Environmentalism and Wildlife Conservation Discussion

Guess we need to prepare the ocean French revolution then

In Russia, are loggers an owl's best friend?: "Can owls and loggers get along? A recent study conducted in Primorye in the southern Russian Far East suggests it's not only possible, but essential for endangered Blakiston's fish owls to survive there. The study was conducted by the WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the University of Minnesota."

Known fish species living in the Salish Sea increases in new report: "Coho salmon, Pacific halibut and even the dogfish shark are familiar faces to many people in the Salish Sea region. But what about the Pacific viperfish, northern flashlightfish, dwarf wrymouth or the longsnout prickleback?

These colorfully named species and others are compiled in a new, 106-page report that documents all of the fishes that live in the Salish Sea, a roughly 6,500-square-mile region that encompasses Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Strait of Georgia, the San Juan Islands and the Canadian Gulf Islands.

In total, 253 fish species have been recorded in the Salish Sea, and that's about 14 percent more than in the last count, said Ted Pietsch, co-author of the new report and a University of Washington emeritus professor of aquatic and fishery sciences. Previous surveys never fully captured the total number of fish species, though Salish Sea bird and mammal species are documented in full."

edited 30th Sep '15 9:23:45 PM by rmctagg09

Stanford scientists help discover Pacific bluefin tunas' favorite feeding spots: "After chowing down a big meal, you might feel your belly warm as your stomach muscles and digestive organs set to work breaking your food into smaller and smaller pieces rich in nutrients. A bluefin tuna's stomach experiences a similar spike in temperature when it gulps down a mouthful of juicy sardines.

Now, scientists at Stanford, Monterey Bay Aquarium and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have devised a way to measure that internal temperature increase in the fish. This is the first work to measure how much energy an aquatic animal consumes in the wild, and has allowed the researchers to identify the bluefin's favorite dining spots along the North American coastline. The findings are published online in Science Advances, and could help design better conservation policies to help a species in steep decline."

Plastic-eating worms may offer solution to mounting waste, Stanford researchers discover: "Consider the plastic foam cup. Every year, Americans throw away 2.5 billion of them. And yet, that waste is just a fraction of the 33 million tons of plastic Americans discard every year. Less than 10 percent of that total gets recycled, and the remainder presents challenges ranging from water contamination to animal poisoning.

Enter the mighty mealworm. The tiny worm, which is the larvae form of the darkling beetle, can subsist on a diet of Styrofoam and other forms of polystyrene, according to two companion studies co-authored by Wei-Min Wu, a senior research engineer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford. Microorganisms in the worms' guts biodegrade the plastic in the process – a surprising and hopeful finding."

Sea turtles face plastic pollution peril: "A new global review that set out to investigate the hazards of marine plastic pollution has warned that all seven species of marine turtles can ingest or become entangled in the discarded debris that currently litters the oceans."

Them plastic eating worms are amazing, even if barbie thinks that is not as fantastic.

Old news by new brought together wth new....news.

The Dentist who killed Cecil the lion was not charged with anything. And now, few months after this event, history seems to repeat itself when a German tourist killed a 50 year old elephant in Zimbabwe

I would really love to know who it is who buys the ivory items that cause the poachers to slaughter thousands of elephants every year. I don't think Traditional Chinese Medicine has anything to do with it, unlike with tigers and rhinos.

China does have a large sculptor market for ivory....

I'm pretty sure there already was elephant poaching before people even cared about China's economic power. That is, before the 2000s, when people were mostly aware that ivory did not grew up on trees.

edited 21st Oct '15 7:44:42 AM by Julep

China's ivory issue is one that's been well known for decades.

New giant tortoise species found in Galapagos: "A research team working in the Galapagos Archipelago has discovered there are two species of giant tortoises — not just one, as had been long believed — living on the island of Santa Cruz in the center of the Galapagos Archipelago."

The great northern cod comeback: "Once an icon of overfishing, mismanagement, and stock decline, the northern Atlantic cod is showing signs of recovery, according to new research."

100-year-old mystery solved: Adult eel observed for the first time in the Sargasso Sea: "After more than a century of speculation, researchers have finally proved that American eels really do migrate to the Sargasso Sea to reproduce. A team of Canadian scientists reports having established the migratory route of this species by tracking 28 eels fitted with satellite transmitters. One of these fish reached the northern boundary of the Sargasso Sea, the presumed reproduction site for the species, after a 2,400 km journey."

I'm surprised it's actually taken this long to confirm it.

Cod are starting to come back? I like that news.

It isn't a comeback because the state of "recovery" is not actually recovery. It's still in serious trouble compared to the 15th century (let alone pre-human impact)

Maybe not, but at least there's some improvement.

Yea, but the danger is that people would stop trying to do anything once it gets to that point, even though there is still a lot of work to be done.

Biologists Could Soon Resurrect Extinct Species. But Should They?

If we wiped it out, yes. If we didn't, no.

Ecologically important species (the largest herbivores, apex predators, major seed dispersers) first.

Extinction can spread from predator to predator: "The extinction of one carnivore species can trigger the demise of fellow predators, conservation biologists have confirmed. A ground-breaking study has backed up theories and previous laboratory research demonstrating the phenomenon of horizontal extinction cascades, where extinctions of carnivore species can have a ripple effect across species triggering further unexpected extinctions of other carnivores."

That seems counter to what you'd expect. Less competition means easier survival. Personally I'd think that sounds more like predators as a whole were going extinct and one just happened to be the first.

Unless they have evidence that predator B had a stable population until predator A died off.

Edit-ah that's a very particular case they looked at. Each wasp species had a specific prey.

I suppose that's comparable to the wolves in yellow stone keeping the elk in check.

edited 12th Nov '15 9:17:05 PM by Joesolo

Half of all Amazonian tree species may face extinction: "Scientists report that more than half the tree species in the Amazonian rainforest may be globally threatened. However, the study also suggests that Amazonian parks, reserves, and indigenous territories, if properly managed, will protect most of the threatened species."

And then there's that whole mess in Brazil...

What "mess in Brazil"?

I presume the Amazon rainforest, both its deforestation and drought.

I'm talking about this.