Hasil untuk "General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution"

M. Samways, A. Córdoba‐Aguilar, Charl Deacon et al.

Dragonflies (Odonata) are ancient and familiar insects with a deep and strong cultural association with humans. They have an aquatic larval stage and an aerial adult stage, meaning that they respond to ecological conditions in both freshwater and the adjacent land surface. Currently, 16% of dragonflies are threatened. Overall, they face several threats, especially habitat loss, landscape transformation, pollution, altered hydrology, spread of invasive alien species, as well as certain geographic‐specific threats. Overarching these threats, which can be interactive with each other, is the issue of global climate change and attendant extreme weather events. While many localised and habitat specialist species are under extreme threat, some other dragonfly species, mostly habitat generalists, benefit from certain moderate human activities, especially the creation of high‐quality artificial ponds. As well‐researched insects, dragonflies play an important role in the protection of freshwater and riparian ecosystems. Dragonfly assemblages have great value as sentinels of both deteriorating environmental conditions and ecosystem recovery following restoration. While similar findings on both threats and conservation actions are emerging across the world, certain ecosystems require targeted approaches. Above all, dragonflies must be included more widely in general biodiversity conservation activities and policies. Overall, dragonflies are important targets, tools and model organisms for conservation action, and they can act as potential surrogates for other taxa that also depend on high water and riparian zone quality. While research has paved the way to address these challenges, including the use of new technologies, we now urge that dragonflies be included more strongly in policy and management associated with both freshwater and adjacent terrestrial realms. This inclusion is especially effective as dragonflies have great appeal to a diverse community of people from odonatologists (citizen and professional) through to policymakers and managers, all of whom can employ dragonflies to contribute more to freshwater‐associated conservation. Finally, we propose an action plan focusing on five action points that address opportunities, and we suggest where dragonflies can play a greater role in freshwater/riparian zone conservation more widely across the world.

M. F. Fay, L. Andriamahefarivo, S. P. Bachman et al.

K. Koo, Ko-Huan Lee, Dawon Lee et al.

The lack of knowledge about geographic distribution and environmental preference can hinder conservation efforts for rare and threatened species. Open‐source databases provide an opportunity to address these knowledge gaps through the geographic information they hold on species worldwide. However, to protect rare and endangered species, open‐source databases often assign locations that do not match the original locations, which introduce inaccuracies in occurrence records (e.g., the “obscured” function in iNaturalist replaces the original location with a random location in a 0.2 × 0.2° cell). We tested the efficacy of the iNaturalist's obscured function in concealing geographic information and the function's impact on the species distribution modeling of 3 endangered species in South Korea: gold‐spotted pond frogs (Pelophylax chosenicus), Reeves’ turtles (Mauremys reevesii), and Mongolia racerunner (Eremias argus). We collected occurrence data (orginal data) for these 3 species and uploaded the data to iNaturalist. We then compared location, elevation, and habitat area in the original data set with these data in the obscured data set. To investigate the differences in species distribution, we ran species distribution models with both data sets. We also assessed the awareness of obscured function in peer‐reviewed articles for which occurrence records from iNaturalist were used. The locations assigned by the obscured function significantly altered the geographic information of the species, including elevational range, habitat type, and environmental variables relevant to species distribution. Potential distributions estimated using locations assigned under the obscured function were different from those estimated using the original data. Only 4 out of 170 peer‐reviewed articles acknowledged the presence of obscured data in iNaturalist, suggesting that most researchers are unaware of this issue. The locations assigned by the obscured function can cause serious problems in species distribution modeling and thus may negatively affect conservation of endangered species. We encourage researchers to thoroughly vet data obtained from open‐source databases and urge database platforms to make it clear when data have been obscured.

Julian Schrader, Patrick Weigelt, Lirong Cai et al.

