Biodiversity Commons^™

Improve Governance System Of National Parks, Build The World‘S Largest National Park System With High Quality, Baorong Huang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Improving the governance system of national parks is an inevitable requirement for China’s high-quality construction of the world’s largest national park system. This study analyzes the main challenges and problems faced by China’s national park governance based on long-term investigation on national parks and national park system pilot areas. Under the overall logic of modernization of China’s national governance system and governance capabilities, drawing on international experiences in sound governance of regional and watershed public goods and national parks, this study proposes a theoretical framework for establishing a “four in one” national park governance system in China, including a comprehensive …

Regime Of National Park Group Based On Protected Area System In Tibetan Plateau, Dong Chen, Yafei Wang, Dengsheng Wu, Jie Fan

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

China’s national park reform has entered a new stage of promoting reform based on the protected area system. The national park team of the second comprehensive scientific investigation and research on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) took the lead in putting forward the construction plan of the TP protected area, which is dominated by national park in area and function. The TP national park group, including “small group” which refer to national park, and “large group” which refer to different protected areas, innovates the long-term mechanism for the construction of national ecological security barriers on TP. The national park group requires …

Experience And Enlightenment Of Eu Natura 2000 Protected Area Network, Ling Tang, Baorong Huang, Tong Jin, Xuetian Hu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The EU Natura 2000 protected area network, covering nearly 19% of the land and 10% of the sea in the EU, has played an important role in protecting biodiversity and enhancing regional socio-economic well-being, and is regarded as the most successful protected area network in the world. Its successful experience is mainly reflected in five aspects. (1) The adoption of regional biodiversity conservation legislation and the promotion of compliance with the law by member countries to promote the construction of the protected area network. (2) The establishment of a decision-making and implementation mechanism that combines the EU resolution process and …

Problems And Suggestions Of Building Scientific Decision-Making And Advisory Mechanism Of National Parks—Governance-Based Perspective, Yu Wei, Duowei Cheng, Yi Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

National parks are multi-factor, multi-functional and multi-dimensional complexes, which makes them difficult to follow the traditional administration and management modes, and need to explore the construction of a modernized governance system. An important step in enhancing the effectiveness of governance is to establish a reasonable, and efficient scientific decision-making and consultation mechanism. China has made remarkable progress in scientific decision-making and consultation in national parks. However, there are still some problems with the national parks’ decision-making process and effectiveness due to vague definition of authority and responsibility, dependence on departmentalized management paths, and inadequate upward and downward transmission of information …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Innovation And Practice On Biodiversity Conservation In Sanjiangyuan National Park, Xinquan Zhao, Shixiao Xu, Liang Zhao, Tongzuo Zhang, Linyong Hu, Qi Li, Tongqing Guo

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Sanjiangyuan National Park, is one of the first batch of national parks in China, and serves as the largest national park in China. As an important ecological security barrier and a alpine biological germplasm resource base, it has significant conservation value in China and even in the world. Lots of protocols have been taken aiming at ecological tacking protection issues including loss of biodiversity and wildlife habitats, degradation of alpine grassland and overgrazing in Sanjiangyuan National Park. It promotes the implementation of major ecological restoration projects, and has formed the Sanjiangyuan National Park Biodiversity Conservation and Ecological Protection Program with …

Conception On Asian Elephant Ecological Corridor Planning With Implications For Conservation, Xueyou Li, Qiupeng Yu, Zhechang Hu, Xuelong Jiang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

In order to practice the concept of coordinated development of “Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains are Invaluable Assets” and “mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts are part of the community of life”, this study takes “pursuing green development and promoting harmony between humanity and nature” proposed in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China as the theoretical guidance. With the goal of enhancing ecosystem integrity and connectivity, enhancing population communication, enhancing population viability, and providing a model for the construction of ecological corridors for flagship species, based on the current distribution and …

Developing Characteristic Resource Plants To Build A Beautiful China, Lei Shi, Zheng'an Liu, Lijun Wang, Qingyan Shu, Meiyu Sun, Wei Duan, Hui Li

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

It is an important way to solve the contradiction among ecology, production and life in natural protected areas and ecologically fragile region by constructing the three-production integration mode of characteristic resource plants. In order to fully tap and make use of the outstanding characteristics of oil tree peony, wine grape and aromatic plants, this study carried out technology integration of variety screening, planting, harvesting, processing, product research and development, and industrialization demonstration in and around natural protected areas and ecologically fragile region. Through the economic benefits generated, the life of the people in the natural protected areas and ecologically fragile …

