Mountain plover not warranted for endangered species listing

Nesting mountain plover (Photo/Fritz Knopf)

Here’s some food for thought.

The mountain plover’s populations now range around 20,000 birds left in the world. Across the globe, a very different creature, the saiga antelope, only boasts about 40,000. One of these animals is globally listed as critically endangered, and one was found not qualified for federal endangered species status. Any guesses?

Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, after a review of the current scientific and commercial information found mountain plover not warranted for listing, citing threats to its habitat as less significant than previously thought.

Mountain plovers are a small ground-nesting bird that rely on short-grass prairies and shrub-steppe environments in the American West for breeding habitat. Land use and habitat loss have been a primary suspect in the disappearance of the plover, an animal so good at hiding, that science is just now starting to get a better idea of how many are left. Recent research shows that rather than being pushed out by agriculture, mountain plovers are actually using farmland as a refuge during nesting season.

I want to take this as good news, but with short-grass prairie and steppe disappearing, swallowed up by energy development and overgrazing, active cropland does not sound like the most stable of refuges for a bird of small numbers, stature and a master of camouflage.  My hope is that not being listed will help avoid animosity of the animal by landowners, and perhaps even foster pride and care of the plover so that farmers will not have to contend with being the harbor of an endangered species.

Saiga Antelope, numbers around 40,000, critically endangered and rightfully so.

How many of an animal is left is not necessarily determinant of whether a species should be protected. Many factors go into the decision. But one has to wonder, what makes a population of 20,000 birds so much more stable than 40,000 of another species?

First Photo of Fishing Cat with Baby in Wild

 

Fishing cat with kitten in the wild of Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park. (Photo/Namfon Cutter, Fishing Cat Research and Conservation Project)

 

 

The Secret Lives of Fishing Cats

 

Our resident fishing cat biologist friend, Namfon Cutter, was kind enough to give us permission to share her first-ever photo of a mama fishing cat with kitten in the wild. This is a rarely witnessed event!

With CAT in WATER, we are hoping to add to these efforts by incorporating new high-res camera-traps into the project that will bring you even more intimate views of these amazing critters.

Please enjoy this sweet moment in the life of a rare wild creature courtesy of Namfon and the Fishing Cat Research and Conservation Project.

With all the support so far, we are just $124 away from our start-up goal. Thank you to everyone who has pledged. This photo is the epitome of what you are helping to protect when you do so.

We’ll keep fund raising throughout this project, as the camera-trapping is a whole other canister of film. (I know, we like the old school lingo around here.) If you’d like to help support CAT in WATER, click HERE to learn more.

 

Protecting common species more important than saving endangered ones, new research suggests

The once common Atlantic cod

In wildlife conservation, people tend to pay closer attention to the disappearing creatures. There is a sense of urgency, and rightfully so, to save the few, but new research indicates that it is the common things that need protecting. For if they go, all the ways that they influence the nature of the world will be so disturbed that even the rare will have nowhere left to go. Let’s face it. If things get so bad that even common critters aren’t around anymore, we’re in deep doo-doo.

The research, led by Kerstin Johannesson with the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, looked specifically at marine systems. Johannesson found that a vast number of species in the oceans are so rare, it’s difficult to find even  a few individuals anymore. “Committing most resources to saving individual species is not just an expensive business – it would also risk destroying the foundation for ecosystems,” states a press release on the study.

Common species, found Johannesson, create habitat for other species, so by protecting them, it’s possible to protect the rare animals as well.  Johannesson uses the once common cod in the fjords of the Bohuslän coast as an example of this phenomenon. Their numbers have virtually disappeared.

“Without the big predatory fish, the sea-grass meadows become clogged, with the result that the shallow bays no longer act as larders and nurseries for inshore fish,” Johannesson stated in a press release.

I don’t know if Johannesson’s conservation strategy is the right way to go, moreso than concentrating on endangered species, but who’s to say that we shouldn’t really implement both tactics? Regardless, I have no doubt that we need to understand better the value of the common creatures. After all preventative conservation, sure does sound a heck of a lot smarter and potentially easier than waiting to clean up a mess.

What are your thoughts?

Lead Researcher:

Kerstin Johannesson of the University of Gothenburg

Contact:

Kerstin Johannesson, Kerstin.Johannesson@marecol.gu.se, 465-266-8611

Urban flora photography project

Queen of the Prairie (Photo/cm195902 wikimedia commons)

The last time someone found the Queen-of-the-prairie — a pretty, pink rose-like flower — growing in Indianapolis, Indiana, was in a small damp spot at the edge of Water Canal and 52nd Street. The time was July 1935.