Guillermo Folguera

A partir del año 2015, aumentó considerablemente la demanda y el precio del litio debido a su rol central en la producción de baterías. América Latina posee alrededor del 60% de las reservas de litio a nivel mundial. Los yacimientos se ubican, principalmente, en la puna que comparten Chile, Bolivia, Perú y Argentina. La posibilidad de extraer litio de los salares es promocionada por gobiernos y empresas como una oportunidad irrenunciable. A su vez, la minería de litio es presentada como clave para la solución a la crisis climática, ante la necesidad de disminuir los gases de efecto invernadero y favorecer la transición energética. En oposición, la extracción de litio es considerada por las comunidades locales como perniciosa porque involucra la pérdida de grandes volúmenes de agua, en la medida en que el litio se encuentra disuelto en los salares y de que una gran cantidad de agua dulce es utilizada durante el proceso y por la contaminación química que genera. En este trabajo se abordará la construcción discursiva y argumentativa de la extracción de litio. La hipótesis general es que la extracción de litio se presenta como inevitable en tanto no hay otras alternativas posibles frente a la crisis climática, impidiendo su discusión en términos políticos.

Maslim As-singkily, Maslim As-singkily, Maslim As-singkily et al.

Leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) are highly migratory and globally distributed, yet exhibit low overall genetic diversity. Currently, the species is divided into seven Regional Management Units (RMUs), and significant gaps remain in understanding genetic connectivity within the Indo-Pacific, particularly the Northeast Indian Ocean. Here, we investigate the genetic diversity and population structure of leatherback turtles sampled from five nesting sites in Sumatra, Indonesia. Using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences from 57 individuals, we identified eight haplotypes, including one novel variant, with Sumatra exhibiting the highest haplotype (h = 0.786) and nucleotide diversity (π = 0.0040) among regional rookeries. There was a lack of significant stock structure based on our haplotype frequency data among rookeries in Sumatra (p>0.05). Phylogenetic and haplotype network analyses revealed that Sumatra contains lineages from both Indian and West Pacific Ocean clades, suggesting its role as a genetic bridge between these populations. Our results on population genetic structure support the recognition of Sumatra as a distinct Management Unit (MU), separate from other Northeast Indian Ocean populations. Our findings highlight the need to refine existing RMU boundaries and prioritize conservation actions in Sumatra to preserve its unique genetic composition and enhance connectivity across the Indo-Pacific.

Shivish Bhandari, Suresh C. Subedi, Binaya Adhikari et al.

Sen Yang, Burak Öz, Fei Wu et al.

Decentralization has an important geographic dimension that conventional metrics, such as stake distribution, often overlook. Validator location affects resilience to regional shocks (e.g., outages, natural disasters, or government intervention) as well as fairness in reward access. Yet major blockchain protocols do not encode geographical location in their rules; instead, validator locations emerge from a combination of economic incentives, regulatory constraints, infrastructure availability, and validator deployment choices. When some locations offer systematic advantages, validators may strategically co-locate to increase expected rewards, as in Ethereum, where validators cluster along the Atlantic corridor, which exhibits favorable latency. In this paper, we develop a formal model of validators' geographical positioning incentives under Ethereum's protocol design, capturing the interaction between its two block-building paradigms, local and external block building, and the distribution of validators and information sources. We analyze the model under a mean-field approximation and complement it with agent-based simulations calibrated with real-world latency data to quantify how these incentives translate into geographical concentration under heterogeneous geographic and infrastructural conditions. Our results show that Ethereum's block-building architecture is not geographically neutral. Both paradigms create location-dependent payoffs and incentives to move closer to payoff-relevant parties to reduce propagation delays, though through different mechanisms. Asymmetric access to information sources further increases geographical centralization. We also show that consensus parameters, including attestation thresholds and slot times, affect latency sensitivity and can strengthen these effects. Finally, we discuss implications for protocol design and possible mitigation directions.

Ehud Reiter

This book provides a broad overview of Natural Language Generation (NLG), including technology, user requirements, evaluation, and real-world applications. The focus is on concepts and insights which hopefully will remain relevant for many years, not on the latest LLM innovations. It draws on decades of work by the author and others on NLG. The book has the following chapters: Introduction to NLG; Rule-Based NLG; Machine Learning and Neural NLG; Requirements; Evaluation; Safety, Maintenance, and Testing; and Applications. All chapters include examples and anecdotes from the author's personal experiences, and end with a Further Reading section. The book should be especially useful to people working on applied NLG, including NLG researchers, people in other fields who want to use NLG, and commercial developers. It will not however be useful to people who want to understand the latest LLM technology. There is a companion site with more information at https://ehudreiter.com/book/

Atte Moilanen, Pauli Lehtinen, Ilmari Kohonen et al.

