Fungi-filled forests are critical for endangered orchids

Older forests with just the right fungi may be secret to saving vulnerable plants.

When it comes to conserving the world's orchids, not all forests are equal. In a paper to be published Jan. 25 in the journal Molecular Ecology, Smithsonian ecologists revealed that an orchid's fate hinges on two factors: a forest's age and its fungi.

Roughly 10 percent of all plant species are orchids, making them the largest plant family on Earth. But habitat loss has rendered many threatened or endangered. This is partly due to their intimate relationship with the soil.

Orchids depend entirely on microscopic fungi in the early stages of their lives. Without the nutrients orchids obtain by digesting these host fungi, their seeds often will not germinate and baby orchids will not grow. While researchers have known about the orchid–fungus relationship for years, very little is known about what the fungi need to survive.

Biologists based at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center launched the first study to find out what helps the fungi flourish and what that means for orchids. Led by Melissa McCormick, the researchers looked at three orchid species, all endangered in one or more U.S. states.

After planting orchid seeds in dozens of experimental plots, they also added particular host fungi needed by each orchid to half the plots. Then they followed the fate of the orchids and fungi in six study sites: three in younger forests (50 to 70 years old) and three in older forests (120 to 150 years old).

After four years they discovered orchid seeds germinated only where the fungi they needed were abundant—not merely present.

In the case of one species, Liparis liliifolia (lily-leaved twayblade), seeds germinated only in plots where the team had added fungi. This suggests that this particular orchid could survive in many places, but the fungi they need do not exist in most areas of the forest.

Meanwhile, the fungi displayed a strong preference for older forests.

Soil samples taken from older forest plots had host fungi that were five to 12 times more abundant compared to younger forests, even where the research team had not added them. They were more diverse as well. More mature plots averaged 3.6 different Tulasnella fungi species per soil sample (a group of fungi beneficial to these orchids), while the younger ones averaged only 1.3.

Host fungi were also more abundant in plots where rotting wood was added. These host fungi, which are primarily decomposers, may grow better in places where decomposing wood or leaves are plentiful.

All this implies that to save endangered orchids, planting new forests may not be enough. If the forests are not old enough or do not have enough of the right fungi, lost orchids may take decades to return, if they return at all.

"This study, for the first time, ties orchid performance firmly to the abundance of their fungi," McCormick said. "It reveals the way to determine what conditions host fungi need, so we can support recovery of the fungi needed by threatened and endangered orchids."

###

The University of Alaska Fairbanks and Purdue University also contributed to this study. The abstract will be available here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05468.x/abstract.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/s-ffa012412.php

Early Warning Signs Of a Dying Lake (Via Herp Digest)

Early Warning Signs Of a Dying Lake
The Scientist, By Richard P. Grant, October 1, 2011

THE PETER LAKE FOOD WEB

Originally, the food web was dominated by minnows eating zooplankton such as water fleas, which survive by consuming tiny water-borne plants. The few largemouth bass in the lake fed on the minnows. But tweak the top of the chain and an ecosystem shift ensues: the increasingly numerous bass devastated the minnow population, leading to large swings in phytoplankton amounts until the food web settled into its new state.

Forecasting the future is a tricky art, but a field test of an important ecological theory now shows that drastic environmental shifts can be predicted, potentially paving the way for preventive intervention. Trophic cascades occur when a layer in the food web is added or removed and an entire ecological system shifts catastrophically as a result. For example, if a top predator becomes extinct-say, by overfishing or hunting-pressure is relieved on its prey. This can have destructive effects on other organisms lower down the food chain as they suddenly experience a higher rate of predation. Steve Carpenter at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and colleagues have now shown that such regime shifts, in this case caused by the deliberate addition of a top predator to a lake in Wisconsin, can be predicted up to a year in advance.

Healthy ecosystems can readily accommodate small disturbances. If the number of fish or the amount of phytoplankton changes, for example, the balance soon recovers. However, in the face of a coming regime shift, ecological theory predicts that recovery will become much slower. But few field studies of entire ecosystems-and none on a large-scale-have tested the hypothesis. Carpenter and his team deliberately created a trophic cascade in Peter Lake, Michigan, using the adjacent Paul Lake as a control, and measured the numbers of each species in both lakes, in order to watch for patterns of change that would precede the trophic cascade. In July 2008, the team initiated the cascade by more than doubling the population of adult largemouth bass-a top predator fish-bringing the total to 81. Paul Lake contained more than 300 adult largemouth bass.

Every summer day for three years, Carpenter and colleagues counted minnows (which eat plankton) and measured the amount of chlorophyll, a proxy for the amount of phytoplankton, in each lake. The chlorophyll could be measured precisely and at high frequency (every five minutes), and it were these data that gave the researchers the first inkling that change was under way. By September 2009, there were large swings in the amount of chlorophyll and "it was pretty clear," says Carpenter, that a major ecosystem shift was already in progress. By September 2010, the shift was complete: the food web was dominated by larger fish.

Many human-driven catastrophes, such as desertification, fishery collapse, or algal blooms, are caused by small or slow changes in management which lead to collapse. Russell Moll, at the University of California, San Diego, who evaluated the paper at F1000, says, "If there was some way to predict when a regime shift is going to occur in advance," it might be possible to nudge it back towards a more healthy state. "Having any kind of advance knowledge that we're about to enter into a regime shift would be useful from both a scientific and a management perspective," he adds.

But Carpenter sounds a note of caution. The appropriate indicators-the "canaries in the coal mine"-for other ecosystems remain to be discovered. "Before we manage ecosystems using this method we need a lot more research," he says.

The paper
S.R. Carpenter et al., "Early warnings of regime shifts: a whole-ecosystem experiment," Science, 332:1079-82, 2011. Free F1000 Evaluation

Correction (10/5/2011): The original version of this article incorrectly stated that water fleas were insects. They are zooplankton, and the article has been corrected. The Scientist regrets the error.

Wildwood welcomes new red fox

Wildwood is pleased to welcome Baxter, our new red fox.

The new addition brings number of red foxes at Wildwood to 3 and Baxter is getting on well with his new acquaintances, Wildwood residents Ellie and Chris.

Baxter was brought to Wildwood by The Fox Project, a charity based in Kent and the South East that helps sick and injured foxes and abandoned cubs, providing for their care, treatment and rehabilitation back to the wild.

Baxter, a young male, was rescued by the Fox Project team after being found abandoned as a cub. They cared for him until he was strong enough to fend for himself but sadly he is not suitable to be returned to the wild so has been brought to Wildwood to live with our existing foxes.

