Systematic Conservation Research Articles

Optimizing Targeting of Pinyon-Juniper Management for Sagebrush Birds of Conservation Concern While Avoiding Imperiled Pinyon Jay

Contemporary restoration and management of sagebrush-dominated (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems across the intermountain west of the United States increasingly involves the removal of expanding conifer, particularly juniper (Juniperus spp.) and pinyon pine (Pinus edulis, P. monophylla). The impetus behind much of this management has been the demonstrated population benefits of sagebrush restoration via conifer removal to greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), a species of conservation concern. One of the challenges with scaling up from a focal-species approach to a community-level perspective, however, is balancing the habitat requirements of different species, some of which may overlap with sage-grouse and others which may have competing habitat needs. Here, we use a systematic conservation planning approach to compute spatial optimizations that prioritize areas for conifer removal across the sage-grouse range while incorporating woodland and sagebrush songbirds into decision making. Three of the songbirds considered here, Brewer's sparrow (Spizella breweri), green-tailed towhee (Pipilo chlorurus), and sage thrasher (Poocetes gramineus), are sagebrush-obligates, while another is a woodland-obligate, the pinyon jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus). We find that the inclusion of sagebrush-obligates expands the model-selected area of consideration for conifer management, likely because habitat overlap between sagebrush-obligates is imperfect. The inclusion of pinyon jay, a woodland-obligate, resulted in substantial shifts in the distribution of model-selected priority areas for conifer removal, particularly away from pinyon jay strongholds in Nevada and east-central California. Finally, we compared the conifer optimizations created here with estimates of ongoing conifer removal efforts across the intermountain west and find that a small proportion (13−18%) of management efforts had occurred on areas predicted as being important for pinyon jay, suggesting that much of the ongoing work is already successfully avoiding critical pinyon jay habitat areas.

Spatio-Temporal Evolution Patterns of Hydrological Connectivity of Wetland Biodiversity Hotspots in Sanjiang Plain between 1995 and 2015

Hydrological connectivity is the main non-biological driving factor of wetland ecological processes and is key to maintaining the stability and biodiversity of the whole ecosystem. Socio-economic activities have had a significant impact on the hydrological connectivity of wetlands, resulting in the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of the ecological functions of wetlands. Wetland biodiversity hotspots in Sanjiang Plain that were identified in the previous literature using the Systematic Conservation Planning (SCP) method were chosen as the research objects. The SCP method was combined with the structural hydrological connectivity index (Integral Index of Connectivity (IIC) and Probability of Connectivity (PC)) and the functional hydrological connectivity index (Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis) to analyze the spatio-temporal changes in the hydrological connectivity of the wetland biodiversity hotspots in Sanjiang Plain. The results showed that the hydrological connectivity within the eight identified wetland biodiversity hotspots in Sanjiang Plain experienced varying degrees of decline in the period between 1995 and 2015. Structurally, the IIC values of wetlands in all of the biodiversity hotspots were more than 0.5, and the PC values were more than 0.9, but most of the hotspots showed declining trends of varying degrees from 2010 to 2015. Functionally, the average proportion of core wetlands in the hotspots has decreased by 4.82%, and the average proportion of edge wetlands has increased by 2.71% over the last 20 years. The findings on the hydrological connectivity evolution patterns can aid in the conservation and restoration of wetlands and biodiversity hotspots.

Does scale or method matter for conservation? Application of directional and omnidirectional connectivity models in spatial prioritizations

