Mapping the Biodiversity of the Arid Regions of Kazakhstan with an Evaluation of the Efficiency of its Territorial Protection

Understanding and conveying the benefits of providing visitor experiences in national parks is critical for their survival, but to date has received relatively little attention. This paper uses a series of semi-structured interviews and an online survey with senior/executive managers from three Australian parks agencies, as well as an analysis of corporate and strategic documents, to identify each agency's strategic focus with respect to benefits associated with the provision of visitor experiences. Results reveal 39 personal and community-wide benefits that mattered for managers across the three Australian parks agencies. Key benefits identified by senior/executive-level managers included accessing natural experiences, connecting with nature, and appreciating scenic beauty and the protection of biological diversity. These findings can help inform communication designed to reposition national parks, which is critical if agencies are to remain viable as providers of recreation and leisure experiences in the twenty-first century.

Trade in safe and healthy foods is essential for businesses, authorities and consumers throughout the world. When drafting food policies, states should ensure that they provide protection for people’s lives and health, as well as saving social and economic interests on a national and international level. Over the last few decades, scientific developments and technological innovations have enabled us to achieve extraordinary successes in our mastery of technology with a view to improving our quality of life. In this context, biotechnology has opened up a wealth of solutions to problems in sectors such as healthcare, industry, agriculture and the environment. Perhaps the greatest challenge facing humankind is to achieve sustained global economic growth while ensuring environmental protection and conservation and food security for future generations. Environmental policy is today one of the most important social challenges for public authorities and economic agents. It is a very sensitive issue in public opinion as it directly affects well-being and health. The precautionary principle, for its part, arises as a consequence of seeking to protect the environment and human health against certain activities characterized by scientific uncertainty about their possible consequences. The precautionary principle is conceived as the axiom on which environmental policy is based. The most characteristic feature of this principle is that it can be the basis for decisions to derogate from a legal regime that would in principle be applicable. In my research for this manuscript, I have carried out an exhaustive analysis of the precautionary principle in the area of biodiversity, with specific regard to LMOs. To do so, it was necessary to examine the legal, theoretical and jurisprudential aspects of the topic on several levels. This study is divided into three sections. The first offers a legal approach to the precautionary principle, in which the essential elements are analyzed. The second section is devoted to analyzing the precautionary principle in the area of International Agreements. This study would be complete analyzing the risk, damage and scientific uncertainty. The new challenges facing the international community in the area of encouraging fair and equitable participation in the profits obtained from the use of genetic resources are discussed, in the light of the Nagoya Protocol, and a new Protocol concerned with international liability, the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Protocol. These Protocols are of great interest, as they provide greater legal security and transparency in the area of LMOs.

Biosphere Reserves

National parks belong to the most significant category of specially protected natural areas in the Republic of Kazakhstan. One of the important tasks of national parks is the development of ecological tourism and education, considering the nature and cultural characteristics of the territory. Katon-Karagai State National Nature Park is the largest national park in Kazakhstan in terms of area with a rapid pace of development in the field of tourism, since the geosystems of the state nature park have a diverse landscape and many attractions. The purpose of this work is to identify the most attractive areas in terms of recreation, as well as provide recommendations and proposals for the development of ecotourism in the East Kazakhstan region using the example of the Katon-Karagay State National Nature Park. Research methods - data collection and analysis, descriptive, cartographic. The results of the study can be used to develop recommendations for rationally organizing and planning in the area of recreational and tourism industry at the regional level. Conclusions are drawn about the prospects for the development of ecotourism in the territory of the Katon-Karagai State Natural National Park.

The island forests of the steppe region in Central Kazakhstan are inheritors of a single forest massif, which used to have links with taiga forests of Western Siberia and with the mountain and piedmont forests of Altay during the cold and humid years of the Pleistocene. The presence of boreal and nemoral species in these forests have favored the specificity and high ecological value of these communities. Our research has made it possible to estimate vegetation in several parts of the national park in the form of such standard parameters as α- and β-diversity indices using Whittaker’s and Shannon’s indices, as well as cluster analysis. The revealed data show their positive dynamics over the period of observation (2009–2013) and will allow future monitoring of the biodiversity in the Karkaraly National Park.

Reproduction in a Northern Population of Clemmys guttata

In recent years, environmental DNA (eDNA) technology has been used in a variety of water environments. Environmental DNA concentrations in marine samples tend to be lower than those in freshwater samples, and few studies have explored methods to improve the recovery yields of eDNA from seawater samples. In this study, we compared different seawater preservation solutions (RNAlater or ATL) to improve eDNA yields. The eDNA concentrations of vertebrate and invertebrate species were compared using species-specific eDNA assays, and the number of detected fish and their compositions were compared using metabarcoding analysis. ATL treatment resulted in significantly higher eDNA yields for both vertebrate and invertebrate species than RNAlater treatment. Metabarcoding analysis revealed non-significant effects of preservation on the number of detected species and species composition. These results suggest that ATL treatment improves DNA yields without changing the species composition compared with the commonly used RNAlater treatment. The findings of this study will reduce false-negative outcomes and provide highly reliable results in future biological surveys.Graphical abstract

