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Weekly Archives:
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Thu, Feb 4, 2010
from BBC:
Climate change causes wolverine decline across Canada
The wolverine, a predator renowned for its strength and tenacious character, may be slowly melting away along with the snowpack upon which it lives.
Research shows wolverine numbers are falling across North America. Their decline has been linked to less snow settling as a result of climate change.
The study is the first to show a decline in the abundance of any land species due to vanishing snowpack.... In all bar the Yukon, he found that snowpack depth declined significantly between 1968 and 2004....
"It occurred to me that a good first place to look for ecological impacts of that snowpack decline would be with a snow-adapted species like the wolverine," Dr Brodie told the BBC.
They found a striking correlation between declining snowpack and falling numbers of the predator.
"In provinces where winter snowpack levels are declining fastest, wolverine populations tend to be declining most rapidly," the researchers wrote in the journal article. ...
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Call the X-Men -- they'll want to solve that problem!
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Wed, Dec 16, 2009
from Agence France-Presse:
Koalas, penguins at risk of extinction: study
Climate change threatens the survival of dozens of animal species from the emperor penguin to Australian koalas, according to a report released Monday at the UN climate summit.
Rising sea levels, ocean acidification and shrinking polar ice are taking a heavy toll on species already struggling to cope with pollution and shrinking habitats, said the study from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an intergovernmental group.
"Humans are not the only ones whose fate is at stake here in Copenhagen -- some of our favourite species are also taking the fall for our CO2 emissions," said Wendy Foden, an IUCN researcher and co-author of the study. ...
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To hell with our not-so-favourite ones.
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Mon, Nov 30, 2009
from BBC (UK):
Save 'special' carnivores plea
Giant otters, monk seals, walruses, spectacled bears, giant and red pandas and the odd-looking fossa are among the carnivores most in need of conserving.
That is according to the most-detailed study yet of the evolutionary history of carnivores and their relationships.
It examined 222 carnivore species including big cats, wolves, bears, seals, otters and their relatives.
It found that some species are so distinctive that special efforts should be made to ensure their survival.... "Some of the high-priority taxa for conservation have received very little attention and should be considered carefully in future conservation planning," says Prof Agnarsson. ...
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We're the top carnivore, so we get to decide who'll go extinct.
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Mon, Nov 2, 2009
from Michigan Technical University, via EurekAlert:
Wolves, moose and biodiversity: An unexpected connection
Moose eat plants; wolves kill moose. What difference does this classic predator-prey interaction make to biodiversity?
A large and unexpected one, say wildlife biologists from Michigan Technological University. Joseph Bump, Rolf Peterson and John Vucetich report in the November 2009 issue of the journal Ecology that the carcasses of moose killed by wolves at Isle Royale National Park enrich the soil in "hot spots" of forest fertility around the kills, causing rapid microbial and fungal growth that provide increased nutrients for plants in the area.
"This study demonstrates an unforeseen link between the hunting behavior of a top predator -- the wolf -- and biochemical hot spots on the landscape," said Bump.... And he adds that on the Arctic tundra, where soil nutrients are limited, others have found that the impact of a muskox carcass on surrounding vegetation is dramatic even after 10 years. ...
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Predators have value beyond scary bedtime stories?
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Mon, Oct 12, 2009
from Treehugger.com:
What do Sharks Have to do With Sustainable Seafood?
So, if you're not eating sharks, why do you have to worry about shark safe food?
The Center for Oceanic Awareness, Research and Education developed their Shark Safe Certification Program so that businesses and restaurants can demonstrate their commitment to shark protection to their customers. Members of the program must demonstrate that they are not selling any shark products and that seafood that is offered, be cause with shark safe techniques, such as no "longlines, fish aggregating devices, gillnets or trawl netting."
Applicants to the program, which was developed by scientists and researchers around the globe based on the Monterey Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program, must undergo an application process to document their non-use or sale of shark products.... Sharks are at the top of the food chain, which means that they have few predators. Therefore sharks mature slower than other species and have fewer young, making them easier to wipe out. ...
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But... sharks are s-s-s-scary!