Wildwood’s head keeper Paul Wirdnam said “Wildwood has worked with the Fox Project for a number of years, their team do a fantastic job have rehabilitated thousands of foxes just like Baxter. We are very proud to work with them”

Baxter is now on display in Wildwood’s specially designed red fox enclosure and is just one of the huge range of British animals that can be seen at the Wildwood Discovery Park, for more information visit the website at www.wildwoodtrust.org or telephone 01227 712 111

Wildwood is an ideal day out for all the family where you can come 'nose to nose' with British Wildlife. Wildwood offers its members and visitors a truly inspirational way to learn about the natural history of Britain by actually seeing the wildlife that once lived here, like the wolf, beaver, red squirrel, wild boar and many more.

Wildwood is situated close to Canterbury, just off the A291 between Herne Bay and Canterbury.

FACTS - Red Fox Vulpes vulpes

Recognition:

Reddish orange fur, small dog sized; thick bushy tail in winter
Head/body length: average 67-72cm for males; 62-67cm for females; tail about 40cm
Weight: average 6-7kg for males; 5-6kg for females.

General Ecology:

A highly adaptable species, found in nearly all habitats from salt marshes and sand dunes to the tops of mountains. In Britain, more than elsewhere in Europe, foxes have also adapted to life in urban surroundings.

Foxes hold territories, the size of which depends on habitat; they can be as small as 0.2 square kilometres in urban areas or up to 40 square kilometres in hill country. Each territory is occupied by a fox family group. These often consist of a pair - dog fox and vixen - and their cubs. However, in areas where foxes are not persecuted and where there is a plentiful supply of food, a family group may contain several adults.

Foxes have a very wide and varied diet. On salt marshes they eat crabs and dead seabirds, while in upland regions carrion may be important, particularly during the winter months. In lowland rural areas small mammals, especially field voles and rabbits, are the major source of food, with earthworms, beetles, fruit (particularly blackberries) and small birds also being eaten.

Urban foxes glean large amounts of food. Much of this is deliberately supplied by local householders, and is supplemented by scavenging from dustbins, birdtables and compost heaps. Unlike rural foxes, those living in some urban areas eat many small birds and feral pigeons.

Usually only one vixen in a group produces cubs, once a year in the spring. Litters average four to five cubs which are born blind and deaf in a den (called an earth). The earth may be dug by the foxes, or they may enlarge a rabbit burrow or use holes made by other animals. In urban areas cubs are often born under garden sheds. A vixen stays in the earth with her cubs for the first two weeks of their lives. At about four weeks old, usually in late April or early May, cubs begin to come into the open, when they are often seen by city householders.

Foxes generally do not live very long; although they have been recorded up to nine years old in the wild, most survive only one or two years.

Conservation:

Foxes have little legal protection. In some areas they are subjected to much persecution including shooting, hunting, being snared and dug out with terriers and caught with lurchers (fast, long-legged dogs). Self-locking snares and gin traps, both of which were once used to catch foxes, have been outlawed. Free running snares are legal, but they must be inspected at least once a day. These humanitarian provisions are the sole protection received by foxes.

Despite their lack of protection foxes are widespread and abundant. The success of the fox is due to its adaptability and it is in no need of active conservation measures. There remain about 190 fox hunts in England and Wales, but these probably kill a small proportion of foxes compared to those captured in snares and killed by other means. In the early 1980s many foxes were killed each year for their fur, most of which was exported to West Germany. However, with the decline in fur prices, this trade has decreased substantially.

BP oil spill: The environmental impact one year on

In April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 people and resulted in 4.9m barrels of oil being discharged, threatening marine life and hundreds of miles of coastline. Yet, one year on, what environmental impact did one of world's largest accidental oil spills have on the region's wildlife and habitats, and has it been as bad as it was feared at the time?

By Mark Kinver Science and environment reporter, BBC News

Scientists have warned that it is too soon to attempt to offer a considered assessment on what impact the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest of its kind, has had on the Gulf of Mexico's wildlife.

Scientists have warned that it is too soon to attempt to offer a considered assessment on what impact the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest of its kind, has had on the Gulf of Mexico's wildlife.

In short, they said, nature did not work in such a way that the full picture will present itself within just one year.

Also, they added, more data needed to be gathered in the months and years ahead to gauge the full extent of the incident, which covered such a vast area.

Dr Jane Lubchenco, the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) - one of the federal agencies leading the clean-up operation - said there were reasons to be optimistic.

In an interview with the AP news agency, she said that the health of the Gulf is "much better than people feared", but the jury was out about what the end result would be.

"It's premature to conclude that things are good. There are surprises coming up - we're finding dead baby dolphins," she observed.

Researchers and conservation groups said it was difficult to access information being gathered as part of an investigation by a federal Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process.

The NRDA is a formal framework in which government agencies look at the damage caused by the spill to natural resources and services - such as fisheries, wetlands, protected species, agricultural land - and calculate how much it would cost to repair the "injuries".

"What we know is very sketchy," said Claude Gascon, chief science officer for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

"We have tried, and many others have tried, and it is almost impossible to get any idea what that group of agencies and researchers are actually finding.

"The simple reason for that is that there is going to be so much potential litigation in terms of settlements etc, " Dr Gascon told BBC News.

"So it is very difficult to know at the moment, the scale of the impact has been and will be in the future.

"All of us, including conservation organisations, professionals and academics, are keenly awaiting whatever the federal process will release into the public domain."

There was also agreement that it was too soon for long-term impacts to manifest themselves, such as disruptions to ecosystems' food chains.

This is why it was important for the data collection currently being carried out by the NRDA to continue, even if there was an out-of-court settlement, said Stan Senner, director of conservation science for Ocean Conservancy.

"It is too soon to draw any conclusions about impacts, especially within the marine environment," he told BBC News. "We certainly cannot gauge long-term effects just 12 months after the spill.

"For example, there were things like the massive use of dispersants, which was unprecedented. And because the well was so far offshore (50 miles), there were undoubtedly many, many impacts that were out of sight and we may never have the capacity to work out what really happened.

"Right now, there are far more questions than answers."

Understanding risks

Referring to the NRDA, Dr Senner said: "If the process runs its full course, it could take several years, may be more, to go through the damage assessment studies, then develop a restoration plan and present a claim for the cost of restoration to the responsible parties."

"All of us, including conservation organisations, professionals and academics, are keenly awaiting whatever the federal process will release into the public domain."

There was also agreement that it was too soon for long-term impacts to manifest themselves, such as disruptions to ecosystems' food chains.

This is why it was important for the data collection currently being carried out by the NRDA to continue, even if there was an out-of-court settlement, said Stan Senner, director of conservation science for Ocean Conservancy.

"It is too soon to draw any conclusions about impacts, especially within the marine environment," he told BBC News. "We certainly cannot gauge long-term effects just 12 months after the spill.