Spatial (conservation) prioritization integrates data on the distributions of biodiversity, costs and threats. It produces spatial priority maps that can support ecologically well‐informed land use planning in general, including applications in environmental impact avoidance outside protected areas. Here we describe novel methods that significantly increase the utility of spatial priority ranking in large analyses and with interactive planning. Methodologically, we describe a novel algorithm for implementing spatial priority ranking, novel alternatives for balancing between biodiversity features, fast tiled FFT transforms for connectivity calculations based on dispersal kernels, and a novel analysis output, the flexibility map. Marking by N the number of landscape elements with data, the new prioritization algorithm has time scaling of less than Nlog2N instead of the N2 of its predecessor. We illustrate feasible computation times with data up to billions of elements in size, implying capacity for global analysis at a resolution higher than 0.25 km2, or close to 1‐ha resolution for a continent. The algorithmic improvements described here bring about improved capacity to implement decision support for real‐world spatial conservation planning problems. The methods described here will be at the technical core of forthcoming software releases.

Ramesh K. Pandey, Satya P. Yadav, K. M. Selvan et al.

In the human‐dominated epoch of the Anthropocene, nations worldwide are trying to adopt a variety of strategies for biodiversity conservation, including flagship‐based approaches. The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) plays a pivotal role as a flagship species in India's biodiversity conservation efforts, particularly within its tropical forest ecosystems. As the country harboring the largest Asian elephant population among the 13 range countries, India's conservation strategies offer valuable insights for other range countries. This study elucidates India's elephant conservation paradigm by outlining a historical account of elephant conservation in the country and examining the current administrative and legal frameworks. These are instrumental in implementing strategies aimed at maintaining sustainable elephant populations. Our study also analyzes trends in elephant populations and negative human–elephant interactions, drawing upon data from a centralized government database. Our findings indicate that the elephant population in India is reasonably stable, estimated at between 25,000 and 30,000 individuals. This figure constitutes nearly two‐thirds of the global Asian elephant population. India's elephant population occupies ~163,000 km2 of diverse habitats, comprising 5% of the country's land area, with their distribution spread across the northern, northeastern, east‐central, and southern regions. This distribution has shown fluxes, particularly in the east‐central region, where large‐scale elephant dispersals have been observed. Between 2009 and 2020, human–elephant conflicts in India have resulted in an average annual loss of 450 (±63.7) human lives. During the same period, the central and state governments paid an average of US$ 4.79 million (±1.97) annually as ex gratia for property losses. Recognizing the critical nature of these conflicts, India has implemented various measures to manage this pressing conservation challenge. Overall, sustaining the world's largest extant population of wild elephants in the midst of India's human‐dominated landscapes is enabled by a robust institutional policy and legal framework dedicated to conservation. This commitment is further reinforced by strong political will and a deep‐rooted cultural affinity towards elephants and nature, which fosters a higher degree of tolerance and support for conservation efforts.