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Sun, Oct 4, 2009
from Oregon State University via ScienceDaily:
Loss Of Top Predators Causing Surge In Smaller Predators, Ecosystem Collapse
The catastrophic decline around the world of "apex" predators such as wolves, cougars, lions or sharks has led to a huge increase in smaller "mesopredators" that are causing major economic and ecological disruptions, a new study concludes. The findings, published October 1 in the journal Bioscience, found that in North America all of the largest terrestrial predators have been in decline during the past 200 years while the ranges of 60 percent of mesopredators have expanded. The problem is global, growing and severe, scientists say, with few solutions in sight....In case after case around the world, the researchers said, primary predators such as wolves, lions or sharks have been dramatically reduced if not eliminated, usually on purpose and sometimes by forces such as habitat disruption, hunting or fishing. Many times this has been viewed positively by humans, fearful of personal attack, loss of livestock or other concerns. But the new picture that's emerging is a range of problems, including ecosystem and economic disruption that may dwarf any problems presented by the original primary predators. ...
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Life... is just one big game of Jenga.
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Wed, Sep 9, 2009
from EcoWorldly:
Japanese Dolphin Slaughter to Continue Despite Current Suspension
"It has been an exciting morning and the people here are very hostile, but as long as this goes on and we keep the pressure on, they cannot hunt the dolphins."
Sadly, O'Barry admits solemnly, this is only temporary. O'Barry keeping a watchful eye on the dolphin fishermen, has managed to disrupt the first two days of the annual dolphin hunt in the Japanese town of Taiji, but accepts that as soon as he leaves the fishermen will resume the killing.... According to the Japan Fisheries Agency, around 20,000 dolphins will be killed all around Japan this season. The documentary revealed that dolphin meat is often sold illegally to the Japanese school system, and that school children often have no idea that what they are eating is dolphin meat. Dolphin meat has been shown to have high levels of mercury, which can be a huge problem for developing children. ...
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Some stories you just can't get out of your head.
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Wed, Sep 9, 2009
from Telegraph.co.uk:
North Sea cod 'doomed by climate change'
Species of plankton, on which cod larvae feed, have moved away in search of cooler waters. The decline in cod stocks has led to an explosion in the populations of crabs and jellyfish, on which the adult fish feed.
The shortage of predators at the top of the food chain has had a knock-on effect on flat fish, such as plaice and sole, whose offspring are eaten by crabs.... The researchers studied the distribution of surface-dwelling copepod plankton on which young cod feed. Copepod's numbers have declined by more than 60 per cent as the sea has warmed over the last four decades.
Dr Kirkby said: "The plankton that young cod usually eat during March, April and May, a species of copepod that is the size of a grain of rice, prefer cold water and so they have become much less frequent as the North Sea has warmed.... "As top predators such as cod are declining, this appears to have had a cascading effect on the whole ecosystem." ...
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What's that? You don't like crab 'n' chips?
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Tue, Aug 18, 2009
from Telegraph.co.uk:
Lions face extinction in Kenya within 20 years
Kenya is annually losing an average of 100 of its 2,000 lions due to growing human settlements, increasing farming, climate change and disease, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service.... There were 2,749 lions in Kenya in 2002 and their population dropped to 2,280 by 2004 and to roughly 2,000 today, according to KWS figures.
"The trend of lion population decline is disturbing and every effort needs to be made to ensure that Kenya either stabilises its population at the current population of 2,000 lions or increases the numbers to an ecologically acceptable level," said Mr Udoto.
"Quick and decisive actions need to be taken to create public awareness as well as formulation of national guidelines on lion conservation and management in the long term." ...
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Awim-a-woe, awim-a-woe, the lion sleeps tonight...
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Fri, Aug 7, 2009
from New Scientist:
Video: Aftermath of a Japanese whale hunt
Baird's beaked whales are rare, but are exempt from whaling bans since they are still classified as small cetaceans. Around 60 Baird's a year are hunted commercially in northern Japan and sold in Japanese supermarkets. However, tests have revealed extremely high levels of mercury in the meat, which could pose a serious health risk.
