units (PJCU). Ten PJCUs with sizes varying from 23.6 km2 to 4,311.0 km2 were identified. Afterwards, we combined the response curve, as generated by SDM, and expert opinions to create a permeability matrix and to identify least cost corridors and buffer zones between each PJCU pair. Connectivity corridors and buffer zone for jaguar movement included an area of 8.884,26 km2 and the total corridor length is about 160.94 km. Prioritizing criteria indicated the PJCU representing c.a. 68.61% of the total PJCU area (PJCU # 1) as of high priority for conservation and connectivity with others PJCUs (PJCUs # 4, 5 and 7) desirable for the long term survival of the species. In conclusion, by using the jaguar as a focal species and combining SDM and expert opinion we were able to create a valid framework for practical conservation actions at the Caatinga biome. The same approach could be used for the conservation of other carnivores.

Advancing marine conservation in European and contiguous seas with the MarCons Action

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Stelios Katsanevakis

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Cumulative human impacts have led to the degradation of marine ecosystems and the decline of biodiversity in the European and contiguous seas. Effective conservation measures are urgently needed to reverse these trends. Conservation must entail societal choices, underpinned by human values and worldviews that differ between the countries bordering these seas. Social, economic and political heterogeneity adds to the challenge of balancing conservation with sustainable use of the seas. Comprehensive macro-regional coordination is needed to ensure effective conservation of marine ecosystems and biodiversity of this region. Under the European Union Horizon 2020 framework programme, the MarCons COST action aims to promote collaborative research to support marine management, conservation planning and policy development. This will be achieved by developing novel methods and tools to close knowledge gaps and advance marine conservation science. This action will provide support for the development of macro-regional and national policies through six key actions: to develop tools to analyse cumulative human impacts; to identify critical scientific and technical gaps in conservation efforts; to improve the resilience of the marine environment to global change and biological invasions; to develop frameworks for integrated conservation planning across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments; to coordinate marine conservation policy across national boundaries; and to identify effective governance approaches for marine protected area management. Achieving the objectives of these actions will facilitate the integration of marine conservation policy into macro-regional maritime spatial planning agendas for the European and contiguous seas, thereby offsetting the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in this region.

Highly conserved non-coding sequences are associated with vertebrate development.

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Adam Woolfe

2005-01-01

Full Text Available In addition to protein coding sequence, the human genome contains a significant amount of regulatory DNA, the identification of which is proving somewhat recalcitrant to both in silico and functional methods. An approach that has been used with some success is comparative sequence analysis, whereby equivalent genomic regions from different organisms are compared in order to identify both similarities and differences. In general, similarities in sequence between highly divergent organisms imply functional constraint. We have used a whole-genome comparison between humans and the pufferfish, Fugu rubripes, to identify nearly 1,400 highly conserved non-coding sequences. Given the evolutionary divergence between these species, it is likely that these sequences are found in, and furthermore are essential to, all vertebrates. Most, and possibly all, of these sequences are located in and around genes that act as developmental regulators. Some of these sequences are over 90% identical across more than 500 bases, being more highly conserved than coding sequence between these two species. Despite this, we cannot find any similar sequences in invertebrate genomes. In order to begin to functionally test this set of sequences, we have used a rapid in vivo assay system using zebrafish embryos that allows tissue-specific enhancer activity to be identified. Functional data is presented for highly conserved non-coding sequences associated with four unrelated developmental regulators (SOX21, PAX6, HLXB9, and SHH, in order to demonstrate the suitability of this screen to a wide range of genes and expression patterns. Of 25 sequence elements tested around these four genes, 23 show significant enhancer activity in one or more tissues. We have identified a set of non-coding sequences that are highly conserved throughout vertebrates. They are found in clusters across the human genome, principally around genes that are implicated in the regulation of development

Suitability analysis for rice growing sites using a multicriteria evaluation and GIS approach in great Mwea region, Kenya.

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Kihoro, Joseph; Bosco, Njoroge J; Murage, Hunja

2013-12-01

Land suitability analysis is a prerequisite to achieving optimum utilization of the available land resources. Lack of knowledge on best combination of factors that suit production of rice has contributed to the low production. The aim of this study was to develop a suitability map for rice crop based on physical and climatic factors of production using a Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) & GIS approach. The study was carried out in Kirinyaga, Embu and Mberee counties in Kenya. Biophysical variables of soil, climate and topography were considered for suitability analysis. All data were stored in ArcGIS 9.3 environment and the factor maps were generated. For MCE, Pairwise Comparison Matrix was applied and the suitable areas for rice crop were generated and graduated. The current land cover map of the area was developed from a scanned survey map of the rice growing areas. According to the present land cover map, the rice cultivated area was 13,369 ha. Finally, we overlaid the land cover map with the suitability map to identify variances between the present and potential land use. The crop-land evaluation results of the present study showed that, 75% of total area currently being used was under highly suitable areas and 25% was under moderately suitable areas. The results showed that the potential area for rice growing is 86,364 ha and out of this only 12% is under rice cultivation. This research provided information at local level that could be used by farmers to select cropping patterns and suitability.

Extinction risks and the conservation of Madagascar's reptiles.

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Richard K B Jenkins

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: An understanding of the conservation status of Madagascar's endemic reptile species is needed to underpin conservation planning and priority setting in this global biodiversity hotspot, and to complement existing information on the island's mammals, birds and amphibians. We report here on the first systematic assessment of the extinction risk of endemic and native non-marine Malagasy snakes, lizards, turtles and tortoises. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Species range maps from The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species were analysed to determine patterns in the distribution of threatened reptile species. These data, in addition to information on threats, were used to identify priority areas and actions for conservation. Thirty-nine percent of the data-sufficient Malagasy reptiles in our analyses are threatened with extinction. Areas in the north, west and south-east were identified as having more threatened species than expected and are therefore conservation priorities. Habitat degradation caused by wood harvesting and non-timber crops was the most pervasive threat. The direct removal of reptiles for international trade and human consumption threatened relatively few species, but were the primary threats for tortoises. Nine threatened reptile species are endemic to recently created protected areas. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: With a few alarming exceptions, the threatened endemic reptiles of Madagascar occur within the national network of protected areas, including some taxa that are only found in new protected areas. Threats to these species, however, operate inside and outside protected area boundaries. This analysis has identified priority sites for reptile conservation and completes the conservation assessment of terrestrial vertebrates in Madagascar which will facilitate conservation planning, monitoring and wise-decision making. In sharp contrast with the amphibians, there is significant reptile diversity and regional endemism in

Extinction risks and the conservation of Madagascar's reptiles.

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkins, Richard K B; Tognelli, Marcelo F; Bowles, Philip; Cox, Neil; Brown, Jason L; Chan, Lauren; Andreone, Franco; Andriamazava, Alain; Andriantsimanarilafy, Raphali R; Anjeriniaina, Mirana; Bora, Parfait; Brady, Lee D; Hantalalaina, Elisoa F; Glaw, Frank; Griffiths, Richard A; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Hoffmann, Michael; Katariya, Vineet; Rabibisoa, Nirhy H; Rafanomezantsoa, Jeannot; Rakotomalala, Domoina; Rakotondravony, Hery; Rakotondrazafy, Ny A; Ralambonirainy, Johans; Ramanamanjato, Jean-Baptiste; Randriamahazo, Herilala; Randrianantoandro, J Christian; Randrianasolo, Harison H; Randrianirina, Jasmin E; Randrianizahana, Hiarinirina; Raselimanana, Achille P; Rasolohery, Andriambolantsoa; Ratsoavina, Fanomezana M; Raxworthy, Christopher J; Robsomanitrandrasana, Eric; Rollande, Finoana; van Dijk, Peter P; Yoder, Anne D; Vences, Miguel

2014-01-01

An understanding of the conservation status of Madagascar's endemic reptile species is needed to underpin conservation planning and priority setting in this global biodiversity hotspot, and to complement existing information on the island's mammals, birds and amphibians. We report here on the first systematic assessment of the extinction risk of endemic and native non-marine Malagasy snakes, lizards, turtles and tortoises. Species range maps from The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species were analysed to determine patterns in the distribution of threatened reptile species. These data, in addition to information on threats, were used to identify priority areas and actions for conservation. Thirty-nine percent of the data-sufficient Malagasy reptiles in our analyses are threatened with extinction. Areas in the north, west and south-east were identified as having more threatened species than expected and are therefore conservation priorities. Habitat degradation caused by wood harvesting and non-timber crops was the most pervasive threat. The direct removal of reptiles for international trade and human consumption threatened relatively few species, but were the primary threats for tortoises. Nine threatened reptile species are endemic to recently created protected areas. With a few alarming exceptions, the threatened endemic reptiles of Madagascar occur within the national network of protected areas, including some taxa that are only found in new protected areas. Threats to these species, however, operate inside and outside protected area boundaries. This analysis has identified priority sites for reptile conservation and completes the conservation assessment of terrestrial vertebrates in Madagascar which will facilitate conservation planning, monitoring and wise-decision making. In sharp contrast with the amphibians, there is significant reptile diversity and regional endemism in the southern and western regions of Madagascar and this study highlights the importance of

Extinction Risks and the Conservation of Madagascar's Reptiles

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Jenkins, Richard K. B.; Tognelli, Marcelo F.; Bowles, Philip; Cox, Neil; Brown, Jason L.; Chan, Lauren; Andreone, Franco; Andriamazava, Alain; Andriantsimanarilafy, Raphali R.; Anjeriniaina, Mirana; Bora, Parfait; Brady, Lee D.; Hantalalaina, Elisoa F.; Glaw, Frank; Griffiths, Richard A.; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Hoffmann, Michael; Katariya, Vineet; Rabibisoa, Nirhy H.; Rafanomezantsoa, Jeannot; Rakotomalala, Domoina; Rakotondravony, Hery; Rakotondrazafy, Ny A.; Ralambonirainy, Johans; Ramanamanjato, Jean-Baptiste; Randriamahazo, Herilala; Randrianantoandro, J. Christian; Randrianasolo, Harison H.; Randrianirina, Jasmin E.; Randrianizahana, Hiarinirina; Raselimanana, Achille P.; Rasolohery, Andriambolantsoa; Ratsoavina, Fanomezana M.; Raxworthy, Christopher J.; Robsomanitrandrasana, Eric; Rollande, Finoana; van Dijk, Peter P.; Yoder, Anne D.; Vences, Miguel

2014-01-01

Background An understanding of the conservation status of Madagascar's endemic reptile species is needed to underpin conservation planning and priority setting in this global biodiversity hotspot, and to complement existing information on the island's mammals, birds and amphibians. We report here on the first systematic assessment of the extinction risk of endemic and native non-marine Malagasy snakes, lizards, turtles and tortoises. Methodology/Principal Findings Species range maps from The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species were analysed to determine patterns in the distribution of threatened reptile species. These data, in addition to information on threats, were used to identify priority areas and actions for conservation. Thirty-nine percent of the data-sufficient Malagasy reptiles in our analyses are threatened with extinction. Areas in the north, west and south-east were identified as having more threatened species than expected and are therefore conservation priorities. Habitat degradation caused by wood harvesting and non-timber crops was the most pervasive threat. The direct removal of reptiles for international trade and human consumption threatened relatively few species, but were the primary threats for tortoises. Nine threatened reptile species are endemic to recently created protected areas. Conclusions/Significance With a few alarming exceptions, the threatened endemic reptiles of Madagascar occur within the national network of protected areas, including some taxa that are only found in new protected areas. Threats to these species, however, operate inside and outside protected area boundaries. This analysis has identified priority sites for reptile conservation and completes the conservation assessment of terrestrial vertebrates in Madagascar which will facilitate conservation planning, monitoring and wise-decision making. In sharp contrast with the amphibians, there is significant reptile diversity and regional endemism in the southern and

Mapping large-area landscape suitability for honey bees to assess the influence of land-use change on sustainability of national pollination services

Science.gov (United States)

Gallant, Alisa L.; Euliss, Ned H.; Browning, Zac

2014-01-01

Pollination is a critical ecosystem service affected by various drivers of land-use change, such as policies and programs aimed at land resources, market values for crop commodities, local land-management decisions, and shifts in climate. The United States is the world's most active market for pollination services by honey bees, and the Northern Great Plains provide the majority of bee colonies used to meet the Nation's annual pollination needs. Legislation requiring increased production of biofuel crops, increasing commodity prices for crops of little nutritional value for bees in the Northern Great Plains, and reductions in government programs aimed at promoting land conservation are converging to alter the regional landscape in ways that challenge beekeepers to provide adequate numbers of hives for national pollination services. We developed a spatially explicit model that identifies sites with the potential to support large apiaries based on local-scale land-cover requirements for honey bees. We produced maps of potential apiary locations for North Dakota, a leading producer of honey, based on land-cover maps representing (1) an annual time series compiled from existing operational products and (2) a realistic scenario of land change. We found that existing land-cover products lack sufficient local accuracy to monitor actual changes in landscape suitability for honey bees, but our model proved informative for evaluating effects on suitability under scenarios of land change. The scenario we implemented was aligned with current drivers of land-use change in the Northern Great Plains and highlighted the importance of conservation lands in landscapes intensively and extensively managed for crops.

Bilateral breast carcinoma: results with breast conservation therapy and a comparison with bilateral mastectomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, David H.; Haffty, Bruce G.

1996-01-01

between the BCT, UCT, and BMAST groups with respect to age, histology, clinical stage, primary tumor size, axillary nodal status, or adjuvant systemic therapy. As noted below, there were no statistically significant differences between the three study groups with respect to overall survival, disease-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival, or local regional relapse-free survival. It is noteworthy that there was no significant difference between the local breast relapse rate and the chest wall relapse rate when comparing the conservatively treated group and the bilateral mastectomy group. Conclusions: Patients with bilateral breast carcinoma presenting either synchronously or metachronously are suitable candidates for bilateral conservative treatment. Outcome of these patients with respect to all measurable endpoints did not significantly differ from patients treated conservatively for unilateral breast cancer, or for their counterparts with bilateral disease of similar stage treated with bilateral mastectomy. Of particular note, the 10-year local regional relapse-free rate of patients undergoing bilateral mastectomy did not differ significantly from the local regional relapse rate of those patients treated with bilateral conservative treatment

Efficient Conservation in a Utility-Maximization Framework

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Frank W. Davis

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Systematic planning for biodiversity conservation is being conducted at scales ranging from global to national to regional. The prevailing planning paradigm is to identify the minimum land allocations needed to reach specified conservation targets or maximize the amount of conservation accomplished under an area or budget constraint. We propose a more general formulation for setting conservation priorities that involves goal setting, assessing the current conservation system, developing a scenario of future biodiversity given the current conservation system, and allocating available conservation funds to alter that scenario so as to maximize future biodiversity. Under this new formulation for setting conservation priorities, the value of a site depends on resource quality, threats to resource quality, and costs. This planning approach is designed to support collaborative processes and negotiation among competing interest groups. We demonstrate these ideas with a case study of the Sierra Nevada bioregion of California.

Elk habitat suitability map for North Carolina

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Steven G.; Cobb, David T.; Collazo, Jaime A.

2015-01-01

Although eastern elk (Cervus elaphus canadensis) were extirpated from the eastern United States in the 19th century, they were successfully reintroduced in the North Carolina portion of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the early 2000s. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) is evaluating the prospect of reintroducing the species in other locations in the state to augment recreational opportunities. As a first step in the process, we created a state-wide elk habitat suitability map. We used medium-scale data sets and a two-component approach to iden- tify areas of high biological value for elk and exclude from consideration areas where elk-human conflicts were more likely. Habitats in the state were categorized as 66% unsuitable, 16.7% low, 17% medium, and <1% high suitability for elk. The coastal plain and Piedmont contained the most suitable habitat, but prospective reintroduction sites were largely excluded from consideration due to extensive agricultural activities and pervasiveness of secondary roads. We ranked 31 areas (≥ 500 km2) based on their suitability for reintroduction. The central region of the state contained the top five ranked areas. The Blue Ridge Mountains, where the extant population of elk occurs, was ranked 21st. Our work provides a benchmark for decision makers to evaluate potential consequences and trade-offs associated with the selection of prospective elk reintroduction sites.

EXTINCTION RISK OR LACK OF SAMPLING IN A THREATENED SPECIES: GENETIC STRUCTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUITABILITY OF THE NEOTROPICAL FROG PRISTIMANTIS PENELOPUS (ANURA: CRAUGASTORIDAE

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ADRIANA RESTREPO

Full Text Available ABSTRACT IUCN Red Lists have been a valuable tool to prioritize conservation plans in endemic neotropical frogs. However, many areas in this region are poorly known in terms of their diversity and endemism. Based on examined museum specimens of the threatened species Pristimantis penelopus we revised its geographic distribution and determined the habitat suitability using niche modeling techniques. Using a mitochondrial fragment of COI gene, we determine the phylogenetic position and the extent of the genetic variation across its distribution in Colombia. We present the first records of P. penelopus for the Cordillera Oriental, the western versant of Cordillera Occidental and the northern portion of the Cauca river basin. Based on the molecular phylogenetic analysis, Pristimantis penelopus belongs to the P. ridens series sensu (Padial et al., 2014. The mean of intraspecific genetic variation is 2.1% and the variation among population ranges between 2.3 and 3.5%. The genetic distance between the western populations and the Magdalena Valley populations suggests a potential phylogeographic break in northwestern Antioquia. We expand the realized distribution by 258 kilometers north, 200 km east and 223 km northwest. Based on our results and according to the IUCN criteria we propose a new category for the species and highlight the need to increase the surveys in poorly known regions to better understand the geographic distribution and conservation status of listed species.

Culture Development Planning in the Special Region of Yogyakarta (Management Planning of Cultural Heritage in Kotagede District based on Community Empowerment Conservation Model

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Eko Suryanti

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The Special Region of Yogyakarta is a cultural rich city with excellent cultural resources. Yogyakarta should manage their assets with long-term planning to keep the sustainability. There is a very unique planning process due to a combination of political, technocratic, participatory, top down and bottom up approaches. This planning process is comprehensive or integrated because its involved many actor from multisectoral, multidisciplinary, multi regulatory, and multi planning documents, etc. Local wisdoms have been coloring the planning documents. This study describe and analyze the cultural development planning in Yogyakarta especially on the Management Planning in Kotagede Cultural Heritage District. We used qualitative descriptive approach methods and Miles and Huberman analysis methods. Participation of community and Non Governmental Organization (NGO in conservation planning of cultural heritage in this area is very significant in simplify the government task because people have been more literate in planning, have database of cultural assets, and capable of making their own decisions for the future of the region. Participatory rural appraisal (PRA dan Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA were integrated in the planning process of Kotagede Heritage District management, thus it becomes a model of cultural heritage with community empowerment-based conservation. Keywords: culture development planning, comprehensive planning, heritage cultural district, community empowerment-based conservation.

Role of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in snow leopard conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Juan; Wang, Dajun; Yin, Hang; Zhaxi, Duojie; Jiagong, Zhala; Schaller, George B; Mishra, Charudutt; McCarthy, Thomas M; Wang, Hao; Wu, Lan; Xiao, Lingyun; Basang, Lamao; Zhang, Yuguang; Zhou, Yunyun; Lu, Zhi

2014-02-01

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) inhabits the rugged mountains in 12 countries of Central Asia, including the Tibetan Plateau. Due to poaching, decreased abundance of prey, and habitat degradation, it was listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 1972. Current conservation strategies, including nature reserves and incentive programs, have limited capacities to protect snow leopards. We investigated the role of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in snow leopard conservation in the Sanjiangyuan region in China's Qinghai Province on the Tibetan Plateau. From 2009 to 2011, we systematically surveyed snow leopards in the Sanjiangyuan region. We used the MaxEnt model to determine the relation of their presence to environmental variables (e.g., elevation, ruggedness) and to predict snow leopard distribution. Model results showed 89,602 km(2) of snow leopard habitat in the Sanjiangyuan region, of which 7674 km(2) lay within Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve's core zones. We analyzed the spatial relation between snow leopard habitat and Buddhist monasteries and found that 46% of monasteries were located in snow leopard habitat and 90% were within 5 km of snow leopard habitat. The 336 monasteries in the Sanjiangyuan region could protect more snow leopard habitat (8342 km(2) ) through social norms and active patrols than the nature reserve's core zones. We conducted 144 household interviews to identify local herders' attitudes and behavior toward snow leopards and other wildlife. Most local herders claimed that they did not kill wildlife, and 42% said they did not kill wildlife because it was a sin in Buddhism. Our results indicate monasteries play an important role in snow leopard conservation. Monastery-based snow leopard conservation could be extended to other Tibetan Buddhist regions that in total would encompass about 80% of the global range of snow leopards. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Faecal corticosterone metabolite concentrations are not a good predictor of habitat suitability for common gartersnakes.

Science.gov (United States)

Halliday, William D; Gilmour, Kathleen M; Blouin-Demers, Gabriel

2015-01-01

Measuring habitat suitability is important in conservation and in wildlife management. Measuring the abundance or presence-absence of a species in various habitats is not sufficient to measure habitat suitability because these metrics can be poor predictors of population success. Therefore, having some measure of population success is essential in assessing habitat suitability, but estimating population success is difficult. Identifying suitable proxies for population success could thus be beneficial. We examined whether faecal corticosterone metabolite (fCM) concentrations could be used as a proxy for habitat suitability in common gartersnakes (Thamnophis sirtalis). We conducted a validation study and confirmed that fCM concentrations indeed reflect circulating corticosterone concentrations. We estimated abundance, reproductive output and growth rate of gartersnakes in field and in forest habitat and we also measured fCM concentrations of gartersnakes from these same habitats. Common gartersnakes were more abundant and had higher reproductive outputs and higher growth rates in field habitat than in forest habitat, but fCM concentrations did not differ between the same two habitats. Our results suggest either that fCM concentrations are not a useful metric of habitat suitability in common gartersnakes or that the difference in suitability between the two habitats was too small to induce changes in fCM concentrations. Incorporating fitness metrics in estimates of habitat suitability is important, but these metrics of fitness have to be sensitive enough to vary between habitats.

Conserved Binding Regions Provide the Clue for Peptide-Based Vaccine Development: A Chemical Perspective

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Hernando Curtidor

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Synthetic peptides have become invaluable biomedical research and medicinal chemistry tools for studying functional roles, i.e., binding or proteolytic activity, naturally-occurring regions’ immunogenicity in proteins and developing therapeutic agents and vaccines. Synthetic peptides can mimic protein sites; their structure and function can be easily modulated by specific amino acid replacement. They have major advantages, i.e., they are cheap, easily-produced and chemically stable, lack infectious and secondary adverse reactions and can induce immune responses via T- and B-cell epitopes. Our group has previously shown that using synthetic peptides and adopting a functional approach has led to identifying Plasmodium falciparum conserved regions binding to host cells. Conserved high activity binding peptides’ (cHABPs physicochemical, structural and immunological characteristics have been taken into account for properly modifying and converting them into highly immunogenic, protection-inducing peptides (mHABPs in the experimental Aotus monkey model. This article describes stereo–electron and topochemical characteristics regarding major histocompatibility complex (MHC-mHABP-T-cell receptor (TCR complex formation. Some mHABPs in this complex inducing long-lasting, protective immunity have been named immune protection-inducing protein structures (IMPIPS, forming the subunit components in chemically synthesized vaccines. This manuscript summarizes this particular field and adds our recent findings concerning intramolecular interactions (H-bonds or π-interactions enabling proper IMPIPS structure as well as the peripheral flanking residues (PFR to stabilize the MHCII-IMPIPS-TCR interaction, aimed at inducing long-lasting, protective immunological memory.

Land suitability for waste disposal in metropolitan areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Baiocchi, Valerio; Lelo, Keti; Polettini, Alessandra; Pomi, Raffaella

2014-08-01

Site selection for waste disposal is a complex task that should meet the requirements of communities and stakeholders. In this article, three decision support methods (Boolean logic, index overlay and fuzzy gamma) are used to perform land suitability analysis for landfill siting. The study was carried out in one of the biggest metropolitan regions of Italy, with the objective of locating suitable areas for waste disposal. Physical and socio-economic information criteria for site selection were decided by a multidisciplinary group of experts, according to state-of-the-art guidelines, national legislation and local normative on waste management. The geographic information systems (GIS) based models used in this study are easy to apply but require adequate selection of criteria and weights and a careful evaluation of the results. The methodology is arranged in three steps, reflecting the criteria defined by national legislation on waste management: definition of factors that exclude location of landfills or waste treatment plants; classification of the remaining areas in terms of suitability for landfilling; and evaluation of suitable sites in relation to preferential siting factors (such as the presence of quarries or dismissed plants). The results showed that more than 80% of the provincial territory falls within constraint areas and the remaining territory is suitable for waste disposal for 0.72% or 1.93%, according to the model. The larger and most suitable sites are located in peripheral areas of the metropolitan system. The proposed approach represents a low-cost and expeditious alternative to support the spatial decision-making process. © The Author(s) 2014.

Conservation value of a native forest fragment in a region of extensive agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiarello

2000-05-01

A survey of mammals and birds was carried out in a semi-deciduous forest fragment of 150 ha located in a zone of intensive agriculture in Ribeirão Preto, State of São Paulo, south-eastern Brazil. Line transect sampling was used to census mammals and birds during six days, totalling 27.8 km of trails and 27.8 hours of observation. Twenty mammal species were confirmed in the area (except bats and small mammals), including rare or endangered species, such as the mountain lion (Puma concolor), the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), and the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis). The brown capuchin monkey (Cebus apella) and the black-tufted-ear marmoset (Callithrix penicillata) were found frequently, suggesting high population density in the fragment. Regarding the avifauna, 49 bird species were recorded, most of them typical of open areas or forest edges. Some confirmed species, however, are becoming increasingly rare in the region, as for example the muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) and the toco toucan (Ramphastos toco). The results demonstrate that forest fragment of this size are refuges for native fauna in a region dominated almost exclusively by sugar-cane plantations. Besides faunal aspects, the conservation of these fragments is of great importance for the establishment of studies related to species preservation in the long term, including reintroduction and translocation projects, as well as studies related to genetic health of isolated populations.