An Innovative Restoration Mode “Macrophytes–Fishes–Benthons–Birds” Implemented In Aesthetic Plateau Wetlands, Junxing Yang, Xiaoai Wang, Xiaofu Pan, Yuanwe Zhang, Heqi Wu, Anli Wu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Affected by both increasing human activities and climate change, Yunnan Plateau lakes were faced with threats such as water level decreasing, water-body reducing, and severe pollution. Many indigenous species were endangered or even disappeared. The ecological restorations implemented since 1980s almost all used alien species. As an inevitable result, severe negative impacts from alien species were observed on the Plateau wetland ecosystem and indigenous species. To solve these problems, with the support of relevant projects, an innovative restoration mode mainly with indigenous flag-species “macrophytes – fishes – benthons – birds” was proposed. This innovative mode was implemented respectively in Dianchi …

Book Review: Australian Caves And Karst Systems, John Webb, Susan White, Garry K. Smith, Jo De Waele

International Journal of Speleology

No abstract provided.

Du Undergraduate Showcase: Research, Scholarship, And Creative Works, Caitlyn Aldersea, Justin Bravo, Sam Allen, Anna Block, Connor Block, Emma Buechler, Maria De Los Angeles Bustillos, Arianna Carlson, William Christensen, Olivia Kachulis, Noah Craver, Kate Dillon, Muskan Fatima, Angel Fernandes, Emma Finch, Colleen Cassidy, Amy Fishman, Andrea Francis, Stacia Fritz, Simran Gill, Emma Gries, Rylie Hansen, Shannon Powers, Jacqueline Martinez, Zachary Harker, Ashley Hasty, Mykaela Tanino-Springsteen, Kathleen Hopps, Adelaide Kerenick, Colin Kleckner, Ci Koehring, Elijah Kruger, Braden Krumholz, Maddie Leake, Lyneé Alves, Seraphina Loukas, Yatzari Lozano Vazquez, Haley Maki, Emily Martinez, Sierra Mckinney, Mykaela Tanino-Springsteen, Audrey Mitchell, Kipling Newman, Audrey Ng, Megan Lucyshyn, Andrew Nguyen, Stevie Ostman, Casandra Pearson, Alexandra Penney, Julia Gielczynski, Tyler Ball, Anna Rini, Christina Rorres, Simon Ruland, Helayna Schafer, Emma Sellers, Sarah Schuller, Claire Shaver, Kevin Summers, Isabella Shaw, Madison Sinar, Claudia Pena, Apshara Siwakoti, Carter Sorensen, Madi Sousa, Anna Sparling, Alexandra Revier, Brandon Thierry, Dylan Tyree, Maggie Williams, Lauren Wols

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

DU Undergraduate Showcase: Research, Scholarship, and Creative Works

Habitat Of The Long-Tailed Wood-Partridge In Central Mexico, David García-Solózano, Crisma Lopez-Sanchez, Edgardo Lopez-González, Carlos González-Rebeles Islas

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

The long-tailed wood-partridge (Dendrortyx macroura; hereafter, wood-partridge) is a forest quail endemic to the temperate forests of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt of central Mexico and is considered threatened according to the Secretariat of the Environment of Mexico. We studied 34 sites within the Natural Resources Protection Area River Basins of the Valle de Bravo, Malacatepec, Tilostoc and Temascaltepec in central Mexico to evaluate wood-partridge habitat during September–December 2019. We evaluated attributes of tree, shrub, and herbaceous vegetation, canopy cover, humidity, slope, and altitude. We also identified vegetation used for nesting, food, and shelter. The scant information published for …

How Is Pelagic Sargassum-Associated Biodiversity Assessed? Insights From The Literature, Kristie S.T. Alleyne

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Over the past decade unprecedented blooming of pelagic Sargassum has occurred across the Equatorial Atlantic from West Africa to the Caribbean. Although pelagic Sargassum mats are considered beneficial in the open ocean, providing valuable habitat for a diverse array of endemic and associated species, they also inundate coastal areas and cause a plethora of management challenges for fisheries, tourism, nearshore coastal ecosystems, public health and the socioeconomic welfare of coastal communities. In—water harvesting has been suggested as a desirable management solution to prevent shoreline inundation, but destruction of the associated biodiversity is a concern with this approach and has not …

Summer To Autumn Population Of Wild Eumaeus Atala On The Ft. Lauderdale Campus Of Nova Southeastern University, Alexandra M. Lens

Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal

Eumaeus atala is an endangered tropical butterfly native to the Caribbean and some parts of Florida, USA. Following population reductions primarily due to habitat loss, E. atala populations are now increasing due to conservation efforts of its cycad host plants, especially Zamia integrifolia (coontie). The purpose of this study was to observe, document, and measure the population of wild E. atala on the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida campus of Nova Southeastern University where landscaping use of host plants supports a natural population of E. atala. Forty-four host plants located in two different sites were observed for 14 weeks. One site …