IntroductionThe maintenance of habitat connections between fragmented habitat patches is vital for the conservation of wildlife populations and ecosystem functioning. The awareness of connectivity issues for species conservation has resulted in a growth of connectivity modeling and the application of these results in conservation planning. Such connectivity modeling efforts can include several decisions or data limitations, which could influence the connectivity results and ultimately a systematic conservation plan (SCP). However, there has been little investigation of how these different decisions on species, scale, and extent influence the ultimate conservation planning outcomes.MethodsWe modeled the connectivity of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), and black bear (Ursus americanus), three species with varying ecological requirements, through the Congaree Biosphere Region, South Carolina, USA. We modeled habitat suitability for each species using boosted regression trees and converted these results into resistance layers for the connectivity analyses. We compared models for each species at multistate regional and local extents using directional and omnidirectional circuit theory approaches. We then used the results from each modeling combination as conservation goals for three different SCPs to determine how connectivity modeling decisions may influence geographic conservation decisions.ResultsThere was substantial positive spatial correlation between the three connectivity models of each species, and there appeared to be general agreement among mammals as to most important primary corridors. Across all species, the greatest agreement was between the omnidirectional and local directional models as compared with the regional directional plan, which highlighted a unique corridor. The omnidirectional conservation plan required the least amount of planning units to achieve its conservation goals, followed by the local and then regional directional plans that required over 200 km2more land area to be conserved.DiscussionOur results indicate that overall variations in connectivity modeling decisions may have only a moderate impact on the identification of important movement corridors for conservation at the local scale. Practitioners should base modeling decisions on the ecology of the study region, conservation question, and available computing resource.

Reconciling diverse viewpoints within systematic conservation planning

AbstractConservation encompasses numerous alternative viewpoints on what to value (features such as biodiversity, ecosystem services or socio‐economic benefits) and how to convert these values into conservation policies that deliver for nature and people. Reconciling these differing values and viewpoints in policy development and implementation is a perennial challenge.Balancing differing stakeholder viewpoints within a single conservation plan risks some viewpoints overshadowing others. This can occur as some dominant viewpoints may lead to more marginal views being suppressed, and also through social biases during the planning process.Here we develop four separate ‘caricature’ conservation viewpoints, and spatially quantify each of them in order to test different approaches to equitable reconciliation. Each viewpoint prioritises different locations, dependent on the extent to which they deliver a variety of different biodiversity, well‐being and economic goals.We then show how these different viewpoints can be reconciled using numeric methods. We find that a pluralist approach, which accounts for the spatial similarities and differences between viewpoints, is able to deliver equitably for multiple conservation features. This pluralist approach provides a coherent spatial conservation strategy with the capacity to satisfy advocates of quite divergent approaches to conservation.Read the freePlain Language Summaryfor this article on the Journal blog.

Spatial conservation prioritization for locating protected area gaps in Iran

In line with global conservation targets, Iran aims to increase its protected area coverage from c. 11 % to 20 %. We explored an area-efficient and balanced set of criteria to find areas that best complement existing protected areas for achieving these targets. We used distribution maps of all threatened vertebrates in a systematic conservation planning approach and compared four different methods of weighting species and locations: 1) species weighted equally, 2) weighted by distribution characteristics (i.e. presence, origin, seasonality) and important habitat surrogates (Important Bird Areas and Endemic Bird Areas), 3) species' level of endemism, and IUCN Red List threat status, and 4) considering opportunity cost based on levels of urbanization to reflect the current land's ecological conditions. We then determined the extent to which existing protected areas cover conservation priorities for different species groups, and explored how new priorities complement Iran's protected area network to achieve national target to protect 20 % of its land area. Our findings showed that parts of terrestrial ecoregions in the north, north-west and west of the country were consistently important in all scenarios, representing the best places to start increasing protected area coverage. Protecting 20 % of the country in the prioritizations constrained by existing protected areas would conserve biodiversity groups in 70 % to 100 % of their distribution, except for birds and mammals for which the protection coverage was lower. Our study locates the important areas for conservation in line with national and international targets that require effective conservation action.