R. Pshegusov, V. Chadaeva

Current climate change, habitat degradation, pastoralism, shoot and bulb harvesting pose serious threats to the rare Caucasian endemic Fritillaria latifolia throughout its range. Knowledge of the limiting factors, species range dynamics in relation to climate change and the role of Protected Areas in species distribution are necessary to develop an effective conservation system at present and in the future. This was aimed (1) to determine the most suitable set of abiotic predictors for modelling Fritillaria latifolia localisation, (2) to formalise environmental and anthropogenic factors in species distribution models, (3) to predict the possible changes in the species range in relation to climatic changes, (4) to identify refugia with a consistently high probability of the species occurrence despite climatic changes. We applied Maxent software for species habitat modelling to build current and climatic models of the Fritillaria latifolia distribution, considering the abiotic variables and anthropogenic predictors such as the distance to Protected Areas and grasslands. Distances to anthropogenic infrastructure were calculated with the Path Distance measure considering the horizontal straight-line distance, surface distance and vertical factor. We also formalised the area accessibility (movement factor) through the distance to optimal sites (plots with 0.8 threshold of habitat suitability), where the probability of species occurrence was higher than 0.5. The most important abiotic variables in the species distribution were the Emberger's pluviothermic quotient, with optimal values corresponding to humid and perhumid climates, and the terrain roughness index, with optimal values ranging from nearly level (81–116) to intermediately rugged (162–239) slopes. Distance to Protected Areas (0–1 km) was the third important predictor of the Fritillaria latifolia current distribution, while the distance to grasslands contributed less to the model. The distance of suitable areas from optimal habitats (area accessibility) was 15 km. The species current core ranges are localised in the Western and Central Caucasus, Western and Central Transcaucasia, and the northwestern ridges of the Lesser Caucasus within a network of Protected Areas covering most of the highlands. The optimistic socio-economic pathway SSP1-2.6 predicted a 1.6-fold decrease in the area of species optimal habitats from 2021 to 2100. The pessimistic SSP5-8.5 scenario predicted 122-fold habitat area reduction. According to SSP1-2.6 climatic models, by 2100 the refugia area would be 172.4 km2 in the highlands of the western and central parts of the Greater Caucasus, including the Caucasus State Nature Reserve and Teberda National Park. These areas should be prioritised for the conservation of Fritillaria latifolia populations.

Enric Gomis, Enric Gomis, Enric Gomis et al.

Seagrass meadows provide important ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, coastal protection from erosion, and sustained biodiversity and fisheries thereby improving the wellbeing and livelihoods of coastal communities. The erosion of millenary deposits of intertwined roots and rhizomes of Posidonia results in the formation of three-dimensional structures named escarpments that constitute a biogenic reef habitat. However, the natural history of seagrass escarpments including their formation processes and their role as habitat for reef fauna and flora remains poorly understood. This research located and characterized Posidonia oceanica escarpments in Menorca (Balearic Islands) and compared structural complexity and fish assemblages among seagrass escarpments, seagrass meadows, rocky substrates and bare sand with emphasis on its role as habitat and shelter for typical rocky fish. Fish abundance and biomass were similar between seagrass escarpments and rocky substrates (P > 0.05), but significantly lower in seagrass meadows (P < 0.001). The large number of caves found along seagrass escarpments provide shelter to fish, including species only associated to rocky substrates. Seagrass meadows form a rather homogenous habitat within their canopy, but the presence of seagrass escarpments enhances habitat heterogeneity and structural complexity along with fish abundance and biomass at the seascape level. This study enhances understanding on the ecological importance of seagrass escarpments.

Kai Zhu, Kaida Xu, Wenbin Zhu

IntroductionPelagic cephalopods play a key role in the Chinese food supply. The market value of seafood frequently fluctuates based on its geographical origin and species, making it imperative to trace the origin and distinguish forms to guarantee food quality and accurate information.MethodsIn this study, we used biochemical tracers, including stable isotope analysis and fatty acid composition profiling, to trace the origin of purpleback flying squid (Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis) from the Indian Ocean and South China Sea. We measured the δ13C and δ15N values and fatty acid (FA) contents in samples from different forms of S. oualaniensis obtained from these two oceanic regions. We analyzed the feeding and nutritional differences among these populations and conducted discriminant analysis.Results and discussionSignificant regional and form differences were observed in both isotopic values and FA profiles in the muscle tissues of S. oualaniensis. Forms with larger sizes exhibited higher δ13C and δ15N values, potentially resulting from different feeding preferences and geographical environments. The discriminant analysis revealed that isotopic composition could effectively distinguish individuals from different oceanic regions, whereas FA composition was more effective in distinguishing different forms within the same oceanic region. The combination of isotopes and FAs could accurately discriminate S. oualaniensis of different forms and from different oceanic regions, achieving a discrimination accuracy of 100%. This study provides a reference for tracing the origin of pelagic cephalopods with complex form structures.