EIA campaigner Clare Perry says the Japanese government should act to stop the consumption of contaminated whale and dolphin products. "The cumulative effects of this toxin could be devastating," she says. ...
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The cumulative effect of hunting sentient beings could be soul death, you barbarians.
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Fri, Aug 7, 2009
from Science, via Science Daily:
Scientists Find Universal Rules For Food-web Stability
New findings, published in the journal Science, conclude that food-web stability is enhanced when many diverse predator-prey links connect high and intermediate trophic levels.... Natural ecosystems consist of interwoven food chains, in which individual animal or plant species function as predator or prey. Potential food webs not only differ by their species composition, but also vary in their stability. Observable food webs are stable food webs, with the relationships between their species remaining constant over relatively long periods of time.... Applying this innovative modeling approach ... the scientists have succeeded in discovering not just one, but several universal rules in the dynamics of ecosystems.
"Food-web stability is enhanced when species at high trophic levels feed on multiple prey species and species at intermediate trophic levels are fed upon by multiple predator species," says Ulf Dieckmann of IIASA. ...
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OK: biodiversity, interdependence, and varied predator-prey relationships yield ecosystem stability. Good work! Now: what happens when we screw it up?
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Thu, Aug 6, 2009
from Desdemona Despair:
Dramatic Decline in SE Coastal Sharks
The eastern seaboard’s longest continuous shark-targeted survey (UNC), conducted annually since 1972 off North Carolina, demonstrates sufficiently large declines in great sharks to imply their likely functional elimination. Declines in seven species range from 87 percent for sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus); 93 percent for blacktip sharks (C. limbatus); up to 97 percent for tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier); 98 percent for scalloped hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini); and 99 percent or more for bull (C. leucas), dusky (C. obscurus), and smooth hammerhead (S. zygaena) sharks (Fig. 1 and table S5). Because this survey is situated where it intercepts sharks on their seasonal migrations, these trends in abundance may be indicative of coastwide population changes. ...
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What happens when there are no sharks left to jump?
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Wed, Jul 22, 2009
from Sea Around Us, via DesdemonaDespair:
Ocean Biomass Depletion, 1900-2000
This frightening graphic (http://www.seaaroundus.org/flash/NorthAtlanticTrends.htm) demonstrates the "high trophic-level" biomass depletion of the last century. Most estimates are between 80 to 90 percent loss, and the rate of continuing depletion between three and four times faster than are reborn. Note: "high trophic-level" means they are fish-eating fish, not plankton-eating fish, nor bottom-feeding fish -- which have also suffered dramatic declines. [The 'Docs] ...
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Biomass? We don't need no stinkin' biomass. We need fish!
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Mon, Jul 20, 2009
from Telegraph.co.uk:
Just 1000 tigers left in India
A century ago, India had about 40,000 tigers. By 1988, as a result of extensive hunting and poaching, there were just 4,500 left. Now the true figure is probably 1,000.... The decline is said to be largely down to poachers serving an insatiable demand for tiger bones, claws and skin in China, Taiwan and Korea, where they are used in traditional medicine. Other factors include electric fences erected by farmers, illegal logging and fights between male tigers over diminishing territory.... Just before my visit a gang had been caught with seven tiger skins. I was told that the men involved were from Tamil Nadu in the south and that they had struck -- with local help -- on the orders of a Nepalese-based gang. ...
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A whole thousand? That's practically metric!
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Thu, Jun 25, 2009
from Telegraph.co.uk:
Sharks threatened with extinction
The first assessment of the global fortunes of 64 species of pelagic, or open ocean, sharks and rays found 32 per cent were under threat including the great white shark and basking shark.
The study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) blamed tuna and swordfish fisheries that often catch sharks as accidental "by-catch". Sharks are also being increasingly targeted themselves to supply growing demand for shark meat and fins. The valuable fins are used for shark fin soup – a delicacy in Asia.
To supply the market the wasteful process of "finning" often takes place, in which the fins are cut off the shark and the rest of the body is thrown back into the sea.
Bans on the practice have been introduced in most international waters but are seldom enforced according to Sonja Fordham, deputy chairwoman of the IUCN shark specialist group. ...