"For example, there were things like the massive use of dispersants, which was unprecedented. And because the well was so far offshore (50 miles), there were undoubtedly many, many impacts that were out of sight and we may never have the capacity to work out what really happened.

"Right now, there are far more questions than answers."

Understanding risks

Referring to the NRDA, Dr Senner said: "If the process runs its full course, it could take several years, may be more, to go through the damage assessment studies, then develop a restoration plan and present a claim for the cost of restoration to the responsible parties."

See more at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13123036
(Via Dawn Holloway)

Spelman pledges £110m to revive unhealthy waterways

13 April 2011

Otters and salmon will benefit from a £110m boost in spending on England's lakes, rivers and streams, the government has said.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said the funds would revive "lifeless" bodies of water, allowing wildlife to flourish by tackling invasive weeds.

She also said that ministers wanted people to become more involved in caring for local waterways and streams.

Ralph Underhill, of campaign group Our Rivers, welcomed the announcement.

£92m will be provided over the next four years to combat non-native invasive weeds and clear up pollution.

Redundant dams, weirs and landings in England will also be removed.

The funding will be shared between the Environment Agency, Natural England and charities such as the Association of Rivers Trust.

This boost is earmarked for England alone because funding for waterways is devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

An additional £18m will be provided this year to help farmers protect water courses near agricultural land, the government added.

Grass roots

Announcing the move, Mrs Spelman said: "The health of our rivers has come along in leaps and bounds, but we still see nasty invasive weeds and lifeless waters blight blue spaces in cities and across our countryside.

"With this funding, we'll help all our waterways and streams thrive by tackling problems that until now have been sitting in the 'too-hard' basket.

"Our new grass-roots approach to boosting healthier waterways and flourishing wildlife has local experience and knowledge at its heart."

Mr Underhill warned that the funding would not "solve all the problems overnight".

But he hailed the announcement as "fantastic news for our rivers and the wildlife they support".

"Rivers are a national asset and in the current financial climate it is great to see a new investment being made in their future," he added.

Conservation charity WWF-UK said it was delighted by the government's extra funding.

Tom Le Quesne, freshwater policy manager, said: "We recently withdrew legal action against the government which was originally taken because the previous government's 2009 plans for implementation of the Water Framework Directive did not deliver for rivers.

"We hope this funding shows the beginning of a long-term drive to improve the quality of our rivers and helping wildlife thrive."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13053394
(Via Dawn Holloway)

Australia urged to help halt Mekong dam

Ron Corben
March 10, 2011

Environmental groups want Australia's help to halt a $3.5 billion hydro-electricity power project on the Mekong River which has pitted our South-East Asian neighbours against each other.

Thailand and Laos want to press ahead with the Xayaburi Dam project, but Australia - through the Mekong River Commission (MRC) - has backed concerns by Vietnam and Cambodia over project.

The Xayaburi Dam in Laos is the first of 11 proposed hydropower developments on the lower Mekong River.

Concerns have been raised about the dam's impact on the biodiversity of the river and the 40 million people who depend on it for their livelihoods.

The United States has already called for development to be deferred for 10 years to allow further environmental impact studies to be carried out.

Environmental groups in Australia have also pressed Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd to back calls for a stay on hydro-power development along the river.

Ame Trandem, a representative for environmental group International Rivers, says Australia needs to step up pressure on the commission given fears of the wider impact hydropower dams will have on the Mekong River.

"Australia should be applying more pressure on the Mekong River Commission to make sure that the four countries take a precautionary approach to the dams and that they are fully informed and aware of the impact the dams will cause," Ms Trandem said.

A decision on the project by the commission could come as early as March 22.

The Laos-based MRC is internationally donor sponsored, with Australia a key contributor.

The MRC advises the four countries - Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam - over the direction of development on the Mekong River.

Laos, in official statements, says it sees no reason for delaying the Xayaburi Dam, having met all legal, environmental and social measures.

In 2007, Laos signed a memorandum of understanding to sell 95 per cent of the electricity produced by the Xayaburi project to Thailand.

Financing and construction for the $3.5 billion development is also set to come from Thai banks and construction companies.

University of New South Wales political analyst, Carl Thayer, says Australia faces difficult diplomatic times given Thailand and Laos' ambition to press on with the Xayaburi hydro-power development.

"Vietnam's got Australia's ears," Mr Thayer said.

"Laos needs the money from selling electricity. All northeast Thailand and Vietnam are importers of electricity from Laos - it cuts the other way," he said.

"By Australia and environmentalists raising it, it is because the scientific evidence isn't clear enough. And be careful what you wish for because it could do irrevocable damage for downstream states," he told AAP.

"There's no win-win situation for Australia because each country (has its) own national interest in getting... the water and using its flow."

The 4900-kilometre Mekong River starts in the Tibetan Plateau, running through southern China, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia and onto the Vietnam's delta region to the South China Sea.

China has gone ahead with programs to dam the upper Mekong, while the Xayaburi Dam is the first planned construction on the lower Mekong's mainstream.

Climatologist Anond Snidvongs from Chulalongkorn University says dams will impact the region's agriculture.

"Dams are definitely going to affect the biodiversity, that's one thing. It's very clear and very well proven," he said.

Of key concern is the impact on fisheries on Cambodia's Ton Le Sap Lake and Vietnam's delta, both vital sources of food and income for millions of people on the Lower Mekong.

"Fish in the Mekong, they are both food and also economics. About one third of the economy of Cambodia at the moment relies on the exporting of fish (from the lake) to other countries, especially Thailand," Mr Anond said.

In Vietnam, a deputy minister of natural resources and environment warned the Xayaburi Dam would greatly affect Vietnam's agricultural production and aquaculture.

Reduced fresh water flows into the Mekong Delta in Vietnam would lead to greater saltwater intrusion into agricultural soils damaging rice output from the delta - the rice bowl of the country.

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/australia-urged-to-help-halt-mekong-dam-20110310-1bp03.html

Push to Build Dams Sparks New Warnings Over Mekong River's Future

March 04, 2011
Ron Corben | Bangkok

Governments along the Mekong River are nearing a decision on plans to build a hydropower dam in Laos. Environmentalists fear that a planned series of dams will damage the environment, and the livelihoods of the people living along the Mekong.

In northern Laos, the government plans to build the Xayaburi hydropower dam, capable of generating 1,260 megawatts of electricity – on the main stream of the lower Mekong River.

It is the first of 12 dams planned for the Mekong. The Southeast Asian governments involved say the dams will be a clean source of energy for a rapidly developing region and will help cut poverty.

The $3.5 billion Xayaburi project is being built in cooperation with Thailand, which will buy almost all of the electricity it generates.