基于“目标-成本-效益”协同优化的山水林田湖草沙一体化生态保护与修复格局

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 基于“目标-成本-效益”协同优化的山水林田湖草沙一体化生态保护与修复格局 DOI: 10.5846/stxb202210022802 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金项目(32171572) Optimization of integrated ecological conservation and restoration pattern by trading off the targets, costs, and ecological benefits Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:当前以"山水林田湖草沙一体化保护与修复"为代表的国土空间生态修复工程已在全国范围内陆续开展,但相关规划的理论和方法支撑仍较为薄弱,如何确定合理的保护修复目标,并对生态保护与修复格局进行整合优化,是实现山水林田湖草沙一体化保护与修复规划需要解决的关键问题。基于系统保护规划理论和方法,初步构建了基于"目标-成本-效益"协同优化的一体化保护修复规划构架,以大兴安岭中段嫩江-哈拉哈河源头区为例,依托空间优化模型(Marxan)对一体化保护修复格局进行了优化模拟,结果表明:(1)绰尔河流域的生态系统保护优先级最高,其次是哈拉哈河流域和洮儿河流域,最后是霍林河流域。当预算不足时,优先保护绰尔河流域可以最大限度的提升研究区内的生态系统服务功能;(2)当优化目标低于50%,优化格局中以林地保护和草地保护为主,需要修复格局规模较小,当优化目标比例超过50%,需要采取生态修复的面积明显增加。随着优化目标比例的提升,优化格局所需面积越来越大,优化后区域中各类生态系统服务功能均有所提高;(3)依据目标-成本-效益曲线,60%的保护修复水平(即1980-2020年退化损失的生态系统服务的60%)为最高效的保护修复目标,所需生态保护修复总成本为50.6亿,但产生的生态效益可达为66.4亿;(4)60%目标水平下,需要林地、草地和湿地保护面积分别为20400.27 km2、11919.45 km2和25.23 km2;林地、草地和湿地修复面积分别为272.18 km2、1695.23 km2和3.71 km2,分别占1980-2020年期间林地、草地和河湖湿地退化消失比例40.9%、23.5%和6.3%。本研究提出的一体化生态保护修复格局整合优化方法可以确定不同目标和成本约束下,获取最佳综合生态效益的生态保护与修复实施策略和优化布局,为山水林田湖草沙一体化生态保护修复规划相关理论和方法提供一定的科学支撑。 Abstract:Although Terrestrial Ecological Restoration (TER) projects have been advocated and carried out across the China's mainland in recent years, the underlying scientific theory and methodology are still urgently needed to reduce uncertainties in target setting, site selection for conservation & restoration, and cost-benefit evaluation. How to determine reasonable conservation and restoration objectives and to integrate and optimise ecological conservation and restoration patterns are key issues that need to be addressed in order to achieve Terrestrial Ecological Restoration.This paper initially attempted to develop a theoretic and methodological TER framework for integrating conservation and restoration pattern based on the principle of Systematic Conservation Planning, demonstrating by a case study in the central part of the Great Xing'an Mountains. The results show that: (1) The Chao'er River Basin exhibited the highest conservation priority, followed by the Halaha and Taoer river basins, hence prioritizing conservation of Chao'er River Basin could maximize ecosystem services in case of insufficient budget. (2) When the target setting was below 50% (i.e., mitigating 50% of the loss in total ecosystem service during 1980-2020), the prioritized pattern would mainly focus on forestland & grassland ecosystem conservation with a small-scale restoration pattern. With the target level exceeding 50%, the area needed to be restored would increase significantly. With the proportion of targets for optimisation increased, the area required to optimise the pattern became larger, and ecosystem services were improved in the optimised area compared to the current situation.(3) According to the target-cost-benefit curve, the optimized target level was identified at 60% for the ecosystem conservation and restoration in the central part of the Great Xing'an Mountains (i.e., making up 60% of the total ecosystem service lost during 1980-2020). (4) Under the target level of 60%, the cost of conservation and restoration was 5.06 billion yuan, and the ecological benefits generated were 6.64 billion yuan. The prioritized area of forestland, grassland and wetland to be conserved were identified at 20400.27 km2, 11919.45 km2, and 25.23 km2. The prioritized area of forestland, grassland, and wetland to be restored were identified at 272.18 km2,1695.23 km2, and 3.71 km2, accounting for 40.9%, 23.5%, and 6.3% of potential restorable forestland, grassland and riverine & lacustrine wetlands (i.e., areal loss between 19802020), respectively. Based on trading off "target-cost-benefit", this integrated conservation and restoration planning provides an operational framework to measure priorities between conservation and restoration actions, and highlights the necessity to optimize allocation of limited resources by integrating the two approaches cost-efficiently. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

