Conserving inequality: How private conservation and property developers ‘fix’ spatial injustice in South Africa

In 2016, South Africa launched its National Biodiversity Economy Strategy. This strategy aims to facilitate the development of a ‘wildlife economy’ as a solution to unemployment, loss of biodiversity and rural development. Central to the strategy is the role of private conservation actors, who keenly posit their commercial model as the best way to achieve these objectives. This stands in sharp contrast to recent critiques that suggest that private conservation reinforces structural inequality by denying access to land and perpetuating unjust labour conditions. Using ethnographic data from the South African Lowveld region that includes the Kruger National Park, the paper takes these points further by arguing that a rapidly growing alliance between private conservation and property developers actively conserve inequality by maintaining and even extending spatial injustice in the region. Two popular recent manifestations of this alliance in particular, share block systems that distribute ownership of access to real estate in private reserves and wildlife housing estates, have established new conservation-property linkages that entrench capitalist socioecological fixes. Not only do these initiatives lead to further engrained spatial injustice, we conclude that this conservation-property alliance at the centre of the ‘wildlife economy’ also willingly sacrifices environmental sustainability on the altar of white conservation imaginations and private profit.

Genetic Structure and Gene Flow in Eastern Grey Kangaroos in an Isolated Conservation Reserve

Dispersal is a key process for population persistence, particularly in fragmented landscapes. Connectivity between habitat fragments can be easily estimated by quantifying gene flow among subpopulations. However, the focus in ecological research has been on endangered species, typically excluding species that are not of current conservation concern. Consequently, our current understanding of the behaviour and persistence of many species is incomplete. A case in point is the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), an Australian herbivore that is subjected to considerable harvesting and population control efforts. In this study, we used non-invasive genetic sampling of eastern grey kangaroos within and outside of the Mourachan Conservation Property to assess functional connectivity. In total, we genotyped 232 samples collected from 17 locations at 20 microsatellite loci. The clustering algorithm indicated the presence of two clusters, with some overlap between the groups within and outside of the reserve. This genetic assessment should be repeated in 10–15 years to observe changes in population structure and gene flow over time, monitoring the potential impact of the planned exclusion fencing around the reserve.

Helicity and spin conservation in linearized gravity

The duality-symmetric, Maxwell-like, formulation of linearized gravity introduced by Barnett (New J Phys 16, 2014) is used to generalize the conservation laws for helicity, the spin part of angular momentum, and spin-flux, to the case of linearized gravity. These conservation laws have been shown to follow from the conservation property of the helicity array, an analog of Lipkin’s zilch tensor. The analog of the helicity array for linearized gravity is constructed and is shown to be conserved.

Geometric electrostatic particle-in-cell algorithm on unstructured meshes

We present a geometric particle-in-cell (PIC) algorithm on unstructured meshes for studying electrostatic perturbations with frequency lower than electron gyrofrequency in magnetized plasmas. In this method, ions are treated as fully kinetic particles and electrons are described by the adiabatic response. The PIC method is derived from a discrete variational principle on unstructured meshes. To preserve the geometric structure of the system, the discrete variational principle requires that the electric field is interpolated using Whitney 1-forms, the charge is deposited using Whitney 0-forms and the electric field is computed by discrete exterior calculus. The algorithm has been applied to study the ion Bernstein wave (IBW) in two-dimensional magnetized plasmas. The simulated dispersion relations of the IBW in a rectangular region agree well with theoretical results. In a two-dimensional circular region with fixed boundary condition, the spectrum and eigenmode structures of the IBW are obtained from simulations. We compare the energy conservation property of the geometric PIC algorithm derived from the discrete variational principle with that of previous PIC methods on unstructured meshes. The comparison shows that the new PIC algorithm significantly improves the energy conservation property.

A New Method for Wet-Dry Front Treatment in Outburst Flood Simulation

When utilizing a finite volume method to predict outburst flood evolution in real geometry, the processing of wet-dry front and dry cells is an important step. In this paper, we propose a new approach to process wet-dry front and dry cells, including four steps: (1) estimating intercell properties; (2) modifying interface elevation; (3) calculating dry cell elevations by averaging intercell elevations; and (4) changing the value of the first term of slope limiter based on geometry in dry cells. The Harten, Lax, and van Leer with the contact wave restored (HLLC) scheme was implemented to calculate the flux. By combining the MUSCL (Monotone Upstream–centred Scheme for Conservation Laws)-Hancock method with the minmod slope limiter, we achieved second-order accuracy in space and time. This approach is able to keep the conservation property (C-property) and the mass conservation of complex bed geometry. The results of numerical tests in this study are consistent with experimental data, which verifies the effectiveness of the new approach. This method could be applied to acquire wetting and drying processes during flood evolution on structured meshes. Furthermore, a new settlement introduces few modification steps, so it could be easily applied to matrix calculations. The new method proposed in this study can facilitate the simulation of flood routing in real terrain.

