Correlating rodent community structure with ecological integrity, Tussen-die-Riviere Nature Reserve, Free State province, South Africa

Rodents form a vital component of Free State ecosystems and monitoring them may be a relatively quick andinexpensive method of indicating healthy or unhealthy ecosystem functioning. Using removal trapping, we havestudied rodent seasonal abundance, species richness, Shannon diversity, and evenness of rodents in four habitats inthe Tussen-die-Riviere Nature Reserve, inspected the most successful sampling method for these habitats, andreport on their community structure and how it is related to an Ecological Index (≈ EI value of grassland). Bothspecies richness and Shannon diversity increased significantly with EI value. The indicator species Mastomyscoucha occurred at all plots, but contributed the largest proportion of the total captures (ca. 80%) at the plot withlowest EI value. Other results important for small mammal monitoring and collecting are that trap success andspecies richness was highest in autumn. This study also confirms that four days and nights continuous trapping isessential for the effective sampling of rodent communities in Free State grasslands. Our results partially supportexpectations that the number of specialist species increases with succession, M. coucha dominance acts as anindicator of habitat disturbance, rodent species richness conforms to Tilman’s hump-shaped curve model, and addsto a baseline of diversity indices in a variety of grassland habitats.

A spatial framework for detecting anthropogenic impacts on predator-prey interactions that sustain ecological integrity in Mexico

Background:This paper presents several spatial indicators developed to evaluate anthropogenic impacts on predator-prey interactions and their relationship with ecological integrity loss in Mexico.Ecological integrity loss is defined as the inability to sustain viable populations,habitat functions,and species interactions of Nearctic and Neotropical apex predators as a result of anthropogenic effects.As direct impacts,the indicators evaluate habitat loss and the number of inhospitable habitats.As indirect impacts,the indicators evaluate the avoidance of human features such as highways,roads,and human locations.The total impact level is described at 1 km^(2) resolution,and registered within the domain defined by the spatial habitat requirements of apex predators.The impact level is associated with ecological integrity loss,or the ecosystem capacity to reorganize habitat functions and sustain predator-prey interactions as the most visible elements of ecological integrity.Ecological integrity loss is evaluated for different groups of apex predators that are classified with different levels of anthropogenic threat.Results:The framework presented here identifies the spatial information needed for the assessment of cumulative anthropogenic impacts.By characterizing their distribution range,Nearctic predators have significantly larger intact habitats than neotropical predators but with higher ecological degradation,less landscape transformation,and overall less ecological integrity.As observed within their distribution areas,indirect impacts have a generalized effect in the broad range of landscapes in Mexico.Ecological integrity loss is the result of road,highway,and human settlement avoidance;but landscape transformation and human activity control the threshold for which ecological integrity loss becomes critical.On the other hand,there are no significant differences in impact levels among threat conservation categories for apex predators,which indicate that all predator species have the same threat level and should be all included in protection efforts.Conclusions:With the application of this spatial framework,the significance,scale,and baseline conditions can be established for evaluating anthropogenic impacts on ecological integrity.The analysis of the current condition shows the status for apex predator in the country,and identifies the ecological integrity threshold when human activities have severe to highly severe impacts in the landscape,threatening the viability of populations and their habitat.

Assessment of river ecosystem health in Tianjin City,China:index of ecological integrity and water comprehensive pollution approach

Evaluation of the river ecological environment can provide a basis for river management and ecological restoration.To conduct a comprehensive health assessment of the rivers in Tianjin,their biological,physical,and chemical indicators are investigated on the basis of 32 river monitoring sites from August to September 2018.The comprehensive pollution and ecological integrity indexes of the rivers are analyzed.Results of the two evaluations,compared to achieve the river ecological environment evaluation,are as follows.1)Index of Ecological Integrity evaluation shows that among the sampling points,18.8%are"healthy",28.1%are"sub-healthy",40.6%are"fair",6.3%are"poor",and 6.3%are"very poor".2)The comprehensive evaluation of the chemical properties of the 32 river ecosystems in Tianjin shows severe overall river pollution and low standard water function area.Of the total sampling sites,16(50%)are heavily contaminated and 10(31.3%)are moderately contaminated.Excessive chemical oxygen demand and ammonia nitrogen are the main causes of water pollution.3)The Index of Ecological Integrity(IEI)has high correspondence with environmental factors.Pearson correlation analysis results show that the IEI index is significantly correlated with permanganate index(R=-0.453;P=0.023<0.05).Analysis results using BEST show that ammonia nitrogen is the best environmental parameter to explain the changes in IEI(R_(ho)=0.154;P=0.02<0.05)and those using RELATE show significant correlation between the biotic index and the environmental parameter matrices(R_(ho)=0.154;P=0.034<0.05).