集成生态系统服务与生物多样性的系统保护规划

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 集成生态系统服务与生物多样性的系统保护规划 DOI: 10.5846/stxb202112023396 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金项目（32071650，31670539）；云南省中青年学术和技术带头人后备人才项目（202105AC160070）；云南大学研究生科研创新基金项目（2021Y039） Systematic conservation planning by integrating ecosystem services and biodiversity Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: The National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 32071650, 31670539); Young and Middle-aged Academic and Technical Leaders Reserve Talent Program of Yunnan Province (202105AC160070); Graduate Research innovation project of Yunnan University (2021Y039). 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:生物多样性和生态系统服务的保护与可持续管理是当今世界面临的重大挑战之一，但如何判识与优化集成生态系统服务与生物多样性保护对象的保护优先区网络，相关研究还很有限。针对"三江并流"区，选取珍稀濒危与特有动植物物种和自然植被类型作为生物多样性保护对象，以调节服务（碳存储、固碳和土壤保持）、文化服务（自然游憩）和供给服务（水源供给）为生态系统服务保护对象。应用系统保护规划方法，首先判识出单一生物多样性和生态系统服务保护优先区；然后，分析这些保护优先区间的相关关系，并选择与生物多样性正相关的生态系统服务类型，判识集成生态系统服务与生物多样性的保护优先区；最后，评估了集成生态系统服务与生物多样性保护优先区在六类已建保护地中的保护状况。结果表明：（1）"三江并流"区多情景规划得到的生物多样性与生态系统服务保护优先区之间均呈正相关关系；（2）与分别针对生态系统服务和生物多样性的规划情景相比，集成生态系统服务与生物多样性保护优先区能够同时对两类保护对象提供最高的保护覆盖率；（3）集成生态系统服务和生物多样性保护优先区占研究区总面积的48.9%，其已建保护地覆盖率为32.5%，说明现有保护地体系仍存在保护空缺。 Abstract:Conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity and ecosystem services are one of the major challenges faced by the world today. However, there is still limited research on how to identify and optimize the portfolio of priority conservation areas (PCAs) that integrate ecosystem services and biodiversity as conservation targets. Using the Three Parallel Rivers Region (TPRR) as a case, this study selected representative conservation features for both biodiversity and ecosystem services; biodiversity conservation features included the rare, endangered and endemic plant and animal species and natural vegetation types; ecosystem-service conservation features included regulation services (carbon storage, carbon sequestration and soil retention), cultural services (natural recreation) and supply services (water supply). We firstly identified the individual portfolio of PCAs for biodiversity and each type of ecosystem services by applying a systematic conservation planning approach, respectively. Then, we analyzed the relationship between these different portfolios of PCAs. We identified the PCAs by integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services that had a portfolio of PCAs being positively correlated with biodiversity PCAs. Finally, we assessed the conservation status of the integrated PCAs within six categories of the existing protected areas. The results showed that:(1) there was a positive relationship between different portfolios of the PCAs identified for biodiversity and each type of ecosystem service in TPRR; (2) In comparison with planning scenarios for ecosystem services and biodiversity separately, the PCAs integrating ecosystem services and biodiversity could simultaneously provide the highest coverage for all biodiversity features and ecosystem services; (3) The PCAs integrating ecosystem services and biodiversity covered 48.9% of the study area, and received 32.5% coverage from the protected areas, indicating that conservation gaps still existed in the existing protected-area system. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Conservation Planning for Action: End-User Engagement in the Development and Dual-Centric Weighting of a Spatial Decision Support System

The implementation of systematic conservation plans often involves collaboration among several organizations, so attaining consensus on the plan is an important driver of implementation success. We utilized participatory action research to explore an approach for developing consensus among organizations and facilitating implementation. A real-world challenge was addressed in the Little Karoo, South Africa by creating a spatial decision support system (SDSS) based primarily on weighted multi-criteria GIS overlays, but with an “incremental allocation algorithm” to allow efficient solution sets (i.e., systematic conservation planning). The end-users of the SDSS participated in the choice of criteria, in the selection of model parameter values, and in co-defining their group process. We co-designed a dual-centric weighting process in which the participants developed a set of weights and parameter values for attaining consensus among the organizations, and also a set for yielding the result that is best for biodiversity. The process yielded a consensus on the spatial priorities and, thus, a way forward. The estimated spatial priorities for each organization differed dramatically from each other and from the consensus priorities, indicating that a large discrepancy had been resolved. Our study indicates that the consensus-building and decision-support benefits of participatory multi-criteria overlay approaches merit closer attention in systematic conservation planning. The use of weighted overlays and an incremental allocation algorithm appear to be useful approaches for streamlining the participatory process while maintaining rigor and spatial complementarity. Finally, we uncovered theoretical psychological ramifications of the dual-centric weighting process that are promising and merit testing.