It is the first project requiring approval by the four governments along the lower Mekong – Laos, Thailand Cambodia and Vietnam – under a consultative process overseen by the Mekong River Commission.

The governments could present their decision later this month.

Under a 1995 agreement the four countries are to cooperate to ensure sustainable development along the 4,900-kilometer Mekong system.

Environmentalists say the consultations have not been transparent and that plans for the dams have not had adequate local debate or study.

Ame Trandem is with the environmental group International Rivers. She says the governments have not reached a point where they can make informed decisions.

"This is why it recommended deferring the decisions for the next 10 years,” Trandem said. “And we feel the Xayaburi consultation process right now should be halted in order to allow that 10 year deferment so people can understand the Mekong River better."

The Mekong River Commission, which is funded by countries that include Australia, New Zealand, the European Union and the United States, recommends that the Xayaburi project be deferred. The commission says more work is needed to assess the effect of having 12 hydropower dams.

But the Lao government says it sees no reason for delay, and that the government has met all legal, environmental and social requirements.

Climatologist Anond Snidvongs at Thailand’s Chulalongorn University says while dams regulate water flows, they can harm biodiversity and the economy.

"It’s very clear and very well proven. Fish in the Mekong, they are both food and also economics,” Trandem said. “About one-third of the economy of Cambodia at the moment relies on the exporting those fish to other countries, especially Thailand."

Environmentalists such as International River’s Trandem say millions of people will be affected.

"When we look into the future if these dams are built the future is going to be very grim,” Trandem added. “People will be poor because they have lost their main source of income - fisheries - people will also not have enough food to eat. This is a huge worry."

Environmentalists are pressing the four Mekong governments to stall the Xayaburi program to further assess the long-term implications for both the Mekong River and its people.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/environment/Push-to-build-dams-sparks-new-warnings-over-Mekong-Rivers-Future-117396313.html

UW-Madison lake scientist gets world's top water prize

March 22, 2011
by Terry Devitt

Noted University of Wisconsin-Madison limnologist Stephen Carpenter has been awarded the 2011 Stockholm Water Prize, the world's most prestigious award for water-related activities, it was announced in Stockholm, Sweden today (Tuesday, March 22).

The award, which comes with $150,000 and a specially designed crystal sculpture, honors individuals and organizations "whose work contributes broadly to the conservation and protection of water resources and to improved health of the planet's inhabitants and ecosystems."

The award will be conferred in August by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in a royal award ceremony at Stockholm City Hall.

"It s a great honor to be selected," says Carpenter, the Stephen Alfred Forbes Professor of Zoology at UW-Madison. "So many great people have received this award, and there are so many great people who could have received it. I am surprised."

Carpenter, who directs the UW-Madison Center for Limnology, is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He is one of the world's most distinguished authorities on lakes and fresh water ecosystems, including eutrophication, long-term ecological change, lake food web dynamics, and the economic and social aspects of fresh water ecology.

He is a former president of the Ecological Society of America and his research, embodied in five books and nearly 300 scientific papers, is among the most cited in all of environmental science. He has received numerous awards and honors, including a Pew Fellowship in Conservation and Environment, the G. Evelyn Hutchinson Medal of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, and the Robert H. MacArthur Award from the Ecological Society of America.

"The prize increases my resolve and sense of obligation to work on emerging issues of fresh water, such as climate change and the connections of food and water security," says Carpenter.

The Stockholm water Prize was first presented in 1991. Past recipients include such luminaries as Rita Colwell, former director of the U.S National Science Foundation. The prize is presented each year in Stockholm during World Water Week. This year the prize will be conferred on Aug. 25.

http://www.news.wisc.edu/19126

Adders, toads and lizards are disappearing from UK

Wednesday, 9 March 2011
By Emma Brennand
Earth News reporter

The native adder is effectively disappearing from our landscape, a study has revealed.

The first nationwide survey of UK amphibian and reptiles has found that Britain's most widespread snake, the adder, is in decline.

Slow worms, common lizards and grass snakes are also becoming less widespread, as are the common toad, common frog and the great crested newt.

The only species found to be increasing its range is the palmate newt.

These startling trends come from a report produced by the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) Trust, which has been gathering data on 12 species since 2007.

The trust's National Amphibian and Reptile Recording Scheme (NARRS) has presented its interim findings, which cover the first half of the six-year survey period from 2007 to 2012.

The full survey aims to establish baselines for widespread species - figures against which future status changes can be assessed.

The survey focuses on widespread amphibian and reptile population. These include the great crested, smooth and palmate newts, common toad and frog, common lizard, slow-worm, grass snake and adder, as well as the wall and green lizards and agile frog in Jersey.

The rarest species, such as the great crested newt, already have high levels of protection, but it is strongly suspected that some formerly common species now in decline.

For this reason, the UK government passed legislation in 2007 prioritising the protection of common toads and all UK reptiles.

But this survey suggests that their numbers continue to fall.

Out of approximately 250 square kilometres surveyed, adders were found in about 20.

"Though we suspected that adders were getting much less common, it is very alarming that they turn up in only 7% of reptile surveys nationally," Dr John Wilkinson, Research and Monitoring Officer for the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust, told BBC News.

"Adder occupancy is poor everywhere, making them our rarest widespread reptile by far and in need of serious conservation attention."

Historically, it was believed that adders were most at risk from persecution - people killing the snakes because they are venomous. But the ARC Trust say that their decline may also be caused by development and disturbance.

Under threat

Other widespread amphibians and reptiles also appear to be in trouble.

"There is no single trend as different species are sensitive to different issues," explained Dr Wilkinson.

"Broadly, though, our reptiles and amphibians are doing poorly and adders in particular."

Common frogs are becoming less common in the south of England, particularly in areas which have experienced the most development in recent decades.

And, in the same area of England, the common toad is only half as widespread as the common frog.

"Great crested newts may be much rarer in Scotland than we thought - they haven't turned up in any of our NARRS surveys [there]," said Dr Wilkinson.

Common lizards, thought to occur throughout the UK, were seen rarely in the north and central regions, including Wales. Slow-worms were also found to be scarce in these areas.

Dr Wilkinson believes that this may be because these leg-less lizards are more difficult to find, as they burrow in undergrowth. So a reduced number of sightings may not necessarily reflect a decrease in their population.

Acid-lover

Surprisingly, palmate newt numbers are higher than expected, which might indicate changes in the quality of Britain's ponds.

Unlike many other amphibian species, these small newts thrive in acidic pools that are formed through acid rain fall or agricultural run-off.

The main drive of amphibian and reptile decline is thought to be habitat fragmentation and development.