Optimized spatial priorities for biodiversity conservation in China: a systematic conservation planning perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Ruidong; Long, Yongcheng; Malanson, George P; Garber, Paul A; Zhang, Shuang; Li, Diqiang; Zhao, Peng; Wang, Longzhu; Duo, Hairui

2014-01-01

By addressing several key features overlooked in previous studies, i.e. human disturbance, integration of ecosystem- and species-level conservation features, and principles of complementarity and representativeness, we present the first national-scale systematic conservation planning for China to determine the optimized spatial priorities for biodiversity conservation. We compiled a spatial database on the distributions of ecosystem- and species-level conservation features, and modeled a human disturbance index (HDI) by aggregating information using several socioeconomic proxies. We ran Marxan with two scenarios (HDI-ignored and HDI-considered) to investigate the effects of human disturbance, and explored the geographic patterns of the optimized spatial conservation priorities. Compared to when HDI was ignored, the HDI-considered scenario resulted in (1) a marked reduction (∼9%) in the total HDI score and a slight increase (∼7%) in the total area of the portfolio of priority units, (2) a significant increase (∼43%) in the total irreplaceable area and (3) more irreplaceable units being identified in almost all environmental zones and highly-disturbed provinces. Thus the inclusion of human disturbance is essential for cost-effective priority-setting. Attention should be targeted to the areas that are characterized as moderately-disturbed, conservation. We delineated 23 primary large-scale priority areas that are significant for conserving China's biodiversity, but those isolated priority units in disturbed regions are in more urgent need of conservation actions so as to prevent immediate and severe biodiversity loss. This study presents a spatially optimized national-scale portfolio of conservation priorities--effectively representing the overall biodiversity of China while minimizing conflicts with economic development. Our results offer critical insights for current conservation and strategic land-use planning in China. The approach is transferable and easy

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Wetland Conservation Effects Assessment Project

Science.gov (United States)

Megan Lang; Greg McCarty; Mark Walbridge; Patrick Hunt; Tom Ducey; Clinton Church; Jarrod Miller; Laurel Kluber; Ali Sadeghi; Martin Rabenhorst; Amir Sharifi; In-Young Yeo; Andrew Baldwin; Margaret Palmer; Tom Fisher; Dan Fenstermaher; Sanchul Lee; Owen McDonough; Metthea Yepsen; Liza McFarland; Anne Gustafson; Rebecca Fox; Chris Palardy; William Effland; Mari-Vaughn Johnson; Judy Denver; Scott Ator; Joseph Mitchell; Dennis Whigham

2016-01-01

Wetlands impart many important ecosystem services, including maintenance of water quality, regulation of the climate and hydrological flows, and enhancement of biodiversity through the provision of food and habitat. The conversion of natural lands to agriculture has led to broad scale historic wetland loss, but current US Department of Agriculture conservation programs...

How Should Beta-Diversity Inform Biodiversity Conservation?

Science.gov (United States)

Socolar, Jacob B; Gilroy, James J; Kunin, William E; Edwards, David P

2016-01-01

To design robust protected area networks, accurately measure species losses, or understand the processes that maintain species diversity, conservation science must consider the organization of biodiversity in space. Central is beta-diversity--the component of regional diversity that accumulates from compositional differences between local species assemblages. We review how beta-diversity is impacted by human activities, including farming, selective logging, urbanization, species invasions, overhunting, and climate change. Beta-diversity increases, decreases, or remains unchanged by these impacts, depending on the balance of processes that cause species composition to become more different (biotic heterogenization) or more similar (biotic homogenization) between sites. While maintaining high beta-diversity is not always a desirable conservation outcome, understanding beta-diversity is essential for protecting regional diversity and can directly assist conservation planning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Insular ecosystems of the southeastern United States—A regional synthesis to support biodiversity conservation in a changing climate

Science.gov (United States)

Cartwright, Jennifer M.; Wolfe, William J.

2016-08-11

In the southeastern United States, insular ecosystems—such as rock outcrops, depression wetlands, high-elevation balds, flood-scoured riparian corridors, and insular prairies and barrens—occupy a small fraction of land area but constitute an important source of regional and global biodiversity, including concentrations of rare and endemic plant taxa. Maintenance of this biodiversity depends upon regimes of abiotic stress and disturbance, incorporating factors such as soil surface temperature, widely fluctuating hydrologic conditions, fires, flood scouring, and episodic droughts that may be subject to alteration by climate change. Over several decades, numerous localized, site-level investigations have yielded important information about the floristics, physical environments, and ecological dynamics of these insular ecosystems; however, the literature from these investigations has generally remained fragmented. This report consists of literature syntheses for eight categories of insular ecosystems of the southeastern United States, concerning (1) physical geography, (2) ecological determinants of community structures including vegetation dynamics and regimes of abiotic stress and disturbance, (3) contributions to regional and global biodiversity, (4) historical and current anthropogenic threats and conservation approaches, and (5) key knowledge gaps relevant to conservation, particularly in terms of climate-change effects on biodiversity. This regional synthesis was undertaken to discern patterns across ecosystems, identify knowledge gaps, and lay the groundwork for future analyses of climate-change vulnerability. Findings from this synthesis indicate that, despite their importance to regional and global biodiversity, insular ecosystems of the southeastern United States have been subjected to a variety of direct and indirect human alterations. In many cases, important questions remain concerning key determinants of ecosystem function. In particular, few

Planning priority conservation areas under climate change for six plant species with extremely small populations in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hong Qu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The concept of Plant Species with Extremely Small Populations (PSESP has been employed to guide conservation of threatened plant species in China. Climate change has a high potential to threaten PSESP. As a result, it is necessary to integrate climate change effects on PSESP into conservation planning in China. Here, ecological niche modelling is used to project current and future habitat distributions of six PSESP in China under climate change scenarios and conservation planning software is applied to identify priority conservation areas (PCAs for these PSESP based on habitat distributions. These results were used to provide proposals for in-situ and ex-situ conservation measures directed at PSESP. It was found that annual precipitation was important for habitat distributions for all six PSESP (with the percentage contribution to habitat distributions ranging from 18.1 % to 74.9 % and non-climatic variables including soil and altitude have a large effect on habitat suitability of PSESP. Large quantities of PCAs occurred within some provincial regions for these six PSESP (e.g. Sichuan and Jilin for the PSESP Cathaya argyrophylla, Taxus cuspidata, Annamocarya sinensis and Madhuca pasquieri, indicating that these are likely to be appropriate areas for in-situ and ex-situ conservation measures directed at these PSESP. Those nature reserves with large quantities of PCAs were identified as promising sites for in-situ conservation measures of PSESP; such reserves include Yangzie and Dongdongtinghu for C. argyrophylla, Songhuajiangsanhu and Changbaishan for T. cuspidata and Shiwandashanshuiyuanlian for Tsoongiodendron odorum. These results suggest that existing seed banks and botanical gardens occurring within identified PCAs should allocate more resources and space to ex-situ conservation of PSESP. In addition, there should be additional botanical gardens established for ex-situ conservation of PSESP in PCAs outside existing nature reserves. To

Influence of land use and climate on wetland breeding birds in the Prairie Pothole region of Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Forcey, G.M.; Linz, G.M.; Thogmartin, W.E.; Bleier, W.J.

2007-01-01

Bird populations are influenced by a variety of factors at both small and large scales that range from the presence of suitable nesting habitat, predators, and food supplies to climate conditions and land-use patterns. We evaluated the influences of regional climate and land-use variables on wetland breeding birds in the Canada section of Bird Conservation Region 11 (CA-BCR11), the Prairie Potholes. We used bird abundance data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey, land-use data from the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, and weather data from the National Climatic Data and Information Archive to model effects of regional environmental variables on bird abundance. Models were constructed a priori using information from published habitat associations in the literature, and fitting was performed with WinBUGS using Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques. Both land-use and climate variables contributed to predicting bird abundance in CA-BCR11, although climate predictors contributed the most to improving model fit. Examination of regional effects of climate and land use on wetland birds in CA-BCR11 revealed relationships with environmental covariates that are often overlooked by small-scale habitat studies. Results from these studies can be used to improve conservation and management planning for regional populations of avifauna. ?? 2007 NRC.

Tourism and the Conservation of Critically Endangered Frogs

Science.gov (United States)

Morrison, Clare; Simpkins, Clay; Castley, J. Guy; Buckley, Ralf C.

2012-01-01

Protected areas are critical for the conservation of many threatened species. Despite this, many protected areas are acutely underfunded, which reduces their effectiveness significantly. Tourism is one mechanism to promote and fund conservation in protected areas, but there are few studies analyzing its tangible conservation outcomes for threatened species. This study uses the 415 IUCN critically endangered frog species to evaluate the contribution of protected area tourism revenue to conservation. Contributions were calculated for each species as the proportion of geographic range inside protected areas multiplied by the proportion of protected area revenues derived from tourism. Geographic ranges were determined from IUCN Extent of Occurrence maps. Almost 60% (239) of critically endangered frog species occur in protected areas. Higher proportions of total range are protected in Nearctic, Australasian and Afrotopical regions. Tourism contributions to protected area budgets ranged from 5–100%. These financial contributions are highest for developing countries in the Afrotropical, Indomalayan and Neotropical regions. Data for both geographic range and budget are available for 201 critically endangered frog species with proportional contributions from tourism to species protection ranging from 0.8–99%. Tourism's financial contributions to critically endangered frog species protection are highest in the Afrotropical region. This study uses a coarse measure but at the global scale it demonstrates that tourism has significant potential to contribute to global frog conservation efforts. PMID:22984440

From continental priorities to local conservation: a multi-level analysis for African tortoises.

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Pierluigi Bombi

Full Text Available Terrestrial tortoises are the most endangered group of vertebrates but they are still largely ignored for defining global conservation priorities. In this paper, we explored within a hierarchical framework the potential contribution of prioritization studies at the continental scale to the planning of local initiatives for the conservation of African tortoises at the regional level. First, we modeled the distribution of all the African tortoise species, we calculated three indicators of conservation priority (i.e., species richness, conservation value, and complementarity, and we carried out a gap analysis at continental scale. Second, we focused on the most important region for tortoise conservation and performed the same analyses at higher resolution. Finally, we compared the results from the two scales for understanding the degree to which they are complementary. Southern Africa emerged from the continental analysis as the most important region for tortoises. Within this area, the high-resolution analysis pointed out specific core sites for conservation. The relative degree of species protection was assessed similarly at the two different resolutions. Two species appeared particularly vulnerable at both scales. Priority indices calculated at high resolution were correlated to the values calculated for the corresponding cells at low resolution but the congruence was stronger for species richness. Our results suggest to integrate the calculation of conservation value and complementarity into a hierarchical framework driven by species richness. The advantages of large scale planning include its broad perspective on complementarity and the capability to identify regions with greatest conservation potential. In this light, continental analyses allow targeting fine scale studies toward regions with maximum priority. The regional analyses at fine scale allow planning conservation measure at a resolution similar to that required for the practical

Diversity in soil seed bank of Sinai and implications for conservation ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Understanding the diversity level of seed bank is important for designing conservation and restoration programs especially in arid ecosystems. A diverse of diversity indices has been used in evaluating seed communities regardless of its suitability to measure the ecological quality of the targeted biological community.

How to maximally support local and regional biodiversity in applied conservation? Insights from pond management.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemmens, Pieter; Mergeay, Joachim; De Bie, Tom; Van Wichelen, Jeroen; De Meester, Luc; Declerck, Steven A J

2013-01-01

Biodiversity and nature values in anthropogenic landscapes often depend on land use practices and management. Evaluations of the association between management and biodiversity remain, however, comparatively scarce, especially in aquatic systems. Furthermore, studies also tend to focus on a limited set of organism groups at the local scale, whereas a multi-group approach at the landscape scale is to be preferred. This study aims to investigate the effect of pond management on the diversity of multiple aquatic organism groups (e.g. phytoplankton, zooplankton, several groups of macro-invertebrates, submerged and emergent macrophytes) at local and regional spatial scales. For this purpose, we performed a field study of 39 shallow man-made ponds representing five different management types. Our results indicate that fish stock management and periodic pond drainage are crucial drivers of pond biodiversity. Furthermore, this study provides insight in how the management of eutrophied ponds can contribute to aquatic biodiversity. A combination of regular draining of ponds with efforts to keep ponds free of fish seems to be highly beneficial for the biodiversity of many groups of aquatic organisms at local and regional scales. Regular draining combined with a stocking of fish at low biomass is also preferable to infrequent draining and lack of fish stock control. These insights are essential for the development of conservation programs that aim long-term maintenance of regional biodiversity in pond areas across Europe.

Increase in quantity and quality of suitable areas for invasive species as climate changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Bertelsmeier, Cleo; Luque, Gloria M; Courchamp, Franck

2013-12-01

As climatically suitable range projections become increasingly used to assess distributions of species, we recommend systematic assessments of the quality of habitat in addition to the classical binary classification of habitat. We devised a method to assess occurrence probability, captured by a climatic suitability index, through which we could determine variations in the quality of potential habitat. This relative risk assessment circumvents the use of an arbitrary suitability threshold. We illustrated our method with 2 case studies on invasive ant species. We estimated invasion potential of the destroyer ant (Monomorium destructor) and the European fire ant (Myrmica rubra) on a global scale currently and by 2080 with climate change. We found that 21.1% of the world's landmass currently has a suitable climate for the destroyer ant and 16% has a suitable climate for European fire ant. Our climatic suitability index showed that both ant species would benefit from climate change, but in different ways. The size of the potential distribution increased by 35.8% for the destroyer ant. Meanwhile, the total area of potential distribution remained the same for the European fire ant (>0.05%), but the level of climatic suitability within this range increased greatly and led to an improvement in habitat quality (i.e., of invasive species' establishment likelihood). Either through quantity or quality of suitable areas, both invasive ant species are likely to increase the extent of their invasion in the future, following global climate change. Our results show that species may increase their range if either more areas become suitable or if the available areas present improved suitability. Studies in which an arbitrary suitability threshold was used may overlook changes in area quality within climatically suitable areas and as a result reach incorrect predictions. Incremento de la Cantidad y Calidad de Áreas Idóneas para Especies Invasoras a Medida que Cambia el Clima. �

Local Treatment for Monochrome Outdoor Painted Metal Sculptures: Assessing the suitability of conservation paints for retouching

OpenAIRE

van Basten, Nikki; Defeyt, Catherine; Rivenc, Rachel

2015-01-01

When outdoor painted sculptures get chipped, scratched or abraded, conservators might consider local retouching treatments as an option that would protect the exposed metal substrate and restore the aesthetic integrity, thus postponing a very costly and invasive overall repainting. Unfortunately, matching colour gloss and texture on large monochrome surfaces is always challenging. This paper reports on research undertaken to investigate some of the materials and application techniques that co...

The Suitability of Different Nighttime Light Data for GDP Estimation at Different Spatial Scales and Regional Levels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhaoxin Dai

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Nighttime light data offer a unique view of the Earth’s surface and can be used to estimate the spatial distribution of gross domestic product (GDP. Historically, using a simple regression function, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS has been used to correlate regional and global GDP values. In early 2013, the first global Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP visible infrared imaging radiometer suite (VIIRS nighttime light data were released. Compared with DMSP/OLS, they have a higher spatial resolution and a wider radiometric detection range. This paper aims to study the suitability of the two nighttime light data sources for estimating the GDP relationship between the provincial and city levels in Mainland China, as well as of different regression functions. First, NPP/VIIRS nighttime light data for 2014 are corrected with DMSP/OLS data for 2013 to reduce the background noise in the original data. Subsequently, three regression functions are used to estimate the relationship between nighttime light data and GDP statistical data at the provincial and city levels in Mainland China. Then, through the comparison of the relative residual error (RE and the relative root mean square error (RRMSE parameters, a systematical assessment of the suitability of the GDP estimation is provided. The results show that the NPP/VIIRS nighttime light data are better than the DMSP/OLS data for GDP estimation, whether at the provincial or city level, and that the power function and polynomial models are better for GDP estimation than the linear regression model. This study reveals that the accuracy of GDP estimation based on nighttime light data is affected by the resolution of the data and the spatial scale of the study area, as well as by the land cover types and industrial structures of the study area.

Conservation and reclamation at Alberta's mineable oil sands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Purdy, B.; Richens, T. [Alberta Environment, Edmonton, AB (Canada)

2010-07-01

The regulatory foundation for oil sands in this region is established by the Energy Resources Conservation Board, Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA), as well as the Water Act. This presentation discussed the regulatory foundation for conservation and reclamation in the mineable oil sands region. EPEA requirements and conservation objectives were identified. EPEA conservation and reclamation requirements stipulate that an operator must conserve and reclaim and obtain a reclamation certificate. EPEA approvals that were presented compared prescriptive standards versus meeting outcomes at certification. Operational and management challenges as well as the role of research networks and multi-stakeholder organizations were also addressed. Challenge facing the industry include progressive reclamation; tailings management and process-affected water; reclamation certification; integrated landscapes; soil handling and revegetation and monitoring and research. The presentation demonstrated that reclamation begins with mine planning and ends with certification. figs.

Systematic Planning and Ecosystem-Based Management as Strategies to Reconcile Mangrove Conservation with Resource Use

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca Borges

2017-11-01

Full Text Available About 120 million people worldwide live within 10 km of large mangrove forests, and many of them directly depend on the goods and services provided by these ecosystems. However, it remains unclear how to synchronize ecological definitions and legal conservation strategies regarding mangroves, especially in developing countries, such as Brazil. The influence of human populations' socio-economic context in mangrove conservation policies, as well associated challenges in incorporating this influence, are underestimated or, often, largely ignored. Considering the recent threats emerging from changes in legislation and the lack of spatial and social-ecological integrated data to plan mangrove conservation in Brazil, this paper aims to answer the following questions: (1 What suitable measures could managers and other decision makers adopt for efficient mangrove conservation planning?; (2 What are the site-specific, social-ecological aspects that need to be taken into account when deciding on conservation and management strategies?; and (3 How could science contribute to the development of these measures? In order to achieve an ecosystem-based management approach, mangrove ecosystems should not be divided into sub-systems, but instead treated as an integrated system. Furthermore, interconnections with other coastal ecosystems must be assessed and taken into account. This is crucial for effective systematic conservation planning. Also, most of the particular social-ecological aspects in the different types of mangrove ecosystems along the Brazilian coast, and how those differences might be considered while planning for conservation, remain poorly understood. Based on similar drivers of change, geological features, and likely impacts of climate change, a macro-unit approach is proposed to group mangrove systems along the Brazilian coast and guide national policies. This paper draws parallels with management approaches worldwide to find common points and

Conservation of the primary structure, organization, and function of the human and mouse β-globin locus-activating regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moon, A.M.; Ley, T.J.

1990-01-01

DNA sequences located in a region 6-18 kilobases (kb) upstream from the human ε-globin gene are known as the locus-activating region (LAR) or dominant control region. This region is thought to play a key role in chromatin organization of the β-like globin gene cluster during erythroid development. Since the human β-globin LAR is functional in mice, the authors reasoned that critical LAR sequence elements might be conserved between mice and humans. They therefore cloned murine genomic sequences homologous to one portion of the human LAR. They found that this murine DNA fragment (mouse LAR site II) and sequences homologous to human LAR sites I and III are located upstream from the mouse β-like globin gene cluster and determined that their locations relative to the cluster are similar to that of their human counterparts. The homologous site II sequences are 70% identical between mice and humans over a stretch of ∼800 base pairs. These results suggest that primary structural elements endash and the spatial organization of these elements endash are important for function of the β-globin LAR

Stated Preferences for Forest Conservation in Southern Finland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lehtonen, Emmi; Kuuluvainen, Jari; Pouta, Eija

% support decreasing forest conservation. An average willingness-to-pay for increased biodiversity conservation was 60-212 € per household per year, depending on the described project and measurement method. In addition to costs per household, the number of conserved biotopes and endangered plant and animal......This study analyses Finnish citizens’ valuations and attitudes towards a forest conservation programme for southern Finland and the Pohjanmaa region. In particular, Finnish households’ willingness to accept expenses through increased taxation to guarantee a certain level of biodiversity...... conservation was investigated. Contingent valuation (CV) and choice experiment (CE) methods were applied. According to the CV results, 74% of respondents are prepared to pay for increased conservation and 16% support increased conservation but are not willing to pay for it. A further 5% are indifferent and 5...

The identification and functional annotation of RNA structures conserved in vertebrates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seemann, Ernst Stefan; Mirza, Aashiq Hussain; Hansen, Claus

2017-01-01

Structured elements of RNA molecules are essential in, e.g., RNA stabilization, localization and protein interaction, and their conservation across species suggests a common functional role. We computationally screened vertebrate genomes for Conserved RNA Structures (CRSs), leveraging structure-b......-structured counterparts. Our findings of transcribed uncharacterized regulatory regions that contain CRSs support their RNA-mediated functionality.......Structured elements of RNA molecules are essential in, e.g., RNA stabilization, localization and protein interaction, and their conservation across species suggests a common functional role. We computationally screened vertebrate genomes for Conserved RNA Structures (CRSs), leveraging structure......-based, rather than sequence-based, alignments. After careful correction for sequence identity and GC content, we predict ~516k human genomic regions containing CRSs. We find that a substantial fraction of human-mouse CRS regions (i) co-localize consistently with binding sites of the same RNA binding proteins...

Defining the demands and meeting the challenges of integrated bird conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Charles K. Baxter

2005-01-01

Understanding the demands of integration bird conservation begins with a critical assessment of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative's (NABCI) goal."Regionally-based, biologically-driven, landscape oriented partnerships delivering the full spectrum of bird conservation across the entirety of North America."

Importance of regional variation in conservation planning: A rangewide example of the Greater Sage-Grouse

Science.gov (United States)

Doherty, Kevin E.; Evans, Jeffrey S.; Coates, Peter S.; Juliusson, Lara; Fedy, Bradley C.

2016-01-01

We developed rangewide population and habitat models for Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) that account for regional variation in habitat selection and relative densities of birds for use in conservation planning and risk assessments. We developed a probabilistic model of occupied breeding habitat by statistically linking habitat characteristics within 4 miles of an occupied lek using a nonlinear machine learning technique (Random Forests). Habitat characteristics used were quantified in GIS and represent standard abiotic and biotic variables related to sage-grouse biology. Statistical model fit was high (mean correctly classified = 82.0%, range = 75.4–88.0%) as were cross-validation statistics (mean = 80.9%, range = 75.1–85.8%). We also developed a spatially explicit model to quantify the relative density of breeding birds across each Greater Sage-Grouse management zone. The models demonstrate distinct clustering of relative abundance of sage-grouse populations across all management zones. On average, approximately half of the breeding population is predicted to be within 10% of the occupied range. We also found that 80% of sage-grouse populations were contained in 25–34% of the occupied range within each management zone. Our rangewide population and habitat models account for regional variation in habitat selection and the relative densities of birds, and thus, they can serve as a consistent and common currency to assess how sage-grouse habitat and populations overlap with conservation actions or threats over the entire sage-grouse range. We also quantified differences in functional habitat responses and disturbance thresholds across the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) management zones using statistical relationships identified during habitat modeling. Even for a species as specialized as Greater Sage-Grouse, our results show that ecological context matters in both the strength of habitat selection (i

Assessment of the Suitability of High Resolution Numerical Weather Model Outputs for Hydrological Modelling in Mountainous Cold Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Rasouli, K.; Pomeroy, J. W.; Hayashi, M.; Fang, X.; Gutmann, E. D.; Li, Y.

2017-12-01

The hydrology of mountainous cold regions has a large spatial variability that is driven both by climate variability and near-surface process variability associated with complex terrain and patterns of vegetation, soils, and hydrogeology. There is a need to downscale large-scale atmospheric circulations towards the fine scales that cold regions hydrological processes operate at to assess their spatial variability in complex terrain and quantify uncertainties by comparison to field observations. In this research, three high resolution numerical weather prediction models, namely, the Intermediate Complexity Atmosphere Research (ICAR), Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF), and Global Environmental Multiscale (GEM) models are used to represent spatial and temporal patterns of atmospheric conditions appropriate for hydrological modelling. An area covering high mountains and foothills of the Canadian Rockies was selected to assess and compare high resolution ICAR (1 km × 1 km), WRF (4 km × 4 km), and GEM (2.5 km × 2.5 km) model outputs with station-based meteorological measurements. ICAR with very low computational cost was run with different initial and boundary conditions and with finer spatial resolution, which allowed an assessment of modelling uncertainty and scaling that was difficult with WRF. Results show that ICAR, when compared with WRF and GEM, performs very well in precipitation and air temperature modelling in the Canadian Rockies, while all three models show a fair performance in simulating wind and humidity fields. Representation of local-scale atmospheric dynamics leading to realistic fields of temperature and precipitation by ICAR, WRF, and GEM makes these models suitable for high resolution cold regions hydrological predictions in complex terrain, which is a key factor in estimating water security in western Canada.

A Regional Assessment of the Effects of Conservation Practices on In-stream Water Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, A. M.; Alexander, R. B.; Arnold, J.; Norfleet, L.; Robertson, D. M.; White, M.

2011-12-01

The Conservation Effects Assessment Program (CEAP), initiated by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), has the goal of quantifying the environmental benefits of agricultural conservation practices. As part of this effort, detailed farmer surveys were compiled to document the adoption of conservation practices. Survey data showed that up to 38 percent of cropland in the Upper Mississippi River basin is managed to reduce sediment, nutrient and pesticide loads from agricultural activities. The broader effects of these practices on downstream water quality are challenging to quantify. The USDA-NRCS recently reported results of a study that combined farmer surveys with process-based models to deduce the effect of conservation practices on sediment and chemical loads in farm runoff and downstream waters. As a follow-up collaboration, USGS and USDA scientists conducted a semi-empirical assessment of the same suite of practices using the USGS SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes) modeling framework. SPARROW is a hybrid statistical and mechanistic stream water quality model of annual conditions that has been used extensively in studies of nutrient sources and delivery. In this assessment, the USDA simulations of the effects of conservation practices on loads in farm runoff were used as an explanatory variable (i.e., change in farm loads per unit area) in a component of an existing a SPARROW model of the Upper Midwest. The model was then re-calibrated and tested to determine whether the USDA estimate of conservation adoption intensity explained a statistically significant proportion of the spatial variability in stream nutrient loads in the Upper Mississippi River basin. The results showed that the suite of conservation practices that NRCS has catalogued as complete nutrient and sediment management are a statistically significant feature in the Midwestern landscape associated with phosphorous runoff and delivery to downstream waters

Characterization and evolution of the mitochondrial DNA control region in hornbills (Bucerotiformes).

Science.gov (United States)

Delport, Wayne; Ferguson, J Willem H; Bloomer, Paulette

2002-06-01

We determined the mitochondrial DNA control region sequences of six Bucerotiformes. Hornbills have the typical avian gene order and their control region is similar to other avian control regions in that it is partitioned into three domains: two variable domains that flank a central conserved domain. Two characteristics of the hornbill control region sequence differ from that of other birds. First, domain I is AT rich as opposed to AC rich, and second, the control region is approximately 500 bp longer than that of other birds. Both these deviations from typical avian control region sequence are explainable on the basis of repeat motifs in domain I of the hornbill control region. The repeat motifs probably originated from a duplication of CSB-1 as has been determined in chicken, quail, and snowgoose. Furthermore, the hornbill repeat motifs probably arose before the divergence of hornbills from each other but after the divergence of hornbills from other avian taxa. The mitochondrial control region of hornbills is suitable for both phylogenetic and population studies, with domains I and II probably more suited to population and phylogenetic analyses, respectively.

