Recovery of small rodents from open-pit marble mining: effects on communities, populations, and individuals.

Mining can significantly alter landscapes, impacting wildlife and ecosystem functionality. Natural recovery in open-pit mines is vital for habitat restoration and ecosystem re-establishment, although few empirical studies have examined this process. Here, we assessed temporal and spatial responses of small rodents at the community, population, and individual levels during natural mine recovery. We examined the abundance, reproductive potential, and individual health of small rodents at active mines and at former mine sites left to recover naturally for approx. 10 and 20 years. We also assessed the effects of disturbance on rodent recovery processes at three distances from the mine boundary. Rodent numbers peaked after 10-13 years of recovery and exhibited the strongest male bias in the sex ratio. The Chinese white-bellied rat (Niviventer confucianus) was the most abundant species, achieving its highest population abundance at sites abandoned for 10-13 years and thriving at locations closer to the mine boundary. Only Chevrier's field mouse exhibited morphological responses to the mine recovery category. Ectoparasite load was unaffected by mine or distance-disturbance categories. Both Chevrier's field mouse (Apodemus chevrieri) and the South China field mouse (Apodemus draco) were affected significantly by vegetation layer cover during recovery succession. Our study highlights the complexities of ecological succession, with a peak in abundance as pioneer communities transition toward a climax seral stage. Careful prior planning and active site management are necessary to optimize abandoned mine recovery. Efforts to accelerate mine recovery through technical restoration should promote conditions that initiate and perpetuate the establishment and succession of wildlife assemblages.

Ecotourist trail-use affects the taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of mammals in a protected area: lessons for conservation management.

Ecotourism, by definition, aims to engage peoples' interest in wildlife and the environment. The use of tourist roads and trails to access sites within protected areas (PAs) can detrimentally affect the behavior and distribution of species. The way mammals respond to anthropogenic pressures may differ across taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic groups; nevertheless, how ecotourist trail-use affects these different diversity remains under-investigated. Here, we assessed 6 metrics of taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity for a mammal community in a PA in central China, recording how Trail use (using Trail type as a proxy) and habitat variables affected sightings and signs of mammals across 60 replicate 0.5 km transects. We then examined how Trail use affected the taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity indices of species (>1 kg). Using generalized liner mixed modeling, we identified that more used trail types had a greater adverse effect on all diversity richness indices than did less used trail types. Consequently, tourist pressure was associated with a general tendency to homogenize the site's mammal community. In contrast, the effects of Trail Types on all diversity evenness indices were non-significant. Furthermore, more developed and more heavily used trail types had a greater, significant negative effect on taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic richness, whereas these richness indices were unaffected by minor trail types, used less intensively. As a general principle, lower biodiversity indices reduce ecosystem resilience, and so it is vital to better understand these responses to balance public access against biodiversity management in PAs.

Universal quantum gate with hybrid qubits in circuit quantum electrodynamics.

Hybrid qubits have recently drawn intense attention in quantum computing. We here propose a method to implement a universal controlled-phase gate of two hybrid qubits via two three-dimensional (3D) microwave cavities coupled to a superconducting flux qutrit. For the gate considered here, the control qubit is a microwave photonic qubit (particle-like qubit), whose two logic states are encoded by the vacuum state and the single-photon state of a cavity, while the target qubit is a cat-state qubit (wave-like qubit), whose two logic states are encoded by the two orthogonal cat states of the other cavity. During the gate operation, the qutrit remains in the ground state; therefore, decoherence from the qutrit is greatly suppressed. The gate realization is quite simple, because only a single basic operation is employed and neither classical pulse nor measurement is used. Our numerical simulations demonstrate that with current circuit quantum electrodynamics technology, this gate can be realized with a high fidelity. The generality of this proposal allows implementing the proposed gate in a wide range of physical systems, such as two 1D or 3D microwave or optical cavities coupled to a natural or artificial three-level atom. Finally, this proposal can be applied to create a novel entangled state between a particle-like photonic qubit and a wave-like cat-state qubit.

Circuit QED: single-step realization of a multiqubit controlled phase gate with one microwave photonic qubit simultaneously controlling n - 1 microwave photonic qubits.

We present a novel method to realize a multi-target-qubit controlled phase gate with one microwave photonic qubit simultaneously controlling n - 1 target microwave photonic qubits. This gate is implemented with n microwave cavities coupled to a superconducting flux qutrit. Each cavity hosts a microwave photonic qubit, whose two logic states are represented by the vacuum state and the single photon state of a single cavity mode, respectively. During the gate operation, the qutrit remains in the ground state and thus decoherence from the qutrit is greatly suppressed. This proposal requires only a single-step operation and thus the gate implementation is quite simple. The gate operation time is independent of the number of the qubits. In addition, this proposal does not need applying classical pulse or any measurement. Numerical simulations demonstrate that high-fidelity realization of a controlled phase gate with one microwave photonic qubit simultaneously controlling two target microwave photonic qubits is feasible with current circuit QED technology. The proposal is quite general and can be applied to implement the proposed gate in a wide range of physical systems, such as multiple microwave or optical cavities coupled to a natural or artificial Λ-type three-level atom.

Deterministic generation of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger entangled states of cat-state qubits in circuit QED.

We present an efficient method to generate a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) entangled state of three cat-state qubits via circuit QED. The GHZ state is prepared with three microwave cavities coupled to a superconducting transmon qutrit. Because the qutrit remains in the ground state during the operation, decoherence caused by the energy relaxation and dephasing of the qutrit is greatly suppressed. The GHZ state is created deterministically, because no measurement is involved. Numerical simulations show that the high-fidelity generation of a three-cqubit GHZ state is feasible with the present circuit QED technology. This proposal can be easily extended to create a N-cqubit GHZ state (N≥3), with N microwave or optical cavities coupled to a natural or artificial three-level atom.