Conservationists say this is a particular problem for toads, which are more sensitive than frogs to changes in habitat.

The final NARRS report is due to be published in Spring 2014.

See video at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9405000/9405801.stm
(Submitted by Liz R.)

Humans causing mass extinction of Earth's species

March 2, 2011

The good news is that so far, a study finds, the total loss is not devastating

(Livescience.com)

Are humans causing a mass extinction on the magnitude of the one that killed the dinosaurs?

The answer is yes, according to a new analysis -- but we still have some time to stop it.

Mass extinctions include events in which 75 percent of the species on Earth disappear within a geologically short time period, usually on the order of a few hundred thousand to a couple million years. It's happened only five times before in the past 540 million years of multicellular life on Earth. (The last great extinction occurred 65 million years ago, when the dinosaurs were wiped out.) At current rates of extinction, the study found, Earth will enter its sixth mass extinction within the next 300 to 2,000 years.

"It's bittersweet, because we're showing that we have this crisis," study co-author Elizabeth Ferrer, a graduate student in biology at the University of California, Berkeley, told LiveScience. "But we still have time to fix this."

Others aren't so optimistic that humans will actually do anything to stop the looming disaster, saying that politics is successfully working against saving species and the planet.

The 6th extinction

>Species go extinct all the time, said Anthony Barnosky, the curator of the Museum of Paleontology at UC Berkeley and another co-author of the paper, which appears in today's (March 2) issue of the journal Nature. But new species also evolve constantly, meaning that biodiversity usually stays constant. Mass extinctions happen when that balance goes out of whack. Suddenly, extinctions far outpace the genesis of new species, and the old rules for species survival go out the window.

"If the fossil record tells us one thing, it's that when we kick over into a mass extinction regime, results are extreme, they're irreversible and they're unpredictable," David Jablonski, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago who was not involved in the study, told LiveScience. "Factors that promote success and survival during normal times seem to melt away."

Everyone knows that we now lose many species a year, Barnosky said. "The question is, 'Is the pace of extinction we're seeing today over these short time intervals usual or unusual?'"

Answering the question requires stitching together two types of data: that from the fossil record and that collected by conservation biologists in the modern era. They don't always match up well. For example, Barnosky said, fossils tell us lots about the history of clams, snails and other invertebrates. But in the modern world, biologists have only assessed the extinction risk for 3 percent of known species of such invertebrates. That makes comparisons tough.

The fossil record also presents a blurrier history than today's yearly records of species counts. Sparse examples of a species may be distributed across millions of years of fossil history, the researchers wrote, while modern surveys provide dense samples over short periods of time. And even the best source of modern data -- the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List of threatened and endangered species -- has cataloged the conservation status of less than 2.7 percent of the 1.9 million named species out there.

Coming crisis

The researchers worked to combine these two sources of data, Ferrer said, taking a conservative approach to filling in gaps and estimating future directions. They found that the overall rate of extinction is, in fact, between three to 80 times higher than non-mass extinction rates. Most likely, species are going extinct three to 12 times faster than would be expected if there were no crisis, Ferrer said.

That gives Earth between three and 22 centuries to reach the point of mass extinction if nothing is done to stop the problem. (The wide range is a factor of the uncertainty in the data and different rates of extinction found in various species.) The good news, Barnosky said, is that the total loss so far is not devastating. In the last 200 years, the researchers found, only 1 to 2 percent of all species have gone extinct.

The strongest evidence for comparison between modern and ancient times comes from vertebrate animals, Barnosky said, which means there is still work to do collecting better data for more robust comparisons with better invertebrate data. But, he said, the research "shows absolutely without a doubt that we do have this major problem."

Back from the brink?

The culprits for the biodiversity loss include climate change, habitat loss, pollution and overfishing, the researchers wrote.

"Most of the mechanisms that are occurring today, most of them are caused by us," Ferrer said.

So can we fix it? Yes, there's time to cut dependence on fossil fuels, alleviate climate change and commit to conservation of habitat, the study scientists say. The more pressing question is, will we?

Barnosky and Ferrer both say they're optimistic that people will pull together to solve the problem once they understand the magnitude of the looming disaster. Jablonski puts himself into the "guardedly optimistic category."

"I think a lot of the problems probably have a lot more to do with politics than with science," Jablonski said.

That's where Paul Ehrlich, the president of the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University and author of "The Population Bomb" (Sierra Club-Ballantine, 1968), sees little hope.

"Everything we're doing in Washington [D.C.] today is working in the wrong direction," Ehrlich, who was not involved in the research, told LiveScience. "There isn't a single powerful person in the world who is really talking about what the situation is ... It's hard to be cheery when you don't see the slightest sign of any real attention being paid."

Other researchers take an upbeat view.

"If we have a business-as-usual scenario, it is pretty grim, but it isn't yet written," Stuart Pimm, a professor of conservation ecology at Duke University who was not involved in the research, told LiveScience in a phone interview from Chile, where he was doing fieldwork.

In 2010, Pimm said, the United Nations declared the International Year of Biodiversity. According to a UN statement, the 193 countries involved agreed to protect 17 percent of Earth's terrestrial ecosystems and 10 percent of marine and coastal areas. Some types of ecosystems still lag behind, Pimm said, but there is reason for hope.

"I hope that this will alert people to the fact that we are living in geologically unprecedented times," Pimm said. "Only five times in Earth's history has life been as threatened as it is now."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/02/scitech/main20038438.shtml

Happy National Invasive Species Week!

Posted by Bryan Walsh
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 3:04 pm

More frequent readers of this blog know that I'm obsessed with two things: Philadelphia sports and Asian carp. I even see some similarities between the two—Phillies fans, like Asian carp, are seen by some as an invading horde infiltrating territory that doesn't belong to them. (Like the Asian carp, the fans are generally peaceful but will thrash about violently if they're startled or, more likely, drunk.) That's why I wish I were in one of two places this week: down in the Florida town of Clearwater, where the Phillies are beginning their Grapefruit League slate, or in Washington for National Invasive Species Awareness Week.

Yes, there is an entire week devoted to invasive species like the Asian carp, the longhorn beetle and the quagga mussel. Why not—invasive species cost the county an estimated $120 billion a year, and billions more are spent every year by various branches of government to fight off those invaders. Much of the focus will indeed be going toward the Asian carp, and the multi-million dollar effort underway to keep those fish out of the Great Lakes, where they could eat other species into oblivion and brain the occasional waterskier on Lake Michigan. John Goss, the White House's Asian carp czar—yes, this is an actual position—gave the keynote today, though hopefully he'll be able to do something about the fact the Obama budget has cut $125 million from the Great Lakes ecological restoration program.