Canopy-forming kelp, which include giant kelp (Macrocystis integrifolia) and bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) have been identified as ecologically significant species on the coast of British Columbia (BC). Giant kelp and bull kelp provide crucial habitat for multiple fish and invertebrate species, and they play a key role in nearshore nutrient and flow regimes. The spatial distribution of both kelp species is a crucial and currently missing input for marine protected area network planning and long-term ecological research. An ongoing collaboration between the Hakai Institute, based on the Central Coast of BC, and the Pacific Region of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, seeks to examine the application of satellite imagery for mapping kelp extent on the BC coast. A primary objective of this research is to determine whether object-based image analysis (OBIA) could be used to differentiate and delineate the extent of both giant and bull kelp using high resolution satellite imagery. A subset of pansharpened WorldView-2 imagery (0.5 m resolution) was selected for a region (McMullin Island group) on the Central Coast of BC where both species are known to be present. Knowledge of the region is extended via available field data and local ecological knowledge. While bull kelp and giant kelp have very similar spectral signatures (both are brown algae), they have very different morphologies. These morphological differences indicate that texture analysis would be best for species differentiation. Using recursive feature elimination, image feature variables (both spectral and textural) showed high differentiation between species. These variables were used as inputs for OBIA using eCognition software to test four scales of image segmentation and three different image classifiers. The results of our study demonstrate high classification accuracy for mapping bull and giant kelp. We obtained user's and producer's accuracies greater than 90% for both kelp species using a random forest classifier. We also observed an effect of the scale of image segmentation on the results of the classifications. Overall, these methods and results demonstrate a first and novel instance of the application of OBIA for mapping multiple co-occurring species of canopy-forming kelp. Future research will include examining the effects of tide height and geographical location as well as developing methods for modelling kelp biomass.

Trace Metals in Fish and Invertebrates of Three California Coastal Wetlands

Forests, and the vertebrate species within them, are irreplaceable sources of food and nutrition for millions of people living in areas of high biodiversity. Unfortunately, many of these forests are being cleared for agriculture, and many animals are threatened with extinction from unsustainable hunting. Forest clearing and the hunting of threatened species are untenable solutions to long‐term food insecurity and adequate nutrition, jeopardizing these species' survival, the healthy functioning of ecosystems, and the cultural identities of local people. Working with communities to develop culturally appropriate ways for people to obtain sustainable and legal sources of food from forests outside of protected areas is a key component of improving both conservation and food security. We tested the feasibility, suitability, and viability of farming an abundant and traditionally eaten forest insect, Zanna tenebrosa (locally known as sakondry), in rural communities whose food security relies heavily on the hunting of threatened vertebrates. We found that the insect is high in macro‐ and micronutrients, and can be cheaply, easily, and sustainably cultivated to sustainably diversify forest food systems without increasing habitat loss. Given the range of Z. tenebrosa, which covers a broad swath of central Africa, increasing production of this native insect may support multipronged agroecological approaches to promoting food security, adequate nutrition, and wildlife conservation.

Spatial distribution of tree species in mountain national parks depends on geomorphology and climate

The Mediterranean Basin is recognized as a Biodiversity Hotspot for conservation priorities, mainly due to the high biodiversity of plants. Different environmental protection categories of the territory can help to ensure the long-term preservation of biodiversity and habitats. Among them, National Park is the legal category providing the highest protection for nature areas with remarkable ecological and cultural value. These areas represent valuable locations for long-term monitoring of ecological conservation and ecosystem functioning. The Spanish National Parks Network comprises 16 natural areas, including mountain ranges, volcanic habitats, different types of forest, scrublands and grasslands, and aquatic and marine ecosystems. All the National Parks are part of the European Natura 2000 network. Moreover, 6 of them are part of the LTER-Spain network. By law, National Parks must include a long-term Monitoring and Evaluation Plan for the Network, including ecological, sociological, and functional monitoring programmes. Within the ecological monitoring programme, besides flora, fauna and ecosystem functioning assessments, climate is also considered as one of the main drivers of global change. Tree crown condition is assessed in all the parks with forests following the methodology of ICP-Forest Level I. The next step is to include air quality, since atmospheric pollution is another important driver of global change that can affect ecosystem health and functioning. Particularly tropospheric ozone and atmospheric nitrogen deposition are expected to be exceeding the limit values for vegetation protection. Air quality monitoring networks are mainly focused on the protection of human health, thus some very valuable areas for biodiversity might not be represented by air monitoring stations. In addition, atmospheric deposition is not included at the air quality monitoring stations. Moreover, the extension of some of the National Parks, the complex orography and the different climate, morphology and air pollution sources that influence the National Parks, represent a challenge for managers to design an air quality monitoring program with an efficient use of resources. To address this challenge and provide the information needed to design an air quality network in National Parks, a new project is being developed combining local monitoring with air quality modelling. The spatial representativeness of background rural monitoring stations has been assessed through relating CHIMERE chemistry-transport (v2013) model simulations at 5 x 5 km2 resolution and measured data at the stations in Spain (including the Canary Islands) for the years 2019-2023 considering NO2, SO2, O3, PM10 and atmospheric deposition. With this analysis, the suitability of current monitoring stations to represent the air quality in National Parks is being assessed. A risk analysis of the effects on terrestrial ecosystems using CLRTAP critical levels and loads is being performed using the CHIMERE model in the different National Parks. Additionally, a new air quality and deposition monitoring programme has been initiated in 2025 in all the National Parks to measure NO2, SO2, O3 and NH3 using passive samplers and atmospheric wet deposition using bulk collectors connected to ion-exchange resins. Local monitoring data will be used to determine the spatial variability of air quality and deposition within the National Parks and will be compared with modelled data. Effects on aquatic ecosystems are being assessed applying the methodology of CLRTAP ICP-Waters in all the National Parks with suitable locations, including the Canary Islands. Preliminary results will be presented discussing representativeness of current monitoring stations, monitoring techniques available in remote locations and the modelling analyses required.

