ApocaDocuments (9) for the "Species Collapse" scenario from this week
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Sun, Apr 6, 2008
from Defenders of Wildlife:
Record number of bison slaughtered around Yellowstone National Park
A record number of bison – over 1,100 – have been slaughtered this winter around Yellowstone National Park. The [killing] of nearly one-quarter of the park’s bison population dramatically demonstrates the need to reform the rules governing the last stronghold for America’s wild bison. "Yellowstone’s bison are America's bison, the last pure descendants of the tens of millions of bison that once thundered through the American landscape," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, executive vice president of Defenders of Wildlife and former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Clinton administration. "Yet as soon as they set foot outside of Yellowstone Park, even onto publicly owned national forests, they are harassed and killed. This is truly one of the worst examples of wildlife management in the country." ...
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Only a quarter of the population? Last time we did this, we slaughtered 99.999\% of them.
Y'call that progress?
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Sat, Apr 5, 2008
from Corvallis Gazette Times:
Salmon decline impacts research
A projected shortage of fish is putting salmon research by Oregon State University in jeopardy. Ironically, the study, which enlists commercial fishermen as collaborators, is designed to help protect weak salmon stocks. ...
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I fear there'll be lots more declining critters for researchers to have trouble studying.
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Fri, Apr 4, 2008
from Science Daily (US):
Habitat Destruction May Wipe Out Monarch Butterfly Migration
Intense deforestation in Mexico could ruin one of North America’s most celebrated natural wonders — the mysterious 3,000-mile migration of the monarch butterfly. According to a University of Kansas researcher, the astonishing migration may collapse rapidly without urgent action to end devastation of the butterfly’s vital sources of food and shelter.... In spite of its protected status, the isolated reserve is suffering from illegal logging driven by soaring prices for lumber in Mexico. This logging, once sporadic, has increased in recent years and now is threatening the very survival of the butterflies. ...
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Flutter by, my butterfly....
while you can.
ApocaDoc
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Fri, Apr 4, 2008
from The Independent:
American songbirds are being wiped out by banned pesticides
"The number of migratory songbirds returning to North America has gone into sharp decline due to the unregulated use of highly toxic pesticides and other chemicals across Latin America.
Ornithologists blame the demand for out-of-season fruit and vegetables and other crops in North America and Europe for the destruction of tens of millions of passerine birds. By some counts, half of the songbirds that warbled across America's skies only 40 years ago have gone, wiped out by pesticides or loss of habitat." ...
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Nothing to do but quote the late Kurt Vonnegut: Poo-too-weet...
ApocaDoc
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Thu, Apr 3, 2008
from Anchorage Daily News:
Interior secretary dodges hearing on polar bear status
"Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne was a no-show Wednesday in front of a Senate committee seeking an explanation for why his agency has been slow to decide whether to list polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Kempthorne, summoned in front of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, refused to testify. Instead, he sent a letter and spoke personally to several of the committee members. He also pledged to testify once he had issued a decision, now three months late." ...
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While Dirk fiddles, polar bears burn.
ApocaDoc
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Thu, Apr 3, 2008
from Litchfield County Times (CT):
Bat die-off now found in Connecticut
Dr. Davis said that there is little data available on bats, which is making it difficult for scientists to determine cause and effect. "They don't normally do bat surveys every year in every cave," he said, "mainly because when you go in, you wake them up and they burn up fat with nothing to eat. This syndrome could have started earlier than two years ago -- we just don't know. The real problem is there are no in-depth studies of bat biology. There are several labs working as hard as they can and they find parasites, they find bacteria on the fur or skin -- but no one knows if this is normal because there is no data on a healthy population. We haven't found any toxins; we haven't found any smoking gun. Everything is so inter-connected. There are so many different elements that could be attributed to something else. No one knows for sure." ...
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Everything is so inter-connected, indeed: it'll be a banner season for mosquitos, moths and their larval caterpillars, flies, and so much more. Not a lot of bees, though...
ApocaDoc
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Tue, Apr 1, 2008
from Associated Press:
Maryland crab season opens to anxiety
"...The prognosis for the blue crab, the Chesapeake's hallmark seafood product, is bad. Last year's catch was Maryland's second-lowest since 1945, and winter population surveys indicate this year's harvest may not be much better. Fishery regulators in Maryland and Virginia say the crab population is nearing dangerous lows. Regulators are expected to reduce the harvest even further to save crabs...The worry extends to government scientists who manage the crab fisheries in the Chesapeake. Maryland and Virginia scientists say they've got one last shot to protect the crabs or they could face the collapse of one of the region's last viable fisheries." ...
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Everything about this story is depressing.
ApocaDoc
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Mon, Mar 31, 2008
from The Toronto Globe and Mail:
The end of the road
"To most Canadians, migration is a spectacle that marks the seasons. We know spring is here, despite the snowbanks in much of the country, because northbound geese have begun to appear from the south, just as we knew winter was coming when we saw them flying the other way. But many long-distance travellers -- from the whooping crane and the red knot to sea turtles and the rarest of the world's large whales, the North Atlantic right -- are in serious trouble. Over millions of years, they have been hardwired to undertake long journeys to survive. But these feats of strength and endurance are increasingly perilous in a world ever more congested and plagued by a changing climate."
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If only we could teach these animals to use the internet, they could telecommute instead migrate.
ApocaDoc
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Mon, Mar 31, 2008
from Science Daily (US):
Migratory Wetland Habitat for Shorebirds Declining Fast
"A decline by more than 70 percent of several North American shorebird species since the early 1970s has brought state, federal and international concern about conservation efforts for these birds and their wetland habitat.... Shorebirds stop over in Oklahoma to utilize wetlands and other waterways to rest and feed during both their spring and fall migrations. Davis said little is known about how landscape patterns and land use influence shorebirds migrating through the state. ...
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Oklahoma! where the wind goes sweepin' down the plain -- but where development may be sweepin' out the birds.
ApocaDoc
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