Of course, once an invasive species is close to establishing itself like the Asian carp, the battle may already be lost. That was the message from environmental and conservation groups speaking before the conference, who emphasized the need to tighten the country's porous customs barriers to keep would-be invaders at bay:

Asian carp were allowed into this country under a law governing animal imports that was passed in 1900, and which has remained unchanged, despite a drastically different global trade reality. As two species of Asian carp, the bighead and silver carp, knock at the door of the Great Lakes, conservation and fishing groups are calling on federal officials to finally update import screening laws before the next invader gets here.

The 111-year-old Lacey Act prohibits the transport of illegal wildlife and plants, but just 40 animal groups have been prohibited under the legislation, and usually only after they've already escaped and begun to establish themselves. The Maginot Line provided better security from invaders, and that needs to change:

By modernizing the Lacey Act, the U.S. Congress can empower the FWS [Fish and Wildlife Service] to first assess the potential risks associated with a species proposed for import before deciding whether to allow or prohibit its trade into the United States.

“Right now, the next species that might terrorize the Great Lakes could be on its way to the U.S.,” said Max Muller, Program Director at Environment Illinois. “We need Congress to plug the gaping loophole that allows invasive species to be imported into the country, and leaves states like Illinois holding the bag.”

In a more globalized world—better yet, a more telecoupled one—the threat of invasive species will only worsen, as trade moves species from one corner of the globe to another. Zebra mussels, which have proved incredibly annoying and expensive to the Great Lakes, established themselves after a European container ship dumped its mussel-contaminated ballast water into Lake Erie. The red lionfish, which is wrecking havoc in the Caribbean, was likely introduced by an unwary aquarium owner. In Florida, careless owners released pet Burmese pythons into the Everglades—now Florida wildlife officials actually have to hunt the snakes down.

As we keep disrupting the planet's ecology through development and climate change, that will give more invasive species a chance to gain a foothold in American soil. The good news? For every dangerous Asian carp or red fire ant, far more would-be invaders either fail to establish themselves, or end up mostly harmless, according to a new study in the journal Ecology Letters. Sometimes those invasives end up benefiting the local environment—including honeybees, which were introduced to North America in the 16th century. And there's the ultimate invasive species, for better or for worse: us.

More from TIME on Asian carp:
Lake Invaders


http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/03/01/happy-national-invasive-species-week/

Amur tigers in population crisis

Monday, 28 February 2011
By Victoria Gill
Science and nature reporter, BBC News

The effective population of the critically endangered Amur tiger is now fewer than 14 animals, say scientists.

Approximately 500 Amur tigers actually survive in the wild, but the effective population is a measure of the genetic diversity of the world's largest cat.

Very low diversity means any vulnerability to disease or rare genetic disorders is likely to be passed on to the next generation.

So these results paint a grim picture for the tiger's chance of survival.

The findings are reported in the journal Mammalian Biology.

The Amur tiger, or Siberian tiger as it is also known, once lived across a large portion of northern China, the Korean peninsula, and the southernmost regions of eastern Russia.

During the early 20th Century, the Amur tiger was almost driven to extinction, as expanding human settlements, habitat loss and poaching wiped out this biggest of cats from over 90% of its range.

By the 1940s, just 20 to 30 individuals survived in the wild. The new study has identified that this recent "genetic bottleneck" - when the breeding population of tigers was so critically low - has decimated the Amur tiger gene pool.

A more genetically diverse population of animals has a much better chance of survival; it is more likely, for example, to contain the genetic resistance to a variety of diseases and less likely to succumb to rare genetic disorders, which can be "cancelled out" by healthy genes.

'Worryingly low'

Scientists in Russia, Spain and Germany worked together to analyse DNA samples from 15 wild Amur tigers in the Russian Far East.

They took blood samples from the animals and screened them for certain "markers" - points in the DNA code that show that an animal had parents that were genetically very different from each other.

The results revealed evidence of the genetic bottleneck during the tigers' recent history, when the variety of genes being passed on dramatically reduced.

Genetically speaking, the Amur tiger has not recovered from this.

"Our results are the first to demonstrate a quite recent genetic bottleneck in Siberian tigers, a result that matches the well-documented severe demographic decline of the Siberian tiger population in the 1940s," the researchers wrote in the paper.

"The worryingly low effective population size challenges the optimism for the recovery of the huge Siberian cat."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9407000/9407744.stm
(Submitted by Dawn Holloway)

The 'weird' predatory fossa of Madagascar is threatened

Friday, 4 February 2011

By Matt Walker
Editor, Earth News

It is one of the most unusual of all big predators, but the odd-looking, cat-like fossa, the largest carnivore on the island of Madagascar, faces an uncertain future.

Few fossa can now be found in a place that was once a stronghold, as villagers hunt the animal as bushmeat and in a bid to protect their own livestock, which the fossa eats.

Its population may be declining rapidly, says one of the few scientists to have studied it in the wild, and it could already be critically endangered.

Fossa are a highly specialised predator.

Secretive and cat-like, they are expert climbers and well equipped for chasing down lemurs in the forest, preying on even the largest lemur species.

But they also take small shrew-like creatures called tenrecs and almost any other vertebrate animal living in Madagascar's forests, with the exception of humans, crocodiles and possibly wild boar.

However, very little is known about them, as only a handful of scientists have been able to study fossa closely in the wild.

For example, it was once thought to be closely related to civets and their relatives, but genetic evidence suggests it is actually related to other Malagasy carnivores that together are related to mongooses.

Little is also known about how many fossa exist on Madagascar, with official estimates suggesting that fewer than 2500 survive and the animal should be considered as Endangered.

But according to one scientist studying it, the fossa could be in an even more perilous state.

Ms Mia-Lana Lührs is currently studying the fossa for her PhD at Germany's University of Göttingen and the German Primate Center.

She has also helped the upcoming BBC natural history series Madagascar film the creatures in the wild.

Within the past three years, she has recorded a substantial fall in the numbers of fossa living in Kirindy, a reserve within forests on the west of the island.

This area was considered to be a stronghold of the fossa.

In 2007, Ms Lührs recorded 18 different males regularly visiting a particular tree that male and female fossa use to mate in.

In 2008, she recorded 14 males, and in 2009 just ten.

Last year, only two males were sighted.

"Fortunately, I have seen seven males shortly before in another part of the forest where I observed, so I know that at least nine males are still alive," she told BBC News.

But overall, her studies, which use GPS tracking collars to follow individual fossa, suggest no more than 30 fossa of either sex now exist in Kirindy.

A forest fragment that size would be expected to be home to many times that number.

"That is not sufficient for the population to survive without management," she says.

Habitat destruction is one significant cause of the fossa's recent decline reason.

