Wildlife

Study Finds Global Warming as Threat to 1 in 6 Species

Sun, 2015-05-03 19:24 — Maeryn Obley

Image: The American pika lives in rocky mountain areas and boulder-covered hillsides. In recent years, it has been retreating to higher elevations. Since the 1990s, some pika populations along the species’ southernmost ranges have vanished. Credit Science Source

nytimes.com - April 30th 2015 - Carl Zimmer

Climate change could drive to extinction as many as one in six animal and plant species, according to a new analysis.

In a study published Thursday in the journal Science, Mark Urban, an ecologist at the University of Connecticut, also found that as the planet warms in the future, species will disappear at an accelerating rate.

“We have the choice,” he said in an interview. “The world can decide where on that curve they want the future Earth to be.”

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Read more about Study Finds Global Warming as Threat to 1 in 6 Species
1 comment
Log in or register to post comments

Amazon Deforestation ‘Threshold’ Causes Species Loss to Accelerate

Wed, 2015-04-01 14:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Corn plantation nearby remaining forest in the Amazon region. Credit: Jose Manuel Ochoa-Quintero

One of the largest area studies of forest loss impacting biodiversity shows that a third of the Amazon is headed toward or has just past a threshold of forest cover below which species loss is faster and more damaging. Researchers call for conservation policy to switch from targeting individual landowners to entire regions.

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH STUDY - Thresholds of species loss in Amazonian deforestation frontier landscapes

University of Cambridge - cam.ac.uk - March 4, 2015

One of the first studies to map the impact of deforestation on biodiversity across entire regions of the Amazon has found a clear ‘threshold’ for forest cover below which species loss becomes more rapid and widespread.

By measuring the loss of a core tranche of dominant species of large and medium-sized mammals and birds, and using the results as a bellwether, the researchers found that for every 10% of forest loss, one to two major species are wiped out.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about Amazon Deforestation ‘Threshold’ Causes Species Loss to Accelerate
Log in or register to post comments

Monkeys at risk for bioterror bacteria put outdoors

Fri, 2015-03-06 10:13 — mike kraft

USA TODAY by Alison Young March 6, 2015

More than 175 monkeys that were potentially exposed to a bioterror bacteria inside a major Louisiana research complex were returned to their outdoor cages before officials knew the deadly pathogen was on the loose from a lab accident.

The new admission by the Tulane National Primate Research Center, in response to repeated questions from USA TODAY, raises further questions about contamination of the environment outside of the massive research campus north of New Orleans. The bacteria, which is not found in the United States and can cause severe disease in people and animals, can live and grow in soil and water.

"Some animals were released from the vet clinic early on, but the key thing is that all the animals have been traced," said Tulane spokesman Michael Strecker. Testing of the animals is ongoing to determine if they have been exposed to the bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei.

Read complete story.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/05/at-risk-monkeys-released-from-tulane-hospital/24471615/

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report

Read more about Monkeys at risk for bioterror bacteria put outdoors
3 comments
Log in or register to post comments

Meant to Keep Malaria Out, Mosquito Nets Are Used to Haul Fish In

Sun, 2015-01-25 09:39 — mike kraft

Millions of mosquito nets are given out fight to malaria in Africa, yet many faced with hunger use them as fish nets, creating potential environmental problems. Video by Ben C. Solomon on Publish Date January 24, 2015. Photo by Uriel Sinai for The New York Times.

NEW YORK TIMES by Jeffery Gettleman Jan. 25, 2015

BANGWEULU WETLANDS, Zambi --Across Africa, from the mud flats of Nigeria to the coral reefs off Mozambique, mosquito-net fishing is a growing problem, an unintended consequence of one of the biggest and most celebrated public health campaigns in recent years.