An integrated approach to evaluation on ecological service functions for urban green space and its application

This methodological investigation deals with measurement and valuation of ecological service functions for urban green space. Social, economic and ecological dimensions for such types of function were analyzed and a concept “integrated ecological service functions” (IESF) was put forward for evaluation. Based upon this conceptual approach, an index system for measuring IESF for urban green space was established. With a methodological integration of fuzzy mathematics, decision making analysis and Delphi method, an AHP fuzzy evaluation techniques for IESF for urban green space, called AFIFUG method, was developed. Such a method has been directly applied to the land use strategic planning of Tianjin out ring green belt(TOGB), and its analysis results have been successfully put into operation.

Collaborating with Nature: The Pristine Habitats, in Ugep, Yakurr L.G.A., Nigeria

Pristine habitats serve as ecological resource for educational services and the conservation of biodiversity. The need to maintain a balance between nature and development is very important. When pristine habitats face changes due to anthropogenic activities, species erosion sets in and this will eventually lead to extinction. This subtle move in most cases is unnoticed until the effects are established. The pristine habitats in Ugep are faced with this challenge. The Ugep Urban Landuse Master Plan and Ugep Orthophoto map [1] have been used to identify the pristine habitats and further calculate the total landmass to be approximately 855.38 hectares. Ten (10) pristine habitats were identified within the residential blocks along the drainage corridors of Loblo, Isayi, Mma Oden, Kiwei, Ewiden and Oganghwen. The pristine block at Njelokoko-2 has the highest landmass, 201.01 hectares, representing 23.50 percent while Njelokoko-1 has the least landmass, 18.99 (2.22 percent). The spatial turnover of the species composition shows a trend of direct proportion with the landmass size and anthropogenic activities in the pristine habitats. Tree species such as Albizia zygia and Artocarpus communis rarely occurred together with other tree species. Among the bird species, it was observed that Dendropes goerae, Milvus migrans, Pica pica, and Streptopelia senegalensis roost, breed and feed in pristine habitats with emergent trees while Halocyno leucoephala, Halocyno malimbicus, Frasena clnernscens, Streptopelia semitorguata and Crimifer piscator are restricted to narrow corridors of pristine habitats along stream buffers. The nature that the pristine habitat portends and the species observed in such highly urbanized context as Ugep, are very important in conservation planning and meeting the urban challenges.

Landscape Design Mode Based on the Integration of Ecology, Production and Life

Taking landscape design of Suburban Park in Yulin City for example, this paper applied the design thoughts of integrating multiple planning, defining concepts and objectives, specified the design strategies of restoring ecology, improving life and promoting production, and disclosed the landscape design mode based on the integration of ecology, production and life in which ecological landscapes, productive landscapes and living landscapes promote and coexist harmoniously with each other.

Study on the Harmonious Symbiosis of Rice,Loach and Frog

The harmonious symbiosis of rice,loach and frog is a new stereo,ecological,high-efficiency agricultural development mode that integrates cultivation and breeding.On the one hand,it protects ecological environment and increases peasants＇ income;on the other hand,it ensures food security and human health.This mode produces outstanding economic,ecological and social benefits.

Brief Guide for Authors

Journal of Arid Land（JAL）is an international journal（ISSN 1674-6767;CN 65-1278/K）for the natural sciences,sponsored by the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Science Press and China Society of Natural Resources.It is published by Science Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg bimonthly.JAL publishes original,innovative,and integrative research from arid and semiarid regions,

Interaction between pollution and climate change augments ecological risk to a coastal ecosystem

Pollution and climate change are among the most challenging issues for countries with developing economies,but we know little about the ecological risks that result when these pressures occur together.We explored direct effects of,and interactions between,environmental pollution and climate change on ecosystem health in the Bohai Sea region of Northern China.We developed an integrated approach to assess ecological risks to this region under four scenarios of climate change.Although ecological risks to the system from pollution alone have been declining,interactions between pollution and climate change have enhanced ecological risks to this coastal/marine ecosystem.Our results suggest that current policies focused strictly on pollution control alone should be changed to take into account the interactive effects of climate change so as to better forecast and manage potential ecological risks.

Integrative ecology in the era of big data——From observation to prediction

Most ecological and environmental issues faced by human society can only be solved at the ecosystem,watershed,regional and even global scale.Thus,ecological research is developing rapidly towards macro-scale studies.With the rapid development of observational networks and information technology,the spaceborne-aircraft-ground based observation system is becoming an important feature of ecosystem monitoring in the new era.With the gradual formation of the global new-generation observational systems and the rapid expansion of massive multi-source heterogeneous data,ecology has entered the era of big data,big science,and big theory.How to integrate ecological big data,discover valuable ecological laws and mechanisms,and further expand them to solve eco-environmental issues that closely relate to human development are the major opportunities and challenges in this field.In this paper,we systematically summarized the research progresses in ecological big data,reviewed the opportunity and demand of integrative ecology,and further discussed the main approaches of ecological big data integration by using meta-analysis,data mining,and data-model fusion.Finally,we proposed the prospects and research directions of integrative ecology and suggested that future researches need to integrate big data into land models so as to improve the accuracy of ecological forecasting.It can be foreseen that under the background of global change and the rapid development of big data in the future,integrative ecology will be extensively applied and developed to serve the sustainable development of human society.