Forest gene conservation from the perspective of the international community

Science.gov (United States)

M. Hosny El-Lakany

2017-01-01

conservation of forest genetic resources (FGR). After presenting internationally adopted definitions of some terms related to FGR, the characteristics of the current state of FGR conservation from a global perspective are summarized. Many international and regional organizations and institutions are engaged in the conservation of FGR at degrees ranging from...

Hopes and challenges for giant panda conservation under climate change in the Qinling Mountains of China.

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Minghao; Guan, Tianpei; Hou, Meng; Liu, Gang; Zhou, Tianyuan

2017-01-01

One way that climate change will impact animal distributions is by altering habitat suitability and habitat fragmentation. Understanding the impacts of climate change on currently threatened species is of immediate importance because complex conservation planning will be required. Here, we mapped changes to the distribution, suitability, and fragmentation of giant panda habitat under climate change and quantified the direction and elevation of habitat shift and fragmentation patterns. These data were used to develop a series of new conservation strategies for the giant panda. Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi, China. Data from the most recent giant panda census, habitat factors, anthropogenic disturbance, climate variables, and climate predictions for the year 2050 (averaged across four general circulation models) were used to project giant panda habitat in Maxent. Differences in habitat patches were compared between now and 2050. While climate change will cause a 9.1% increase in suitable habitat and 9% reduction in subsuitable habitat by 2050, no significant net variation in the proportion of suitable and subsuitable habitat was found. However, a distinct climate change-induced habitat shift of 11 km eastward by 2050 is predicted firstly. Climate change will reduce the fragmentation of suitable habitat at high elevations and exacerbate the fragmentation of subsuitable habitat below 1,900 m above sea level. Reduced fragmentation at higher elevations and worsening fragmentation at lower elevations have the potential to cause overcrowding of giant pandas at higher altitudes, further exacerbating habitat shortage in the central Qinling Mountains. The habitat shift to the east due to climate change may provide new areas for giant pandas but poses severe challenges for future conservation.

Improving the Design of a Conservation Reserve for a Critically Endangered Species.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Chris; Cadenhead, Natasha; Lindenmayer, David B; Wintle, Brendan A

2017-01-01

Setting aside protected areas is a key strategy for tackling biodiversity loss. Reserve effectiveness depends on the extent to which protected areas capture both known occurrences and areas likely to support the species. We assessed the effectiveness of the existing reserve network for Leadbeater's Possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri) and other forest-dependent species, and compared the existing reserve system to a set of plausible reserve expansion options based on area targets implied in a recent Population Viability Analysis (PVA). The existing Leadbeater's Reserve and surrounding reserve system captured 7.6% and 29.6% of cumulative habitat suitability, respectively, across the landscape. Expanded reserve scenarios captured 34% to 62% of cumulative habitat suitability. We found acute trade-offs between conserving Leadbeater's Possum habitat and conserving habitat of other forest-dependent species. Our analysis provides a template for systematically expanding and evaluating reserve expansion options in terms of trade-offs between priority species' needs.

Energy conservation programs of Pemex exploration and production, south region; Programas de ahorro de energia en Pemex exploracion y produccion, region sur

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonzalez Milla, Guillermo; Garcia Juarez, Francisco; Alarcon Aleman, Jose Mauricio [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca (Mexico)

1999-12-31

The technological developments of energy economizing equipment constitute a powerful tool for the conservation and saving of the electric energy in new or existing installations. Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) Exploration and Production initiated in 1997 a program for energy economizing in the South region, for which the Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, through its Unit for the Use of Energy, collaborated performing energy assessments in 115 buildings of the above mentioned region. This paper describes the employed methodology to carry on the energy assessment, which consisted in an analysis of each building and different options for energy economizing were presented, which was accompanied with cost-benefit studies. The results obtained show that the air conditioning equipment and lighting represent the most important loads permanently connected, therefore the study was concentrated in these two loads [Espanol] Los desarrollos tecnologicos de equipos ahorradores de energia constituyen una poderosa herramienta para la conservacion y el ahorro de energia electrica en instalaciones nuevas o existentes. Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) Exploracion y Produccion inicio en 1997 un programa para el ahorro de energia en la region sur, para lo cual el Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, a traves de la Unidad de Uso de Energia, colaboro realizando diagnosticos energeticos en 115 edificios de dicha region. En este documento se describe la metodologia utilizada para realizar el diagnostico energetico, el cual consistio en un analisis de cada edificio y se presentaron diversas opciones para ahorrar energia, lo cual se acompano de estudios de costo-beneficio. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que los equipos de aire acondicionado e iluminacion representan la parte mas importante de las cargas conectadas permanentemente, por lo que el estudio se concentro en estas dos cargas

Energy conservation programs of Pemex exploration and production, south region; Programas de ahorro de energia en Pemex exploracion y produccion, region sur

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonzalez Milla, Guillermo; Garcia Juarez, Francisco; Alarcon Aleman, Jose Mauricio [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca (Mexico)

1998-12-31

The technological developments of energy economizing equipment constitute a powerful tool for the conservation and saving of the electric energy in new or existing installations. Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) Exploration and Production initiated in 1997 a program for energy economizing in the South region, for which the Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, through its Unit for the Use of Energy, collaborated performing energy assessments in 115 buildings of the above mentioned region. This paper describes the employed methodology to carry on the energy assessment, which consisted in an analysis of each building and different options for energy economizing were presented, which was accompanied with cost-benefit studies. The results obtained show that the air conditioning equipment and lighting represent the most important loads permanently connected, therefore the study was concentrated in these two loads [Espanol] Los desarrollos tecnologicos de equipos ahorradores de energia constituyen una poderosa herramienta para la conservacion y el ahorro de energia electrica en instalaciones nuevas o existentes. Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) Exploracion y Produccion inicio en 1997 un programa para el ahorro de energia en la region sur, para lo cual el Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, a traves de la Unidad de Uso de Energia, colaboro realizando diagnosticos energeticos en 115 edificios de dicha region. En este documento se describe la metodologia utilizada para realizar el diagnostico energetico, el cual consistio en un analisis de cada edificio y se presentaron diversas opciones para ahorrar energia, lo cual se acompano de estudios de costo-beneficio. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que los equipos de aire acondicionado e iluminacion representan la parte mas importante de las cargas conectadas permanentemente, por lo que el estudio se concentro en estas dos cargas

A semiarid fruit agroecosystem as a conservation-friendly option for small mammals in an anthropized landscape in Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Riojas-López, Mónica E; Mellink, Eric; Luévano, Jaime

2018-03-01

Many studies have addressed the potential of low-input agroecosystems for biological conservation. However, most have been carried out on annual agroecosystems in temperate, developed countries. As agricultural surface will increase and natural protected areas alone will not warrant the conservation of biodiversity, it is crucial to include different types of agroecosystems in research and conservation efforts. In Mexico, perennial, low-input, fruit-oriented nopal orchards (Opuntia spp.), one of the few crops suitable for semiarid areas, are the 10th out of 61 most important fruit crops grown in the country. We assessed their value for conservation in an anthropized landscape by comparing their rodent assemblages with those in adjacent habitats and determined the influence of the latter on the rodent communities inside them. We live-trapped rodents in 12 orchards and adjacent natural xeric shrubland, grassland, and cropland. We captured 19 different species, of which 17 used the orchards. Four are Mexican endemics. Orchards have higher α diversity, species richness, and abundance than cropland and grassland and are not different from shrubland. The dominant rodent species are the same in orchards and shrubland, and where these two meet they integrate into one habitat. Within-habitat quality is a critical driver of the composition and diversity of rodent communities in the orchards studied, and the neighboring habitats do not modify them substantially. Increasing within-patch heterogeneity beyond a certain level is at the expense of habitat integrity and produces small-scale fragmentation reducing habitat quality. At a landscape scale, orchards contribute importantly to regional rodent diversity compared with other land use types, and appear to increase habitat connectivity between patches of shrubland. Orchards' higher α diversity would give them higher ecological resilience and make them better suited than grassland and cropland to contribute to the conservation

Trading Water Conservation Credits: A Coordinative Approach for Enhanced Urban Water Reliability

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzales, P.; Ajami, N. K.

2016-12-01

Water utilities in arid and semi-arid regions are increasingly relying on water use efficiency and conservation to extend the availability of supplies. Despite spatial and institutional inter-dependency of many service providers, these demand-side management initiatives have traditionally been tackled by individual utilities operating in a silo. In this study, we introduce a new approach to water conservation that addresses regional synergies—a novel system of tradable water conservation credits. Under the proposed approach, utilities have the flexibility to invest in water conservation measures that are appropriate for their specific service area. When utilities have insufficient capacity for local cost-effective measures, they may opt to purchase credits, contributing to fund subsidies for utilities that do have that capacity and can provide the credits, while the region as whole benefits from more reliable water supplies. While similar programs have been used to address water quality concerns, to our knowledge this is one of the first studies proposing tradable credits for incentivizing water conservation. Through mathematical optimization, this study estimates the potential benefits of a trading program and demonstrates the institutional and economic characteristics needed for such a policy to be viable, including a proposed web platform to facilitate transparent regional planning, data-driven decision-making, and enhanced coordination of utilities. We explore the impacts of defining conservation targets tailored to local realities of utilities, setting credit prices, and different policy configurations. We apply these models to the case study of water utility members of the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency. Preliminary work shows that the diverse characteristics of these utilities present opportunities for the region to achieve conservation goals while maximizing the benefits to individual utilities through more flexible coordinative efforts.

Conservation biology in Asia: the major policy challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

McNeely, Jeffrey A; Kapoor-Vijay, Promila; Zhi, Lu; Olsvig-Whittaker, Linda; Sheikh, Kashif M; Smith, Andrew T

2009-08-01

With about half the world's human population and booming economies, Asia faces numerous challenges to its biodiversity. The Asia Section of the Society for Conservation Biology has identified some key policy issues in which significant progress can be made. These include developing new sources of funding for forest conservation; identifying potential impacts of energy alternatives on the conservation of biodiversity; curbing the trade in endangered species of plants and animals; a special focus on the conservation of mountain biodiversity; enhancing relevant research; ensuring that conservation biology contributes to major international conventions and funding mechanisms; using conservation biology to build a better understanding of zoonotic diseases; more effectively addressing human-animal conflicts; enhancing community-based conservation; and using conservation biology to help address the pervasive water-deficit problems in much of Asia. These challenges can be met through improved regional cooperation among the relevant stakeholders.

Diversity, natural history and conservation of amphibians and reptiles from the San Vito Region, southwestern Costa Rica.

Science.gov (United States)

Santos-Barrera, Georgina; Pacheco, Jesus; Mendoza-Quijano, Fernando; Bolaños, Federico; Cháves, Gerardo; Daily, Gretchen C; Ehrlich, Paul R; Ceballos, Gerardo

2008-06-01

We present an inventory of the amphibians and reptiles of the San Vito de Coto Brus region, including the Las Cruces Biological Station, in southern Costa Rica, which is the result of a survey of the herpetofauna occurring in mountain forest fragments, pastures, coffee plantations, and other disturbed areas. We found 67 species, included 26 species of amphibians and of 41 of reptiles. We describe the distribution patterns of the community on the basis of the life zones, elevation, fragmentation, and degree of anthropogenic impact. We also provide some nouvelle data on the systematics of some select taxa, their geographical ranges, microhabitats, activity, and other relevant ecological and natural history features. Finally, we comment on the present conservation status of the herpetofauna in the region. Previous literature and collection records indicate a higher number of species occurring in this area, which suggests that some declines have occurred, especially of amphibians, in last decades.

Identification of priority conservation areas and potential corridors for jaguars in the Caatinga biome, Brazil.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ronaldo Gonçalves Morato

Full Text Available The jaguar, Panthera onca, is a top predator with the extant population found within the Brazilian Caatinga biome now known to be on the brink of extinction. Designing new conservation units and potential corridors are therefore crucial for the long-term survival of the species within the Caatinga biome. Thus, our aims were: 1 to recognize suitable areas for jaguar occurrence, 2 to delineate areas for jaguar conservation (PJCUs, 3 to design corridors among priority areas, and 4 to prioritize PJCUs. A total of 62 points records of jaguar occurrence and 10 potential predictors were analyzed in a GIS environment. A predictive distributional map was obtained using Species Distribution Modeling (SDM as performed by the Maximum Entropy (Maxent algorithm. Areas equal to or higher than the median suitability value of 0.595 were selected as of high suitability for jaguar occurrence and named as Priority Jaguar Conservation Units (PJCU. Ten PJCUs with sizes varying from 23.6 km2 to 4,311.0 km2 were identified. Afterwards, we combined the response curve, as generated by SDM, and expert opinions to create a permeability matrix and to identify least cost corridors and buffer zones between each PJCU pair. Connectivity corridors and buffer zone for jaguar movement included an area of 8.884,26 km2 and the total corridor length is about 160.94 km. Prioritizing criteria indicated the PJCU representing c.a. 68.61% of the total PJCU area (PJCU # 1 as of high priority for conservation and connectivity with others PJCUs (PJCUs # 4, 5 and 7 desirable for the long term survival of the species. In conclusion, by using the jaguar as a focal species and combining SDM and expert opinion we were able to create a valid framework for practical conservation actions at the Caatinga biome. The same approach could be used for the conservation of other carnivores.

Interactive effects of climate change with nutrients, mercury, and freshwater acidification on key taxa in the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative region

Science.gov (United States)

Pinkney, Alfred E.; Driscoll, Charles T.; Evers, David C.; Hooper, Michael J.; Horan, Jeffrey; Jones, Jess W.; Lazarus, Rebecca S.; Marshall, Harold G.; Milliken, Andrew; Rattner, Barnett A.; Schmerfeld, John J.; Sparling, Donald W.

2015-01-01

The North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative LCC (NA LCC) is a public–private partnership that provides information to support conservation decisions that may be affected by global climate change (GCC) and other threats. The NA LCC region extends from southeast Virginia to the Canadian Maritime Provinces. Within this region, the US National Climate Assessment documented increases in air temperature, total precipitation, frequency of heavy precipitation events, and rising sea level, and predicted more drastic changes. Here, we synthesize literature on the effects of GCC interacting with selected contaminant, nutrient, and environmental processes to adversely affect natural resources within this region. Using a case study approach, we focused on 3 stressors with sufficient NA LCC region-specific information for an informed discussion. We describe GCC interactions with a contaminant (Hg) and 2 complex environmental phenomena—freshwater acidification and eutrophication. We also prepared taxa case studies on GCC- and GCC-contaminant/nutrient/process effects on amphibians and freshwater mussels. Several avian species of high conservation concern have blood Hg concentrations that have been associated with reduced nesting success. Freshwater acidification has adversely affected terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the Adirondacks and other areas of the region that are slowly recovering due to decreased emissions of N and sulfur oxides. Eutrophication in many estuaries within the region is projected to increase from greater storm runoff and less denitrification in riparian wetlands. Estuarine hypoxia may be exacerbated by increased stratification. Elevated water temperature favors algal species that produce harmful algal blooms (HABs). In several of the region's estuaries, HABs have been associated with bird die-offs. In the NA LCC region, amphibian populations appear to be declining. Some species may be adversely affected by GCC through higher temperatures

Combining landscape-level conservation planning and biodiversity offset programs: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Underwood, Jared G

2011-01-01

Habitat loss is a major factor in the endangerment and extinction of species around the world. One promising strategy to balance continued habitat loss and biodiversity conservation is that of biodiversity offsets. However, a major concern with offset programs is their consistency with landscape-level conservation goals. While merging offset policies and landscape-level conservation planning is thought to provide advantages over a traditional disconnected approach, few such landscape-level conservation-offset plans have been designed and implemented, so the effectiveness of such a strategy remains uncertain. In this study, we quantitatively assess the conservation impact of combining landscape-level conservation planning and biodiversity offset programs by comparing regions of San Diego County, USA with the combined approach to regions with only an offset program. This comparison is generally very difficult due to a variety of complicating factors. We overcome these complications and quantify the benefits to rare and threatened species of implementing a combined approach by assessing the amount of each species' predicted distribution, and the number of documented locations, conserved in comparison to the same metric for areas with an offset policy alone. We found that adoption of the combined approach has increased conservation for many rare species, often 5-10 times more than in the comparison area, and that conservation has been focused in the areas most important for these species. The level of conservation achieved reduces uncertainty that these species will persist in the region into the future. This San Diego County example demonstrates the potential benefits of combining landscape-level conservation planning and biodiversity offset programs.

Landscape connectivity among remnant populations of guanaco (Lama guanicoe Müller, 1776) in an arid region of Chile impacted by global change.

Science.gov (United States)

Espinosa, Mara I; Gouin, Nicolas; Squeo, Francisco A; López, David; Bertin, Angéline

2018-01-01

Connectivity between populations plays a key role in the long-term persistence of species in fragmented habitats. This is of particular concern for biodiversity preservation in drylands, since water limited landscapes are typically characterized by little suitable habitat cover, high habitat fragmentation, harsh matrices, and are being rapidly degraded at a global scale. In this study, we modelled landscape connectivity between 11 guanaco Lama guanicoe populations in Chile's arid Norte Chico, a region that supports the last remnant coastal populations of this emblematic herbivore indigenous to South America. We produced a habitat suitability model to derive a regional surface resistance map, and used circuit theory to map functional connectivity, investigate the relative isolation between populations, and identify those that contribute most to the patch connectivity network. Predicted suitable habitat for L. guanicoe represented about 25% of the study region (i.e., 29,173 km 2 ) and was heterogeneously distributed along a continuous stretch along the Andes, and discontinuous patches along the coast. As a result, we found that high connectivity current flows in the mid and high Andes formed a wide, continuous connectivity corridor, enabling connectivity between all high Andean populations. Coastal populations, in contrast, were more isolated. These groups demonstrate no inter-population connectivity between themselves, only with higher altitude populations, and for two of them, animal movement was linked to the effectiveness of wildlife crossings along the Pan-American highway. Our results indicate that functional connectivity is an issue of concern for L. guanicoe in Chile's Norte Chico, implying that future conservation and management plans should emphasize strategies aimed at conserving functional connectivity between coastal and Andean populations, as well as the protection of habitat patches likely to act as stepping stones within the connectivity network.

Landscape connectivity among remnant populations of guanaco (Lama guanicoe Müller, 1776 in an arid region of Chile impacted by global change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mara I. Espinosa

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Connectivity between populations plays a key role in the long-term persistence of species in fragmented habitats. This is of particular concern for biodiversity preservation in drylands, since water limited landscapes are typically characterized by little suitable habitat cover, high habitat fragmentation, harsh matrices, and are being rapidly degraded at a global scale. In this study, we modelled landscape connectivity between 11 guanaco Lama guanicoe populations in Chile’s arid Norte Chico, a region that supports the last remnant coastal populations of this emblematic herbivore indigenous to South America. We produced a habitat suitability model to derive a regional surface resistance map, and used circuit theory to map functional connectivity, investigate the relative isolation between populations, and identify those that contribute most to the patch connectivity network. Predicted suitable habitat for L. guanicoe represented about 25% of the study region (i.e., 29,173 km2 and was heterogeneously distributed along a continuous stretch along the Andes, and discontinuous patches along the coast. As a result, we found that high connectivity current flows in the mid and high Andes formed a wide, continuous connectivity corridor, enabling connectivity between all high Andean populations. Coastal populations, in contrast, were more isolated. These groups demonstrate no inter-population connectivity between themselves, only with higher altitude populations, and for two of them, animal movement was linked to the effectiveness of wildlife crossings along the Pan-American highway. Our results indicate that functional connectivity is an issue of concern for L. guanicoe in Chile’s Norte Chico, implying that future conservation and management plans should emphasize strategies aimed at conserving functional connectivity between coastal and Andean populations, as well as the protection of habitat patches likely to act as stepping stones within the

Local conservation laws for principle chiral fields (d=1)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cherednik, I.V.

1979-01-01

The Beklund transformation for chiral fields in the two-dimensional Minkovski space is found. As a result an infinite series of conservation laws for principle chiral Osub(n) fields (d=1) has been built. It is shown that these laws are local, the infinite series of global invariants which do not depend on xi, eta, and which is rather rapidly decrease along xi (or along eta) solutions being connected with these laws (xi, eta - coordinates of the light cone). It is noted that with the help of the construction proposed it is possible to obtain conservation laws of principle chiral G fields, including G in the suitable ortogonal groups. Symmetry permits to exchange xi and eta. The construction of conservation laws may be carried out without supposition that lambda has a multiplicity equal to 1, however the proof of the locality applied does not transfer on the laws obtained

The role of trade-offs in biodiversity conservation planning: linking ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Unknown

[Faith D P and Walker P A 2002 The role of trade-offs in biodiversity conservation planning: linking local management, regional planning and global conservation efforts; J. Biosci. 27 (Suppl. 2) 393–407]. 1. Introduction. A reality of biodiversity conservation planning is that it requires taking into account many things other than ...

Regional flow and solute transport modeling for site suitability. Part I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rowe, J.; Miller, I.

1979-12-01

The nature of regional flow systems in large sedimentary basins will largely determine the effectiveness of regional flow as a barrier to radionuclide escape from deep geologic repositories. The purpose of the work reported herein and the proposed future work is to develop a methodology for evaluating regional flow barriers by using numerical models. The Williston Basin was chosen as an archetype case for the regional modeling study. However, due to the simplified nature of the study, the results are not meant to represent the behavior of a repository actually placed within the Williston Basin. The major components of this Phase I study are: (1) assembly and reduction of available data; (2) formulation of a simplified geohydrologic model; (3) computer simulation of fluid flow; and (4) computer simulation of solute transport. As of this report, the first two items are essentially completed. Computer simulation of fluid flow will require some revision and further study, which will be done in the second phase of this study. Computer simulation of solute transport has been considered only on a very preliminary basis. Important conclusions of this Phase I study are as follows. Assembly and reduction of data require an extensive work effort. Generally, the parameters describing fluid flow are poorly known on a regional basis and those describing solute transport are unknown

Regional flow and solute transport modeling for site suitability. Part I

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rowe, J.; Miller, I.

1979-12-01

The nature of regional flow systems in large sedimentary basins will largely determine the effectiveness of regional flow as a barrier to radionuclide escape from deep geologic repositories. The purpose of the work reported herein and the proposed future work is to develop a methodology for evaluating regional flow barriers by using numerical models. The Williston Basin was chosen as an archetype case for the regional modeling study. However, due to the simplified nature of the study, the results are not meant to represent the behavior of a repository actually placed within the Williston Basin. The major components of this Phase I study are: (1) assembly and reduction of available data; (2) formulation of a simplified geohydrologic model; (3) computer simulation of fluid flow; and (4) computer simulation of solute transport. As of this report, the first two items are essentially completed. Computer simulation of fluid flow will require some revision and further study, which will be done in the second phase of this study. Computer simulation of solute transport has been considered only on a very preliminary basis. Important conclusions of this Phase I study are as follows. Assembly and reduction of data require an extensive work effort. Generally, the parameters describing fluid flow are poorly known on a regional basis and those describing solute transport are unknown.

The role of trade-offs in biodiversity conservation planning: linking ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Unknown

local management, regional planning and global conservation efforts .... conservation and the vertical axis indicates total amount of biodiversity protection “forgone” – not protected by .... tem services” that include such things as water quality,.

Developing and testing a landscape habitat suitability model for fisher (Martes pennanti) in forests of interior northern California

Science.gov (United States)

W.J. Zielinski; J. R. Dunk; J. S. Yaeger; D. W. LaPlante

2010-01-01

The fisher is warranted for protection under the Endangered Species Act in the western United States and, as such, it is especially important that conservation and management actions are based on sound scientific information. We developed a landscape-scale suitability model for interior northern California to predict the probability of detecting fishers and to identify...

Apparatus for Investigating Momentum and Energy Conservation With MBL and Video Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

George, Elizabeth; Vazquez-Abad, Jesus

1998-04-01

We describe the development and use of a laboratory setup that is appropriate for computer-aided student investigation of the principles of conservation of momentum and mechanical energy in collisions. The setup consists of two colliding carts on a low-friction track, with one of the carts (the target) attached to a spring, whose extension or compression takes the place of the pendulum's rise in the traditional ballistic pendulum apparatus. Position vs. time data for each cart are acquired either by using two motion sensors or by digitizing images obtained with a video camera. This setup allows students to examine the time history of momentum and mechanical energy during the entire collision process, rather than simply focusing on the before and after regions. We believe that this setup is suitable for helping students gain understanding as the processes involved are simple to follow visually, to manipulate, and to analyze.

Impending conservation crisis for Southeast Asian amphibians.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowley, Jodi; Brown, Rafe; Bain, Raoul; Kusrini, Mirza; Inger, Robert; Stuart, Bryan; Wogan, Guin; Thy, Neang; Chan-Ard, Tanya; Trung, Cao Tien; Diesmos, Arvin; Iskandar, Djoko T; Lau, Michael; Ming, Leong Tzi; Makchai, Sunchai; Truong, Nguyen Quang; Phimmachak, Somphouthone

2010-06-23

With an understudied amphibian fauna, the highest deforestation rate on the planet and high harvesting pressures, Southeast Asian amphibians are facing a conservation crisis. Owing to the overriding threat of habitat loss, the most critical conservation action required is the identification and strict protection of habitat assessed as having high amphibian species diversity and/or representing distinctive regional amphibian faunas. Long-term population monitoring, enhanced survey efforts, collection of basic biological and ecological information, continued taxonomic research and evaluation of the impact of commercial trade for food, medicine and pets are also needed. Strong involvement of regional stakeholders, students and professionals is essential to accomplish these actions.

Bird diversity, birdwatching tourism and conservation in Peru: a geographic analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liisa Puhakka

Full Text Available In the face of the continuing global biodiversity loss, it is important not only to assess the need for conservation, through e.g. gap analyses, but also to seek practical solutions for protecting biodiversity. Environmentally and socially sustainable tourism can be one such solution. We present a method to spatially link data on conservation needs and tourism-based economic opportunities, using bird-related tourism in Peru as an example. Our analysis highlighted areas in Peru where potential for such projects could be particularly high. Several areas within the central and northern Andean regions, as well as within the lowland Amazonian regions of Madre de Dios and Loreto emerge as promising for this type of activity. Mechanisms to implement conservation in these areas include e.g. conservation and ecotourism concessions, private conservation areas, and conservation easements. Some of these mechanisms also offer opportunities for local communities seeking to secure their traditional land ownership and use rights. (Spanish language abstract, Abstract S1.