Identification of priority conservation areas based on ecosystem services and systematic conservation planning analysis.

In order to reverse the trend of ecological deterioration and resolve the conflict between ecological conservation and economic development, it is necessary to evaluate the trends of ecosystem services (ESs) and unravel the relationship between ESs and environmental drivers and identify the priority areas for ESs. In this research, we used the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model to quantify the variation of four important ESs (water purification, water yield, soil conservation, and habitat quality) in the Dongting Lake Basin from 2000 to 2015. During the past 15years, water yield was declined by 3.38% and soil conservation was increased by 1.45%. Water quality purification was deteriorated with the rise in phosphorus export (5.32%) and nitrogen export (4.09%). Meanwhile, habitat quality was decreased by 3.27%. Trade-offs occurred primarily among water yield and other ESs. Social-ecological drivers importance analysis found that water yield was primarily influenced by precipitation and temperature. By contrast, water purification and habitat quality were more affected by the distribution of land use and land cover (LULC). Soil conservation was closely related to precipitation and geographical factor. Based on the distribution of ESs and the intensity of human activities, we delineated priority areas for each ESs using the systematic conservation planning tool (Marxan). LULC shifted most dramatically in water yield reserves (6.49%) with a large amount of lands conversed to cropland (4.4%) and build-up land (0.27%), which further increased the risk of water scarcity, while LULC changed less in other ESs priority areas due to human activities. Our study helps develop conservation strategies within specific area cost-effectively and provides scientific support for future conservation program of ESs formulation and adjustment.

Analysis of Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) Genotypes Using Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Markers.

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) is an important legume crop with immense potential for nutritional and food security, income generation, and livestock feed in Sub-Saharan Africa. The crop is highly tolerant to heat and drought stresses which makes it an extremely important crop for improving resilience in crop production in the face of climate change. This study was carried out to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of 90 cowpea accessions using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Out of 11,940 SNPs used, 5864 SNPs were polymorphic and maintained for genome diversity analysis. Polymorphic information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.22 to 0.32 with a mean value of 0.27. The model-based Bayesian STRUCTURE analysis classified 90 cowpea accessions into four subpopulations at K = 4, while the distance-based cluster analysis grouped the accessions into three distinct clusters. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that 59% and 69% of the total molecular variation was attributed to among individual variation for model-based and distance-based populations, respectively, and 18% was attributed to within individual variations. Furthermore, the low heterozygosity among cowpea accessions and the high inbreeding coefficient observed in this study suggests that the accessions reached an acceptable level of homozygosity. This study would serve as a reference for future selection and breeding programs of cowpea with desirable traits and systematic conservation of these plant genetic resources.

The challenge of setting restoration targets for macroalgal forests under climate changes

The process of site selection and spatial planning has received scarce attention in the scientific literature dealing with marine restoration, suggesting the need to better address how spatial planning tools could guide restoration interventions.In this study, for the first time, the consequences of adopting different restoration targets and criteria on spatial restoration prioritization have been assessed at a regional scale, including the consideration of climate changes. We applied the decision-support tool Marxan, widely used in systematic conservation planning on Mediterranean macroalgal forests. The loss of this habitat has been largely documented, with limited evidences of natural recovery. Spatial priorities were identified under six planning scenarios, considering three main restoration targets to reflect the objectives of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.Results show that the number of suitable sites for restoration is very limited at basin scale, and targets are only achieved when the recovery of 10% of regressing and extinct macroalgal forests is planned. Increasing targets translates into including unsuitable areas for restoration in Marxan solutions, amplifying the risk of ineffective interventions.Our analysis supports macroalgal forests restoration and provides guiding principles and criteria to strengthen the effectiveness of restoration actions across habitats. The constraints in finding suitable areas for restoration are discussed, and recommendations to guide planning to support future restoration interventions are also included.