Eliza M. M. Mills, Sarah Piwetz, Dara N. Orbach

Anthropogenic activity in coastal areas can damage marine habitats and alter marine mammal behavior and habitat use. Understanding behavioral associations with diverse habitat features in industrialized coastal areas is crucial for marine mammal conservation management. A shore-based digital theodolite was used to assess the behavioral states and habitat use of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) off Port Aransas, Texas across seasons. The relationship between behavioral states and environmental and geographical variables were analyzed. Behavioral hotspots were identified. Dolphins frequently foraged (46%), indicating the area is an important feeding ground. Dolphins also traveled (25%) and milled (22%), with less frequent occurrences of socializing (6%) and resting (1% of observations). Season, time of day, and distance to shoreline were significant predictors of foraging and traveling behavioral states. Dolphins engaged in all behavioral states closer to seawall shorelines than to mangroves and natural seagrass beds, suggesting that hard shoreline features may influence daily activity patterns. Despite daily anthropogenic operations, bottlenose dolphins use features of the industrialized area (i.e., deeply dredged channels, human-engineered seawalls) to engage in a variety of behaviors. Monitoring of dolphin behavioral states and habitat use in active ship channels are needed to assess changes from baseline data from increasing coastal development and vessel activities.

O. Mudrak, H. Mudrak, Yu. Antoniuk et al.

On the basis of complex ecological monitoring, geobotanical, zoogeographical, landscape-ecological, hydroecological, forest typological, agroecological principles and approaches, and own field research, the general ecological-geographical characteristics of the National Nature Park “Karmeliukove Podillia” as a structural element of the national ecological network from the standpoint of physical-geographical and geobotanical zoning. It is shown which objects of the nature reserve fund are part of the characterized park. The following key territories (natural cores) in the structure of the ecological network have been identified: 1 — Britavske; 2 — Chervonogreblyanske; 3 — Verbske; 4 — Bondurivske; 5 — Kurenivske; 6 — New Ukrainian; 7 — Lyubomyrkivskei; as well as restoration territories: 1 — Novoukrainskaya; 2 — Verbska; 3 — Stratiivska; 4 — Bondurivska; 5 — Luzka; 6 — Chervonogreblyanska. Flora and fauna are described, rare and endangered species are highlighted, which are included in the Red Book of Ukraine, as well as phytocenoses of the Green Book of Ukraine. The need to include the “Vyshenka” tract, with an area of 47.7 hectares, as a complete natural complex, represented by unique landscapes of various types of ecosystems, including forest, meadow-steppe and wetlands. The specified territory is characterized by 8 biotopes with valuable associations of plant groups, which include 15 regionally rare species and 9 species that are included in the Red Book of Ukraine, where more than 50 species of animals with international and national zoological status live. In general, it is expedient to transfer other territories to the NPP for permanent use: ornithological reserve of local importance “Stavky” — 6.9 hectares; land of historical and cultural purpose — 17.3 hectares; reserve land for forestry purposes — 7.7 hectares; agricultural reserve land — 25.5 hectares; shrubs, reserve land — 7.3 ha. The total area of these plots is 64.7 hectares, which, together with the Vyshenka tract, will make up an area of 112.4 hectares. The inclusion of these territories in the park will make it possible to preserve representative landscapes with diverse flora and fauna, rationally use the recreational potential, promote the development of ecological tourism, sport hunting and fishing, introduce permanent ecological and educational, nature conservation and ecological educational work, create new jobs for local population that will support the established regime of park protection and engage in organic farming.

Kirti Bhagat, Kinshuk Vasisht, Danish Pruthi

While a large body of work inspects language models for biases concerning gender, race, occupation and religion, biases of geographical nature are relatively less explored. Some recent studies benchmark the degree to which large language models encode geospatial knowledge. However, the impact of the encoded geographical knowledge (or lack thereof) on real-world applications has not been documented. In this work, we examine large language models for two common scenarios that require geographical knowledge: (a) travel recommendations and (b) geo-anchored story generation. Specifically, we study five popular language models, and across about $100$K travel requests, and $200$K story generations, we observe that travel recommendations corresponding to poorer countries are less unique with fewer location references, and stories from these regions more often convey emotions of hardship and sadness compared to those from wealthier nations.