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I want to know: what about the Jets?
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Mon, May 11, 2009
from Mongabay:
As wolves face the gun, flawed science taints decision to remove species from ESA
On Monday the gray wolf was removed from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in Idaho and Montana, two states that have protected the wolf for decades. According to the federal government the decision to remove those wolf populations was based on sound conservation science -- a fact greatly disputed in conservation circles. For unlike the bald eagle, whose population is still rising after being delisted in 1995, when the wolf is removed from the ESA it will face guns blazing and an inevitable decline.
Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar decided to delist the wolves in March after meeting with scientists from the Fish and Wildlife Service. This followed a decision in January 2008, when former President George W. Bush decided to take the gray wolf off the ESA in the Rockies, namely Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The removal angered conservation organizations, who argued that wolf populations were not yet large enough to sustain the hunt that would follow. Subsequent months proved them right. Removed in March of 2008, wolf hunting commenced in Wyoming until July -- five months later -- when a judge agreed with environmentalists and placed an immediate halt to the hunts. In those five months Wyoming lost at least a quarter of its wolves. ...
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I better get my wolfskin while the gettin' is good!
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Sun, Mar 29, 2009
from San Francisco Chronicle:
Fish tales, sad ones, from S.F. fishermen
But the runs of salmon back to the rivers to spawn went into a sharp decline, and last year, for the first time in 150 years, the state banned fishing for salmon. Seven years ago, 800,000 salmon returned to the Sacramento River to spawn, part of a mysterious ancient cycle; in 2007, only 68,000 were counted. Dams and water diversions were blamed, overfishing, warming waters in the ocean, mismanagement of the fishery. Whatever the reasons, it is almost certain the salmon season will be closed again this year.... "What we have is two lost salmon seasons in a row, plus the worst crab season in 40 years," said Pete Kellogg, who is 47 and has been fishing out of San Francisco for 30 years.
"The first day of crab season was a disaster," said Don Ashwin. "And then it got worse." ...
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We need to retrain these fishermen for something practical, like credit default swaps and derivative hedging.
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Mon, Mar 2, 2009
from The Canadian Press:
Large fish going hungry as supplies of smaller species dwindle: report
HALIFAX, N.S. -- Dolphins, sharks and other large marine species around the world are going hungry as they seek out dwindling supplies of the small, overlooked species they feed on, according to a new study that says overfishing is draining their food sources.
In a report released Monday, scientists with the international conservation group Oceana said they found several species were emaciated, reproducing slowly and declining in numbers in part because their food sources are being fished out.
"This is the first time that we're seeing a worldwide trend that more and more large animals are going hungry," Margot Stiles, a marine biologist at Oceana and the author of the report, said from Washington, D.C.
"It's definitely starting to be a pattern." ...
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And humans can be so good at reproducing patterns.
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Thu, Feb 19, 2009
from Desdemona Despair:
Dramatic decline in size of trophy fish
Archival photographs spanning more than five decades reveal a drastic decline of so-called "trophy fish" caught around coral reefs surrounding Key West, Florida.... large predatory fish have declined in weight by 88 percent in modern photos compared to black-and-white shots from the 1950s. The average length of sharks declined by more than 50 percent in 50 years, the photographs revealed.
The study mirrors others that reveal stark changes to animal sizes caused by hunting or fishing, in which the largest of a species are often sought as trophy specimens. ...
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So those old fishermen holding their arms out wide weren't telling fish tales?
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Mon, Feb 9, 2009
from Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader:
As bat deaths rise, mosquito invasion looms
Here's a prediction: We will see more mosquitoes this summer. Why?
Because something is killing bats. Wiping out entire populations of the insect-eating mammals, and nobody knows why or how to stop it.
Considering a single little brown bat can eat more than 2,000 mosquitoes in a night, and factoring in that bats in our area are starting to perish just like bats in New York and New England did, one of our top insect predators might be absent from the evening sky this summer.
Last week the Pennsylvania Game Commission discovered dead bats in two mine sites in Lackawanna County.... Something is causing the thousands of bats to use up their winter energy reserves early.