But the large predator is also coming into conflict with people, as it leaves the dwindling forest in search of food.

A survey conducted last year by colleague Moritz Rahlfs in villages surrounding Kirindy found that 12 fossa had been killed recently by people living in just eight villages, to prevent the fossa from stealing their chickens.

"If the killings continue at such high rates, we have three years left to see fossas in Kirindy," says Ms Lührs.

The carnivore also faces other threats.

A separate recent piece of research by PhD student Christopher Golden of the University of California, Berkeley, has already found that fossa are hunted for food by people within 55 to 60% of those villages studied in northeastern Madagascar.

Fossa body parts are also used in traditional medicines in some parts of the island.

Ms Lührs suspects the fossa may already be critically endangered.

"There is this fascinating weird creature at the other end of the world and it might soon go extinct," she says.

The story of the fossa will be told in the natural history series Madagascar, which broadcasts on BBC Two on Wednesday 9 February at GMT 20.00.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9385000/9385018.stm

Shark-Catching Nations Fail To Protect Threatened Species

NICOLE WINFIELD
01/27/11 03:10 PM

ROME — Two environmental groups on Thursday accused the 20 countries that catch the most sharks of failing to fulfill promises made to the U.N. to better conserve the animals that are increasingly threatened with extinction.

In 1999, more than 100 governments adopted a plan of action at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization to try to stem overfishing of sharks, pledging, among other things, to develop national action plans to ensure that shark catches are sustainable.

The non-governmental groups Traffic and the Pew Environment Group said Thursday that only 13 of the top 20 shark catching countries had developed national plans, and that it was unclear if such plans had done any good where they were adopted.

They issued their report ahead of a meeting next week of government members of the FAO's fisheries committee, which will discuss the state of the world's fisheries in detail.

Some 73 million sharks are killed annually, primarily to meet the high demand in Asia for fins which are used in shark fin soup.

Because sharks are slow growing, late to mature and produce few young, they are unable to replenish their populations as quickly when they are caught. As a result, some 30 percent of all shark species are now threatened or nearly threatened with extinction.

Traffic and Pew analyzed fisheries data and made a list of the top 20 shark catchers which account for nearly 80 percent of the total shark catch reported globally. In order, the top 10 are Indonesia, India, Spain, Taiwan, Argentina, Mexico, Pakistan, United States, Japan, and Malaysia. Yet according to the two groups, Indonesia has only made a draft national plan and India is developing one. Other countries have adopted them but, because reporting is voluntary, it's not clear if they've been implemented or have done any good.

The groups urged governments at the FAO meeting next week to have the U.N. agency complete a thorough review to determine what countries have and haven't done to comply with their pledges to manage their fisheries.

"The fate of the world's sharks is in the hands of the top 20 shark catchers, most of whom have failed to demonstrate what, if anything, they are doing to save these imperiled species," said Glenn Sant, Traffic's global marine program leader.

Jill Hepp, manager of shark conservation for Pew, said sharks play a critical role in the ocean environment.

"Where shark populations are healthy, marine life thrives; but where they have been overfished, ecosystems fall out of balance," she said.

The report suggests that national action plans with lofty goals that are never implemented might not be the answer to saving sharks. Rather, countries that take smaller, incremental steps toward conservation might achieve better results.

It noted that Palau had announced in 2009 it would create the world's first shark sanctuary by banning all commercial shark fishing in its territorial waters and that Honduras had announced a moratorium on shark fishing last year.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/30/sharkcatching-nations-fai_n_815064.html

Pika gets new review as possible at-risk species

Published: Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 2B

The American pika, a tiny rabbit-like resident of the Sierra Nevada, will get another shot at the state Endangered Species Act.

On Thursday, the state Fish and Game Commission ordered a review of the pika's status in response to a San Francisco Superior Court ruling that found the Department of Fish and Game failed to consider new information in a review completed last fall.

This came in response to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, which first petitioned the state to protect the pika in 2007.

The pika lives only in high-elevation boulder fields. In other states, evidence shows climate change has shrunk pika habitat, resulting in smaller populations.

Until recently, California has lacked similar evidence.

But the Center for Biological Diversity last summer submitted new findings of pika population losses in the Bodie and Lassen regions.

In a subsequent suit, the center claimed that state officials had failed to consider this, and the court agreed, said Greg Loarie, an attorney at Earthjustice who represented the center.

Fish and Game has 90 days to complete a new review.

If protected, pika would become the first California species listed under the state Endangered Species Act as a result of climate change.

– Matt Weiser

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/02/08/3385260/pika-gets-new-review-as-possible.html

Year of the Tiger ends with roadmap to save species

From: Editor, World Wildlife Fund
Published February 7, 2011 08:49 AM

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — The Year of the Tiger in the Chinese lunar calendar comes to an end on Wednesday having yielded big results for its namesake — an unprecedented swell of public and government support to save tigers in the wild, including a historic global recovery programme.

The International Tiger Forum, held in St. Petersburg, Russia in November 2010 marked the first time an international summit was convened to focus on a single, non-human species. The Forum produced the Global Tiger Recovery Programme (GTRP), a collaboration between the 13 countries that still have wild tigers. It has set a goal of doubling wild tigers by the next Year of the Tiger in 2022.

"The recovery programme is a big boost for tigers," said Mike Baltzer, Head of WWF's Tigers Alive Initiative.

"But it is only the beginning. We must now join the tiger countries and our partners worldwide to ensure the momentum from the Forum and this past year's tiger conservation achievements continues. Tigers have already run out of time. The recovery must not lose steam."

Wild tiger numbers are down to only 3,200, with scattered populations across 13 countries having lost more than 93 percent of their historic range. Just 100 years ago, an estimated 100,000 tigers roamed across Asia.

Article continues: http://wwf.panda.org/?uNewsID=199237

http://www.enn.com/environmental_policy/article/42326

Royal Bengal Tigers Get GPS Treatment, New Plans to Save the Endangered Species

BY Jenara Nerenberg
Fri Jan 28, 2011

Poachers beware--the World Wildlife Fund is armed with GPS tracking devices and far-reaching plans to help tigers re-produce.

Tigers in the Himalayas were a big issue this week, as a study co-authored by WWF scientists was published by Conservation Letters, detailing how the world's endangered tigers--many of which are in Nepal, Bhutan, and India--could triple with proper land management. News also came directly out of Nepal that it had successfully installed a GPS tracking kit on a Royal Bengal tiger and then transported the tiger from Chitwan National Park to Bardia National Park. The goal of the tracking is to place the tiger in a safer, breeding-friendly environment. (At right, WWF-US president and CEO Carter Roberts fits a GLOBALSTAR-3 satellite collar on the wild tiger 'Namobuddha' in preparation for translocation.)