Urbanization has had an untold impact on local wildlife. Of the 700 plus species of plants found in Indianapolis, native species have long been replaced by invasive ones. What we see today makes it hard to imagine what we might’ve seen 50 years ago. But a new study, that also happens to be a fantastic premise for a local conservation photography project, might help with that.

Ecologists at the Friesner Herbarium in Butler University, Indianapolis, compared species composition of 2,800 dried plant specimens predating 1940 to plants collected by students between 1996 and 2006. They found a floral community drastically changed from pre-urbanized days. While the number of species was similar, about 700, about 168 (if my math is correct)  native plants, including the Queen-of-the-prairie, have been replaced by non-native ones, such as the amur bush honeysuckle.

Honeysuckles don’t sound so bad, and the US Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service actually promoted the planting of it as a means to prevent erosion and feed wildlife. The plant has proven to do neither. The invasive honeysuckle now proliferates throughout the city along banks and wetlands and land managers pay hand over fist to eradicate it.

Perhaps the big take away from the study is that the plant changes caused by urbanization, at least in Indianapolis, is taking away their floral individuality, said the researchers in a press release.

So how does this turn into a photo project? The project by Butler University just screams visualization. I’m betting most urban areas have universities or museums with historical plant collections. They might even consider well-done portraits of these collections an asset to their archival and educational endeavors. Just think who you could partner with and what you could illustrate by creating a series of floral portraits comparing past and present plant communities in your city.

If you think a project like this isn’t important, keep these words from study lead and Director of  Friesner Herbarium Dr. Rebecca Dolan in mind. “As cities continue to grow, urban green spaces are becoming important refuges for native biodiversity and for people. In coming decades, most people’s contact with nature will be in urban settings, so the social importance of urban plants has never been greater.”

You can find the study in the current issue of the Journal of Ecology.

“As cities continue to grow, urban green spaces are becoming important refuges for native biodiversity and for people. In coming decades, most people’s contact with nature will be in urban settings, so the social importance of urban plants has never been greater.”

Wildlife Candid Camera at Smithsonian

 

Smithsonian Wild

Want to spy on wild animals?

 

Check out this new website launched by Smithsonian that brings together more than 200,000 camera-trap images from seven of their research projects. The online library reveals the otherwise secret lives of rarely seen species, such as the clouded leopard, Amazon red squirrel and the Chinese Takin. Bet you never heard of that one, huh? Well, now you can see a picture of it and while away the minutes as fast as you can say Tremminck’s tragopan. Yes, that’s a real animal, though it looks about as funny as it sounds. Smithsonian Wild

CAT in WATER Kickstarter Launch!

Support the Kickstarter project to document them in the wild  here.

The fishing cat is up and running! We have 90 days to raise the first round of funds for the CAT in WATER expedition. Check out our Kickstarter project and watch the short video. You can also learn about all the paybacks in store for our supporters. Who wouldn’t want a care package from Thailand and the knowledge they are helping a gorgeous, wild animal in need?

Nature Needs Half

Finally, an idea to show the progress of conservation. My first contribution to Nature Needs Half goes live. Watch the trailer and find out how Nature Needs Half could apply to your home.We can reach the goal, one piece at a time.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Nature Needs Half, posted with vodpod

Learn more at natureneedshalf.org.

 

Wildlife Mass Mortality By the Numbers

Between the news reports, Jon Stewart’s repeated references on The Daily Show and animal-costumed Saturday Night Live cast members, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you about the recent wildlife die-offs spinning news media and public alike into a tizzy. One thing repeatedly mentioned in these news stories is the statement from wildlife officials that mass mortality events are fairly common. Well, I decided to take a look. Below you’ll find the quick and dirty breakdown by the numbers. Warning, this might be my “Debbie Downer-ist” blog post yet.

USGS National Wildlife Health Center Mass Mortality data for 2010-present, represents only the Lower 48

72: Wildlife die-off events in the past year

29: States where these events occurred

8,560: Most deaths in one state (Minnesota), mostly waterbirds from a mix of toxins, parasites and viruses

10: Number of mass die-off events in Minnesota last year

4,300: Largest die-off event in 2010

13: Die-offs with 500+ deaths

85: Percent of total mass-mortality events that involved birds

Wildlife Mass Mortality by Animal Type (by Morgan Heim)