Spatial And Temporal Dynamics Of Human–Wildlife Conflicts In The Kenya Greater Tsavo Ecosystem, Joseph M. Mukeka, Joseph O. Ogutu, Erustus Kanga, Eivin Røskaft

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Biodiversity conservation in developing countries is faced with many and mounting challenges, including increasing human–wildlife conflicts (HWCs). In Africa and other developing countries, increasing HWCs, particularly those adjacent to protected areas, can adversely affect local stakeholder perceptions and support for conservation. We analyzed HWC reports for multiple wildlife species compiled >23 years (1995–2017) from the Greater Tsavo Ecosystem (GTE) in Kenya to determine HWC trends. The GTE is the largest protected area in Kenya, covering 22,681 km². Overall, 39,022 HWC incidents were reported in 6 GTE regions (i.e., Taveta, Mutomo, Kibwezi, Rombo, Galana, Bachuma). The 5 wildlife species …

Future Importance Of Healthy Oceans: Ecosystem Functions And Biodiversity, Marine Pollution, Carbon Sequestration, Ecosystem Goods And Services, Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

The paper provides a review the current status of ecosystem and resource extraction to provide a series of thoughts related to the future challenges in maintaining the health of the Marine and coastal ecosystems at the Bay of Bengal. The chapter highlighted the challenges current efforts and future interventions necessary to keep the Bay of Bengal large marine ecosystem healthy. They are mainly linked to climate change, environmental pollution from different sources, biodiversity conservation, sediment movement. marine spatial planning and adoption of protected area concept to design marine reserve, fish sanctuary and ecological critical areas in the coastal zone were …

Property In The Anthropocene, E. Lees

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Intergenerational justice, community interests, and environmental protection are all goals sought through the imposition of the duties of stewardship onto owners of land. But such duties, when imposed by law, require justification beyond the morality of maintaining and preserving land in a good condition for its present and future use. The potential for sanction imposed by the state means that stewardship duties, if they are to be justified, must be grounded in established principles of justified legal intervention. Of those, the most convincing is, and always has been, the harm principle: intervention is justified where a rule prevents one person …

Use Of An Alternative Natural Weed Suppressant: Effects Of Parboiled Rice Hull Mulch On The Growth Of Container Weeds, Amy R. Fields-Taylor, Vanessa Slinger-Friedman

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Chattahoochee Nature Center (CNC) is one of the leading educational centers in Georgia about the ecology of the Chattahoochee River. Due to lack of man power, keeping down the weeds in the CNC plant nursery is one of those tasks that often gets left undone. The nursery becomes overgrown with invasive weed species. Understandably, they must sometimes resort to the use of herbicides, such as Roundup®, to keep the hundreds of native and endangered species of plants housed at CNC from being choked out by invasive weeds. This study tests the ability to suppress weed growth by use of …

Processing Conservation Indicators With Open Source Tools: Lessons Learned From The Digital Observatory For Protected Areas, Lucy Bastin, Andrea Mandrici, Luca Battistella, Grégoire Dubois

Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) Conference Proceedings

The European Commission has a commitment to open data and the support of open source software and standards. We present lessons learnt while populating and supporting the web and map services that underly the Joint Research Centre's Digital Observatory for Protected Areas. Challenges include: large datasets with highly complex geometries; topological inconsistencies, compounded by reprojection for equal-area calculations; multiple different representations of the same geographical entities, for example coastlines; licensing requirement to continuously update indicators to respond to monthly changes in the authoritative data. In order to compute and publish an array of indicators, we used a range of open …

Effects Of A Prescribed Burn On The Adult Butterfly Assemblage Of A Coastal Grassland, J. Nicole Desha, Joseph Colbert, Kimberly M. Andrews, Scott Coleman, C. Tate Holbrook

Georgia Journal of Science

Coastal grasslands are globally threatened by development and natural succession. In the southeastern United States, these increasingly rare ecosystems are being managed using prescribed fire, but ecological responses to fire management are largely unknown, particularly among nontargeted species. We tested for short-term effects of controlled burning on the abundance and species richness of adult butterflies, which utilize coastal grasslands for nectaring resources and as migratory stopover sites. In February 2015, four plots of coastal grassland on Little St. Simons Island, GA were burned and paired with unburned (control) plots of equal size. Throughout the following summer-fall flight season, we conducted …