Bird diversity, birdwatching tourism and conservation in Peru: a geographic analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Puhakka, Liisa; Salo, Matti; Sääksjärvi, Ilari E

2011-01-01

In the face of the continuing global biodiversity loss, it is important not only to assess the need for conservation, through e.g. gap analyses, but also to seek practical solutions for protecting biodiversity. Environmentally and socially sustainable tourism can be one such solution. We present a method to spatially link data on conservation needs and tourism-based economic opportunities, using bird-related tourism in Peru as an example. Our analysis highlighted areas in Peru where potential for such projects could be particularly high. Several areas within the central and northern Andean regions, as well as within the lowland Amazonian regions of Madre de Dios and Loreto emerge as promising for this type of activity. Mechanisms to implement conservation in these areas include e.g. conservation and ecotourism concessions, private conservation areas, and conservation easements. Some of these mechanisms also offer opportunities for local communities seeking to secure their traditional land ownership and use rights. (Spanish language abstract, Abstract S1).

An Improved Neural Network for Regional Giant Panda Habitat Suitability Mapping: A Case Study in Ya’an Prefecture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jingwei Song

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Expert knowledge is a combination of prior information and subjective opinions based on long-experience; as such it is often not sufficiently objective to produce convincing results in animal habitat suitability index mapping. In this study, an animal habitat assessment method based on a learning neural network is proposed to reduce the level of subjectivity in animal habitat assessments. Based on two hypotheses, this method substitutes habitat suitability index with apparent density and has advantages over conventional ones such as those based on analytical hierarchy process or multivariate regression approaches. Besides, this method is integrated with a learning neural network and is suitable for building non-linear transferring functions to fit complex relationships between multiple factors influencing habitat suitability. Once the neural network is properly trained, new earth observation data can be integrated for rapid habitat suitability monitoring which could save time and resources needed for traditional data collecting approaches through extensive field surveys. Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca natural habitat in Ya’an prefecture and corresponding landsat images, DEM and ground observations are tested for validity of using the methodology reported. Results show that the method scores well in key efficiency and performance indicators and could be extended for habitat assessments, particularly of other large, rare and widely distributed animal species.

Biodiversity conservation in a changing climate: a review of threats and implications for conservation planning in Myanmar.

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, Madhu; Saw Htun; Platt, Steven G; Tizard, Robert; Poole, Colin; Than Myint; Watson, James E M

2013-11-01

High levels of species richness and endemism make Myanmar a regional priority for conservation. However, decades of economic and political sanctions have resulted in low conservation investment to effectively tackle threats to biodiversity. Recent sweeping political reforms have placed Myanmar on the fast track to economic development-the expectation is increased economic investments focused on the exploitation of the country's rich, and relatively intact, natural resources. Within a context of weak regulatory capacity and inadequate environmental safeguards, rapid economic development is likely to have far-reaching negative implications for already threatened biodiversity and natural-resource-dependent human communities. Climate change will further exacerbate prevailing threats given Myanmar's high exposure and vulnerability. The aim of this review is to examine the implications of increased economic growth and a changing climate within the larger context of biodiversity conservation in Myanmar. We summarize conservation challenges, assess direct climatological impacts on biodiversity and conclude with recommendations for long-term adaptation approaches for biodiversity conservation.

Bonneville Power Administration`s Commercial Sector Conservation Market.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gordan, Frederick M. [Pacific Energy Associates, Inc. (United States)

1992-11-10

Bonneville has, as part of its resource plan, accepted targets for commercial conservation which are quite ambitious. To meet these targets, Bonneville will need to acquire as much cost-effective conservation as possible over the next twelve years. With this in mind, this document explores the relative importance of different commercial market segments and the types of assistance each market needs to install as many cost-effective conservation measures in as many buildings as possible. This document reviews Bonneville`s marketing environment and position, and suggests goals for commercial sector conservation marketing at Bonneville. Then it presents a broad market segmentation and series of additional demographic analyses. These analyses assess what groups of consumers Bonneville must reach to achieve most of the commercial conservation potential and what is needed to reach them. A final section reviews the success of Bonneville programs at reaching various markets. The market segmentation identifies different types of consumers and opportunities which would require distinct program approaches. Four large market segments are identified that have distinct program needs. Then four ``building life-cycle events`` are identified which provide important conservation opportunities and also require distinct program services. This creates a matrix of 16 cells which delineate distinct needs for program marketing. Each of the four key market segments manages at least 20% of the Region`s commercial floorspace.

Spatially explicit trends in the global conservation status of vertebrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues, Ana S L; Brooks, Thomas M; Butchart, Stuart H M; Chanson, Janice; Cox, Neil; Hoffmann, Michael; Stuart, Simon N

2014-01-01

The world's governments have committed to preventing the extinction of threatened species and improving their conservation status by 2020. However, biodiversity is not evenly distributed across space, and neither are the drivers of its decline, and so different regions face very different challenges. Here, we quantify the contribution of regions and countries towards recent global trends in vertebrate conservation status (as measured by the Red List Index), to guide action towards the 2020 target. We found that>50% of the global deterioration in the conservation status of birds, mammals and amphibians is concentrated in nations (e.g. Cook Islands, Fiji, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Tonga), have achieved net improvements. Per capita wealth does not explain these patterns, with two of the richest countries - United States and Australia - fairing conspicuously poorly. Different countries were affected by different combinations of threats. Reducing global rates of biodiversity loss will require investment in the regions and countries with the highest responsibility for the world's biodiversity, focusing on conserving those species and areas most in peril and on reducing the drivers with the highest impacts.

Rangewide determinants of population performance in Prunus lusitanica: Lessons for the contemporary conservation of a Tertiary relict tree

Science.gov (United States)

Pardo, Adara; Cáceres, Yonatan; Pulido, Fernando

2018-01-01

Relict species are an extremely important part of biodiversity and as such studies on the factors that allow their current persistence are required. The aim of this study was to assess the determinants of the distribution and range-wide population performance of the Tertiary relict tree Prunus lusitanica L. This threatened species is confined to Iberia, Northern Morocco and Macaronesia with a fragmented and scattered distribution. Using ecological niche modelling, we calculated the level of range filling across the range and tested its relationship with human impact. We then assessed the relative importance of climatic suitability as obtained through niche modelling, topographic factors and contemporary human impact on range-wide population performance. Results showed that the species occupies only 2.4% of the overall area predicted to be climatically suitable for its presence and the level of range filling varied across regions. A weak negative relationship among range filling and human impact was found. Overall climatic suitability was the strongest predictor of population performance. However, it showed high variability across regions: the effect was positive in Iberia whereas negative but not significant in Macaronesia and Morocco. Human impact showed a significant negative effect and finally topographic factors such as altitude had a minor negative effect. Our results highlight that both climate and human impact play a major role in the current limited range filling and performance of the species. Management plans to minimize anthropogenic disturbances together with reforestation measures are urgently needed in order to conserve this unique species.

Improving the Design of a Conservation Reserve for a Critically Endangered Species.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chris Taylor

Full Text Available Setting aside protected areas is a key strategy for tackling biodiversity loss. Reserve effectiveness depends on the extent to which protected areas capture both known occurrences and areas likely to support the species. We assessed the effectiveness of the existing reserve network for Leadbeater's Possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri and other forest-dependent species, and compared the existing reserve system to a set of plausible reserve expansion options based on area targets implied in a recent Population Viability Analysis (PVA. The existing Leadbeater's Reserve and surrounding reserve system captured 7.6% and 29.6% of cumulative habitat suitability, respectively, across the landscape. Expanded reserve scenarios captured 34% to 62% of cumulative habitat suitability. We found acute trade-offs between conserving Leadbeater's Possum habitat and conserving habitat of other forest-dependent species. Our analysis provides a template for systematically expanding and evaluating reserve expansion options in terms of trade-offs between priority species' needs.

Arid Green Infrastructure for Water Control and Conservation ...

Science.gov (United States)

Green infrastructure is an approach to managing wet weather flows using systems and practices that mimic natural processes. It is designed to manage stormwater as close to its source as possible and protect the quality of receiving waters. Although most green infrastructure practices were first developed in temperate climates, green infrastructure also can be a cost-effective approach to stormwater management and water conservation in arid and semi-arid regions, such as those found in the western and southwestern United States. Green infrastructure practices can be applied at the site, neighborhood and watershed scales. In addition to water management and conservation, implementing green infrastructure confers many social and economic benefits and can address issues of environmental justice. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) commissioned a literature review to identify the state-of-the science practices dealing with water control and conservation in arid and semi-arid regions, with emphasis on these regions in the United States. The search focused on stormwater control measures or practices that slow, capture, treat, infiltrate and/or store runoff at its source (i.e., green infrastructure). The material in Chapters 1 through 3 provides background to EPA’s current activities related to the application of green infrastructure practices in arid and semi-arid regions. An introduction to the topic of green infrastructure in arid and semi-arid regions i

An evolutionary conserved region (ECR in the human dopamine receptor D4 gene supports reporter gene expression in primary cultures derived from the rat cortex

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haddley Kate

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Detecting functional variants contributing to diversity of behaviour is crucial for dissecting genetics of complex behaviours. At a molecular level, characterisation of variation in exons has been studied as they are easily identified in the current genome annotation although the functional consequences are less well understood; however, it has been difficult to prioritise regions of non-coding DNA in which genetic variation could also have significant functional consequences. Comparison of multiple vertebrate genomes has allowed the identification of non-coding evolutionary conserved regions (ECRs, in which the degree of conservation can be comparable with exonic regions suggesting functional significance. Results We identified ECRs at the dopamine receptor D4 gene locus, an important gene for human behaviours. The most conserved non-coding ECR (D4ECR1 supported high reporter gene expression in primary cultures derived from neonate rat frontal cortex. Computer aided analysis of the sequence of the D4ECR1 indicated the potential transcription factors that could modulate its function. D4ECR1 contained multiple consensus sequences for binding the transcription factor Sp1, a factor previously implicated in DRD4 expression. Co-transfection experiments demonstrated that overexpression of Sp1 significantly decreased the activity of the D4ECR1 in vitro. Conclusion Bioinformatic analysis complemented by functional analysis of the DRD4 gene locus has identified a a strong enhancer that functions in neurons and b a transcription factor that may modulate the function of that enhancer.

Landscapes for Energy and Wildlife: Conservation Prioritization for Golden Eagles across Large Spatial Scales.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jason D Tack

Full Text Available Proactive conservation planning for species requires the identification of important spatial attributes across ecologically relevant scales in a model-based framework. However, it is often difficult to develop predictive models, as the explanatory data required for model development across regional management scales is rarely available. Golden eagles are a large-ranging predator of conservation concern in the United States that may be negatively affected by wind energy development. Thus, identifying landscapes least likely to pose conflict between eagles and wind development via shared space prior to development will be critical for conserving populations in the face of imposing development. We used publically available data on golden eagle nests to generate predictive models of golden eagle nesting sites in Wyoming, USA, using a suite of environmental and anthropogenic variables. By overlaying predictive models of golden eagle nesting habitat with wind energy resource maps, we highlight areas of potential conflict among eagle nesting habitat and wind development. However, our results suggest that wind potential and the relative probability of golden eagle nesting are not necessarily spatially correlated. Indeed, the majority of our sample frame includes areas with disparate predictions between suitable nesting habitat and potential for developing wind energy resources. Map predictions cannot replace on-the-ground monitoring for potential risk of wind turbines on wildlife populations, though they provide industry and managers a useful framework to first assess potential development.

Environmental service payments: evaluating biodiversity conservation trade-offs and cost-efficiency in the Osa Conservation Area, Costa Rica.

Science.gov (United States)

Barton, D N; Faith, D P; Rusch, G M; Acevedo, H; Paniagua, L; Castro, M

2009-02-01

The cost-efficiency of payments for environmental services (PES) to private landowners in the Osa Conservation Area, Costa Rica, is evaluated in terms of the trade-off between biodiversity representation and opportunity costs of conservation to agricultural and forestry land-use. Using available GIS data and an 'off-the-shelf' software application called TARGET, we find that the PES allocation criteria applied by authorities in 2002-2003 were more than twice as cost-efficient as criteria applied during 1999-2001. Results show that a policy relevant assessment of the cost-effectiveness of PES relative to other conservation policies can be carried out at regional level using available studies and GIS data. However, there are a number of data and conceptual limitations to using heuristic optimisation algorithms in the analysis of the cost-efficiency of PES. Site specific data on probabilities of land-use change, and a detailed specification of opportunity costs of farm land, labour and capital are required to use algorithms such as TARGET for ranking individual sites based on cost-efficiency. Despite its conceptual soundness for regional conservation analysis, biodiversity complementarity presents a practical challenge as a criterion for PES eligibility at farm level because it varies depending on the set of areas under PES contracts at any one time.

Efficiency of a protected-area network in a Mediterranean region: a multispecies assessment with raptors.

Science.gov (United States)

Abellán, María D; Martínez, José E; Palazón, José A; Esteve, Miguel A; Calvo, José F

2011-05-01

Three different systems of designating protected areas in a Mediterranean region in southeastern Spain were studied, referring to their effectiveness and efficiency for protecting both the breeding territories and the suitable habitat of a set of ten raptor species. Taking into consideration the varying degrees of endangerment of these species, a map of multispecies conservation values was also drawn up and superimposed on the three protected-area systems studied. In order to compare the levels of protection afforded by the three systems, we considered two indices that measured their relative effectiveness and efficiency. The effectiveness estimated the proportion of territories or optimal habitat protected by the networks while efficiency implicitly considered the area of each system (percentage of breeding territories or optimal habitat protected per 1% of land protected). Overall, our results showed that the most efficient system was that formed by the set of regional parks and reserves (17 protected breeding territories per 100 km²), although, given its small total area, it was by far the least effective (only protecting the 21% of the breeding territories of all species and 17% of the area of high conservation value). The systems formed by the Special Protection Areas (designated under the EU "Birds Directive") and by the Special Conservation Areas (designated under the EU "Habitats Directive") notably increased the percentages of protected territories of all species (61%) and area of high conservation value (57%), but their efficiency was not as high as expected in most cases. The overall level of protection was high for all species except for the Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni), an endangered falcon that inhabits pseudo-steppe and traditional agricultural habitats, which are clearly underrepresented in the protected-area network of the study region.

Efficiency of a Protected-Area Network in a Mediterranean Region: A Multispecies Assessment with Raptors

Science.gov (United States)

Abellán, María D.; Martínez, José E.; Palazón, José A.; Esteve, Miguel Á.; Calvo, José F.

2011-05-01

Three different systems of designating protected areas in a Mediterranean region in southeastern Spain were studied, referring to their effectiveness and efficiency for protecting both the breeding territories and the suitable habitat of a set of ten raptor species. Taking into consideration the varying degrees of endangerment of these species, a map of multispecies conservation values was also drawn up and superimposed on the three protected-area systems studied. In order to compare the levels of protection afforded by the three systems, we considered two indices that measured their relative effectiveness and efficiency. The effectiveness estimated the proportion of territories or optimal habitat protected by the networks while efficiency implicitly considered the area of each system (percentage of breeding territories or optimal habitat protected per 1% of land protected). Overall, our results showed that the most efficient system was that formed by the set of regional parks and reserves (17 protected breeding territories per 100 km2), although, given its small total area, it was by far the least effective (only protecting the 21% of the breeding territories of all species and 17% of the area of high conservation value). The systems formed by the Special Protection Areas (designated under the EU "Birds Directive") and by the Special Conservation Areas (designated under the EU "Habitats Directive") notably increased the percentages of protected territories of all species (61%) and area of high conservation value (57%), but their efficiency was not as high as expected in most cases. The overall level of protection was high for all species except for the Lesser Kestrel ( Falco naumanni), an endangered falcon that inhabits pseudo-steppe and traditional agricultural habitats, which are clearly underrepresented in the protected-area network of the study region.

National Proceedings: Forest and Conservation Nursery Associations-2007

Science.gov (United States)

Kas Dumroese; L. E. Riley

2008-01-01

These proceedings are a compilation of the papers that were presented at the regional meetings of the forest and conservation nursery associations in the United States and Canada in 2007. The Northeastern Forest and Conservation Nursery Association meeting was held July 16 to 19 at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord, NH. The meeting was hosted by the New...

Prioritizing land and sea conservation investments to protect coral reefs.

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Carissa J; Ban, Natalie C; Halpern, Benjamin S; Beger, Maria; Game, Edward T; Grantham, Hedley S; Green, Alison; Klein, Travis J; Kininmonth, Stuart; Treml, Eric; Wilson, Kerrie; Possingham, Hugh P

2010-08-30

Coral reefs have exceptional biodiversity, support the livelihoods of millions of people, and are threatened by multiple human activities on land (e.g. farming) and in the sea (e.g. overfishing). Most conservation efforts occur at local scales and, when effective, can increase the resilience of coral reefs to global threats such as climate change (e.g. warming water and ocean acidification). Limited resources for conservation require that we efficiently prioritize where and how to best sustain coral reef ecosystems. Here we develop the first prioritization approach that can guide regional-scale conservation investments in land- and sea-based conservation actions that cost-effectively mitigate threats to coral reefs, and apply it to the Coral Triangle, an area of significant global attention and funding. Using information on threats to marine ecosystems, effectiveness of management actions at abating threats, and the management and opportunity costs of actions, we calculate the rate of return on investment in two conservation actions in sixteen ecoregions. We discover that marine conservation almost always trumps terrestrial conservation within any ecoregion, but terrestrial conservation in one ecoregion can be a better investment than marine conservation in another. We show how these results could be used to allocate a limited budget for conservation and compare them to priorities based on individual criteria. Previous prioritization approaches do not consider both land and sea-based threats or the socioeconomic costs of conserving coral reefs. A simple and transparent approach like ours is essential to support effective coral reef conservation decisions in a large and diverse region like the Coral Triangle, but can be applied at any scale and to other marine ecosystems.

Novel urban ecosystems, biodiversity, and conservation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kowarik, Ingo

2011-01-01

With increasing urbanization the importance of cities for biodiversity conservation grows. This paper reviews the ways in which biodiversity is affected by urbanization and discusses the consequences of different conservation approaches. Cities can be richer in plant species, including in native species, than rural areas. Alien species can lead to both homogenization and differentiation among urban regions. Urban habitats can harbor self-sustaining populations of rare and endangered native species, but cannot replace the complete functionality of (semi-)natural remnants. While many conservation approaches tend to focus on such relict habitats and native species in urban settings, this paper argues for a paradigm shift towards considering the whole range of urban ecosystems. Although conservation attitudes may be challenged by the novelty of some urban ecosystems, which are often linked to high numbers of nonnative species, it is promising to consider their associated ecosystem services, social benefits, and possible contribution to biodiversity conservation. - Highlights: → This paper reviews biotic responses to urbanization and urban conservation approaches. → Cities may be rich in both native and nonnative species. → Urban habitats cannot replace the functionality of natural remnants. → However, even novel urban habitats may harbour rare and endangered species. → Conservation approaches should consider the perspective of novel urban ecosystems. - This paper reviews the ways in which biodiversity is affected by urbanization and argues for expanding urban conservation approaches.

Novel urban ecosystems, biodiversity, and conservation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kowarik, Ingo, E-mail: kowarik@tu-berlin.de [Department of Ecology, Technische Universitaet Berlin, Rothenburgstr. 12, D 12165 Berlin (Germany)

2011-08-15

With increasing urbanization the importance of cities for biodiversity conservation grows. This paper reviews the ways in which biodiversity is affected by urbanization and discusses the consequences of different conservation approaches. Cities can be richer in plant species, including in native species, than rural areas. Alien species can lead to both homogenization and differentiation among urban regions. Urban habitats can harbor self-sustaining populations of rare and endangered native species, but cannot replace the complete functionality of (semi-)natural remnants. While many conservation approaches tend to focus on such relict habitats and native species in urban settings, this paper argues for a paradigm shift towards considering the whole range of urban ecosystems. Although conservation attitudes may be challenged by the novelty of some urban ecosystems, which are often linked to high numbers of nonnative species, it is promising to consider their associated ecosystem services, social benefits, and possible contribution to biodiversity conservation. - Highlights: > This paper reviews biotic responses to urbanization and urban conservation approaches. > Cities may be rich in both native and nonnative species. > Urban habitats cannot replace the functionality of natural remnants. > However, even novel urban habitats may harbour rare and endangered species. > Conservation approaches should consider the perspective of novel urban ecosystems. - This paper reviews the ways in which biodiversity is affected by urbanization and argues for expanding urban conservation approaches.

Identification of conserved regions and residues within Hedgehog acyltransferase critical for palmitoylation of Sonic Hedgehog.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John A Buglino

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Sonic hedgehog (Shh is a palmitoylated protein that plays key roles in mammalian development and human cancers. Palmitoylation of Shh is required for effective long and short range Shh-mediated signaling. Attachment of palmitate to Shh is catalyzed by Hedgehog acyltransferase (Hhat, a member of the membrane bound O-acyl transferase (MBOAT family of multipass membrane proteins. The extremely hydrophobic composition of MBOAT proteins has limited their biochemical characterization. Except for mutagenesis of two conserved residues, there has been no structure-function analysis of Hhat, and the regions of the protein required for Shh palmitoylation are unknown.Here we undertake a systematic approach to identify residues within Hhat that are required for protein stability and/or enzymatic activity. We also identify a second, novel MBOAT homology region (residues 196-234 that is required for Hhat activity. In total, ten deletion mutants and eleven point mutants were generated and analyzed. Truncations at the N- and C-termini of Hhat yielded inactive proteins with reduced stability. Four Hhat mutants with deletions within predicted loop regions and five point mutants retained stability but lost palmitoylation activity. We purified two point mutants, W378A and H379A, with defective Hhat activity. Kinetic analyses revealed alterations in apparent K(m and V(max for Shh and/or palmitoyl CoA, changes that likely explain the catalytic defects observed for these mutants.This study has pinpointed specific regions and multiple residues that regulate Hhat stability and catalysis. Our findings should be applicable to other MBOAT proteins that mediate lipid modification of Wnt proteins and ghrelin, and should serve as a model for understanding how secreted morphogens are modified by palmitoyl acyltransferases.

Genomic dissection of conserved transcriptional regulation in intestinal epithelial cells.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colin R Lickwar

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The intestinal epithelium serves critical physiologic functions that are shared among all vertebrates. However, it is unknown how the transcriptional regulatory mechanisms underlying these functions have changed over the course of vertebrate evolution. We generated genome-wide mRNA and accessible chromatin data from adult intestinal epithelial cells (IECs in zebrafish, stickleback, mouse, and human species to determine if conserved IEC functions are achieved through common transcriptional regulation. We found evidence for substantial common regulation and conservation of gene expression regionally along the length of the intestine from fish to mammals and identified a core set of genes comprising a vertebrate IEC signature. We also identified transcriptional start sites and other putative regulatory regions that are differentially accessible in IECs in all 4 species. Although these sites rarely showed sequence conservation from fish to mammals, surprisingly, they drove highly conserved IEC expression in a zebrafish reporter assay. Common putative transcription factor binding sites (TFBS found at these sites in multiple species indicate that sequence conservation alone is insufficient to identify much of the functionally conserved IEC regulatory information. Among the rare, highly sequence-conserved, IEC-specific regulatory regions, we discovered an ancient enhancer upstream from her6/HES1 that is active in a distinct population of Notch-positive cells in the intestinal epithelium. Together, these results show how combining accessible chromatin and mRNA datasets with TFBS prediction and in vivo reporter assays can reveal tissue-specific regulatory information conserved across 420 million years of vertebrate evolution. We define an IEC transcriptional regulatory network that is shared between fish and mammals and establish an experimental platform for studying how evolutionarily distilled regulatory information commonly controls IEC development

Anaplasma marginale major surface protein 2 CD4+-T-cell epitopes are evenly distributed in conserved and hypervariable regions (HVR), whereas linear B-cell epitopes are predominantly located in the HVR.

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, Jeffrey R; Palmer, Guy H; Howard, Chris J; Hope, Jayne C; Brown, Wendy C

2004-12-01

Organisms in the genus Anaplasma express an immunodominant major surface protein 2 (MSP2), composed of a central hypervariable region (HVR) flanked by highly conserved regions. Throughout Anaplasma marginale infection, recombination results in the sequential appearance of novel MSP2 variants and subsequent control of rickettsemia by the immune response, leading to persistent infection. To determine whether immune evasion and selection for variant organisms is associated with a predominant response against HVR epitopes, T-cell and linear B-cell epitopes were localized by measuring peripheral blood gamma interferon-secreting cells, proliferation, and antibody binding to 27 overlapping peptides spanning MSP2 in 16 cattle. Similar numbers of MSP2-specific CD4(+) T-cell epitopes eliciting responses of similar magnitude were found in conserved and hypervariable regions. T-cell epitope clusters recognized by the majority of animals were identified in the HVR (amino acids [aa] 171 to 229) and conserved regions (aa 101 to 170 and 272 to 361). In contrast, linear B-cell epitopes were concentrated in the HVR, residing within hydrophilic sequences. The pattern of recognition of epitope clusters by T cells and of HVR epitopes by B cells is consistent with the influence of protein structure on epitope recognition.

Integrated conservation planning for coral reefs: Designing conservation zones for multiple conservation objectives in spatial prioritisation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael A. Magris

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Decision-makers focus on representing biodiversity pattern, maintaining connectivity, and strengthening resilience to global warming when designing marine protected area (MPA systems, especially in coral reef ecosystems. The achievement of these broad conservation objectives will likely require large areas, and stretch limited funds for MPA implementation. We undertook a spatial prioritisation of Brazilian coral reefs that considered two types of conservation zones (i.e. no-take and multiple use areas and integrated multiple conservation objectives into MPA planning, while assessing the potential impact of different sets of objectives on implementation costs. We devised objectives for biodiversity, connectivity, and resilience to global warming, determined the extent to which existing MPAs achieved them, and designed complementary zoning to achieve all objectives combined in expanded MPA systems. In doing so, we explored interactions between different sets of objectives, determined whether refinements to the existing spatial arrangement of MPAs were necessary, and tested the utility of existing MPAs by comparing their cost effectiveness with an MPA system designed from scratch. We found that MPAs in Brazil protect some aspects of coral reef biodiversity pattern (e.g. threatened fauna and ecosystem types more effectively than connectivity or resilience to global warming. Expanding the existing MPA system was as cost-effective as designing one from scratch only when multiple objectives were considered and management costs were accounted for. Our approach provides a comprehensive assessment of the benefits of integrating multiple objectives in the initial stages of conservation planning, and yields insights for planners of MPAs tackling multiple objectives in other regions.