Ecology of an ocelot population at the northern edge of the species’ distribution in northern Sonora, Mexico

We used data from eight years of camera trapping at Rancho El Aribabi, a cattle ranch and conservation property in northern Sonora, Mexico, to examine the ecology of the northern-most known breeding population of ocelots (Leopardus pardalis). Ocelots were found mostly in two discrete and disjunct areas: a riverine riparian canyon at just less than 1,000 masl elevation and along arroyos in an oak-mesquite savanna in the Sierra Azul at 1,266–1,406 masl. An ocelot was also detected at a site between those two areas, in an area of a Sonoran desertscrub-foothills thornscrub ecotone at 1,300 masl. At least 18 ocelots, both males and females, were detected during the 2007–2011 and 2014–2018 sampling periods. A female with a kitten was documented in 2011. No individual ocelots were photographed in both areas, which are separated by a minimum of 11.29 km, and no individuals were photographed in both time periods. In a binary logistic regression, key environmental variables predicting ocelot presence were, in order of importance, distance to a paved road, distance to human habitation, proximity to water, and an anthropogenic influences index that was dominated by cattle. Another analysis corroborated the finding regarding ocelot presence and cattle. Contrary to previous studies, ocelot presence was not tied to vegetation cover close to the ground. We present information about the types of habitats and sites ocelots used, short-term movements, daily and seasonal activity patterns, and behavior, including occurrence of different individuals at or near the same site over short periods of time. We discuss ocelot home range, density, and movements, but small sample sizes and study design problems limit the value of estimates derived from our work. Rancho El Aribabi is a private, conservation ranch for which the owners have made voluntary conservation commitments that provide habitat and protection for ocelots and other animals and plants. This northern-most known breeding population is a likely source of ocelots that are periodically detected in southeastern Arizona. Our results should help facilitate conservation of the ocelot in other semi-arid areas of northwestern Mexico and adjacent USA.

Heating Conservation Methods and Economy Analysis of Winter Heating in Rural Residential Buildings in Southeast China: A Case Study

In this paper, energy conservation approaches for residential buildings in rural area of southeast China are studied. There used to be no heating habits in rural buildings of southeast China, which is due to the relatively warm weather in winter. However, as the stand of living is increasing, heating in winter has become more popular in recent years. It is quite important to choose proper heating conservation materials taking both initial cost and operating cost into consideration. In this paper, a typical house in southern part of Henan Province is selected for study. It is a two-level house made of bricks, which was built in 2014. A set of radiators were installed for heating in winter. Water, which is heated by electrical heater, is used as heating medium for these radiators. As compared with heat pumps, draft sensation problem is avoided and temperature in the heating space is more uniform. However, operating fee is very high, which makes this heating method less attractive. To reduce power consumption of winter heating, heating load needs to be reduced and the efficiency of heating equipment needs to be increased. In this study, researches are carried out as following. First, a model is built in DeST, which is a software that can calculate hourly heating load and room temperature. Then, the effect of thermal preservation quality of envelops on room temperature and heating load are investigated. Six models with different envelopes are simulated. Then, heating load as well as power consumptions of electrical heaters and heat pumps among the six envelopes are compared. Lastly, economic analysis is carried out for the energy efficient retrofit case so that the payback period is calculated. The results show that heating load capacity of case F, envelope of which made of 240 bricks plus foamed plastic and hollow glass windows, can be reduced to 1/3 that of case A, envelope of which made of 240 bricks and single glass windows. Considering power consumptions of both compressors and fans, energy consumption density (divided by area) can be reduced from 21.6∼25 kWh·m−2·year−1 of case A, which has the worst heat conservation property, to 6.7∼7.7 kWh·m−2·year−1 of case F. If the building is improved from case A to case F and heat pumps are adopted, the payback period is 3.3∼3.8 years. Because of high cost of window retrofit and small influence of its heat conservation property on the reduction of heating capacity, it is recommended to just improve walls. Air tightness of window is more effective than thermal quality.