Costs and benefits of the presence of leopards to the sport-hunting industry and local communities in Niassa national reserve, mozambique

Sport hunting is often proposed as a tool to support the conservation of large carnivores. However, it is challenging to provide tangible economic benefits from this activity as an incentive for local people to conserve carnivores. We assessed economic gains from sport hunting and poaching of leopards (Panthera pardus), costs of leopard depredation of livestock, and attitudes of people toward leopards in Niassa National Reserve, Mozambique. We sent questionnaires to hunting concessionaires (n = 8) to investigate the economic value of and the relative importance of leopards relative to other key trophy-hunted species. We asked villagers (n = 158) the number of and prices for leopards poached in the reserve and the number of goats depredated by leopard. Leopards were the mainstay of the hunting industry; a single animal was worth approximately U.S.$24,000. Most safari revenues are retained at national and international levels, but poached leopard are illegally traded locally for small amounts ($83). Leopards depredated 11 goats over 2 years in 2 of 4 surveyed villages resulting in losses of $440 to 6 households. People in these households had negative attitudes toward leopards. Although leopard sport hunting generates larger gross revenues than poaching, illegal hunting provides higher economic benefits for households involved in the activity. Sport-hunting revenues did not compensate for the economic losses of livestock at the household level. On the basis of our results, we propose that poaching be reduced by increasing the costs of apprehension and that the economic benefits from leopard sport hunting be used to improve community livelihoods and provide incentives not to poach.

Some Key Technics of Drop Tower Experiment Device of National Microgravity Laboratory (China) (NMLC)

Drop tower is an important ground based facility for microgravity science experiment. The technical performances of the drop tower NMLC are advanced compared with similar facilities in the US, Germany and Japan. The main components such as drop capsule, deceleration devices, release mechanism present its advantages and creativities.

Brazil’s patent reform : innovation towards national competitiveness

Adaptação para a língua inglesa da obra “A revisão da lei de patentes: inovação em prol da competitividade nacional

Does Immigration Raise Natives’ Income? National and Regional Evidence from Spain

How immigration affects the labor market of the host country is a topic of major concern for many immigrant-receiving nations. Spain is no exception following the rapid increase in immigrant flows experienced over the past decade. We assess the impact of immigration on Spanish natives’ income by estimating the net immigration surplus accruing at the national level and at high immigrant-receiving regions while taking into account the imperfect substitutability of immigrant and native labor. Specifically, using information on the occupational densities of immigrants and natives of different skill levels, we develop a mapping of immigrant-to-native self-reported skills that reveals the combination of natives across skills that would be equivalent to an immigrant of a given self-reported skill level, which we use to account for any differences between immigrant self-reported skill levels and their effective skills according to the Spanish labor market. We find that the immigrant surplus amounts to 0.04 percent of GDP at the national level and it is even higher for some of the main immigrant-receiving regions, such as Cataluña, Valencia, Madrid, and Murcia.

Conceptual model of salt marsh management on Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida: final report

Diking and holding water on salt marshes ("impounding" the marsh) is a management technique used on Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) and elsewhere in the Southeast to: a) prevent the reproduction of saltmarsh mosquitos, and b) attract wintertering waterfowl and other marsh, shore, and wading birds. Because of concern that diking and holding water may interfere with the production of estuarine fish and shellfish, impoundment managers are being asked to consider altering management protocol to reduce or eliminate any such negative influence. How to change protocol and preserve effective mosquito control and wildlife management is a decision of great complexity because: a) the relationships between estuarine organisms and the fringing salt marshes at the land-water interface are complex, and b) impounded marshes are currently good habitat for a variety of species of fish and wildlife. Most data collection by scientists and managers in the area has not been focused on this particular problem. Furthermore, collection of needed data may not be possible before changes in protocol are demanded. Therefore, the purpose of this document is two-fold: 1) to suggest management alternatives, given existing information, and 2) to help identify research needs that have a high probability of leading to improved simultaneous management of mosquitos, waterfowl, other wildlife, freshwater fish, and estuarine fish and shellfish on the marshland of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. (92 page document)

Manual Control of Phragmites australis on Pondshores of Cape Cod National Seashore, Masachusetts, USA

The non-native, invasive genotype of the common reed ( Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steudel) has become a problem of significant proportions throughout wetlands of North America (Saltonstall 2001). Although attempts to suppress or eradicate Phragmites have utilized a wide variety of techniques, herbicides have generally been most effective (Marks et al. 1994). In the spring, mid-summer, and late summer of 2003, we attempted to opportunistically control Phragmites in five freshwater ponds within Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS) by repeatedly severing stems underwater, at ground level.(PDF has 4 pages.)