Regionalizing land use impacts on farmland birds.

Science.gov (United States)

Glemnitz, Michael; Zander, Peter; Stachow, Ulrich

2015-06-01

The environmental impacts of land use vary regionally. Differences in geomorphology, climate, landscape structure, and biotope inventories are regarded as the main causes of this variation. We present a methodological approach for identifying regional responses in land use type to large-scale changes and the implications for the provision of habitat for farmland birds. The methodological innovations of this approach are (i) the coupling of impact assessments with economic models, (ii) the linking of cropping techniques at the plot scale with the regional distribution of land use, and (iii) the integration of statistical or monitoring data on recent states. This approach allows for the regional differentiation of farmers' responses to changing external conditions and for matching the ecological impacts of land use changes with regional environmental sensitivities. An exemplary scenario analysis was applied for a case study of an area in Germany, assessing the impacts of increased irrigation and the promotion of energy cropping on farmland birds, evaluated as a core indicator for farmland biodiversity. The potential effects on farmland birds were analyzed based on the intrinsic habitat values of the crops and cropping techniques. The results revealed that the strongest decrease in habitat availability for farmland birds occurred in regions with medium-to-low agricultural yields. As a result of the limited cropping alternatives, the increase in maize production was highest in marginal regions for both examined scenarios. Maize production replaced many crops with good-to-medium habitat suitability for birds. The declines in habitat quality were strongest in regions that are not in focus for conservation efforts for farmland birds.

An integrated methodology on the suitability of offshore sites for wind farm development

Science.gov (United States)

Patlakas, Platon; Galanis, George; Péray, Marie; Filipot, Jean-François; Kalogeri, Christina; Spyrou, Christos; Diamantis, Dimitris; Kallos, Gerorge

2016-04-01

During, the last decades the potential and interest in wind energy investments has been constantly increasing in the European countries. As technology changes rapidly, more and more areas can be identified as suitable for energy applications. Offshore wind farms perfectly illustrate how new technologies allow to build bigger, more efficient and resistant in extreme conditions wind power plants. The current work proposes an integrated methodology to determine the suitability of an offshore marine area for the development of wind farm structures. More specifically, the region of interest is evaluated based both on the natural resources, connected to the local environmental characteristics, and potential constrains set by anthropogenic or other activities. State of the art atmospheric and wave models and a 10-year hindcast database are utilized in conjunction with local information for a number of potential constrains, leading to a 5-scale suitability index for the whole area. In this way, sub regions are characterized, at a high resolution mode, as poorly or highly suitable for wind farm development, providing a new tool for technical/research teams and decision makers. In addition, extreme wind and wave conditions and their 50-years return period are analyzed and used to define the safety level of the wind farms structural characteristics.

Species distribution modelling for conservation of an endangered endemic orchid.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hsiao-Hsuan; Wonkka, Carissa L; Treglia, Michael L; Grant, William E; Smeins, Fred E; Rogers, William E

2015-04-21

Concerns regarding the long-term viability of threatened and endangered plant species are increasingly warranted given the potential impacts of climate change and habitat fragmentation on unstable and isolated populations. Orchidaceae is the largest and most diverse family of flowering plants, but it is currently facing unprecedented risks of extinction. Despite substantial conservation emphasis on rare orchids, populations continue to decline. Spiranthes parksii (Navasota ladies' tresses) is a federally and state-listed endangered terrestrial orchid endemic to central Texas. Hence, we aimed to identify potential factors influencing the distribution of the species, quantify the relative importance of each factor and determine suitable habitat for future surveys and targeted conservation efforts. We analysed several geo-referenced variables describing climatic conditions and landscape features to identify potential factors influencing the likelihood of occurrence of S. parksii using boosted regression trees. Our model classified 97 % of the cells correctly with regard to species presence and absence, and indicated that probability of existence was correlated with climatic conditions and landscape features. The most influential variables were mean annual precipitation, mean elevation, mean annual minimum temperature and mean annual maximum temperature. The most likely suitable range for S. parksii was the eastern portions of Leon and Madison Counties, the southern portion of Brazos County, a portion of northern Grimes County and along the borders between Burleson and Washington Counties. Our model can assist in the development of an integrated conservation strategy through: (i) focussing future survey and research efforts on areas with a high likelihood of occurrence, (ii) aiding in selection of areas for conservation and restoration and (iii) framing future research questions including those necessary for predicting responses to climate change. Our model could also

Molecular dissection of a contiguous gene syndrome: Frequent submicroscopic deletions, evolutionarily conserved sequences, and a hypomethylated island in the Miller-Dieker chromosome region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ledbetter, D.H.; Ledbetter, S.A.; vanTuinen, P.

1989-01-01

The Miller-Dieker syndrome (MDS), composed of characteristic facial abnormalities and a severe neuronal migration disorder affecting the cerebral cortex, is caused by visible or submicroscopic deletions of chromosome band 17p13. Twelve anonymous DNA markers were tested against a panel of somatic cell hybrids containing 17p deletions from seven MDS patients. All patients, including three with normal karyotypes, are deleted for a variable set of 5-12 markers. Two highly polymorphic VNTR (variable number of tandem repeats) probes, YNZ22 and YNH37, are codeleted in all patients tested and make molecular diagnosis for this disorder feasible. By pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, YNZ22 and YNH37 were shown to be within 30 kilobases (kb) of each other. Cosmid clones containing both VNTR sequences were identified, and restriction mapping showed them to be 100 kb were completely deleted in all patients, providing a minimum estimate of the size of the MDS critical region. A hypomethylated island and evolutionarily conserved sequences were identified within this 100-kb region, indications of the presence of one or more expressed sequences potentially involved in the pathophysiology of this disorder. The conserved sequences were mapped to mouse chromosome 11 by using mouse-rat somatic cell hybrids, extending the remarkable homology between human chromosome 17 and mouse chromosome 11 by 30 centimorgans, into the 17p telomere region

Status and conservation of parrots and parakeets in the Greater Antilles, Bahama Islands, and Cayman Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Wiley, J.W.

1991-01-01

In the 1490s a minimum of 28 species of psittacines occurred in the West Indies. Today, only 43% (12) of the species survive. All macaws and most parakeet species have been lost. Although the surviving parrot fauna of the Greater Antilles, Cayman Islands, and Bahama Islands has fared somewhat better than that of the Lesser Antilles, every species has undergone extensive reductions of populations and all but two have undergone extensive reductions in range, mostly as a result of habitat loss, but also from persecution as agricultural pests, conflicts with exotic species, harvesting for pets, and natural disasters. The Cayman Brac Parrot Amazona leucocephala hesterna with its tiny population (less than 150 individuals in the wild) and range, and the Puerto Rican Parrot A. vittata, with about 22-23 birds in the wild and 56 individuals in captivity, must be considered on the verge of extinction and in need of (in the latter's case, continuing) aggressive programmes of research and management. Other populations declining in numbers and range include the Yellow-billed Amazona collaria, and Black-billed A. agilis Parrots of Jamaica, Hispaniolan Parakeet Aratinga chloroptera, Hispaniolan Parrot Amazona ventralis, Cuban Parrot A. leucocephala leucocephala and, most seriously, Cuban Parakeet Aratinga euops. The population of the Grand Cayman Parrot (Amazona leucocephala caymanensis), although numbering only about 1,000 birds, appears stable and the current conservation programme gives hope for the survival of the race. An active conservation and public education programme has begun for the Bahama Parrot A. l. bahamensis, which still occurs in good numbers on Great Inagua Island, but is threatened on Abaco Island. Recommendations for conservation of parrots and parakeets in the region include (1) instituting long-term programmes of research to determine distribution, status, and ecology of each species; (2) developing conservation programmes through education and management

Species of conservation concern and environmental stressors: Local regional and global effects [Chapter 6

Science.gov (United States)

Steven M. Ostoja; Mathew L. Brooks; Jeanne C. Chambers; Burton K. Pendleton

2013-01-01

Species conservation has traditionally been based on individual species within the context of their requisite habitat, which is generally defined as the communities and ecosystems deemed necessary for their persistence. Conservation decisions are hampered by the fact that environmental stressors that potentially threaten the persistence of species can operate at...

Introduction to Northeast Pacific Shark Biology, Ecology, and Conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowry, Dayv; Larson, Shawn E

Sharks are iconic, sometimes apex, predators found in every ocean and, as a result, they have featured prominently in the mythology, history, and fisheries of diverse human cultures around the world. Because of their regional significance to fisheries and ecological role as predators, and as a result of concern over long-term stability of their populations, there has been an increasing amount of work focused on shark conservation in recent decades. This volume highlights the biodiversity and biological attributes of, and conservation efforts targeted at, populations of sharks that reside in the Northeast Pacific Ocean bordering the west coast of the United States and Canada, one of the most economically and ecologically important oceanic regions in the world. A companion volume addresses details of fisheries and ecotourism in the same region, as well as delving into the relationship between captive husbandry of sharks and education/outreach efforts aimed at fostering a conservation mindset in the public at large. Together, these volumes provide readers a detailed backdrop against which to consider their own actions, and those of resource managers, academics, and educators, as they relate to the long-term conservation of sharks and their relatives. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conservation of Sand Dune Vegetation in Coastal areas of the Valencian Region (Spain); Estado de conservacion de la vegetacion dunar en las costas de la comunidad Valenciana

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Albertos, B.; San Miguel, E.; Draper, I.; Garilleti, R.; Lara, F.; Varela, J. M.

2010-07-01

The state of conservation of the coastal dune vegetation in Valencia region has been assessed within a survey of the vegetal communities present in these systems.The conservation status has been evaluated through a qualitative scale which integrates criteria such as dune extension, structure and diversity of the vegetal communities, level of ruderalization, presence of invasive species, and floristic rarity. Special attention has been paid to the usual aggressions to this type of ecosystem and the situation of the most aggressive invasive plants. (Author) 15 refs.

Governance factors in the identification of global conservation priorities for mammals.

Science.gov (United States)

Eklund, Johanna; Arponen, Anni; Visconti, Piero; Cabeza, Mar

2011-09-27

Global conservation priorities have often been identified based on the combination of species richness and threat information. With the development of the field of systematic conservation planning, more attention has been given to conservation costs. This leads to prioritizing developing countries, where costs are generally low and biodiversity is high. But many of these countries have poor governance, which may result in ineffective conservation or in larger costs than initially expected. We explore how the consideration of governance affects the selection of global conservation priorities for the world's mammals in a complementarity-based conservation prioritization. We use data on Control of Corruption (Worldwide Governance Indicators project) as an indicator of governance effectiveness, and gross domestic product per capita as an indicator of cost. We show that, while core areas with high levels of endemism are always selected as important regardless of governance and cost values, there are clear regional differences in selected sites when biodiversity, cost or governance are taken into account separately. Overall, the analysis supports the concentration of conservation efforts in most of the regions generally considered of high priority, but stresses the need for different conservation approaches in different continents owing to spatial patterns of governance and economic development.

Global agricultural land resources--a high resolution suitability evaluation and its perspectives until 2100 under climate change conditions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florian Zabel

Full Text Available Changing natural conditions determine the land's suitability for agriculture. The growing demand for food, feed, fiber and bioenergy increases pressure on land and causes trade-offs between different uses of land and ecosystem services. Accordingly, an inventory is required on the changing potentially suitable areas for agriculture under changing climate conditions. We applied a fuzzy logic approach to compute global agricultural suitability to grow the 16 most important food and energy crops according to the climatic, soil and topographic conditions at a spatial resolution of 30 arc seconds. We present our results for current climate conditions (1981-2010, considering today's irrigated areas and separately investigate the suitability of densely forested as well as protected areas, in order to investigate their potentials for agriculture. The impact of climate change under SRES A1B conditions, as simulated by the global climate model ECHAM5, on agricultural suitability is shown by comparing the time-period 2071-2100 with 1981-2010. Our results show that climate change will expand suitable cropland by additionally 5.6 million km2, particularly in the Northern high latitudes (mainly in Canada, China and Russia. Most sensitive regions with decreasing suitability are found in the Global South, mainly in tropical regions, where also the suitability for multiple cropping decreases.

Effects of flux conservation on the field configuration in Scyllac

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van der Laan, P.C.T.

1977-04-01

Flux conservation in Scyllac-type experiments shows up in two ways. First of all the poloidal flux between the outside edge of the plasma and the inside of the coil is conserved. This requires a net longitudinal current in the plasma, to cancel the poloidal flux caused by the helical stellarator fields. An expression for this net current is derived, and effects that could occur in sector experiments are discussed. The flux conservation inside the conducting plasma leads to a conservation of the local rotational transform. Since the pinch itself is surrounded by a well-conducting low-density plasma, the rotational transform is conserved in a wide region. Depending on the time history of the applied fields, volume currents are induced in this region, as is shown for two examples. Although an additional capacitor bank can be used to cancel the net current, a cancellation of all the volume currents is extremely difficult. The resulting equilibrium configurations differ considerably from the Scyllac equilibria without volume currents, which are used in stability calculations

Integrating multiple distribution models to guide conservation efforts of an endangered toad

Science.gov (United States)

Treglia, Michael L.; Fisher, Robert N.; Fitzgerald, Lee A.

2015-01-01

Species distribution models are used for numerous purposes such as predicting changes in species’ ranges and identifying biodiversity hotspots. Although implications of distribution models for conservation are often implicit, few studies use these tools explicitly to inform conservation efforts. Herein, we illustrate how multiple distribution models developed using distinct sets of environmental variables can be integrated to aid in identification sites for use in conservation. We focus on the endangered arroyo toad (Anaxyrus californicus), which relies on open, sandy streams and surrounding floodplains in southern California, USA, and northern Baja California, Mexico. Declines of the species are largely attributed to habitat degradation associated with vegetation encroachment, invasive predators, and altered hydrologic regimes. We had three main goals: 1) develop a model of potential habitat for arroyo toads, based on long-term environmental variables and all available locality data; 2) develop a model of the species’ current habitat by incorporating recent remotely-sensed variables and only using recent locality data; and 3) integrate results of both models to identify sites that may be employed in conservation efforts. We used a machine learning technique, Random Forests, to develop the models, focused on riparian zones in southern California. We identified 14.37% and 10.50% of our study area as potential and current habitat for the arroyo toad, respectively. Generally, inclusion of remotely-sensed variables reduced modeled suitability of sites, thus many areas modeled as potential habitat were not modeled as current habitat. We propose such sites could be made suitable for arroyo toads through active management, increasing current habitat by up to 67.02%. Our general approach can be employed to guide conservation efforts of virtually any species with sufficient data necessary to develop appropriate distribution models.

Aligning conservation goals: are patterns of species richness and endemism concordant at regional scales?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricketts, T. H.

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Biodiversity conservation strategies commonly target areas of high species richness and/or high endemism. However, the correlation between richness and endemism at scales relevant to conservation is unclear; these two common goals of conservation plans may therefore be in conflict. Here the spatial concordance between richness and endemism is tested using five taxa in North America: butterflies, birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. This concordance is also tested using overall indices of richness and endemism (incorporating all five taxa. For all taxa except birds, richness and endemism were significantly correlated, with amphibians, reptiles, and the overall indices showing the highest correlations (rs = 0.527-0.676. However, 'priority sets' of ecoregions (i.e., the top 10% of ecoregions based on richness generally overlapped poorly with those based on endemism (< 50% overlap for all but reptiles. These results offer only limited support for the idea that richness and endemism are correlated at broad scales and indicate that land managers will need to balance these dual, and often conflicting, goals of biodiversity conservation.

Prioritizing land and sea conservation investments to protect coral reefs.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carissa J Klein

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Coral reefs have exceptional biodiversity, support the livelihoods of millions of people, and are threatened by multiple human activities on land (e.g. farming and in the sea (e.g. overfishing. Most conservation efforts occur at local scales and, when effective, can increase the resilience of coral reefs to global threats such as climate change (e.g. warming water and ocean acidification. Limited resources for conservation require that we efficiently prioritize where and how to best sustain coral reef ecosystems. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we develop the first prioritization approach that can guide regional-scale conservation investments in land- and sea-based conservation actions that cost-effectively mitigate threats to coral reefs, and apply it to the Coral Triangle, an area of significant global attention and funding. Using information on threats to marine ecosystems, effectiveness of management actions at abating threats, and the management and opportunity costs of actions, we calculate the rate of return on investment in two conservation actions in sixteen ecoregions. We discover that marine conservation almost always trumps terrestrial conservation within any ecoregion, but terrestrial conservation in one ecoregion can be a better investment than marine conservation in another. We show how these results could be used to allocate a limited budget for conservation and compare them to priorities based on individual criteria. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Previous prioritization approaches do not consider both land and sea-based threats or the socioeconomic costs of conserving coral reefs. A simple and transparent approach like ours is essential to support effective coral reef conservation decisions in a large and diverse region like the Coral Triangle, but can be applied at any scale and to other marine ecosystems.

Conservation of Charge and Conservation of Current

OpenAIRE

Eisenberg, Bob

2016-01-01

Conservation of current and conservation of charge are nearly the same thing: when enough is known about charge movement, conservation of current can be derived from conservation of charge, in ideal dielectrics, for example. Conservation of current is enforced implicitly in ideal dielectrics by theories that conserve charge. But charge movement in real materials like semiconductors or ionic solutions is never ideal. We present an apparently universal derivation of conservation of current and ...

Evolving concepts and opportunities in soil conservation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julian Dumanski

2015-03-01

The paper discusses some of the new driving forces, new international programs, and new potential partners in soil conservation. Increasingly, international efforts to mitigate land degradation are shifting from studies of the biophysical processes to improving the global, national and local enabling policy environment, as well as mainstreaming of soil conservation into national and regional policies and programs. Also, increased emphasis is placed on economic instruments and international markets, such as carbon trading, and incorporation of non-market values in ecosystem investment, such as payment for ecosystem services, certification schemes, etc. The paper discusses some of the opportunities for soil conservation that accrue from these new driving forces.

The value of information in conservation planning: Selecting retention trees for lichen conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Karin Perhans; Robert G. Haight; Lena Gustafsson

2014-01-01

Conservation planning studies at small scales such as forest stands and below are uncommon. However, for retention forestry, developed during the last two decades and with current wide and increasing application in boreal and temperate regions, the need for cost-effective selection of individual trees is evident. In retention forestry certain trees are left at final...

Terrestrial Mammal Occupancy in the Context of Widespread Forest Loss and a Proposed Interoceanic Canal in Nicaragua's Decreasingly Remote South Caribbean Region.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher A Jordan

Full Text Available Central America is experiencing rapid forest loss and habitat degradation both inside and outside of protected areas. Despite increasing deforestation, the Caribbean region of Nicaragua plays an important role in the survival or extinction of large mammal populations in Central America given that it still retains core areas of habitat for large mammal species. The proposed interoceanic canal project that would bisect the southern half of this Caribbean region represents a new threat that, combined with an advancing agricultural frontier, could affect populations of large mammal species such as jaguars, white-lipped peccaries, and Baird's tapirs. We used occupancy models to examine the relative occupancy probabilities for an assemblage of terrestrial mammals in the south Caribbean region of Nicaragua to identify current core areas for our study species and conduct a preliminary evaluation of the potential impacts of the proposed interoceanic canal. We modeled a community level distribution of eight species with varying levels of sensitivity to human encroachment and a range of habitat associations. Our model results reveal three priority areas for terrestrial mammal conservation in our study area. The mapped predictions show that the only remaining area of suitable habitat for large mammals in the path of the proposed interoceanic canal is a relatively thin strip of forest that runs along the Caribbean Coast. In light of these findings, we propose five recommendations that will help ensure the conservation of this area of the proposed canal route as suitable habitat for our study species.

The Conservation of Early Post-Medieval Period Coins Found in Estonia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aive Viljus

2013-02-01

Full Text Available This article deals with archaeological find material with a low silver content and the problems of conserving such material. The aim of the research was to find the most suitable method for the conservation of poorly preserved early post-medieval period coins with varying composition. For this, first, the composition of both the metal and the corrosion products of the archaeological coins were analysed, after which comparative experiments of different cleaning methods were carried out in order to find out the least harmful and most efficient method. A test was also performed to determine the necessity and efficiency of stabilizing the surface of the coins after cleaning.

Re-establishing the pecking order: Niche models reliably predict suitable habitats for the reintroduction of red-billed oxpeckers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalle, Riddhika; Combrink, Leigh; Ramesh, Tharmalingam; Downs, Colleen T

2017-03-01

Distributions of avian mutualists are affected by changes in biotic interactions and environmental conditions driven directly/indirectly by human actions. The range contraction of red-billed oxpeckers ( Buphagus erythrorhynchus ) in South Africa is partly a result of the widespread use of acaracides (i.e., mainly cattle dips), toxic to both ticks and oxpeckers. We predicted the habitat suitability of red-billed oxpeckers in South Africa using ensemble models to assist the ongoing reintroduction efforts and to identify new reintroduction sites for population recovery. The distribution of red-billed oxpeckers was influenced by moderate to high tree cover, woodland habitats, and starling density (a proxy for cavity-nesting birds) with regard to nest-site characteristics. Consumable resources (host and tick density), bioclimate, surface water body density, and proximity to protected areas were other influential predictors. Our models estimated 42,576.88-98,506.98 km 2 of highly suitable habitat (0.5-1) covering the majority of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, a substantial portion of northern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and the Gauteng Province. Niche models reliably predicted suitable habitat in 40%-61% of the reintroduction sites where breeding is currently successful. Ensemble, boosted regression trees and generalized additive models predicted few suitable areas in the Eastern Cape and south of KZN that are part of the historic range. A few southern areas in the Northern Cape, outside the historic range, also had suitable sites predicted. Our models are a promising decision support tool for guiding reintroduction programs at macroscales. Apart from active reintroductions, conservation programs should encourage farmers and/or landowners to use oxpecker-compatible agrochemicals and set up adequate nest boxes to facilitate the population recovery of the red-billed oxpecker, particularly in human-modified landscapes. To ensure long-term conservation success, we suggest that

Structure-sequence based analysis for identification of conserved regions in proteins

Science.gov (United States)

Zemla, Adam T; Zhou, Carol E; Lam, Marisa W; Smith, Jason R; Pardes, Elizabeth

2013-05-28

Disclosed are computational methods, and associated hardware and software products for scoring conservation in a protein structure based on a computationally identified family or cluster of protein structures. A method of computationally identifying a family or cluster of protein structures in also disclosed herein.

An overview of Conservation Agriculture in the dry Mediterranean environments with a special focus on Syria and Lebanon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Hansmann

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Conservation Agriculture (CA, comprising minimum or no mechanical soil disturbance through no-till seeding, organic soil mulch cover, and crop diversification is now practiced on some 157 million ha worldwide, corresponding to about 11% of the global cropped land. CA adoption in the Middle-East is low compared to other regions. Lack of knowledge on CA practices and systems discourages farmers from giving up ploughing. The main reason why farmers in the Middle-East have begun to apply the no-till system has been the cost reduction in fuel, labor and machinery required for land preparation. Soil and water conservation concerns do not appear to be the main drivers in the Middle-Eastern farmers’ decision to adopt or not to adopt CA. The adoption and uptake of CA by Middle Eastern farmers has been slow but it is nonetheless occurring gradually. Collection of information and research parameters related to agricultural practices are needed for designing a suitable soil and water conservation program for sustainable production intensification. Governmental policy encouraging the adoption and spread of CA systems in the Middle-East region is certainly a necessary condition for uptake. The objective of this article is to review the current status of adoption and spread of CA in the Middle-East, focusing mainly on Syria and Lebanon, and the potential beneficial consequences that can be harnessed through CA systems under rainfed conditions in both countries. The benefits include: higher factor productivity, yield and income; improved soil properties; climate change adaptation, including reduced vulnerability to the erratic rainfall distribution; and reduction in machinery, fuel and labor costs.

Shifting suitability for malaria vectors across Africa with warming climates

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Peterson A Townsend

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Climates are changing rapidly, producing warm climate conditions globally not previously observed in modern history. Malaria is of great concern as a cause of human mortality and morbidity, particularly across Africa, thanks in large part to the presence there of a particularly competent suite of mosquito vector species. Methods I derive spatially explicit estimates of human populations living in regions newly suitable climatically for populations of two key Anopheles gambiae vector complex species in Africa over the coming 50 years, based on ecological niche model projections over two global climate models, two scenarios of climate change, and detailed spatial summaries of human population distributions. Results For both species, under all scenarios, given the changing spatial distribution of appropriate conditions and the current population distribution, the models predict a reduction of 11.3–30.2% in the percentage of the overall population living in areas climatically suitable for these vector species in coming decades, but reductions and increases are focused in different regions: malaria vector suitability is likely to decrease in West Africa, but increase in eastern and southern Africa. Conclusion Climate change effects on African malaria vectors shift their distributional potential from west to east and south, which has implications for overall numbers of people exposed to these vector species. Although the total is reduced, malaria is likely to pose novel public health problems in areas where it has not previously been common.

Building Maintenance in Old Buildings Conservation Approach: An Overview of Related Problems

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Brit Kayan

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Building maintenance in conservation of old buildings is one of the approaches applied within the built environment of Malaysia. For instance, it is realised that these old buildings contribute an important significance to our nation's priceless heritage and unique historical development. However, most of these buildings' maintenance is influenced by related problems that affect the overall building conservation approach. Therefore, these old buildings face problems which greatly affect their overall condition and performance: building structure; building appearance and aesthetic; building materials and building character. In most critical situations, there is a greater possibility that we could lose the cultural significance and heritage values of these old buildings through ignoring the related problems. This paper tries to identify the related problems, reveal the findings and discuss suitable approaches to conserving these old buildings.