10 Largest Mass Mortality Events 2010-Present		Approx. # Killed	Cause
Minnesota	Waterbirds	4,300	Parasites
Arkansas	Red-winged Blackbirds	3,000	Trauma
California	Northern Fulmar	2,750	Emaciation
Texas	Brazilian Free-tailed Bat	2,000	Rabies
Idaho	Tiger Salamander	1,500	Virus
Minnesota	Waterbirds	1,450	Virus
Minnesota	Waterbirds	1,200	Parasites
Florida	Vultures and Hawks	900	Drowning, Emaciation
Minnesota	Waterbirds	800	Open Investigation
South Dakota	Waterbirds	700	Botulism C
Michigan	Gulls	700	Botulism E

Other Interesting Factoids

• Species of waterbirds appear to be the most frequent victims of mass die-off
• Bats suffering from white-nosed syndrome were not represented in USGS data.
• Data does not include several mass fish death events from the past year, including more than 100,000 in the Arkansas River in 2011, 20,000 menhaden in Hampton Roads, Virginia, July 2010; 100,000s menhaden on Folly Beach, South Carolina, as of January 7, 2011.
• Also notably missing from this data appear to be wildlife mortality events from much of the Gulf Coast.

http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/mortality_events/index.jsp

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10 Largest Mass Mortality Events 2010-Present		Approx. # Killed	Cause
Minnesota	Waterbirds	4,300	Parasites
Arkansas	Red-winged Blackbirds	3,000	Trauma
California	Northern Fulmar	2,750	Emaciation
Texas	Brazilian Free-tailed Bat	2,000	Rabies
Idaho	Tiger Salamander	1,500	Virus
Minnesota	Waterbirds	1,450	Virus
Minnesota	Waterbirds	1,200	Parasites
Florida	Vultures and Hawks	900	Drowning, Emaciation
Minnesota	Waterbirds	800	Open Investigation
South Dakota	Waterbirds	700	Botulism C
Michigan	Gulls	700	Botulism E

iLCP RAVE Retrospective, places worth saving on Discovery’s Planet Green

Go on a virtual travel adventure for conservation with images (one of them is mine!) from the RAVE Retrospective by the International League of Conservation Photographer’s. RAVEs, or Rapid Assessment Visual Expeditions, consist of teams of professional iLCP photographers who explore a region facing imminent environmental threat to document as much of its nature, culture and environmental impacts as possible in a short amount of time, usually a few weeks at most.

The select images featured on Discovery.com’s “Planet Green” will give you the 4-1-1 on all the RAVEs that have taken place to date, including ones in Bioko, the Yucatan, Great Bear Rainforest, Canada’s Flathead wilderness and the Chesapeake Bay.

Better yet, you can check out these and other amazing photographs at the G2 Gallery in Venice, Cali., from January 4 – February 13.

iLCP RAVE list (so far!):

Bioko

Wyoming

Yucatan

Flathead

Great Bear Rainforest

Chesapeake Bay

Borderlands

El Triunfo

Balandra

Patagonia

Sacred Headwaters, British Columbia

Potentially new species of lemur found in Madagascar

Close-up of a potentially new species of fork-marked lemur discovered in Madagascar. © Conservation International/ photo by Russell A. Mittermeier

Take a squirrel-sized body, and combine it with big feet, a long tongue, and black-forked markings on the face, and you have the oddly adorable countenance of a species of lemur just discovered in Madagascar.

“This is yet another remarkable discovery from the island of Madagascar…one of the most extraordinary places in our planet” said Conservation International President Russ Mittermeier in a press release, who was the first to spot the animal. Researchers believe the species to be new to science.

Finding this cutie-pie sounds like something plucked from the chase scenes of Indiana Jones. Mittermeier and his colleagues ran through dense forest at night, following the calls of the lemur as it leapt rapidly from treetop to treetop. Catching the lemur in the beam of a flashlight, researchers were able to safely tranquilize it for closer examination.

Close-up of a potentially new species of fork-marked lemur discovered in Madagascar, October 3, 2010. © Conservation International/ photo by Russell A. Mittermeier

Limited geographic range and life in a severely human-impacted environment likely means this species – of the genus phaner – is already endangered or critically endangered, said Mittermeier.

Researchers are now working on establishing the lemur’s genetic uniqueness and learning about its life history and behavior. So far, besides getting a good grip on the lemur’s looks, researchers know that this critter’s diet consists mostly of tree gum and flower nectar, they utter loud, high-pitched calls at night and practice a head-bobbing motion that is unique to this species.

Lemurs are only found in Madagascar, a country that’s lost about 90 percent of its forests and other vegetation.

“Protection of Madagascar’s remaining natural forests should be considered one of the world’s highest conservation priorities,” said Mittermeier in the press release. “These forests are home to an incredible array of species that are a true global heritage.”