Davide Serva, M. Biondi, M. Iannella

The Eurasian beaver is a keystone species and landscape-capable ecosystem engineer, which went close to extinction until the 19th century. Recently, thanks to legal protection and reintroduction programs, the species has recolonized much of its past range. However, in some countries this process did not occur. Objectives. Our objective is to model the potential distribution of the Eurasian beaver for current and future conditions, on a continental scale, at river and sub-basin level. We focus on the protected areas of Italy and Portugal for possible reintroductions. Methods. The study area is Europe, with a subset focusing on Italy and Portugal. We produce species distribution models for current and future conditions using climate change scenarios and predicting changes in river flow, including topographic and human disturbance variables. We then deepen suitability-related issues within Italian and Portuguese protected areas. Results. We find that the Eurasian beaver current suitability is comparable to its known distribution, although some potentially-suitable spots occur in Italy (where there are two occurrences), while the Iberian Peninsula and the Balkan countries host scattered suitable spots. Future scenarios predict a general lowering of suitability in Central and Northern Europe. Portuguese protected areas generally host unsuitable territories, while the Italian ones have reported a tangled scenario, depending on the biogeographical sector. Conclusions. Our results may support the large-scale management of the beaver, both for countries already hosting this species and those planning a reintroduction. The framework used may be applied to other species, and for different topics, from biogeography to conservation.

C. Carroll, R. Noss, Lindsay Rosa et al.

Comprehensive biodiversity assessments play an essential role in strengthening global and national conservation strategies. The recently announced first U.S. National Nature Assessment (NNA) provides an unparalleled opportunity to comprehensively review status and trends of biodiversity at all levels. This broad context can help in the coordination of actions to conserve individual species and ecosystems. The scientific assessments that informed the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted at the 2022 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) conference of parties provide models for synthesizing information on trends at multiple levels of biodiversity, including decline in abundance and distribution of species, loss of populations and genetic diversity, and degradation and loss of ecosystems and their services. The assessments then relate these trends to data on drivers of biodiversity loss and pathways to their mitigation. The U.S. NNA can augment such global analyses and avoid the pitfalls encountered by previous U.S. efforts by ensuring policy‐relevant design, data accessibility, and inclusivity in process and product and by incorporating spatial data relevant to national and subnational audiences. Although the United States is not formally a CBD party, an effective NNA should take full advantage of the global context by including indicators adopted at the 2022 meeting and incorporating an independent review mechanism that supports periodic stocktaking and ratcheting up of ambition in response to identified shortfalls in stemming biodiversity loss. The challenges to design of an effective U.S. assessment are relevant globally as nations develop assessments and reporting to support the new global biodiversity framework's targets. By considering and incorporating the diverse ways in which society values and benefits from nature, such assessments can help bridge the gap between research and conservation practice and communicate the extent of the biodiversity crisis to the public, fostering broad‐based support for transformative change in humanity's relationship to the natural world.

L. Sutton, J. C. Ibañez, D. I. Salvador et al.

Many range‐restricted taxa are experiencing population declines, yet we lack fundamental information regarding their distribution and population size. Establishing baseline estimates for both of these key biological parameters is however critical for directing conservation planning for at‐risk range‐restricted species. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List uses three range metrics that define species distributions and inform extinction risk assessments: extent of occurrence (EOO), area of occupancy (AOO) and area of habitat (AOH). However, calculating all three metrics using standard IUCN approaches relies on a geographically representative sample of locations, which for rare species is often spatially biased. Here, we apply model‐based interpolation using Species Distribution Models (SDMs), correlating occurrences with remote‐sensing covariates, to calculate IUCN range metrics, protected area coverage and a global population estimate for the Critically Endangered Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi). Our final range wide continuous SDM had high predictive accuracy (continuous Boyce Index = 0.934) and when converted to a binary model estimated an AOH as 28 624 km2, a maximum EOO as 617 957 km2, and a minimum EOO as 275 459 km2, with an AOO as 53 867 km2. Based on inferred habitat from the AOH metric, we estimate a global population of 392 breeding pairs (range: 318–447 pairs), or 784 mature individuals, across the Philippine Eagle global range. Protected areas covered 32% of AOH, 13% less than the target representation, with the continuous model identifying key habitat as priority conservation areas. We demonstrate that even when occurrences are geographically biased, robust habitat models can quantify baseline IUCN range metrics, protected area coverage and a population size estimate. In the absence of adequate location data for many rare and threatened taxa, our method is a promising spatial modelling tool with widespread applications, particularly for island endemics facing high extinction risk.