Role of forest conservation in lessening land degradation in a temperate region: the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Manzo-Delgado, Lilia; López-García, José; Alcántara-Ayala, Irasema

2014-06-01

With international concern about the rates of deforestation worldwide, particular attention has been paid to Latin America. Forest conservation programmes in Mexico include Payment for Environmental Services (PES), a scheme that has been successfully introduced in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. To seek further evidence of the role of PES in lessening land degradation processes in a temperate region, the conservation state of the Cerro Prieto ejido within the Reserve was assessed by an analysis of changes in vegetation cover and land-use between 1971 and 2013. There were no changes in the total forest surface area, but the relative proportions of the different classes of cover density had changed. In 1971, closed and semi-closed forest occupied 247.81 ha and 5.38 ha, 82.33% and 1.79% of the total area of the ejido, respectively. By 2013, closed forest had decreased to 230.38 ha (76.54% of the ejido), and semi-closed cover was 17.23 ha (5.72% of the ejido), suggesting that some semi-closed forest had achieved closed status. The final balance between forest losses and recovery was: 29.63 ha were lost, whereas 13.72 ha were recovered. Losses were mainly linked to a sanitation harvest programme to control the bark beetle Scolytus mundus. Ecotourism associated with forest conservation in the Cerro Prieto ejido has been considered by inhabitants as a focal alternative for economic development. Consequently, it is essential to develop a well-planned and solidly structured approach based on social cohesion to foster a community-led sustainable development at local level. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bird diversity in the Serra do Aracá region, northwestern Brazilian Amazon: preliminary check-list with considerations on biogeography and conservation

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Sérgio Henrique Borges

2014-08-01

Full Text Available We inventoried the birds from Serra do Aracá region, state of Amazonas. The region encompasses a high diversity of vegetation types, including white sand forests and campinas, terra firme and flooded forests, montane forests and tepuis. We recorded 416 bird taxa in 69 families through captures with mist nets, tape recording of bird voices, and collection of voucher specimens. A large proportion of them (61% were recorded in a single vegetation type. Qualitative estimates suggest that approximately 580 bird species occur in the region. The avifauna of the Aracá region has a mixed biogeographic composition, with species typical of both margins of the Rio Negro occurring sympatrically. Additionally, species whose distributions are restricted to three areas of endemism for Amazonian birds (Imeri, Guiana and Pantepui were recorded in the region. Rare landscapes in the Brazilian Amazon are found in the Serra do Aracá region. Additionally, we recorded endemic and rare birds, highlighting the value of the region for conservation. The Serra do Aracá State Park officially protects montane forests, terra firme forests and tepuis. We suggest that the large extension of white sand campinas and igapó forests at the southern portion of Serra do Aracá should be also preserved in order to improve the representation of the rich natural heritage of the region.

Conservation planning for the Colorado River in Utah

Science.gov (United States)

Christine Rasmussen,; Shafroth, Patrick B.

2016-01-01

Strategic planning is increasingly recognized as necessary for providing the greatest possible conservation benefits for restoration efforts. Rigorous, science-based resource assessment, combined with acknowledgement of broader basin trends, provides a solid foundation for determining effective projects. It is equally important that methods used to prioritize conservation investments are simple and practical enough that they can be implemented in a timely manner and by a variety of resource managers. With the help of local and regional natural resource professionals, we have developed a broad-scale, spatially-explicit assessment of 146 miles (~20,000 acres) of the Colorado River mainstem in Grand and San Juan Counties, Utah that will function as the basis for a systematic, practical approach to conservation planning and riparian restoration prioritization. For the assessment we have: 1) acquired, modified or created spatial datasets of Colorado River bottomland conditions; 2) synthesized those datasets into habitat suitability models and estimates of natural recovery potential, fire risk and relative cost; 3) investigated and described dominant ecosystem trends and human uses, and; 4) suggested site selection and prioritization approaches. Partner organizations (The Nature Conservancy, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and Utah Forestry Fire and State Lands) are using the assessment and datasets to identify and prioritize a suite of restoration actions to increase ecosystem resilience and improve habitat for bottomland species. Primary datasets include maps of bottomland cover types, bottomland extent, maps of areas inundated during high and low flow events, as well as locations of campgrounds, roads, fires, invasive vegetation treatment areas and other features. Assessment of conditions and trends in the project area entailed: 1) assemblage of existing data on geology, changes in stream flow, and predictions of future conditions; 2) identification

Conservation Action Planning: Lessons learned from the St. Marys River watershed biodiversity conservation planning process

Science.gov (United States)

Patterson, Tamatha A.; Grundel, Ralph

2014-01-01

Conservation Action Planning (CAP) is an adaptive management planning process refined by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and embraced worldwide as the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation. The CAP process facilitates open, multi-institutional collaboration on a common conservation agenda through organized actions and quantified results. While specifically designed for conservation efforts, the framework is adaptable and flexible to multiple scales and can be used for any collaborative planning effort. The CAP framework addresses inception; design and development of goals, measures, and strategies; and plan implementation and evaluation. The specific components of the CAP include defining the project scope and conservation targets; assessing the ecological viability; ascertaining threats and surrounding situation; identifying opportunities and designing strategies for action; and implementing actions and monitoring results. In 2007, TNC and a multidisciplinary graduate student team from the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment initiated a CAP for the St. Marys River, the connecting channel between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, and its local watershed. The students not only gained experience in conservation planning, but also learned lessons that notably benefited the CAP process and were valuable for any successful collaborative effort—a dedicated core team improved product quality, accelerated the timeline, and provided necessary support for ongoing efforts; an academic approach in preparation for engagement in the planning process brought applicable scientific research to the forefront, enhanced workshop facilitation, and improved stakeholder participation; and early and continuous interactions with regional stakeholders improved cooperation and built a supportive network for collaboration.

SPATIAL DATA MINING TOOLBOX FOR MAPPING SUITABILITY OF LANDFILL SITES USING NEURAL NETWORKS

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S. K. M. Abujayyab

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Mapping the suitability of landfill sites is a complex field and is involved with multidiscipline. The purpose of this research is to create an ArcGIS spatial data mining toolbox for mapping the suitability of landfill sites at a regional scale using neural networks. The toolbox is constructed from six sub-tools to prepare, train, and process data. The employment of the toolbox is straightforward. The multilayer perceptron (MLP neural networks structure with a backpropagation learning algorithm is used. The dataset is mined from the north states in Malaysia. A total of 14 criteria are utilized to build the training dataset. The toolbox provides a platform for decision makers to implement neural networks for mapping the suitability of landfill sites in the ArcGIS environment. The result shows the ability of the toolbox to produce suitability maps for landfill sites.

High-resolution assessment of land use impacts on biodiversity in life cycle assessment using species habitat suitability models.

Science.gov (United States)

de Baan, Laura; Curran, Michael; Rondinini, Carlo; Visconti, Piero; Hellweg, Stefanie; Koellner, Thomas

2015-02-17

Agricultural land use is a main driver of global biodiversity loss. The assessment of land use impacts in decision-support tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA) requires spatially explicit models, but existing approaches are either not spatially differentiated or modeled at very coarse scales (e.g., biomes or ecoregions). In this paper, we develop a high-resolution (900 m) assessment method for land use impacts on biodiversity based on habitat suitability models (HSM) of mammal species. This method considers potential land use effects on individual species, and impacts are weighted by the species' conservation status and global rarity. We illustrate the method using a case study of crop production in East Africa, but the underlying HSMs developed by the Global Mammals Assessment are available globally. We calculate impacts of three major export crops and compare the results to two previously developed methods (focusing on local and regional impacts, respectively) to assess the relevance of the methodological innovations proposed in this paper. The results highlight hotspots of product-related biodiversity impacts that help characterize the links among agricultural production, consumption, and biodiversity loss.

Targeting climate diversity in conservation planning to build resilience to climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Heller, Nicole E.; Kreitler, Jason R.; Ackerly, David; Weiss, Stuart; Recinos, Amanda; Branciforte, Ryan; Flint, Lorraine E.; Flint, Alan L.; Micheli, Elisabeth

2015-01-01

Climate change is raising challenging concerns for systematic conservation planning. Are methods based on the current spatial patterns of biodiversity effective given long-term climate change? Some conservation scientists argue that planning should focus on protecting the abiotic diversity in the landscape, which drives patterns of biological diversity, rather than focusing on the distribution of focal species, which shift in response to climate change. Climate is one important abiotic driver of biodiversity patterns, as different climates host different biological communities and genetic pools. We propose conservation networks that capture the full range of climatic diversity in a region will improve the resilience of biotic communities to climate change compared to networks that do not. In this study we used historical and future hydro-climate projections from the high resolution Basin Characterization Model to explore the utility of directly targeting climatic diversity in planning. Using the spatial planning tool, Marxan, we designed conservation networks to capture the diversity of climate types, at the regional and sub-regional scale, and compared them to networks we designed to capture the diversity of vegetation types. By focusing on the Conservation Lands Network (CLN) of the San Francisco Bay Area as a real-world case study, we compared the potential resilience of networks by examining two factors: the range of climate space captured, and climatic stability to 18 future climates, reflecting different emission scenarios and global climate models. We found that the climate-based network planned at the sub-regional scale captured a greater range of climate space and showed higher climatic stability than the vegetation and regional based-networks. At the same time, differences among network scenarios are small relative to the variance in climate stability across global climate models. Across different projected futures, topographically heterogeneous areas

Pictorial materials database: 1200 combinations of pigments, dyes, binders and varnishes designed as a tool for heritage science and conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Cavaleri, Tiziana; Buscaglia, Paola; Migliorini, Simonetta; Nervo, Marco; Piccablotto, Gabriele; Piccirillo, Anna; Pisani, Marco; Puglisi, Davide; Vaudan, Dario; Zucco, Massimo

2017-06-01

The conservation of artworks requires a profound knowledge about pictorial materials, their chemical and physical properties and their interaction and/or degradation processes. For this reason, pictorial materials databases are widely used to study and investigate cultural heritage. At Centre for Conservation and Restoration La Venaria Reale, we prepared a set of about 1200 mock-ups with 173 different pigments and/or dyes, used across all the historical times or as products for conservation, four binders, two varnishes and four different materials for underdrawings. In collaboration with the Laboratorio Analisi Scientifiche of Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta, the National Institute of Metrological Research and the Department of Architecture and Design of the Polytechnic of Turin, we created a scientific database that is now available online (http://www.centrorestaurovenaria.it/en/areas/diagnostic/pictorial-materials-database) designed as a tool for heritage science and conservation. Here, we present a focus on materials for pictorial retouching where the hyperspectral imaging application, conducted with a prototype of new technology, allowed to provide a list of pigments that could be more suitable for conservation treatments and pictorial retouching. Then we present the case study of the industrial painting Notte Barbara (1962) by Pinot Gallizio where the use of the database including modern and contemporary art materials showed to be very useful and where the fibre optics reflectance spectroscopy technique was decisive for pigment identification purpose. Later in this research, the mock-ups will be exploited to study degradation processes, e.g., the lightfastness, or the possible formation of interaction products, e.g., metal carboxylates.

Evolutionary conservation of regulatory elements in vertebrate HOX gene clusters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santini, Simona; Boore, Jeffrey L.; Meyer, Axel

2003-12-31

Due to their high degree of conservation, comparisons of DNA sequences among evolutionarily distantly-related genomes permit to identify functional regions in noncoding DNA. Hox genes are optimal candidate sequences for comparative genome analyses, because they are extremely conserved in vertebrates and occur in clusters. We aligned (Pipmaker) the nucleotide sequences of HoxA clusters of tilapia, pufferfish, striped bass, zebrafish, horn shark, human and mouse (over 500 million years of evolutionary distance). We identified several highly conserved intergenic sequences, likely to be important in gene regulation. Only a few of these putative regulatory elements have been previously described as being involved in the regulation of Hox genes, while several others are new elements that might have regulatory functions. The majority of these newly identified putative regulatory elements contain short fragments that are almost completely conserved and are identical to known binding sites for regulatory proteins (Transfac). The conserved intergenic regions located between the most rostrally expressed genes in the developing embryo are longer and better retained through evolution. We document that presumed regulatory sequences are retained differentially in either A or A clusters resulting from a genome duplication in the fish lineage. This observation supports both the hypothesis that the conserved elements are involved in gene regulation and the Duplication-Deletion-Complementation model.

Rice Cellulose SynthaseA8 Plant-Conserved Region Is a Coiled-Coil at the Catalytic Core Entrance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rushton, Phillip S.; Olek, Anna T.; Makowski, Lee; Badger, John; Steussy, C. Nicklaus; Carpita, Nicholas C.; Stauffacher, Cynthia V. (NEU); (Purdue)

2016-11-22

The crystallographic structure of a rice (Oryza sativa) cellulose synthase, OsCesA8, plant-conserved region (P-CR), one of two unique domains in the catalytic domain of plant CesAs, was solved to 2.4 Å resolution. Two antiparallel α-helices form a coiled-coil domain linked by a large extended connector loop containing a conserved trio of aromatic residues. The P-CR structure was fit into a molecular envelope for the P-CR domain derived from small-angle X-ray scattering data. The P-CR structure and molecular envelope, combined with a homology-based chain trace of the CesA8 catalytic core, were modeled into a previously determined CesA8 small-angle X-ray scattering molecular envelope to produce a detailed topological model of the CesA8 catalytic domain. The predicted position for the P-CR domain from the molecular docking models places the P-CR connector loop into a hydrophobic pocket of the catalytic core, with the coiled-coil aligned near the entrance of the substrate UDP-glucose into the active site. In this configuration, the P-CR coiled-coil alone is unlikely to regulate substrate access to the active site, but it could interact with other domains of CesA, accessory proteins, or other CesA catalytic domains to control substrate delivery.

Physical conservation laws and the β-decay of nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bagge, E.

1975-04-01

The law of conservation of energy is extended to the region of the Dirac states of negative energy. When particles are produced or disappear, energy changes occur in the negative energy region which can be seen in the positive energy region. The law of conservation of energy then says that the total change in energy is equal to naught. The same is valid for translations and angular momentum. The way in which completely occupied states change energy and momentum is not shown. The β-decay of the neutron is considered as pair production in which an electron is emitted and a positron is bonded to the neutron. Neutrinos are not produced. The latest results on neutrino experiments on accelerators are not discussed. (BJ/LH) [de

Nature conservation and grazing management. Free-ranging cattle as a driving force for cyclic vegetation seccession

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bokdam, J.

2003-01-01

Key-words : biodiversity, herbivory, wilderness, non-linear dynamics, mosaic cycling, grassland, wood encroachment, forest, Bos taurus , Calluna vulgaris , Deschampsia flexuosa.This thesis examines the suitability of controlled and wilderness grazing as conservation management tool for open,

Species of conservation concern and environmental stressors: local regional and global effects: Chapter 6 in The Southern Nevada Agency Partnership science and research synthesis: science to support land management in southern Nevada

Science.gov (United States)

Ostoja, Steven M.; Brooks, Matthew L.; Chambers, Jeanne C.; Pendleton, Burton

2013-01-01

Species conservation has traditionally been based on individual species within the context of their requisite habitat, which is generally defined as the communities and ecosystems deemed necessary for their presence. Conservation decisions are hampered by the fact that environmental stressors that poetically threaten the persistence of species can operate at organizational levels larger than the habitat or home range of a focal species. Resource managers must therefore simultaneously consider local, regional, and/or global scale stressors for effective conservation and management of species of concern. The wide ranging effects associated with global stressors such as climate change may exceed or exacerbate the effects of local or regional stressors, they still need to understand the direct and interactive effects of global stressors and ultimately how they affect the lands they manage. Conservation of species in southern Nevada is further complication by the fact that the region includes one of the largest and fastest growing urban centers in North America. To accomplish the goal of species conservation, resource managers must identify actionable management options that mitigate the effects of local and regional stressor in the context of the effects of global stressors that are beyond their control. Species conservation is typically focused on a subset often referred to as species of conservation concern that have either demonstrated considerable decline or are naturally rare or have limited distributions. Stressors can directly and indirectly impact species in a variety of ways and through a diversity of mechanisms. Some stressors have been more intense in the past (e.g., livestock grazing) whereas other are now only emerging as new stressors (e.g., solar energy development, climate change). The primary stressors affecting southern Nevada ecosystems are listed in table 2.1 and reviewed in detail in Chapter 2. This chapter addresses Dub-goal 1.4 in the SNAP

Climate change, sea-level rise, and conservation: keeping island biodiversity afloat.

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Courchamp, Franck; Hoffmann, Benjamin D; Russell, James C; Leclerc, Camille; Bellard, Céline

2014-03-01

Island conservation programs have been spectacularly successful over the past five decades, yet they generally do not account for impacts of climate change. Here, we argue that the full spectrum of climate change, especially sea-level rise and loss of suitable climatic conditions, should be rapidly integrated into island biodiversity research and management. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Strategic conservation planning for the Eastern North Carolina/Southeastern Virginia Strategic Habitat Conservation Team

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander-Vaughn, Louise B.; Collazo, Jaime A.; Drew, C. Ashton

2014-01-01

The Eastern North Carolina/Southeastern Virginia Strategic Habitat Conservation Team (ENCSEVA) is a partnership among local federal agencies and programs with a mission to apply Strategic Habitat Conservation to accomplish priority landscape-level conservation within its geographic region. ENCSEVA seeks to further landscape-scale conservation through collaboration with local partners. To accomplish this mission, ENCSEVA is developing a comprehensive Strategic Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan) to provide guidance for its members, partners, and collaborators by establishing mutual conservation goals, objectives, strategies, and metrics to gauge the success of conservation efforts. Identifying common goals allows the ENCSEVA team to develop strategies that leverage joint resources and are more likely to achieve desired impacts across the landscape. The Plan will also provide an approach for ENCSEVA to meet applied research needs (identify knowledge gaps), foster adaptive management principles, identify conservation priorities, prioritize threats (including potential impacts of climate change), and identify the required capacity to implement strategies to create more resilient landscapes. ENCSEVA seeks to support the overarching goals of the South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (SALCC) and to provide scientific and technical support for conservation at landscape scales as well as inform the management of natural resources in response to shifts in climate, habitat fragmentation and loss, and other landscape-level challenges (South Atlantic LCC 2012). The ENCSEVA ecoregion encompasses the northern third of the SALCC geography and offers a unique opportunity to apply landscape conservation at multiple scales through the guidance of local conservation and natural resource management efforts and by reporting metrics that reflect the effectiveness of those efforts (Figure 1). The Environmental Decision Analysis Team, housed within the North Carolina Cooperative

Neutralizing activities of caprine antibodies towards conserved regions of the HCV envelope glycoprotein E2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

El-Shenawy Reem

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Anti HCV vaccine is not currently available and the present antiviral therapies fail to cure approximately half of the treated HCV patients. This study was designed to assess the immunogenic properties of genetically conserved peptides derived from the C-terminal region of HVR-1 and test their neutralizing activities in a step towards developing therapeutic and/or prophylactic immunogens against HCV infection. Antibodies were generated by vaccination of goats with synthetic peptides derived from HCV E2. Viral neutralizing capacity of the generated anti E2 antibodies was tested using in vitro assays. Goats immunized with E2 synthetic peptides termed p412 [a.a 412-419], p430 [a.a 430-447] and p517 [a.a 517-531] generated high titers of antibody responses 2 to 4.5 fold higher than comparable titers of antibodies to the same epitopes in chronic HCV patients. In post infection experiments of native HCV into cultured Huh7.5 cells anti p412 and anti p 517 were proven to be neutralizing to HCV genotype 4a from patients' sera (87.5% and 75% respectively. On the contrary anti p430 exhibited weak viral neutralization capacity on the same samples (31.25%. Furthermore Ab mixes containing anti p430 exhibited reduced viral neutralization properties. From these experiments one could predict that neutralization by Abs towards different E2-epitopes varies considerably and success in the enrichment of neutralization epitope-specific antibodies may be accompanied by favorable results in combating HCV infection. Also, E2 conserved peptides p517 and p412 represent potential components of a candidate peptide vaccine against HCV infection.

Effect of local cultural context on the success of community-based conservation interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Waylen, Kerry A; Fischer, Anke; McGowan, Philip J K; Thirgood, Simon J; Milner-Gulland, E J

2010-08-01

Conservation interventions require evaluation to understand what factors predict success or failure. To date, there has been little systematic investigation of the effect of social and cultural context on conservation success, although a large body of literature argues it is important. We investigated whether local cultural context, particularly local institutions and the efforts of interventions to engage with this culture significantly influence conservation outcomes. We also tested the effects of community participation, conservation education, benefit provision, and market integration. We systematically reviewed the literature on community-based conservation and identified 68 interventions suitable for inclusion. We used a protocol to extract and code information and evaluated a range of measures of outcome success (attitudinal, behavioral, ecological, and economic). We also examined the association of each predictor with each outcome measure and the structure of predictor covariance. Local institutional context influenced intervention outcomes, and interventions that engaged with local institutions were more likely to succeed. Nevertheless, there was limited support for the role of community participation, conservation education, benefit provision, and market integration on intervention success. We recommend that conservation interventions seek to understand the societies they work with and tailor their activities accordingly. Systematic reviews are a valuable approach for assessing conservation evidence, although sensitive to the continuing lack of high-quality reporting on conservation interventions.

Farmers' Willingness to Adopt Conservation Agriculture: New Evidence from Lebanon.

Science.gov (United States)

Chalak, Ali; Irani, Alexandra; Chaaban, Jad; Bashour, Issam; Seyfert, Karin; Smoot, Kaitlyn; Abebe, Gumataw Kifle

2017-10-01

With increasing food insecurity and climate change, conservation agriculture has emerged as a sustainable alternative to intensive conventional agriculture as a source of food supply. Yet the adoption rate of conservation agriculture is still low. Our paper analyses the factors affecting farmers' willingness to adopt conservation agriculture in Lebanon. The findings show that household characteristics-years of farming and farm size affect conservation agriculture adoption. However, household characteristics alone were insufficient to explain conservation agriculture adoption. We found that farming experience, information sources, frequency of irrigation, and severity of weed infestation in the past, participation in specific trainings, and farmers' perception about the long-term impact of conservation agriculture, were key determinants of conservation agriculture adoption. Our paper encourages policymakers to invest in conservation agriculture to overcome food insecurity and environmental changes affecting food systems in the Middle East. The paper also informs agribusiness firms to view conservation agriculture as a viable alternative to strengthen their business relationship with farmers in arid and semi-arid regions.

Farmers' Willingness to Adopt Conservation Agriculture: New Evidence from Lebanon

Science.gov (United States)

Chalak, Ali; Irani, Alexandra; Chaaban, Jad; Bashour, Issam; Seyfert, Karin; Smoot, Kaitlyn; Abebe, Gumataw Kifle

2017-10-01

With increasing food insecurity and climate change, conservation agriculture has emerged as a sustainable alternative to intensive conventional agriculture as a source of food supply. Yet the adoption rate of conservation agriculture is still low. Our paper analyses the factors affecting farmers' willingness to adopt conservation agriculture in Lebanon. The findings show that household characteristics—years of farming and farm size affect conservation agriculture adoption. However, household characteristics alone were insufficient to explain conservation agriculture adoption. We found that farming experience, information sources, frequency of irrigation, and severity of weed infestation in the past, participation in specific trainings, and farmers' perception about the long-term impact of conservation agriculture, were key determinants of conservation agriculture adoption. Our paper encourages policymakers to invest in conservation agriculture to overcome food insecurity and environmental changes affecting food systems in the Middle East. The paper also informs agribusiness firms to view conservation agriculture as a viable alternative to strengthen their business relationship with farmers in arid and semi-arid regions.

Rock suitability classification RSC 2012

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McEwen, T. (ed.) [McEwen Consulting, Leicester (United Kingdom); Kapyaho, A. [Geological Survey of Finland, Espoo (Finland); Hella, P. [Saanio and Riekkola, Helsinki (Finland); Aro, S.; Kosunen, P.; Mattila, J.; Pere, T.

2012-12-15

This report presents Posiva's Rock Suitability Classification (RSC) system, developed for locating suitable rock volumes for repository design and construction. The RSC system comprises both the revised rock suitability criteria and the procedure for the suitability classification during the construction of the repository. The aim of the classification is to avoid such features of the host rock that may be detrimental to the favourable conditions within the repository, either initially or in the long term. This report also discusses the implications of applying the RSC system for the fulfilment of the regulatory requirements concerning the host rock as a natural barrier and the site's overall suitability for hosting a final repository of spent nuclear fuel.

Rock suitability classification RSC 2012

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McEwen, T.; Kapyaho, A.; Hella, P.; Aro, S.; Kosunen, P.; Mattila, J.; Pere, T.

2012-12-01

This report presents Posiva's Rock Suitability Classification (RSC) system, developed for locating suitable rock volumes for repository design and construction. The RSC system comprises both the revised rock suitability criteria and the procedure for the suitability classification during the construction of the repository. The aim of the classification is to avoid such features of the host rock that may be detrimental to the favourable conditions within the repository, either initially or in the long term. This report also discusses the implications of applying the RSC system for the fulfilment of the regulatory requirements concerning the host rock as a natural barrier and the site's overall suitability for hosting a final repository of spent nuclear fuel

Improving spatial prioritisation for remote marine regions: optimising biodiversity conservation and sustainable development trade-offs

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Cordelia H.; Radford, Ben T.; Possingham, Hugh P.; Heyward, Andrew J.; Stewart, Romola R.; Watts, Matthew E.; Prescott, Jim; Newman, Stephen J.; Harvey, Euan S.; Fisher, Rebecca; Bryce, Clay W.; Lowe, Ryan J.; Berry, Oliver; Espinosa-Gayosso, Alexis; Sporer, Errol; Saunders, Thor

2016-08-01

Creating large conservation zones in remote areas, with less intense stakeholder overlap and limited environmental information, requires periodic review to ensure zonation mitigates primary threats and fill gaps in representation, while achieving conservation targets. Follow-up reviews can utilise improved methods and data, potentially identifying new planning options yielding a desirable balance between stakeholder interests. This research explored a marine zoning system in north-west Australia-a biodiverse area with poorly documented biota. Although remote, it is economically significant (i.e. petroleum extraction and fishing). Stakeholder engagement was used to source the best available biodiversity and socio-economic data and advanced spatial analyses produced 765 high resolution data layers, including 674 species distributions representing 119 families. Gap analysis revealed the current proposed zoning system as inadequate, with 98.2% of species below the Convention on Biological Diversity 10% representation targets. A systematic conservation planning algorithm Maxan provided zoning options to meet representation targets while balancing this with industry interests. Resulting scenarios revealed that conservation targets could be met with minimal impacts on petroleum and fishing industries, with estimated losses of 4.9% and 7.2% respectively. The approach addressed important knowledge gaps and provided a powerful and transparent method to reconcile industry interests with marine conservation.

Field Validation of Habitat Suitability Models for Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems in the South Pacific Ocean: Implications for the use of Broad-scale Models in Fisheries Management

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, O. F.; Guinotte, J. M.; Clark, M. R.; Rowden, A. A.; Mormede, S.; Davies, A. J.; Bowden, D.