The nets have helped save millions of lives, but scientists worry about the collateral damage: Africa’s fish.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report

Read more about Meant to Keep Malaria Out, Mosquito Nets Are Used to Haul Fish In
Log in or register to post comments

Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past 40 years, says WWF

Sun, 2014-10-05 18:32 — Maeryn Obley

Image: Rubbish dumped on the tundra outside llulissat in Greenland stand in stark contrast to icebergs behind from the Sermeq Kujullaq or llulissat Ice fjord – a Unesco world heritage site. Photograph: Global Warming Images/WWF-Canon

theguardian.com - September 29th, 2014 - Damian Carrington

The number of wild animals on Earth has halved in the past 40 years, according to a new analysis. Creatures across land, rivers and the seas are being decimated as humans kill them for food in unsustainable numbers, while polluting or destroying their habitats, the research by scientists at WWF and the Zoological Society of London found.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Read more about Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past 40 years, says WWF
Log in or register to post comments

Ebola Also Devastates Wild Ape Population

Thu, 2014-08-14 22:45 — Norea

Steve Baragona - August 13, 2014 9:03 AM

One day in 1996, boys from a village in northern Gabon brought home a chimpanzee they found dead in the forest. The villagers butchered it for food.

That act set off an Ebola outbreak that killed 21 people, according to the World Health Organization.

Years later, on a reporting trip in Gabon, author David Quammen met two men from the village who were there during the outbreak.

At the time Ebola was ravaging their village and their families, they noticed something strange. In the forest nearby, 13 gorillas lay dead.

http://www.voanews.com/content/ebola-also-devastates-wild-ape-population/2411749.html

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Read more about Ebola Also Devastates Wild Ape Population
Log in or register to post comments

Entire Marine Food Chain at Risk from Rising CO2 Levels in Water

Tue, 2014-04-15 17:21 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A lemon damselfish finding shelter in coral. Exposure to CO2 will make it more adventurous, and endanger its life. Photograph: Bates Littlehales/Corbis

theguardian.com - by Oliver Milman - April 13, 2014

Escalating carbon dioxide emissions will cause fish to lose their fear of predators, potentially damaging the entire marine food chain, joint Australian and US research has found.

A study by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, James Cook University and the Georgia Institute of Technology found the behavior of fish would be “seriously affected” by greater exposure to CO2.

Researchers studied the behavior of coral reef fish at naturally occurring CO2 vents in Milne Bay, in eastern Papua New Guinea.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Behavioural impairment in reef fishes caused by ocean acidification at CO2 seeps

(ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE)

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report

Read more about Entire Marine Food Chain at Risk from Rising CO2 Levels in Water
Log in or register to post comments

New Maps Reveal Locations of Species at Risk as Climate Changes

Tue, 2014-02-25 18:58 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Speed and direction of climate shifts over the past 50 years in Australia. Credit: Image - CSIRO Australia

sciencedaily.com - CSIRO Austrailia - February 10, 2014

In research published today in the journal Nature, CSIRO and an international team of scientists revealed global maps showing how fast and in which direction local climates are shifting. This new study points to a simpler way of looking at climatic changes and their likely effects on biodiversity.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Nature - Geographical limits to species-range shifts are suggested by climate velocity

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report

Read more about New Maps Reveal Locations of Species at Risk as Climate Changes
Log in or register to post comments

Gray whale dies bringing us a message — with stomach full of plastic trash

Thu, 2013-11-07 10:19 — Gina Angiola

November 5,2013, RealNews24

By: Brian,

Live Free Live Natural.

Image Credit: Geograph / Richard Humphrey

July 29, 2013, a sperm whale was stranded on Tershelling, a northern island in the Netherlands. A rescue attempt was attempted, but unfortunately the whale died. A young adult at 13.5 meters was taken for a necropsy at the port of Harlington. The sperm whale had plastic in its stomach, an increasing common phenomenon say researchers at the Biodiversity Centre Naturalis. In March of this year, a 10 meter long sperm whale washed up on Spain’s South Coast. This whale had swallowed 59 different plastic items totaling over 37 pounds. Most of this plastic consisted of transparent sheeting used to build greenhouses in Almeria and Grenada for the purpose of tomatoes for the European market. The rest was plastic bags, nine meters of rope, two stretches of hosepipe, two small flower pots, and a plastic spray canister. Cause of death was intestinal blockage....

FULL STORY AND SHORT VIDEO CLIP HERE

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem