Walking the eco talk, few Americans put conservation into action

Sure, supporting conservation sounds good. Who wouldn’t want to get rid of pollution, reduce their carbon footprint, or better yet save the world? But while a new poll shows an overwhelming majority of people care strongly about conservation, few take even the simplest steps to help it.

Researchers at Yale and George Mason universities asked poll-takers a set of questions about a few staple eco habits from carpooling and buying locally grown food to recycling or turning out the lights. Support for each conservation behavior ranged from 72 to 92 percent – turning off unneeded lights bringing the most consensus. Yet only 10 percent of people said they “often” or “always” use public transit; 26 percent said they usually buy local, and just 51 percent regularly recycle. (Check out the graphic to see more results.)

What’s most disheartening to me is that the habits asked of the poll-takers are some of the cheapest, easiest and healthiest changes that can help conservation, and still people don’t practice them. Even I’m a little guilty of it. Though I try to recycle everything under the sun and wave my Eco Pass to every bus driver in town, there’s a healthy pile of paper grocery bags next to my less-often used pile of canvas ones.

The reasons people don’t walk the eco talk isn’t as straightforward as forgetting or choosing not to. (I wish it were. Then maybe a little extra encouragement would get folks going.) The trouble is that many of those reasons may be beyond their control. “For example, public transportation may not be locally available or convenient,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change. “Overcoming barriers such as these will make it much easier for people to act in ways consistent with their values.”

This poll has its caveats. It only surveyed 1,001 American adults, and the results reported in the press release focus on the extremes of the survey. It would be interesting to see how the numbers fell in the mid-zone. But the overall message is an eye-opener. We can do better, me included.

The Mangrove Forests of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula

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Along the Yucatan Peninsula, in a land of heat and drenching humidity thrives a rare mangrove ecosystem, important for coastal life and home to jaguarundi, hundreds of bird species and, yes, maybe a mosquito or two.  I hope you enjoy this short jaunt into the mangroves, sans the mosquitoes, near Celestun in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. One afternoon doesn’t do a place like this justice, but it is a glimpse into this vulnerable ecosystem that is increasingly under threat from climate change, deforestation, pollution and coral reef degradation.

The high fidelity of alligator love

Two American Alligators (Photo/Matthew Field)

Oh alligator love, it’s not as fickle as you might think. Get on a gator’s good side and you may just have found a friend for life, if you’re another alligator of course.

In a study that combines field science with molecular biology, researchers from the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory found that alligators were surprisingly loyal partners and akin to birds in their mating habits. The discovery offers new insights into evolutionary links and behavior of crocodilians, birds and dinosaurs – and certainly, at least where one science writer is concerned, proving there is a lot more going on behind those alligator eyes than a cold reptilian stare.

Researchers trapped and re-trapped alligators at Louisiana’s Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge, 76,000 acres of alligator dream real estate bordering the Gulf of Mexico. “Given how incredibly open and dense the alligator population is at RWR, we didn’t expect to find fidelity,” said researcher Stacey Lance. “I don’t think any of us expected that the same pair of alligators that bred together in 1997 would still be breeding together in 2005 and may still be producing nests together to this day.”

Crocodilians have already proven to be more invested in the care of their offspring than most other reptiles, actively nurturing young and defending nests. Crocodiles are even known as considerate egg-layers. As a female drops the egg, she will blindly catch it with a hind leg before it hits the ground and gently place it in the nest. But up until now alligators were thought to be polygamous, mating with several different partners and leading to many fathers for a single nest.

After ten years of following alligators at the refuge, scientists Lance, Travis Glenn, Ruth Elsey and Tracey Tuberville discovered that 70 percent of female alligators stick with who they like. Even if they have multiple partners, the same bachelors get picked year after year, regardless of whether females encounter a new slew of potential suitors.

The study marks the first time fidelity has been observed in any crocodilian species. “In this study, by combining molecular techniques with field studies, we were able to figure something out about a species that we never would have known otherwise,” said Lance. “Hopefully future studies will also lead to some unexpected and equally fascinating results.”

Results of the study were published in the October 7 issue of Molecular Ecology.

Photo Tour: Autumn at Sawhill Ponds

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For you naturephiles out there, there’s nothing like finding that local wildlife hotspot you can explore whenever the fancy takes you. For me, that place is Sawhill Ponds, a series of 18 reclaimed gravel pits that now support a wealth of interconnected habitats from meadow to woodlands and marshes. This busy microcosm offers more than a peaceful place to take a walk, no matter the season. There is an abundance of wildlife to enjoy, including owls, coyotes, waterfowl and frogs, and it’s all within a stone’s throw of downtown Boulder, Colo.

These images are part of a project documenting this wildlife refuge and its inhabitants through the year. Stay tuned in a couple of weeks for Sawhill Ponds: Winter.