2016-02-01

Spatial management of vulnerable marine ecosystems requires accurate knowledge of their distribution. Predictive habitat suitability modelling, using species presence data and a suite of environmental predictor variables, has emerged as a useful tool for inferring distributions outside of known areas. However, validation of model predictions is typically performed with non-independent data. In this study, we describe the results of habitat suitability models constructed for four deep-sea reef-forming coral species across a large region of the South Pacific Ocean using MaxEnt and Boosted Regression Tree modelling approaches. In order to validate model predictions we conducted a photographic survey on a set of seamounts in an un-sampled area east of New Zealand. The likelihood of habitat suitable for reef forming corals on these seamounts was predicted to be variable, but very high in some regions, particularly where levels of aragonite saturation, dissolved oxygen, and particulate organic carbon were optimal. However, the observed frequency of coral occurrence in analyses of survey photographic data was much lower than expected, and patterns of observed versus predicted coral distribution were not highly correlated. The poor performance of these broad-scale models is attributed to lack of recorded species absences to inform the models, low precision of global bathymetry models, and lack of data on the geomorphology and substrate of the seamounts at scales appropriate to the modelled taxa. This demonstrates the need to use caution when interpreting and applying broad-scale, presence-only model results for fisheries management and conservation planning in data poor areas of the deep sea. Future improvements in the predictive performance of broad-scale models will rely on the continued advancement in modelling of environmental predictor variables, refinements in modelling approaches to deal with missing or biased inputs, and incorporation of true absence data.

Green campus management based on conservation program in Universitas Negeri Semarang

Science.gov (United States)

Prihanto, Teguh

2018-03-01

Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES) has a great commitment in the development of higher education programs in line with its vision as a conservation - minded and internationally reputable university. Implementation of conservation programs with respect to the rules or conservation aspects of sustainable use, preservation, provisioning, protection, restoration and conservation of nature. In order to support the implementation of UNNES conservation program more focused, development strategies and development programs for each conservation scope are covered: (1) Biodiversity management; (2) Internal transportation management; (3) energy management; (4) Green building management; (5) Waste and water management; (6) Cultural conservation management. All related to conservation development strategies and programs are managed in the form of green campus management aimed at realizing UNNES as a green campus, characterized and reputable at the regional and global level.

Conservation Strategy for Brown Bear and Its Habitat in Nepal

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Achyut Aryal

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The Himalaya region of Nepal encompasses significant habitats for several endangered species, among them the brown bear (Ursus arctos pruinosus. However, owing to the remoteness of the region and a dearth of research, knowledge on the conservation status, habitat and population size of this species is lacking. Our aim in this paper is to report a habitat survey designed to assess the distribution and habitat characteristics of the brown bear in the Nepalese Himalaya, and to summarize a conservation action plan for the species devised at a pair of recent workshops held in Nepal. Results of our survey showed that brown bear were potentially distributed between 3800 m and 5500 m in the high mountainous region of Nepal, across an area of 4037 km² between the eastern border of Shey Phoksundo National Park (SPNP and the Manasalu Conservation Area (MCA. Of that area, 2066 km² lie inside the protected area (350 km² in the MCA; 1716 km² in the Annapurna Conservation Area and 48% (1917 km² lies outside the protected area in the Dolpa district. Furthermore, 37% of brown bear habitat also forms a potential habitat for blue sheep (or bharal, Pseudois nayaur, and 17% of these habitats is used by livestock, suggesting a significant potential for resource competition. Several plant species continue to be uprooted by local people for fuel wood. Based on the results of our field survey combined with consultations with local communities and scientists, we propose that government and non-government organizations should implement a three-stage program of conservation activities for the brown bear. This program should: (a Detail research activities in and outside the protected area of Nepal; (b support livelihood and conservation awareness at local and national levels; and (c strengthen local capacity and reduce human-wildlife conflict in the region.

Projected range contractions of European protected oceanic montane plant communities: focus on climate change impacts is essential for their future conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodd, Rory L; Bourke, David; Skeffington, Micheline Sheehy

2014-01-01

Global climate is rapidly changing and while many studies have investigated the potential impacts of this on the distribution of montane plant species and communities, few have focused on those with oceanic montane affinities. In Europe, highly sensitive bryophyte species reach their optimum occurrence, highest diversity and abundance in the north-west hyperoceanic regions, while a number of montane vascular plant species occur here at the edge of their range. This study evaluates the potential impact of climate change on the distribution of these species and assesses the implications for EU Habitats Directive-protected oceanic montane plant communities. We applied an ensemble of species distribution modelling techniques, using atlas data of 30 vascular plant and bryophyte species, to calculate range changes under projected future climate change. The future effectiveness of the protected area network to conserve these species was evaluated using gap analysis. We found that the majority of these montane species are projected to lose suitable climate space, primarily at lower altitudes, or that areas of suitable climate will principally shift northwards. In particular, rare oceanic montane bryophytes have poor dispersal capacity and are likely to be especially vulnerable to contractions in their current climate space. Significantly different projected range change responses were found between 1) oceanic montane bryophytes and vascular plants; 2) species belonging to different montane plant communities; 3) species categorised according to different biomes and eastern limit classifications. The inclusion of topographical variables in addition to climate, significantly improved the statistical and spatial performance of models. The current protected area network is projected to become less effective, especially for specialised arctic-montane species, posing a challenge to conserving oceanic montane plant communities. Conservation management plans need significantly

Projected range contractions of European protected oceanic montane plant communities: focus on climate change impacts is essential for their future conservation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rory L Hodd

Full Text Available Global climate is rapidly changing and while many studies have investigated the potential impacts of this on the distribution of montane plant species and communities, few have focused on those with oceanic montane affinities. In Europe, highly sensitive bryophyte species reach their optimum occurrence, highest diversity and abundance in the north-west hyperoceanic regions, while a number of montane vascular plant species occur here at the edge of their range. This study evaluates the potential impact of climate change on the distribution of these species and assesses the implications for EU Habitats Directive-protected oceanic montane plant communities. We applied an ensemble of species distribution modelling techniques, using atlas data of 30 vascular plant and bryophyte species, to calculate range changes under projected future climate change. The future effectiveness of the protected area network to conserve these species was evaluated using gap analysis. We found that the majority of these montane species are projected to lose suitable climate space, primarily at lower altitudes, or that areas of suitable climate will principally shift northwards. In particular, rare oceanic montane bryophytes have poor dispersal capacity and are likely to be especially vulnerable to contractions in their current climate space. Significantly different projected range change responses were found between 1 oceanic montane bryophytes and vascular plants; 2 species belonging to different montane plant communities; 3 species categorised according to different biomes and eastern limit classifications. The inclusion of topographical variables in addition to climate, significantly improved the statistical and spatial performance of models. The current protected area network is projected to become less effective, especially for specialised arctic-montane species, posing a challenge to conserving oceanic montane plant communities. Conservation management plans need

Land use suitability screening for power plant sites in Maryland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dobson, J.E.

1975-01-01

Since 1974 Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been engaged in developing an automated procedure for land use suitability screening. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has funded the project to aid in the selection of power plant sites in Maryland. Its purpose is to identify candidate areas from which specific candidate sites can be chosen for detailed analyses. The ORNL approach assures that certain key variables are examined empirically for every cell in the study region before candidate sites are selected. Each variable is assigned an importance weight and compatibility score based upon its effect on the economic, social, or ecologic costs associated with construction in a given cell. The weighted scores for each variable are aggregated and output as a suitability score for each cell

Assessment of soil erosion and conservation on agricultural sloping lands using plot data in the semi-arid hilly loess region of China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T.X. Zhu

2014-11-01

New hydrological insights for the region: The results revealed that runoff per unit area slightly increased with slope angle on SSP, but reached a maximum at 15° and then decreased with slope angle on LSP. Soil loss per unit area increased with slope angle on both SSP and LSP. An average of 36.4% less runoff but only 3.6% less soil loss per unit area was produced on LSP than on SSP. The S factor calculated using the slope factor equations in USLE/RUSLE was significantly greater than that estimated from the measured soil loss on the plots. Rainstorms with recurrence intervals greater than 2 years were responsible for more than two thirds of the total soil and water loss. The effectiveness in reducing surface runoff by five types of conservation practices was mixed. However, all the conservation practices yielded much less soil loss than cropland.

Birds of the US-Mexico borderlands: Distribution, ecology and conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Ruth, Janet M.; Brush, Tim; Krueper, David J.

2008-01-01

The concept for this volume began as a scientifi c symposium at the North American Ornithological Conference (NAOC) in Veracruz, Mexico in October 2006. The symposium was entitled “Avian Distributional Change, Anthropogenic Challenges, and Recent Avian Research and Technological Advances within the US–Mexico Border Region,” and was cochaired by two of us (DJK and TB) along with Carol Beardmore (Sonoran Joint Venture) and Bill Howe (USDI Fish and Wildlife Service). In light of the importance of the borderland region for birds and bird conservation, and because of the great need for additional information about this poorly studied region, we have compiled this volume to present new information about bird distribution, ecology, and conservation.

Conservation reaches new heights.

Science.gov (United States)

Pepall, J; Khanal, P

1992-10-01

The conservation program with the management assistance of the Woodlands Mountain Institute in 2 contiguous parks, the Mount Everest National Park in Nepal and the Qomolangma Nature Reserve in China, in 2 countries is described. The focus is on conservation of the complex ecosystem with sustainable development by showing local people how to benefit from the park without environmental damage. Cultural diversity is as important as biological diversity. The area has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site with the "last pure ecological seed" of the Himalayas. The regional geography and culture are presented. Population growth has impacted natural resources through overgrazing, cultivation of marginal land, and deforestation; future plans to build a dam and road bordering the nature reserve pose other threats. Proposed management plans for the Makalu-Barun Nature Park (established in November 1991) and Conservation Area include a division of the park into nature reserve areas free of human activity, protected areas which permit traditional land use, and special sites and trail for tourists and religious pilgrims. The conservation area will act as a buffer for the park and provide economic opportunities; further subdivisions include land use for biodiversity protection, community forest and pasture, agroforestry, and agriculture and settlement. Efforts will be made to increase the welfare of women and local people; proposed projects include the introduction of higher milk-producing animals for stall feeding. Also proposed is a cultural and natural history museum. 70% of the project's resources will be directed to local community participation in consultation and park maintenance. The project is a model of how conservation and protection of natural resources can coexist with local economic development and participation; an integration of preservation of biological diversity, mountain wisdom, and the value of local people as resources for conservation.

Energy conservation normatives in Italy: Thermotechnical Committee organizational efforts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casagrande, A [Comitato Termotecnico Italiano, Milan (Italy)

1991-10-01

A recent Italian law (No. 10/91) calls for energy conservation to be implemented in building materials and HVAC systems through the creation of a suitable set of normatives. The CTI (Italian Thermotechnical Committee) has been assigned the task of creating these normatives and is currently in the organizational stage. This paper lists the proposed normatives and reports on CTI's progress in assembling groups of consultants from various sectors - public administration, end users, industrial firms, etc.

Evolutionarily conserved substrate substructures for automated annotation of enzyme superfamilies.

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Ranyee A Chiang

2008-08-01

Full Text Available The evolution of enzymes affects how well a species can adapt to new environmental conditions. During enzyme evolution, certain aspects of molecular function are conserved while other aspects can vary. Aspects of function that are more difficult to change or that need to be reused in multiple contexts are often conserved, while those that vary may indicate functions that are more easily changed or that are no longer required. In analogy to the study of conservation patterns in enzyme sequences and structures, we have examined the patterns of conservation and variation in enzyme function by analyzing graph isomorphisms among enzyme substrates of a large number of enzyme superfamilies. This systematic analysis of substrate substructures establishes the conservation patterns that typify individual superfamilies. Specifically, we determined the chemical substructures that are conserved among all known substrates of a superfamily and the substructures that are reacting in these substrates and then examined the relationship between the two. Across the 42 superfamilies that were analyzed, substantial variation was found in how much of the conserved substructure is reacting, suggesting that superfamilies may not be easily grouped into discrete and separable categories. Instead, our results suggest that many superfamilies may need to be treated individually for analyses of evolution, function prediction, and guiding enzyme engineering strategies. Annotating superfamilies with these conserved and reacting substructure patterns provides information that is orthogonal to information provided by studies of conservation in superfamily sequences and structures, thereby improving the precision with which we can predict the functions of enzymes of unknown function and direct studies in enzyme engineering. Because the method is automated, it is suitable for large-scale characterization and comparison of fundamental functional capabilities of both characterized

Evolutionarily conserved substrate substructures for automated annotation of enzyme superfamilies.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiang, Ranyee A; Sali, Andrej; Babbitt, Patricia C

2008-08-01

The evolution of enzymes affects how well a species can adapt to new environmental conditions. During enzyme evolution, certain aspects of molecular function are conserved while other aspects can vary. Aspects of function that are more difficult to change or that need to be reused in multiple contexts are often conserved, while those that vary may indicate functions that are more easily changed or that are no longer required. In analogy to the study of conservation patterns in enzyme sequences and structures, we have examined the patterns of conservation and variation in enzyme function by analyzing graph isomorphisms among enzyme substrates of a large number of enzyme superfamilies. This systematic analysis of substrate substructures establishes the conservation patterns that typify individual superfamilies. Specifically, we determined the chemical substructures that are conserved among all known substrates of a superfamily and the substructures that are reacting in these substrates and then examined the relationship between the two. Across the 42 superfamilies that were analyzed, substantial variation was found in how much of the conserved substructure is reacting, suggesting that superfamilies may not be easily grouped into discrete and separable categories. Instead, our results suggest that many superfamilies may need to be treated individually for analyses of evolution, function prediction, and guiding enzyme engineering strategies. Annotating superfamilies with these conserved and reacting substructure patterns provides information that is orthogonal to information provided by studies of conservation in superfamily sequences and structures, thereby improving the precision with which we can predict the functions of enzymes of unknown function and direct studies in enzyme engineering. Because the method is automated, it is suitable for large-scale characterization and comparison of fundamental functional capabilities of both characterized and uncharacterized

Application of multi-criteria analysis and GIS in ecotourism development (Case study: Serbian Danube region

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Stojković Sanja

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Ecotourism can be defined as responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and cultural heritage and improves the well-being of local people. Sustainable planning and management of ecotourism development are important and necessary for increasing positive and decreasing negative effects on the complex environment. This paper analyses the suitability of selected protected natural areas in the Serbian Danube region for the purposes of ecotourism development. The multi-criteria analysis includes several natural and socio-economic factors and criteria which influence ecotourism development. The integration of Geographic Information System (GIS and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP greatly facilitates the decision-making process in the ecotourism destination planning. A suitability map of the analysed protected natural areas for ecotourism development as one of the sustainable tourism types is highlighted as a result of this paper. Such analysis assists in the objective promotion of ecotourism destinations and thus contributes to the improvement of Serbian tourism development. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 176008

Brownfield redevelopment: a hidden opportunity for conservation biology

Science.gov (United States)

Lynne M. Westphal; Jeffery M. Levengood; Alaka Wali; David Soucek; Douglas F. Stotz

2005-01-01

Brownfields - lands that are idle due to concerns about contamination - are often prominent features of urban areas. Conservation in an urbanizing world must take brownfields into consideration because regions of heavy industry can harbor areas of ecological significance. The Calumet region of northwest Indiana and northeast Illinois is one such place, where the...

Impact of Canopy Openness on Spider Communities: Implications for Conservation Management of Formerly Coppiced Oak Forests.

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Ondřej Košulič

Full Text Available Traditional woodland management created a mosaic of differently aged patches providing favorable conditions for a variety of arthropods. After abandonment of historical ownership patterns and traditional management and the deliberate transformation to high forest after World War II, large forest areas became darker and more homogeneous. This had significant negative consequences for biodiversity. An important question is whether even small-scale habitat structures maintained by different levels of canopy openness in abandoned coppiced forest may constitute conditions suitable for forest as well as open habitat specialists. We investigated the effect of canopy openness in former traditionally coppiced woodlands on the species richness, functional diversity, activity density, conservation value, and degree of rareness of epigeic spiders. In each of the eight studied locations, 60-m-long transect was established consisting of five pitfall traps placed at regular 15 m intervals along the gradient. Spiders were collected from May to July 2012. We recorded 90 spider species, including high proportions of xeric specialists (40% and red-listed threatened species (26%. The peaks of conservation indicators, as well as spider community abundance, were shifted toward more open canopies. On the other hand, functional diversity peaked at more closed canopies followed by a rapid decrease with increasing canopy openness. Species richness was highest in the middle of the canopy openness gradient, suggesting an ecotone effect. Ordinations revealed that species of conservation concern tended to be associated with sparse and partly opened canopy. The results show that the various components of biodiversity peaked at different levels of canopy openness. Therefore, the restoration and suitable forest management of such conditions will retain important diversification of habitats in formerly coppiced oak forest stands. We indicate that permanent presence of small

Kelps’ Long-Distance Dispersal: Role of Ecological/Oceanographic Processes and Implications to Marine Forest Conservation

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Manuela Bernardes Batista

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Long-distance dispersal is one of the main drivers structuring the distribution of marine biodiversity. This study reports the first occurrence of Macrocystis pyrifera and Durvillaea antarctica rafts on the southwestern warm temperate coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Our results indicate that an extreme meteo-oceanographic event, characterized by a northward, displacement of cold sub-Antarctic oceanic waters driven by an extratropical cyclone, could account for these unusual occurrences. A niche model based on known current distribution and maximum entropy principle (MAXENT, revealed the availability of suitable habitats at lower latitudes, outside their actual distribution edges. The distributional boundaries, mainly driven by temperature and irradiance, suggest the existence of environmental suitability in warm temperate areas, as well as in the Northern Hemisphere off Atlantic and Asian coasts. These theoretical edges and respective environmental drivers agree with the physiological affinities of both species, supporting the hypothesis that these variables act as limiting factors for their occurrences in tropical or warmer areas. Emerging regions can function as refuges and stepping-stones, providing substrate with adequate habitat conditions for recruitment of propagules, allowing eventual colonization. Long dispersal events reinforce the need for an extensive discussion on selective management of natural dispersion, biological invasions, refuge mapping and conservation initiatives in a transnational perspective.

Conservation efforts may increase malaria burden in the Brazilian Amazon.

Science.gov (United States)

Valle, Denis; Clark, James

2013-01-01

Large-scale forest conservation projects are underway in the Brazilian Amazon but little is known regarding their public health impact. Current literature emphasizes how land clearing increases malaria incidence, leading to the conclusion that forest conservation decreases malaria burden. Yet, there is also evidence that proximity to forest fringes increases malaria incidence, which implies the opposite relationship between forest conservation and malaria. We compare the effect of these environmental factors on malaria and explore its implications. Using a large malaria dataset (~1,300,000 positive malaria tests collected over ~4.5 million km(2)), satellite imagery, permutation tests, and hierarchical Bayesian regressions, we show that greater forest cover (as a proxy for proximity to forest fringes) tends to be associated with higher malaria incidence, and that forest cover effect was 25 times greater than the land clearing effect, the often cited culprit of malaria in the region. These findings have important implications for land use/land cover (LULC) policies in the region. We find that cities close to protected areas (PA's) tend to have higher malaria incidence than cities far from PA's. Using future LULC scenarios, we show that avoiding 10% of deforestation through better governance might result in an average 2-fold increase in malaria incidence by 2050 in urban health posts. Our results suggest that cost analysis of reduced carbon emissions from conservation efforts in the region should account for increased malaria morbidity, and that conservation initiatives should consider adopting malaria mitigation strategies. Coordinated actions from disparate science fields, government ministries, and global initiatives (e.g., Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation; Millenium Development Goals; Roll Back Malaria; and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria), will be required to decrease malaria toll in the region while preserving these

Long-term hydrological simulation based on the Soil Conservation Service curve number

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Surendra Kumar; Singh, Vijay P.

2004-05-01

Presenting a critical review of daily flow simulation models based on the Soil Conservation Service curve number (SCS-CN), this paper introduces a more versatile model based on the modified SCS-CN method, which specializes into seven cases. The proposed model was applied to the Hemavati watershed (area = 600 km2) in India and was found to yield satisfactory results in both calibration and validation. The model conserved monthly and annual runoff volumes satisfactorily. A sensitivity analysis of the model parameters was performed, including the effect of variation in storm duration. Finally, to investigate the model components, all seven variants of the modified version were tested for their suitability.

Northwest conservation and electric power plan 1986. Volume I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1988-01-01

This 20 year plan is prepared in accordance with the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act - Public Law 96-501, of 1980. This Act required the Council to develop and adopt a 20-year electrical power plan for the region with a program to protect, mitigate and enhance the fish and wildlife affected by hydroelectric development in the Columbia River Basin. The plan provides a 25 year history of the regions power development and comments on its unique features and changing nature. Presentations covers problems, solutions and the planning strategy for risk management. The existing electrical power system is discussed along with future electricity needs, generating resources, conservation of resources, regional needs and resources, and the 1986 action plan. Underlying details are provided in Volume II

On a kind of Noether symmetries and conservation laws in k-cosymplectic field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marrero, Juan Carlos; Roman-Roy, Narciso; Salgado, Modesto; Vilarino, Silvia

2011-01-01

This paper is devoted to studying symmetries of certain kinds of k-cosymplectic Hamiltonian systems in first-order classical field theories. Thus, we introduce a particular class of symmetries and study the problem of associating conservation laws to them by means of a suitable generalization of Noether's theorem.

Characteristics and environmental carrying capacities of coastal area in Yogyakarta Special Region for aquaculture

Science.gov (United States)

Triyatmo, B.; Rustadi; Priyono, S. B.

2018-03-01

The purpose of this study were to determine characteristics and environmental carrying capacities of coastal area in Yogyakarta Special Region for aquaculture. This study was conducted in 2015 by characterizing land and water dynamics, land use, and the suitability of coastal environments for aquaculture. Evaluation on the coastal environments suitability for aquaculture ponds was based on the landforms, soil properties, water quality and land. Selection of coastal locations for aquaculture development was based on the level of suitability of coastal environment. The results showed that the coastal in Kulon Progo and Bantul Regencies were characterized by sand dune and beach ridge with sandy soil texture, while in Gunungkidul Regency was characterized by limestone hill with rocky texture. Water sources of the coastal area were the sea, river, and ground water with the salinity of 31–37, 7–11, 7–31 ppt and pH of 7.4–8.4 7.0–8.2 and 7.4–9.9, respectively. The coastal lands were used for seasonal/annual planting, ponds, fish landing sites, tourism areas and conservation areas. The coastal carrying capacity was rather suitable for aquaculture, especially in the sandy soil area. Aquaculture in that area can be done intensively for shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), using biocrete (biological material) or plastic sheet.

Conservation of HIV-1 T cell epitopes across time and clades

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Levitz, Lauren; Koita, Ousmane A; Sangare, Kotou

2012-01-01

HIV genomic sequence variability has complicated efforts to generate an effective globally relevant vaccine. Regions of the viral genome conserved in sequence and across time may represent the "Achilles' heel" of HIV. In this study, highly conserved T-cell epitopes were selected using immunoinfor...

Passive seismic experiment in the Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli region (Ngorongoro Conservation Area), Northern Tanzania.

Science.gov (United States)

Parisi, Laura; Lombardo, Luigi; Tang, Zheng; Mai, P. Martin

2017-04-01

The Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli basins, located within the Ngorogoro Conservation Area (NCA), are a cornerstone for understanding the evolution of early humans and are two paleo-antropological excavation sites of global importance. NCA is located at the boundary between the Tanzanian Craton and East African Rift (EAR), in the vicinity of Ngorongoro Crater and other major volcanic edifices. Thus, understanding the geology and tectonics of the NCA may shed light onto the question why early Hominins settled in this region. Environmental and geological conditions in the Olduvai and Laetoli region that promoted human settlement and development are still debated by geologists and paleo-anthropologists. Paleo-geographical reconstructions of the study area of the last 2 million years may take advantage of modern passive seismology. Therefore, we installed a dense seismic network covering a surface of approximately 30 x 40 km within the NCA to map the depth extent of known faults, and to identify seismically active faults that have no surface expression. Our ten seismic stations, equipped with Trillium Compact 120 s sensors, started to operate in June 2016 and will continue for a total of 2 years. At the end of the first year, other 5 stations will densify our network. Here we analyse data quality of the first four months of continuous recordings. Our network provides good quality 3-C waveforms in the frequency range of 0.7-50 Hz. Vertical component seismograms record frequencies reliably down to 8 mHz. Preliminary results of the seismicity obtained with standard location procedures show that NCA is characterised by frequent tectonic seismicity (not volcano-related) with Ml between 0.5 and 2.0. Seismic activity is more frequent in the South (Laetoli region) where major fault systems have not been recognised at the surface yet.

Climatic Suitability of Growing Summer Squash (Cucurbita pepo L. as a Medicinal Plant in Iran

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Mohammad BANNAYAN

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Diversification of production by including a broader range of plant species, can significantly contribute to improve health and nutrition, livelihoods, household food security and ecological sustainability. Exploring the climate impact on any given crop is one of the first priorities to find new suitable areas for production and management of new crops. Summer squash (Cucurbita pepo L. is an economically valuable plant with various medicinal potentials. In order to investigate summer squash cultivation feasibility under Irans climate, three main agricultural regions (Azerbaijan, Khorasan and central part of Iran (Fars and Isfahan were selected. These regions suitability for summer squash cultivation were evaluated by considering three vital climate variables encompass temperature, precipitation, and sunshine hours. These regions show distinct and representative climatic conditions of Iran. Annual and growing season average of maximum, minimum, mean temperature, precipitation, and sunshine hours were calculated (May-September for all locations with 44 years historical weather data (1961-2005 for 8 locations (Oroomieh, Tabriz, Khoy, Mashhad, Sabzevar, Birjand, Shiraz and Isfahan, 39 years (1966-2005 for 2 locations (Kashan and Fassa, 28 years (1977-2005 for 4 locations (Ardebil, Abadeh, Bojnurd and Shargh Isfahan and 20 years (1985-2005 for 9 locations (Mahabad, Sarab, Maragheh, Parsabad, Khalkhal, Ferdous, Ghaen, Kashmar and Sarakhs. Climatic demands of summer squash were determined by four years field studies at four different locations in Iran. Our results showed Azerbaijan region has a suitable condition for this crop cultivation especially from precipitation and temperature perspectives. Central part of Iran and Khorasan were also found as partly suitable locations however as they are near to deserts with hotter and drier climate, there might be some other crops considered as priorities in these areas.