The Impact Weather Has On Nyc Citi Bike Share Company Activity, Mark Martinez

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

This paper seeks to figure out the effect weather has on individuals’ behavior. A more focused approach to determining this effect is seeing how different weather conditions ranging from the temperature, the precipitation, the amount of inches of snowfall and the wind speed effect the ridership of Citi Bikes throughout all four seasons. The approach of this research paper is using data from the National Climatic Data Center that focuses in on the weather found in Manhattan, New York and correlates each of the weather conditions to the total number of trips per day that is provided by the Citi …

The Effects From Public Transportation On Property Values: A Closer Look At Scituate, Hanover, And Norwell, Massachusetts, Alexandra Taylor Perticone, Christine S. Coveney

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

Prior studies have expressed the value of location in real estate, but more recent studies have explored the influence that public transportation has had on housing prices. Access to public transportation is understood to increase the value of homes. Easier access to public transportation allows for shorter and more convenient commutes into or within cities. However, other studies have found that proximity to public transportation can also have adverse effects on property values. This paper investigates whether the implementation of the Greenbush Commuter line in Massachusetts in October 2007 increased the housing prices in Scituate, Ma--the furthest town from the …

Invited Introduction To Jerec, Matthew Kahn

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

No abstract provided.

Welcome By The Editor, Nathan W. Chan

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Isoprene Emission From Native And Invasive Trees On Local Air Quality, Aarti P. Mistry

DePaul Discoveries

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) are the second-most abundant reactive gasses emitted into the atmosphere by the biosphere. Isoprene is a BVOC produced by the process of photosynthesis from vegetation and is emitted from plant leaves. Isoprene is a hydrocarbon that combines with oxides of nitrogen in the atmosphere to create ozone in the troposphere, an air pollutant. Invasive trees alter ecosystems and affect native tree populations. Invasive tree species in the Chicagoland area are outcompeting native tree species and expanding rapidly. The effect of isoprene emissions on air quality is a well-researched area in the atmospheric science community, however, …

Implications Of Manipulations Of Soil Quality On The Growth Of European Buckthorn (Rhamnus Cathartica) In A Greenhouse, Sam L. Pepper, Liam Heneghan

DePaul Discoveries

European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica L.) is an invasive shrub that is capable of changing the nitrogen content of a soil through the deposition of its nitrogen rich leaf litter. This change creates conditions that may favor recolonizing by buckthorn and negatively affect the growth of native plants. In this greenhouse experiment, we examined the effect of altering soil quality by adding mulch comprised of buckthorn wood on above and belowground biomass, stem length and leaf production of buckthorn saplings. We found that buckthorn saplings planted in buckthorn mulch had reduced stem length and leaf production compared to growth in …

The Ecological Impacts Of Non-Native Species On River Otter Populations, Nadia Swit

The Downtown Review

Most nonindigenous species invasions can have negative consequences on an environment. Trophic systems may become altered as prey sources are depleted, which can have further implications on community and habitat structure. However, some species invasions can be positive as it can provide another food source for key stone species. The effects of invasive species are reviewed in the following paper for the North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) and the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra). In the case of the North American river, the introduction of the lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) has negatively impacted otter …

The Real Footprint Of Electric Vehicles, And What That Could Mean For Our Future, Krista Brown

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

This paper looks at the impact of electric vehicles on CO2 emissions specifically based on the type of electricity used in each New England state analyzed. The research looks at the question of whether or not emissions will in fact be lowered as electric cars start to take the majority of vehicles used instead of the conventional cars that take up a much larger percent of the motor vehicles used today. Taking into account the use of electricity and how many sources of electricity also release a substantial amount of emissions, we see how valid the public opinion of electric …

The Effect Of Information On Avoidance Behavior And Bicycle Transportation: A Study Of “Spare The Air” And Bay Area Bikeshare, Paige W. Whistler

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

This paper seeks to address the effect of “Spare the Air” pollution control alerts in the San Francisco Bay Area in California on the use of Bay Area BikeShare as a form of transportation. By observing the daily alerts on the duration of rides using BikeShare, this paper observes if STA ozone alerts are effective in changing human behavior. The results show that only as a subscriber to the BikeShare program and on an alert day does duration decrease whereas customers regardless of if it is an alert day will ride more often and at longer distances. The results contradict …

Socioeconomic Attributes’ Relationship To Green Commercial Office Buildings, Tianyang Zhou

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

This paper examines the relationship between the socioeconomic attributes of a state and its green commercial office space adaptation. I hypothesize that a state with high socioeconomic status will have a high green building adoption. Additionally, the high socioeconomic status states may be more likely to invest in green commercial buildings with higher LEED certification levels, and various types of LEED commericial office projects are affected by the socoeconomic attributes differently.