First Record of Ichthyofauna from Gomal Zam Dam, District South Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

The present study reports the fish fauna of Gomal Zam Dam at three different sites from October 2018 to July 2019. The total sampled fish belong to 18 species, 15 genera, 5 families, and 4 orders. Fourteen species belong to family Cyprinidae, which was the most abundant, while one species belong to each family Mastacembelidae, Channidae, Siluridae, and Sisoridae. The prominent species were Labeo dyochielus (18.6%), Barilius vagra (16.5%), and Barilius pakistanicus (13.8%), while the rare species were Tor zhobensis, Wallago attu, Hyphophthalmicthys molitrix, Ctenophyrngodon idella, and Bagarius bagarius each one forming (0.1%). Species were rich in spring with ideal temperature, followed by summer, whereas species abundance was high in summer with high temperature and minimum abundance was recorded in autumn. In conclusion, the Gomal Zam Dam is a favorable reservoir for the fish particularly for family Cyprinidae. This present study will provide useful information about the diversity of fish fauna of Gomal Zam Dam that could be used in systematic fisheries management and conservation of the country.

Identifying priority areas for tidal wetland restoration by integrating ecosystem services supply and demand mismatches

Governments and non-governmental organizations have widely recognized tidal wetland restoration as a sustainable instrument to lessen the threat of climate change, which is reflected by the expansion of the spatial scale of coastal restoration projects. However, approaches to large-scale spatial planning of tidal wetland restoration remain sparse. Previous studies on site selection for restoration planning have focused on the potential supply of ecosystem services (ES) or restoration feasibility with less emphasis on the mitigation of the status of regional ES supply and demand mismatches. We developed a five-step workflow based on systematic conservation planning to identify priority areas for tidal wetland restoration and applied it to the coastal reclaimed areas of Shanghai, China. With this workflow, we analyzed the changes in spatial distribution and the potential ecosystem services supply and restoration costs of priority areas between the two different scenarios of ES demand ignored and ES demand considered. Results showed that the potential restorable areas only accounted for 31.4% (425.2 km²) of the original reclaimed area because of other land use demands (e.g., permanent basic farmland conservation). We extracted 50% of the potential restorable areas as priority areas based on Aichi Target 15. Compared with the ES demand-ignored scenario, the ES demand scenario resulted in a substantial increase in the priority areas of Baoshan District (~177%) and Pudong New Area (~15%) and a small decrease in Chongming District (~4%). No significant change in the potential ES supply for all priority areas was observed between the two scenarios. However, the total restoration cost of the ES demand scenario is 10% higher than that of the ES demand-ignored scenario. Our study highlights the importance of considering the status of regional ES supply and demand (mis)matches in large-scale spatial planning for tidal wetland restoration.

Crop landraces inventory for Portugal

The threats to agrobiodiversity ultimately affect our future food security. Countries bonded to national or international biodiversity conservation legislation should conserve and sustainably use their agrobiodiversity. Landraces are a key element of agrobiodiversity which is largely endangered due to lack of their systematic conservation, and partially due to obstacles in developing inventories which may be assigned to the difficulties in applying a standard landrace’ definition and to complications associated with nomenclature (synonyms/homonyms). Effective national conservation of landraces can be best achieved with a comprehensive inventory. In this paper, we developed a comprehensive inventory of food and other Portuguese agricultural landraces by surveying literature, local media, and farms. Farms were selected based on knowledge of experts and using an ecogeographic diversity approach based on Geographic Information Systems. We compiled 14,813 records of 7492 different landraces. Grape vine (Vitis vinifera L.), common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), and maize (Zea mays L. subsp. mays) have the highest number of landraces in Portugal according with the gathered data. Bragança and Faro are the districts with more records of landraces. The landrace inventory for Portugal that we developed is a first iteration of such kind and should be updated systematically.

