This paper considers the likely future population in Australia to 2050 and is cast within the context of environmental limitations, to which Griffith Taylor alerted the nation in the 1920s and 1930s, and for which he was vilified in several quarters. While acknowledging the relative accuracy of his long-range forecasts, the arguments here depart from environmental determinism, although varying sets of environmental ethics and values are considered in relation to Australia's global responsibilities and international commitments. It is argued that an increase in population to 26 million by 2050 will not place severe stresses on the physical environment, provided environmental and resource management strategies are put firmly in place, and if consumption and resource use practices are significantly modified. An ideological linkage exists between a resurgent Australian nationalism and a number of environmental perspectives, but one which rejects growth and biological diversity among humans while embracing environmentalism. This inward-looking nationalism–environmentalism is seen as harmful both to Australia's moral integrity as a nation, and in local and world citizenship. 相似文献
Individual based simulations of population dynamics require the availability of growth models with adequate complexity. For this purpose a simple-to-use model (non-linear multiple regression approach) is presented describing somatic growth and reproduction of Daphnia as a function of time, temperature and food quantity. The model showed a good agreement with published observations of somatic growth (r2 = 0.954, n = 88) and egg production (r2 = 0.898, n = 35). Temperature is the main determinant of initial somatic growth and food concentration is the main determinant of maximal body length and clutch size. An individual based simulation was used to demonstrate the simultaneous effects of food and temperature on the population level. Evidently, both temperature and food supply affected the population growth rate but at food concentrations above approximately 0.4 mg Cl−1Scenedesmus acutus temperature appeared as the main determinant of population growth.
Four simulation examples are given to show the wide applicability of the model: (1) analysis of the correlation between population birth rate and somatic growth rate, (2) contribution of egg development time and delayed somatic growth to temperature-effects on population growth, (3) comparison of population birth rate in simulations with constant vs. decreasing size at maturity with declining food concentrations and (4) costs of diel vertical migration. Due to its plausible behaviour over a broad range of temperature (2–20 °C) and food conditions (0.1–4 mg Cl−1) the model can be used as a module for more detailed simulations of Daphnia population dynamics under realistic environmental conditions. 相似文献
Samples of the estuarine-spawning teleostAcanthopagrus butcheri were collected from nine estuaries and a coastal lake, located in the Pilbara and South-western drainage divisions of Western
Australia and distributed along a coastline covering a distance of nearly 2,000 km. The patterns of allozyme variation in
these samples were used to explore the extent to which there was variation in the genetic compositions of black bream assemblages
in geographically-isolated estuarine systems, and whether or not any such variation could be related to the geographical location
or type of estuary. Although only three of 36 scorable loci (Gpi-1, Ldh andMdh-2) exhibited variation that could be used for analysis, there was considerable variation in allele frequencies at these loci
among the different samples (mean FST=0.166). Much of the detected variation was attributable to differences between the samples collected from the two drainage
divisions, which are located in very different climatic regions. Furthermore, the genetic compositions of samples from neighbouring
estuaries were typically more similar to each other than to those of samples collected from more distantly-located systems.
However, the assemblages in one west coast and two south coast estuaries, that are closed to the ocean for extensive periods
of time during the year, all showed very similar genetic compositions. Nevertheless, it is crucial to recognise that, pairwise
comparisons of samples collected from the different estuaries, both within and between the two drainage divisions, almost
invariably showed statistically significant differences in allele frequencies at one or more loci. Thus, our results indicate
that the local populations of black bream in individual estuaries are genetically distinct, which is probably a consequence
of both a limited movement by individuals between estuaries and the effects of differences in regional and local environmental
conditions. 相似文献
In geostatistical studies, the fitting of the linear model of coregionalization (LMC) to direct and cross experimental semivariograms is usually performed with a weighted least-squares (WLS) procedure based on the number of pairs of observations at each lag. So far, no study has investigated the efficiency of other least-squares procedures, such as ordinary least squares (OLS), generalized least squares (GLS), and WLS with other weighing functions, in the context of the LMC. In this article, we compare the statistical properties of the sill estimators obtained with eight least-squares procedures for fitting the LMC: OLS, four WLS, and three GLS. The WLS procedures are based on approximations of the variance of semivariogram estimates at each distance lag. The GLS procedures use a variance–covariance matrix of semivariogram estimates that is (i) estimated using the fourth-order moments with sill estimates (GLS1), (ii) calculated using the fourth-order moments with the theoretical sills (GLS2), and (iii) based on an approximation using the correlation between semivariogram estimates in the case of spatial independence of the observations (GLS3). The current algorithm for fitting the LMC by WLS while ensuring the positive semidefiniteness of sill matrix estimates is modified to include any least-squares procedure. A Monte Carlo study is performed for 16 scenarios corresponding to different combinations of the number of variables, number of spatial structures, values of ranges, and scale dependence of the correlations among variables. Simulation results show that the mean square error is accounted for mostly by the variance of the sill estimators instead of their squared bias. Overall, the estimated GLS1 and theoretical GLS2 are the most efficient, followed by the WLS procedure that is based on the number of pairs of observations and the average distance at each lag. On that basis, GLS1 can be recommended for future studies using the LMC. 相似文献
Rural Hong Kong contains culturally protected enclaves of remnant woodlands that provide sanctuary for vegetation, wildlife and soil. This study focuses on the influence of natural and cultural factors on soil properties in woodlands with different human activities. At each of the nine selected sites, two pits were dug to collect soil samples for analysis of 24 physical and chemical properties. Analyses of variance between soil attributes and site factors suggest the prominence of woodland size, and important contribution of topography, aspect and parent material. Soil indicators of human impacts and the tenacity of woodland soil towards anthropogenic disturbance were demonstrated. 相似文献