As a result, the bats are emerging from hibernation six weeks early and flying out of the mines in search of insects. The problem is there aren't any bugs in February, and the bats are literally starving to death in mid-air. ...
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With their high-frequency screams sending out "eek eek eek ek ek ek eek eek eek" ...
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Thu, Jan 29, 2009
from Guardian (UK):
Absence of wolves causes imbalance in US ecosystem, say scientists
Settlers and trappers killed them all in little more than three decades.
But the loss of the stealthy predators in the early 1900s left a hole in the landscape that scientists say they are just beginning to grasp. The ripples extend throughout what is now Olympic National Park, leading to a boom in elk populations, overbrowsing of shrubs and trees, and erosion so severe it has altered the very nature of the rivers, says a team of Oregon State University biologists.
The result, they argue, is an environment that is less rich, less resilient and - perhaps - in peril.
"We think this ecosystem is unravelling in the absence of wolves," said OSU ecologist William Ripple.
Everything from salmon to songbirds could feel the fallout from the missing predators, the scientists say. ...
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It's as if we barely understand the interrelated complexities of ecosystems. Could that be?
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Thu, Jan 29, 2009
from New Scientist:
Caterpillar plague strikes west Africa
A throng of crop-eating caterpillars is threatening food supplies across west Africa, and could prove hard to control with pesticides. The crawling menace has appeared in northern Liberia, where hundreds of millions of the black larvae are devouring plants, fouling wells with their faeces and even driving farmers from fields.
They are now crossing into neighbouring Guinea, and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns that in two to three weeks they will turn into moths that can fly hundreds of kilometres and could spread across west Africa, worsening food shortages in the region. ...
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West... Africa...?
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Sat, Nov 29, 2008
from NPR:
Bluefin Tuna On Edge Of Collapse, Scientists Say
Many of the world's fish are heading toward commercial extinction. The next one to go could be the majestic Atlantic bluefin tuna.
This week, an international committee meant to protect the species approved fishing levels that far exceed what scientists say is sustainable.
Conservationists fear that in just a few years, the remaining stocks of bluefin tuna in the Western Atlantic and Mediterranean could collapse completely. ...
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The spokestuna for the bluefin is heart-breakingly eloquent. Listen in!
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Thu, Nov 13, 2008
from The Economist:
The population of bluefin tuna is crashing
Yet Raul Romeva, a green MEP from Spain, says this summary is a "sanitised" version. He believes the full report has been suppressed by the commission at the request of national governments because its contents are so embarrassing. The full report is said to contain details about the scale of infringements, including which countries are responsible. One-third of inspections, says Mr Romeva, led to an apparent infringement, such as inadequate catch documentation. The commission, he says, is covering this up. ...
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That pink in the sushi? That's from embarrassment.
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Sat, Oct 25, 2008
from Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Are the orcas starving?
Showing signs of starvation as salmon runs faltered up and down the West Coast, Puget Sound's orca population lost seven of its number over the past year, bringing the population to just 83, anxious scientists reported Friday.
The development marks the biggest reduction in the orca population since a series of bad chinook salmon seasons in the 1990s battered the killer whales' numbers.
Revealing the degree to which the orcas are interrelated to a far-flung marine ecosystem, the collapse of California's Sacramento Valley chinook run seems likely to be partly to blame for declining killer whale numbers... ...
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Feed Willy
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Fri, Oct 3, 2008
from Ecology Society of America, via EurekAlert:
Decline in Alaskan sea otters affects bald eagles' diet
Sea otters are known as a keystone species, filling such an important niche in ocean communities that without them, entire ecosystems can collapse.... [S]ea otters can have even farther-reaching effects that extend to terrestrial communities and alter the behavior of another top predator: the bald eagle.
In nearshore marine communities, towering kelp can reach heights of 250 feet and function much like trees in a forest, providing food, homes and protection for fish and invertebrates. The most important enemies of these giant algae are tiny sea urchins, only inches in diameter, which live on the kelp's holdfasts and eat its tissue. When urchin populations become too large, they can defoliate entire kelp forests, leaving only barren remains....