"We have one of the highest densities of tigers. If our landscapes are properly managed, then our number of tigers can triple," WWF Nepal Conservation Program Director, Ghana Gurung, tells Fast Company. "We're committed to doubling our number of tigers by 2022."

The global tiger population has decreased from 100,000 to 3,200 in just a century, due to profit-seeking poachers as well as, in the case of Nepal, war-inflicted habitat destruction.

"Therefore, habitat management is essential," says Gurung. And the most important finding to come out of the study is that by preserving corridors that link breeding areas, tigers will more freely roam and breed.

If, however, they are confined to small areas--and areas that are disconnected from each other--the population begins to decrease.

Of course protecting those breeding grounds is also essential. Poachers throughout Asia hunt in search of high profits from sales to China for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

"We absolutely need to stop the bleeding, the poaching of tigers and their prey in core breeding areas," says co-author Eric Dinerstein, chief scientist at WWF. "But we need to go much further and secure larger tiger landscapes before it is too late."

Follow me, Jenara Nerenberg, on Twitter.

[Image: Carter Roberts, President and CEO, World Wildlife Fund, with Minister of Forest and Soil Conservation of Nepal, Deepak Bohara (standing, left), fitting a GPS plus GLOBALSTAR-3 satellite collar on the wild tiger 'Namobuddha' before it was translocated to Bardia National Park from Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Courtesy WWF/Min Bajracharya]

http://www.fastcompany.com/1721342/tigers-get-gps-treatment-and-increased-breeding-grounds-in-wwf-push-to-save-endangered-speci

Royal Bengal Tigers Get GPS Treatment, New Plans to Save the Endangered Species

BY Jenara Nerenberg
Fri Jan 28, 2011

Poachers beware--the World Wildlife Fund is armed with GPS tracking devices and far-reaching plans to help tigers re-produce.

Tigers in the Himalayas were a big issue this week, as a study co-authored by WWF scientists was published by Conservation Letters, detailing how the world's endangered tigers--many of which are in Nepal, Bhutan, and India--could triple with proper land management. News also came directly out of Nepal that it had successfully installed a GPS tracking kit on a Royal Bengal tiger and then transported the tiger from Chitwan National Park to Bardia National Park. The goal of the tracking is to place the tiger in a safer, breeding-friendly environment. (At right, WWF-US president and CEO Carter Roberts fits a GLOBALSTAR-3 satellite collar on the wild tiger 'Namobuddha' in preparation for translocation.)


"We have one of the highest densities of tigers. If our landscapes are properly managed, then our number of tigers can triple," WWF Nepal Conservation Program Director, Ghana Gurung, tells Fast Company. "We're committed to doubling our number of tigers by 2022."

The global tiger population has decreased from 100,000 to 3,200 in just a century, due to profit-seeking poachers as well as, in the case of Nepal, war-inflicted habitat destruction.

"Therefore, habitat management is essential," says Gurung. And the most important finding to come out of the study is that by preserving corridors that link breeding areas, tigers will more freely roam and breed.

If, however, they are confined to small areas--and areas that are disconnected from each other--the population begins to decrease.

Of course protecting those breeding grounds is also essential. Poachers throughout Asia hunt in search of high profits from sales to China for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

"We absolutely need to stop the bleeding, the poaching of tigers and their prey in core breeding areas," says co-author Eric Dinerstein, chief scientist at WWF. "But we need to go much further and secure larger tiger landscapes before it is too late."

Follow me, Jenara Nerenberg, on Twitter.

[Image: Carter Roberts, President and CEO, World Wildlife Fund, with Minister of Forest and Soil Conservation of Nepal, Deepak Bohara (standing, left), fitting a GPS plus GLOBALSTAR-3 satellite collar on the wild tiger 'Namobuddha' before it was translocated to Bardia National Park from Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Courtesy WWF/Min Bajracharya]

http://www.fastcompany.com/1721342/tigers-get-gps-treatment-and-increased-breeding-grounds-in-wwf-push-to-save-endangered-speci

Mountain species at risk in climate change

by Staff Writers
Nairobi, Kenya (UPI) Jan 21, 2011

Changes both man-made and natural have sent populations of birds in Kenya's highlands plummeting, and many conservations say they fear some may not recover.

An increasing number of settlers who have moved to the country's highlands to farm in the last two decades have affected bird habitats and reduced bird populations by cutting down forests and turning grasslands into fields, The New York Times reported.

Climate change is adding to the problem, sending some populations into steep decline, researchers say.

Some scientists predict a 20 percent to 30 percent species loss if temperatures rise by 3.6 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit, and if some of the more extreme warming predictions come to pass the loss rate could approach 50 percent, a United Nations climate change panel says.

Tens of thousands of species living on or near mountains are vulnerable, scientists say. These species, living in habitats from the high plateaus of Africa to the jungles of Australia to the Sierra Nevada in the United States, are already experiencing climate pressures, they say.

In response to warming, animals classically move to cooler ground, but mountain species face drastic limitations.

As they move upward they must compete for less and less space on the mountaintops, where they run into uninhabitable rocky terrain or a lack of their usual foods and have nowhere farther to go.

"It's a really simple story that at some point you can't go further north or higher up, so there's no doubt that species will go extinct," Walter Jetz, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale, said.

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Mountain_species_at_risk_in_climate_change_999.html

Mountain species at risk in climate change

by Staff Writers
Nairobi, Kenya (UPI) Jan 21, 2011

Changes both man-made and natural have sent populations of birds in Kenya's highlands plummeting, and many conservations say they fear some may not recover.

An increasing number of settlers who have moved to the country's highlands to farm in the last two decades have affected bird habitats and reduced bird populations by cutting down forests and turning grasslands into fields, The New York Times reported.

Climate change is adding to the problem, sending some populations into steep decline, researchers say.

Some scientists predict a 20 percent to 30 percent species loss if temperatures rise by 3.6 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit, and if some of the more extreme warming predictions come to pass the loss rate could approach 50 percent, a United Nations climate change panel says.

Tens of thousands of species living on or near mountains are vulnerable, scientists say. These species, living in habitats from the high plateaus of Africa to the jungles of Australia to the Sierra Nevada in the United States, are already experiencing climate pressures, they say.

In response to warming, animals classically move to cooler ground, but mountain species face drastic limitations.

As they move upward they must compete for less and less space on the mountaintops, where they run into uninhabitable rocky terrain or a lack of their usual foods and have nowhere farther to go.

"It's a really simple story that at some point you can't go further north or higher up, so there's no doubt that species will go extinct," Walter Jetz, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale, said.

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Mountain_species_at_risk_in_climate_change_999.html