Experimental analysis on dynamic performance of refrigeration systems in a deep gold mine

With the increment of depth of gold mining, the heat damage has become more and more serious and thus the thermal management systems of refrigeration and ventilation becomes essential. Dynamic performance is of great significance for the stability of system control and energy conservation. This paper proposes a thermal management system for the deep gold mine and builds an experiment platform, which fully utilizes the existing cycle air system. The system includes chilled water loop, intermediate loop and cold water loop. The dynamic response of the system is studied experimentally. The results show that rising and falling steps of the flow rate have similar effects on the system but the response time on the rising step is shorter. The response time of chilled water loop is 750 s for increasing by the step change of frequency and 1120 s for decreasing step change of frequency respectively. The total heat exchange of the air coolers increases from 6.93 kW to 7.31 kW during the rising step, and drops from 6.91 kW to 6.51 kW during the falling step. The response time of increasing and decreasing of pump of the intermediate cooling loop is 320 s and 403 s respectively. The total heat transfer rate of the system has no obvious change. Similarly, the response time of the cooling tower loop is 363 s and 1133 s. The total heat transfer rate of the system has no significant change. The research gives the response characteristic of step changes, which improves the stability of systematic control and energy conservation.

Predicting the Distribution of Three Korean Pit Viper Species (<i>Gloydius brevicaudus</i>, <i>G. ussuriensis</i>, and <i>G. intermedius</i>) under Climate Change

Climate change can pose severe threats to wildlife populations causing population declines and destroying their habitats. Particularly, pit vipers belonging to reptiles, poikilotherm, are vulnerable to climate change due to their narrow movement range and low dispersal capability. This study aimed to identify pit viper species vulnerable to climate change using their predicted geographical habitat range based on the current and future Korean pit viper species distribution model. The results of this study showed that three major environmental factors related to altitude and temperature (BIO4 and BIO5) influenced the habitat distribution of three pit viper species. These factors showed significant variation between increased, maintained, and decreased habitat areas of the species due to climate change. It was also predicted that the habitat of Korean pit vipers would decrease by more than 80% under the RCP 8.5 scenario. Especially, Central Asian pit viper was predicted to lose 98.52% of its habitat, indicating that it would be the most vulnerable species to climate change. Although we confirmed that forest areas around the Taebaek Mountains, known as current major distribution areas of pit vipers, would provide maintained or even increased habitat areas to these species along climate change, habitable space for the vipers was still predicted to be very narrow. Therefore, it is critical to protect the forest areas around the Taebaek Mountains to minimize the impact of climate change on Korean pit vipers. Moreover, since some populations of Central Asian pit viper, most vulnerable to climate change, are geographically isolated, it will be necessary to establish systematic conservation measures by determining the protection priority of populations through studying genetic diversity between populations. We believe that the results of this study will provide an important basis for establishing management measures in designating the habitat of a threatened population due to climate change as a protected area.

Incorporating evolutionary and threat processes into crop wild relatives conservation

Crop wild relatives (CWR) intra- and interspecific diversity is essential for crop breeding and food security. However, intraspecific genetic diversity, which is central given the idiosyncratic threats to species in landscapes, is usually not considered in planning frameworks. Here, we introduce an approach to develop proxies of genetic differentiation to identify conservation areas, applying systematic conservation planning tools that produce hierarchical prioritizations of the landscape. It accounts for: (i) evolutionary processes, including historical and environmental drivers of genetic diversity, and (ii) threat processes, considering taxa-specific tolerance to human-modified habitats, and their extinction risk status. Our analyses can be used as inputs for developing national action plans for the conservation and use of CWR. Our results also inform public policy to mitigate threat processes to CWR (like crops living modified organisms or agriculture subsidies), and could advise future research (e.g. for potential germplasm collecting). Although we focus on Mesoamerican CWR within Mexico, our methodology offers opportunities to effectively guide conservation and monitoring strategies to safeguard the evolutionary resilience of any taxa, including in regions of complex evolutionary histories and mosaic landscapes.