Otters can eat the spiky urchins whole, making them the major urchin predator. The otters' presence keeps urchin populations in check and maintains the balance of the ecosystem.... The results are the first to show that the presence or absence of otters influences a terrestrial animal, and that the complex food web linkages can reach as far as five different food chain levels: from sea otters to sea urchins, kelp, marine fish and finally bald eagles. ...
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Our country's symbol is at risk? TO THE BARRICADES!
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Sun, Aug 3, 2008
from San Jose Mercury News (California):
Porpoise deaths raising questions
"It's the tip of the iceberg," said Mary Jane Schramm, spokeswoman for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. "These are open ocean animals. For every one we find dead there are probably many others that are out there."... Harbor porpoises are not commonly tracked by the state and so little is known about where they feed or mate. Over time, state records show the mammals have a tendency to die during the summertime calving season, but researchers don't know why. "It could be that the acid bio-accumulated in the fetus," Schramm said. "If it's something that the mother ingested and passed through the placental barrier, it could be something that she passed on to her fetus." ...
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If only we could translate Porpoise:
"Ack-ack-Brrreee-ack-ee-ack":
"Something's wrong with us."
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Mon, Jun 9, 2008
from The Whig Standard (Ontario):
Little known about wolverine, study shows
Jason Fisher has spent six years studying wolverines in Alberta, and in all that time he's never bumped into one of the elusive, fierce and hellishly hard to count animals without the use of a trap or remote camera.
As Fisher wraps up his multi-year pilot study into the animal -- legendary for its tenacity and strength -- just how many wolverines are still prowling the western Canadian forests remains very much a mystery.
That makes it a poster child for all species of lesser-known critters that are actively hunted in the province without evidence of whether their populations are sustainable. ...
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What we don't know can hurt us.
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Fri, May 23, 2008
from Aquatic Conservation, via EurekAlert:
Over 50 percent of oceanic shark species threatened with extinction
The experts determined that 16 out of the 21 oceanic shark and ray species that are caught in high seas fisheries are at heightened risk of extinction due primarily to targeted fishing for valuable fins and meat as well as indirect take in other fisheries. In most cases, these catches are unregulated and unsustainable. The increasing demand for the delicacy 'shark fin soup', driven by rapidly growing Asian economies, means that often the valuable shark fins are retained and the carcasses discarded. Frequently, discarded sharks and rays are not even recorded. ...
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If only sharks were warm and fuzzy and cute.
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Sat, May 17, 2008
from Redding News:
Recovery plan kills species' foe, thins fire-prone forests
Protecting the northern spotted owl from wildfire and killing a competing owl should restore the controversial species in 30 years, federal scientists said Friday.
"Unless the barred owl threat is lessened, land management alone will not recover the owl," said Ren Lohoefener, director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Pacific region.
The shotgunning of barred owls, a cousin of the spotted owl that encroached from back East on its old growth turf, to see if it improves spotted owl numbers is part of the final Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Plan released Friday by the Fish and Wildlife Service. So is a new strategy to thin fire-prone forests, leaving behind patches of spotted owl habitat. ...
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Shotgunning a competitor seems a little Sopranos, doesn't it?
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Tue, Dec 11, 2007
from The Washington Post (2005, US):
Wave of Marine Species Extinctions Feared
"Sitting in a small motorboat a few hundred yards offshore on a mid-July afternoon, Samuel H. Gruber -- a University of Miami professor who has devoted more than two decades to studying the lemon sharks that breed here -- plunged into despondency. The mangroves being ripped up to build a new resort provide food and protection that the sharks can't get in the open ocean, and Gruber fears the worst." ... "It's been a slow-motion disaster," said Boris Worm, a professor at Canada's Dalhousie University, whose 2003 study that found that 90 percent of the top predator fish have vanished from the oceans. "It's silent and invisible. People don't imagine this. It hasn't captured our imagination, like the rain forest." ...
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"At the end of my career, I get to document the destruction of the species I've been documenting for 20 years," [Gruber] lamented as he watched the bulldozers. "Wonderful."
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