Climatic Suitability of Growing Summer Squash (Cucurbita pepo L. as a Medicinal Plant in Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad BANNAYAN

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Diversification of production by including a broader range of plant species, can significantly contribute to improve health and nutrition, livelihoods, household food security and ecological sustainability. Exploring the climate impact on any given crop is one of the first priorities to find new suitable areas for production and management of new crops. Summer squash (Cucurbita pepo L. is an economically valuable plant with various medicinal potentials. In order to investigate summer squash cultivation feasibility under Iran�s climate, three main agricultural regions (Azerbaijan, Khorasan and central part of Iran (Fars and Isfahan were selected. These regions suitability for summer squash cultivation were evaluated by considering three vital climate variables encompass temperature, precipitation, and sunshine hours. These regions show distinct and representative climatic conditions of Iran. Annual and growing season average of maximum, minimum, mean temperature, precipitation, and sunshine hours were calculated (May-September for all locations with 44 years historical weather data (1961-2005 for 8 locations (Oroomieh, Tabriz, Khoy, Mashhad, Sabzevar, Birjand, Shiraz and Isfahan, 39 years (1966-2005 for 2 locations (Kashan and Fassa, 28 years (1977-2005 for 4 locations (Ardebil, Abadeh, Bojnurd and Shargh Isfahan and 20 years (1985-2005 for 9 locations (Mahabad, Sarab, Maragheh, Parsabad, Khalkhal, Ferdous, Ghaen, Kashmar and Sarakhs. Climatic demands of summer squash were determined by four years field studies at four different locations in Iran. Our results showed Azerbaijan region has a suitable condition for this crop cultivation especially from precipitation and temperature perspectives. Central part of Iran and Khorasan were also found as partly suitable locations however as they are near to deserts with hotter and drier climate, there might be some other crops considered as priorities in these areas.

Threats, conservation strategies, and prognosis for suckers (Catostomidae) in North America: insights from regional case studies of a diverse family of non-game fishes

Science.gov (United States)

Cooke, Steven J.; Bunt, Christopher M.; Hamilton, Steven J.; Jennings, Cecil A.; Pearson, Micheal P.; Cooperman, Michael S.; Markle, Douglas F.

2005-01-01

Catostomid fishes are a diverse family of 76+ freshwater species that are distributed across North America in many different habitats. This group of fish is facing a variety of impacts and conservation issues that are somewhat unique relative to more economically valuable and heavily managed fish species. Here, we present a brief series of case studies to highlight the threats such as migration barriers, flow regulation, environmental contamination, habitat degradation, exploitation and impacts from introduced (non-native) species that are facing catostomids in different regions. Collectively, the case studies reveal that individual species usually are not threatened by a single, isolated factor. Instead, species in general face numerous stressors that threaten multiple stages of their life history. Several factors have retarded sucker conservation including widespread inabilities of field workers to distinguish some species, lack of basic natural history and ecological knowledge of life history, and the misconception that suckers are tolerant of degraded conditions and are of little social or ecological value. Without a specific constituent group lobbying for conservation of non-game fishes, all such species, including members of the catostomid family, will continue to face serious risks because of neglect, ignorance, and misunderstanding. We suggest that conservation strategies should incorporate research and education/outreach components. Other conservation strategies that would be effective for protecting suckers include freshwater protected areas for critical habitat, restoration of degraded habitat, and design of catostomid-friendly fish bypass facilities. We believe that the plight of the catostomids is representative of the threats facing many other non-game freshwater fishes with diverse life-history strategies globally.

SPITZER ANALYSIS OF H II REGION COMPLEXES IN THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS: DETERMINING A SUITABLE MONOCHROMATIC OBSCURED STAR FORMATION INDICATOR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lawton, B.; Gordon, K. D.; Meixner, M.; Sewilo, M.; Shiao, B.; Babler, B.; Bracker, S.; Meade, M.; Block, M.; Engelbracht, C. W.; Misselt, K.; Bolatto, A. D.; Carlson, L. R.; Hora, J. L.; Robitaille, T.; Indebetouw, R.; Madden, S. C.; Oey, M. S.; Oliveira, J. M.; Vijh, U. P.

2010-01-01

SMC. From these results, we argue that 70 μm is the most suitable IR band to use as a monochromatic obscured star formation indicator because it most accurately reproduces the TIR of H II regions in the LMC and SMC and over large spatial scales. We also explore the general trends of the 8, 24, 70, and 160 μm bands in the LMC and SMC H II region SEDs, radial surface brightness profiles, sizes, and normalized (by TIR) radial flux profiles. We derive an obscured SFR equation that is modified from the literature to use 70 μm luminosity, SFR(M sun yr -1 ) = 9.7(0.7) x 10 -44 L 70 (ergs s -1 ), which is applicable from 10 to 300 pc distance from the center of an H II region. We include an analysis of the spatial variations around H II regions between the obscured star formation indicators given by the IR and the unobscured star formation indicators given by UV and Hα. We compute obscured and unobscured SFRs using equations from the literature and examine the spatial variations of the SFRs around H II regions.

Results of the global conservation assessment of the freshwater crabs (Brachyura, Pseudothelphusidae and Trichodactylidae: The Neotropical region, with an update on diversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neil Cumberlidge

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The freshwater crabs of the Neotropics comprise 311 species in two families (Pseudothelphusidae and Trichodactylidae and one or both of these families are found in all of the countries in the Neotropical region (except for Chile and some of the Caribbean islands. Colombia (102 species, 81% endemic and Mexico (67 species, 95% endemic are the biodiversity hotspots of freshwater crab species richness and country-level endemism for this region. The results of the IUCN Red List conservation assessments show that 34% of pseudothelphusids and 10% of trichodactylids have an elevated risk of extinction, 29% of pseudothelphusids and 75% of trichodactylids are not at-risk (Least Concern, and although none are actually extinct, 56% of pseudothelphusids and 17% of trichodactylids are too poorly known to assess (Data Deficient. Colombia (14 species, Venezuela (7 species, Mexico (6 species, and Ecuador (5 species are the countries with the highest number of threatened species of Neotropical freshwater crabs. The majority of threatened species are restricted-range semiterrestrial endemics living in habitats subjected to deforestation, alteration of drainage patterns, and pollution. This underlines the need to prioritize and develop conservation measures before species decline to levels from which they cannot recover. These results represent a baseline that can be used to design strategies to save threatened Neotropical species of freshwater crabs.

Global conservation priorities for marine turtles.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bryan P Wallace

Full Text Available Where conservation resources are limited and conservation targets are diverse, robust yet flexible priority-setting frameworks are vital. Priority-setting is especially important for geographically widespread species with distinct populations subject to multiple threats that operate on different spatial and temporal scales. Marine turtles are widely distributed and exhibit intra-specific variations in population sizes and trends, as well as reproduction and morphology. However, current global extinction risk assessment frameworks do not assess conservation status of spatially and biologically distinct marine turtle Regional Management Units (RMUs, and thus do not capture variations in population trends, impacts of threats, or necessary conservation actions across individual populations. To address this issue, we developed a new assessment framework that allowed us to evaluate, compare and organize marine turtle RMUs according to status and threats criteria. Because conservation priorities can vary widely (i.e. from avoiding imminent extinction to maintaining long-term monitoring efforts we developed a "conservation priorities portfolio" system using categories of paired risk and threats scores for all RMUs (n = 58. We performed these assessments and rankings globally, by species, by ocean basin, and by recognized geopolitical bodies to identify patterns in risk, threats, and data gaps at different scales. This process resulted in characterization of risk and threats to all marine turtle RMUs, including identification of the world's 11 most endangered marine turtle RMUs based on highest risk and threats scores. This system also highlighted important gaps in available information that is crucial for accurate conservation assessments. Overall, this priority-setting framework can provide guidance for research and conservation priorities at multiple relevant scales, and should serve as a model for conservation status assessments and priority

[Suitable investigation method of exploration and suggestions for investigating Chinese materia medica resources from wetland and artificial water of Hongze Lake region].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Rui; Yan, Hui; Duan, Jin-Ao; Liu, Xing-Jian; Ren, Quan-Jin; Li, Hui-Wei; Bao, Bei-Hua; Zhang, Zhao-Hui

2016-08-01

According to the technology requirements of the fourth national survey of Chinese Materia Medica resources (pilot), suitable investigation method of exploration and suggestions for investigating Chinese Materia Medica resources was proposed based on the type of wetland and artificial water of Hongze Lake region. Environment of Hongze Lake and overview of wetland, present situation of ecology and vegetation and vegetation distribution were analyzed. Establishment of survey plan, selection of sample area and sample square and confirmation of representative water area survey plan were all suggested. The present study provide references for improving Chinese materia medica resources survey around Hongze Lake, and improving the technical specifications. It also provide references for investigating Chinese Materia Medica resources survey on similar ecological environment under the condition of artificial intervention. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Midyear FY 1983 Richton Dome screening and suitability review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-08-01

The NWTS screening of Gulf Coast salt domes for suitable nuclear waste repository sites identified three candidate domes. These are, in order of preference, Richton Dome, Mississippi; Vacherie Dome, Louisiana; and Cypress Creek Dome, Mississippi. A qualitative review of information obtained since this initial ranking gives no basis for revising this ranking. A review of unresolved siting issues at Richton Dome shows siting concerns presently center on the geologic stability and hydrology suitability of Richton Dome and vicinity. Tectonic concerns of regional uplift and faulting are examined, as are salt tectonic concerns related to salt dome movement and dissolution. Both geologic and geodetic data suggest the Mississippi Salt Basin is experiencing uplift. However, uplift rates estimated from geologic evidence are an order of magnitude less than rates estimated from releveling data. Faults are present throughout much of the basin, and most are the result of horizontal and vertical movements of the Louann Salt during the Cretaceous and Early Tertiary. Several faults are present in the sediments surrounding Richton Dome, but current evidence suggests no movements have occurred since the Miocene. Richton Dome's hydrologic suitability is considered in analysis of the regional ground-water flow system. A three-dimensional, ground-water flow model has been utilized to calculate travel paths and travel times for releases of contaminants from various points on the dome. Based on model analyses, a release at repository level would take nearly 39,000 years to reach the upper aquifer and would eventually discharge into the Leaf River or upper reaches of the Pascagoula River over 50 km from the dome. This estimate of travel time greatly exceeds the minimum 1000 year travel time required by proposed Department of Energy (DOE) guidelines. 76 references

Environmental Performance Information Use by Conservation Agency Staff

Science.gov (United States)

Wardropper, Chloe Bradley

2018-04-01

Performance-based conservation has long been recognized as crucial to improving program effectiveness, particularly when environmental conditions are dynamic. Yet few studies have investigated the use of environmental performance information by staff of conservation organizations. This article identifies attitudinal, policy and organizational factors influencing the use of a type of performance information—water quality information—by Soil and Water Conservation District staff in the Upper Mississippi River Basin region. An online survey ( n = 277) revealed a number of important variables associated with greater information use. Variables included employees' prosocial motivation, or the belief that they helped people and natural resources through their job, the perceived trustworthiness of data, the presence of a U.S. Clean Water Act Total Maximum Daily Load standard designation, and staff discretion to prioritize programs locally. Conservation programs that retain motivated staff and provide them the resources and flexibility to plan and evaluate their work with environmental data may increase conservation effectiveness under changing conditions.

Southeast Regional Assessment Project for the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Dalton, Melinda S.; Jones, Sonya A.

2010-01-01

expanded to address climate change-related impacts on all Department of the Interior (DOI) resources. The NCCWSC will establish a network of eight DOI Regional Climate Science Centers (RCSCs) that will work with a variety of partners to provide natural resource managers with tools and information that will help them anticipate and adapt conservation planning and design for projected climate change. The forecasting products produced by the RCSCs will aid fish, wildlife, and land managers in designing suitable adaptive management approaches for their programs. The DOI also is developing Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) as science and conservation action partnerships at subregional scales. The USGS is working with the Southeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to develop science collaboration between the future Southeast RCSC and future LCCs. The NCCWSC Southeast Regional Assessment Project (SERAP) will begin to develop regional downscaled climate models, land cover change models, regional ecological models, regional watershed models, and other science tools. Models and data produced by SERAP will be used in a collaborative process between the USGS, the FWS (LCCs), State and federal partners, nongovernmental organizations, and academia to produce science at appropriate scales to answer resource management questions. The SERAP will produce an assessment of climate change, and impacts on land cover, ecosystems, and priority species in the region. The predictive tools developed by the SERAP project team will allow end users to better understand potential impacts of climate change and sea level rise on terrestrial and aquatic populations in the Southeastern United States. The SERAP capitalizes on the integration of five existing projects: (1) the Multi-State Conservation Grants Program project "Designing Sustainable Landscapes," (2) the USGS multidisciplinary Science Thrust project "Water Availability for Ecological Needs," (3) the USGS Southeast Pilot

Geochemical characterization and evaluation of groundwater suitability for domestic and agricultural utility in semi-arid region of Basara, Telangana State, South India

Science.gov (United States)

Adimalla, Narsimha; Venkatayogi, Sudarshan

2018-03-01

Hydrogeochemical investigations were carried out in semi-arid region of Basara to estimate the quality of groundwater for its suitability for domestic and agricultural purposes. For this region 34 groundwater samples were collected in different locations and analyzed for various ions, viz., Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Cl-, HCO3 -, SO4 2-, CO3 2-, HCO3 -, NO3 - and F- to assess the water chemistry with sodium absorption ratio, %Na, residual sodium carbonate, magnesium hazard. The nitrate and fluoride concentrations were above the maximum permissible limit, while calcium, sodium, potassium and chloride were found below the desirable limits in most of the groundwater samples. The Wilcox diagram illustrates that 59% of the samples belong to excellent to good category, while the US Salinity Laboratory diagram indicates medium salinity/low sodium content in 64.70% of samples. In general, the geochemistry of groundwater in Basara region is influenced by the water rock processes through percolation and dissolution of rock forming minerals, while calculated values of saturation index for Anhydrite, Aragonite, Artinite, Brucite, Calcite, Fluorite, Gypsum, Dolomite and Magnesite of the groundwater samples were less than zero, indicating under-saturation. Chadha rectangular diagram for geochemical classification and hydrochemical processes of groundwater for Basara provinces indicates 50% of Na+-Cl-, 29% of Ca2+-Mg2+-Cl- and 18% of the water samples concentrate in the category of Na+-HCO3 - type.

Flagellar region 3b supports strong expression of integrated DNA and the highest chromosomal integration efficiency of the Escherichia coli flagellar regions.

Science.gov (United States)

Juhas, Mario; Ajioka, James W

2015-07-01

The Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli is routinely used as the chassis for a variety of biotechnology and synthetic biology applications. Identification and analysis of reliable chromosomal integration and expression target loci is crucial for E. coli engineering. Chromosomal loci differ significantly in their ability to support integration and expression of the integrated genetic circuits. In this study, we investigate E. coli K12 MG1655 flagellar regions 2 and 3b. Integration of the genetic circuit into seven and nine highly conserved genes of the flagellar regions 2 (motA, motB, flhD, flhE, cheW, cheY and cheZ) and 3b (fliE, F, G, J, K, L, M, P, R), respectively, showed significant variation in their ability to support chromosomal integration and expression of the integrated genetic circuit. While not reducing the growth of the engineered strains, the integrations into all 16 target sites led to the loss of motility. In addition to high expression, the flagellar region 3b supports the highest efficiency of integration of all E. coli K12 MG1655 flagellar regions and is therefore potentially the most suitable for the integration of synthetic genetic circuits. © 2015 The Authors. Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for Applied Microbiology.

Energy Efficiency of a Greenhouse for the Conservation of Forestry Biodiversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alvaro Marucci

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Forest biodiversity conservation is one of the most interesting and crucial problems in forestry world. Currently, the conservation methods are based on two phases: the conservation of seeds at low temperatures and the multiplication of vegetable material. This latter operation can be successfully developed in properly designed greenhouses. The aim of this paper is to define a type of greenhouse which is particularly suitable for plant material propagation in order to preserve forest biodiversity in the area of the Central Italy. Some general parameters were first defined for a correct planning of the structure, such as: the shape of the section, volume, cover material, systems for heating and cooling, and those for the control of the internal microclimate parameters (light, air temperature, and relative humidity. Considering the construction characteristics and the climatic conditions of the place, the internal microclimatic conditions have been later determined by the useful implementation in TRNSYS in order to analyse the energy efficiency of the greenhouse.

Late replication domains are evolutionary conserved in the Drosophila genome.

Science.gov (United States)

Andreyenkova, Natalya G; Kolesnikova, Tatyana D; Makunin, Igor V; Pokholkova, Galina V; Boldyreva, Lidiya V; Zykova, Tatyana Yu; Zhimulev, Igor F; Belyaeva, Elena S

2013-01-01

Drosophila chromosomes are organized into distinct domains differing in their predominant chromatin composition, replication timing and evolutionary conservation. We show on a genome-wide level that genes whose order has remained unaltered across 9 Drosophila species display late replication timing and frequently map to the regions of repressive chromatin. This observation is consistent with the existence of extensive domains of repressive chromatin that replicate extremely late and have conserved gene order in the Drosophila genome. We suggest that such repressive chromatin domains correspond to a handful of regions that complete replication at the very end of S phase. We further demonstrate that the order of genes in these regions is rarely altered in evolution. Substantial proportion of such regions significantly coincide with large synteny blocks. This indicates that there are evolutionary mechanisms maintaining the integrity of these late-replicating chromatin domains. The synteny blocks corresponding to the extremely late-replicating regions in the D. melanogaster genome consistently display two-fold lower gene density across different Drosophila species.

Hydrologic Modeling of Conservation Farming Practices on the Palouse

Science.gov (United States)

van Wie, J.; Adam, J. C.; Ullman, J.

2009-12-01

The production of dryland crops such as wheat and barley in a semi-arid region requires a reliable and adequate water supply. This supply of water available for crop use is of heightened importance in areas such as the Palouse region of eastern Washington and northern Idaho where the majority of annual rainfall occurs during the winter months and must be retained in the soil through the dry summer growing season. Farmers can increase conservation of water at the field and watershed scales through the adoption of best management practices that incorporate tillage and crop residue management. This research analyzes conservation farming practices that may be implemented by representing them in a watershed-scale hydrologic model in order to determine whether these practices will effectively save water so that a stable crop yield may be insured. The Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM) is applied and calibrated to represent the physical changes to infiltration, evaporation, and runoff that result from altered soil and vegetation characteristics brought on by management practices. The model is calibrated with field observations at the basin scale as well as the point scale over individual plots that are under various implementations of conservation management scenarios. Conservation practices are accounted for in DHSVM by adjusting input parameters such as the porosity, roughness, and hydraulic conductivity of the soil to characterize varying levels of tillage. Vegetation parameters such as leaf area index and albedo are altered to represent different amounts of crop residue left on the field through the winter months. After calibration, the model is applied over the entire basin under scenarios representing traditional agricultural methods and a region-wide shift to conservation practices. The resulting water balance suggests that there is a potential to retain water in the seed-zone during the winter months by decreasing evaporation and runoff through

Conservation Agriculture for combating land degradation in Central Asia: a synthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.P.A. Lamers

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This manuscript reviews scientific findings on agricultural systems, associated land degradation and selected remedies such as Conservation Agricultural (CA practices to counterbalance these. In particular, this review addresses the research findings onCA practices conducted in the rainfed and irrigated systems in Central Asia. The arid and semi-arid croplands in this region are vulnerable to different types of soil and environmental degradation, and particularly to degradation caused by intensive tillage, irrigation water mismanagement, and cropping practices, especially in the Aral Sea Basin. Overall, the evidence shows that various CA elements, such as permanent beds, seems to be technically suitable for the major cropping systems and despite the heterogeneous conditions in the region. CA practices can contribute to combating on-going land degradation. No-till seeding along with the maintenance of a permanent soil coverage e.g. by residue retention, reduces wind and water erosion, increases water infiltration and storage which can reduce crop water stress, improve soil quality and increase soil organic matter. Further, CA practices can lead to similar or even higher crop yields while reducing production resource needs and costs considerably, including fuel, seeds, agrochemicals, water and labour. Nevertheless, the growing research evidence on the productivity, economic and environmental benefits that can be harnessed with CA, still is from a limited number of studies and hence more research at local scale is needed.

An online conserved SSR discovery through cross-species comparison

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tun-Wen Pai

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Tun-Wen Pai1, Chien-Ming Chen1, Meng-Chang Hsiao1, Ronshan Cheng2, Wen-Shyong Tzou3, Chin-Hua Hu31Department of Computer Science and Engineering; 2Department of Aquaculture, 3Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, Taiwan, Republic of ChinaAbstract: Simple sequence repeats (SSRs play important roles in gene regulation and genome evolution. Although there exist several online resources for SSR mining, most of them only extract general SSR patterns without providing functional information. Here, an online search tool, CG-SSR (Comparative Genomics SSR discovery, has been developed for discovering potential functional SSRs from vertebrate genomes through cross-species comparison. In addition to revealing SSR candidates in conserved regions among various species, it also combines accurate coordinate and functional genomics information. CG-SSR is the first comprehensive and efficient online tool for conserved SSR discovery.Keywords: microsatellites, genome, comparative genomics, functional SSR, gene ontology, conserved region

On the suitability of MODIS time series metrics to map vegetation types in dry savanna ecosystems: A case study in the Kalahari of NE Namibia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hüttich, C.; Gessner, U.; Herold, M.; Strohbach, B.; Schmidt, M.; Keil, M.; Dech, S.

2009-01-01

The characterization and evaluation of the recent status of biodiversity in Southern Africa’s Savannas is a major prerequisite for suitable and sustainable land management and conservation purposes. This paper presents an integrated concept for vegetation type mapping in a dry savanna ecosystem

Conserving the Brazilian semiarid (Caatinga) biome under climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oliveira, Guilherme de; Bastos Araujo, Miguel; Rangel, Thiago Fernado

2012-01-01

to assess changes in climate suitability across individual species ranges, ensemble forecasting was used based on seven bioclimatic envelope models, three atmosphere–ocean general circulation models, and two greenhouse emission gas scenarios for 2020, 2050, and 2080. We found that most species will gain...... additional threats to the biome’s biodiversity. Here, we ask if the remnants of natural vegetation in Caatinga biome, where endemic terrestrial vertebrate species occur, are likely to retain more climatic suitability under climate change scenarios than other less pristine areas of the biome. In order......The Caatinga is a semiarid biome of the northeast of Brazil with only 1 % of its territory currently conserved. The biome’s biodiversity is highly threatened due to exposure to land conversion for agricultural and cattle ranch. Climate forecasts predict increases in aridity, which could pose...

Avian response to pine restoration at Peck Ranch Conservation Area

Science.gov (United States)

Richard Clawson; Carrie Steen; Kim Houf; Terry Thompson

2007-01-01

Midco Pine Flats is a 2,223-acre region of Peck Ranch Conservation Area (CA) that is classified as a pine-oak plains land type association. Extensive logging in the early 1900s removed most overstory shortleaf pine allowing oak to become the primary overstory component. In 2000, Missouri Department of Conservation staff initiated a pineoak woodland restoration project...

Habitat suitability and nest survival of white-headed woodpeckers in unburned forests of Oregon

Science.gov (United States)

Hollenbeck, Jeff P.; Saab, Victoria A.; Frenzel, Richard W.

2011-01-01

We evaluated habitat suitability and nest survival of breeding white-headed woodpeckers (Picoides albolarvatus) in unburned forests of central Oregon, USA. Daily nest-survival rate was positively related to maximum daily temperature during the nest interval and to density of large-diameter trees surrounding the nest tree. We developed a niche-based habitat suitability model (partitioned Mahalanobis distance) for nesting white-headed woodpeckers using remotely sensed data. Along with low elevation, high density of large trees, and low slope, our habitat suitability model suggested that interspersion–juxtaposition of low- and high-canopy cover ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) patches was important for nest-site suitability. Cross-validation suggested the model performed adequately for management planning at a scale >1 ha. Evaluation of mapped habitat suitability index (HSI) suggested that the maximum predictive gain (HSI = 0.36), where the number of nest locations are maximized in the smallest proportion of the modeled landscape, provided an objective initial threshold for identification of suitable habitat. However, managers can choose the threshold HSI most appropriate for their purposes (e.g., locating regions of low–moderate suitability that have potential for habitat restoration). Consequently, our habitat suitability model may be useful for managing dry coniferous forests for white-headed woodpeckers in central Oregon; however, model validation is necessary before our model could be applied to other locations.

Socioeconomic contexts of primate conservation: population, poverty, global economic demands, and sustainable land use.

Science.gov (United States)

Estrada, Alejandro

2013-01-01

Recent assessments by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) indicate the existence of about 612 recognized primate species and subspecies (IUCN RedList, 2012), but close to 50% of these taxa are at risk of extinction as a result of human action. In this article, I call attention to underlying regional and global socioeconomic contexts of primate conservation. Using information from FAO and UN databases and other sources, I examine, for the Neotropics, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia, trends in forest loss and human demographics and social condition, discuss the impact of global market pressures upon primate habitats, and examine land-use patterns that may favor primate conservation. Between 1990 and 2010, an estimated 149 million ha of forest were lost in the three regions and additional losses are expected in the future. Global human population will increase from 7 billion in 2012 to 9 billion in 2050. Currently, 2 billion people live in the three primate range regions under high levels of poverty. Large-scale deforestation is related to global market demands, especially from developed and developing nations, for food (e.g., cattle), domestic animal feed (e.g., soybeans), biofuel-based crops (e.g., oil palm), and industrial round wood. The growth of protected areas in the three regions has been steady for several decades, but it is not enough to ensure long-term conservation of many primate taxa. Other conservations tools involving sustainable land use and biodiversity conservation corridors are required at the landscape level. The above assessment can easily be applied at the local level by primatologists, giving more precision to conservation initiatives. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Prioritizing bird conservation actions in the Prairie Hardwood transition of the Midwestern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Crimmins, Shawn M.; Pearce, Jennie

2014-01-01

Large-scale planning for the conservation of species is often hindered by a poor understanding of factors limiting populations. In regions with declining wildlife populations, it is critical that objective metrics of conservation success are developed to ensure that conservation actions achieve desired results. Using spatially explicit estimates of bird abundance, we evaluated several management alternatives for conserving bird populations in the Prairie Hardwood Transition of the United States. We designed landscapes conserving species at 50% of their current predicted abundance as well as landscapes attempting to achieve species population targets (which often required the doubling of current abundance). Conserving species at reduced (half of current) abundance led to few conservation conflicts. However, because of extensive modification of the landscape to suit human use, strategies for achieving regional population targets for forest bird species would be difficult under even ideal circumstances, and even more so if maintenance of grassland bird populations is also desired. Our results indicated that large-scale restoration of agricultural lands to native grassland and forest habitats may be the most productive conservation action for increasing bird population sizes but the level of landscape transition required to approach target bird population sizes may be societally unacceptable.