Identifying conservation priorities for a widespread dugong population in the Red Sea: Megaherbivore grazing patterns inform management planning

Extensive home ranges of marine megafauna present a challenge for systematic conservation planning because they exceed spatial scales of conventional management. For elusive species like dugongs, their management is additionally hampered by a paucity of basic distributional information across much of their range. The Red Sea is home to a wide-spread, globally important but data-poor population of dugongs. We surveyed the north-eastern Red Sea in the waters of NEOM, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to locate feeding sites and determine priority areas for dugong conservation. We conducted large-scale in-water surveys of dugong feeding trails across 27 seagrass meadows that span 0.7 degree of latitude and recorded nine seagrass species and 13 dugong feeding sites. Spread over ∼4‚061 km2 of nearshore and offshore waters, many of these sites clustered around five main core feeding areas. Dugong feeding trails were mostly recorded at sites dominated by the fast-growing pioneer seagrasses Halodule uninervis, Halophila ovalis and/or H. stipulacea. Multispecific meadows with pioneer seagrasses tended to be sheltered and shallow, reflecting a similar spatial pattern to the identified dugong feeding sites. Often close to hotels and fishing harbours, these high-use dugong areas are subject to high boat traffic, fishing, and coastal development which places considerable pressures on this vulnerable mammal and its seagrass habitat. The rapidly accelerating coastal development in the northern Red Sea directly threatens the future of its dugong population. Although our sampling focuses on feeding signs in early successional seagrasses, the results are valuable to spatial conservation planning as they will trigger overdue conservation interventions for a globally threatened species in a data-poor area. Urgent dugong conservation management actions in the northern Red Sea should focus on shallow waters sheltered by coastal lagoons, bays and the lee of large islands.

Analyzing Environmental Determinants of Tree Species Distributions and Regeneration Pattern in Western Himalaya via National Forest Inventory of India

ABSTRACT Tree distribution has been considered crucial to assess the relationships between species occurrence and changing climate across the globe, and accordingly in designing the conservation action plans. Therefore, it becomes imperative to understand the most influential parameters for tree species distribution and its regeneration pattern. We used National Forest Inventory data collected in Western Himalaya (WH) and environmental parameters to reveal the aforesaid relationship and pattern. Three topographical factors (altitude, aspect, and slope), four major climatic variables (temperature, temperature seasonality, precipitation and its seasonality) and four edaphic factors (soil depth, soil humus, soil consistency and soil coarse fragments) were considered. The results indicated that the altitude and temperature were the major determining factors followed by temperature seasonality in shaping the distribution of major tree species in WH. The study also indicated an upward shift of regenerating individuals of these tree species toward higher altitude. These information about the extent of current tree distribution and their regeneration over the last one and half decade might help in systematic conservation planning and monitoring tree range dynamics under climate change scenario.

Benefits of collaboration between indigenous fishery management and data-driven spatial planning approaches: the case of a Polynesian traditional design (rāhui)

Traditional fishery management schemes have gained increasing recognition worldwide. It can be explained by a better compliance to ancient cultural practices, still rooted in present-day coastal communities despite globalization and modern livelihoods. This revival is widespread and welcome by policy makers, scientists, and the communities themselves. However, current environmental and socio-economic contexts are often not conform to ancient-time situations. Baselines are different. Effective adjustments of traditional practices may be advocated. Re-establishment of traditional schemes ‘as such’ warrants further investigations and modern quantitative assessment and management approaches can help. A demonstration is provided here for a rural Polynesian island that faces declining marine resources. Recently, local fishers discussed the implementation of a traditional system (called rāhui) to preserve the island lagoon resources, based on the rotational closure of an arbitrary 50% of each lagoon subdivision. Upon the fishers’ request who questioned a traditional scheme that has not been applied for decades and seeked some scientific approval, we used systematic conservation planning (SCP) tools to explore potential optimisation pathways. All quantitative conservation objectives being equal, SCP suggested reserve sizes and opportunity costs on average 7 and 5 times lower than the traditional design. Traditional management federates communities and is strongly encouraged, but fishers are now aware that effective alternative designs are possible. A hybrid design mixing traditional practices and data-based optimizations is advocated. Similar findings and recommendations can be expected in other regions.