Background: As global temperatures rise, alpine species at the upper limit of their distribution are at risk of decline and extinction due to shrinking habitats downslope. The alpine (> 2 800 m a.s.l.) biodiversity of the Maloti-Drakensberg is poorly known but may be threatened by climate change. Objectives: Using expert BioBlitzes, we documented species richness and elevational patterns of distribution in 14 plant and animal higher taxa from alpine and upper-montane zones in an unexplored corner of the Maloti-Drakensberg. Methods: Using standardised methods such as Sherman traps, acoustic monitoring, bird timed counts, pitfall traps, sweep nets, aquatic SASS5 kick-nets, timed searches and herbarium collections, we assessed elevational zonation of flowering plant and selected invertebrate and vertebrate diversity in the Witsieshoek Community Conservation Area (WCCA). Results: GBIF records complemented expert BioBlitz data, together enumerating 1 216 plant, vertebrate and invertebrate species along an elevation gradient from 1 760 m to 3 145 m at WCCA. Birds, insects and plants showed concordant beta diversity patterns from BioBlitz and GBIF data: high turnover compared to nestedness in more sedentary insects and plants, and the opposite in more mobile birds (GBIF data not available for bats). Although identifications are ongoing, 17% of species or morphospecies were exclusively recorded in the alpine zone, including 82 species of plants and 92 of animals. Conclusion: Alpine endemics are vulnerable to the ‘escalator to extinction’ process due to climate change. Surveys of under-explored alpine hotspots should be prioritised, drawing on mountain tourism-based citizen science. We advocate an ecotourism- and community-centred, restoration and rewilding approach for this strategic and biodiverse community conservation area.

There is a vast literature on the neural and hormonal regulation of reproduction in mammals and birds (for review, see Becker et al. 2002; Pfaff et al. 2002; Nelson 2005). In comparison, there are relatively few studies investigating the neuroendocrine control of reproduction in reptiles, and of these studies, the majority have been conducted in lizards and turtles. Unfortunately for this chapter, there is a paucity of data on the neuroendocrine regulation of reproduction in ophidians. Thus, to provide a more complete context for understanding the neuroendocrinology of snake reproduction, we will include, where appropriate, a comparative analysis that incorporates some of the existing literature on other vertebrate species. Because many aspects of reproductive control are likely conserved across taxonomic groups, particularly in ectothermic vertebrates, we hope that this comparative analysis provides a much needed synthesis of our current understanding of how snake reproduction is regulated by interactions between environmental and neuroendocrine signals.

Agarwood is an important forest product due to its high economic value. However, the natural population of agarwood species has been decreasing rapidly because of over exploitation, therefore the international trade of the most important agarwood species (i.e. Aquilaria malaccensis) is restricted to just a small quota. This research was conducted in an attempt to provide basic information for the conservation of Aquilaria spp. by identifying the species spatial distribution and habitat characteristics and developing a linkage model between their abundance and habitat characteristics. Data were collected through a field survey at Kutai National Park in August 2006 with Aquilaria spp. as the target species. Data on the species localities were used to determine the species densities and the value of Distance Index of Dispersion. The ordinance levels between the target species and the surrounding other species were identified using a correspondence analysis, while the linkage model between the species abundance and habitat characteristics was established using an ordinal multinomial logit model. The results showed that Aquilaria spp. had a low density (0.01/ha) and were spatially distributed in a clump pattern. The abundance of Aquilaria species had a close association with soil texture, humidity and acidity, land elevation, air temperature and humidity, and light intensity. The abundance decreased with increasing the proportion of sandy clay loam content, soil humidity and acidity, land elevation, and light intensity. In contrast, the abundance increased with increasing sandy loam content, air temperature and air humidity. The existence of A. malaccensis was likely to associate with the existence of Goniothalamus sp., Macaranga sp., Vordia splendidissima, Lygopodium sp., and Stachyphrynium borneensis.