Biodiversity

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  • What did Kermit the Frog say to Miss Piggy?

    The Sticky Tongue Project
    The Sticky Tongue Project
    15 May 2012 | 4:45 am
    Hi ho! Kermit the Frog here (and then she slapped him).

  • Herpin’ Time Radio: Justine Deschuiteneer Talking about Draco’s Adventure Book

    The Sticky Tongue Project
    The Sticky Tongue Project
    16 May 2012 | 9:12 am
    Join HTR as they welcome Justine Deschuiteneer and talk about the “Draco’s Adventure Book Series” and other projects! Herpin’ Time Radio is a talk show dedicated to reptiles and amphibians both in captivity and in the wild. The shows airs every Wednesday at 6 PM Eastern time and runs for 60 minutes. Listeners are encouraged to call in to the broadcast at 310 982-4202. To check out this week’s show (as well as their archives), please click HERE.

  • Miami Mist

    Ohio Birds and Biodiversity
    15 May 2012 | 11:23 pm
    I found myself along the banks of the Mad River in Logan County this evening. The Mad is fed by innumerable springs, and as a consequence its waters are perennially cool, even in the heat of summer. Much of the river is also buffered by extensive swaths of riparian forest, such as the locale that I visited tonight.The stands of this delicate little wildflower, Miami mist, Phacelia purshii, were truly dazzling. There must have been acres of the stuff, all in peak bloom. Even though the fading light presented photographic challenges, I found it necessary to try and capture some of this plant's…

  • Six Fish Populations Restored to Healthy Levels in the US

    CBD News Headlines
    15 May 2012 | 7:00 pm
    All are aware of the tragic loss of biodiversity that this planet is current going through in various ecosystems. However, a new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report shows that when good policies are in place, natural ecosystems can sustain themselves and thrive.

  • The Race: Mountains That Glow

    Island Biodiversity Race
    islandbiodiversityrace
    7 May 2012 | 4:53 pm
      Drs. Brian Simison and Tomio Iwamoto and Roberta Ayres and Rayna Bell left early this morning on the TAP flight for home; five of us remain: our two botanists on Principe and three of us here on Sao Tome continue. It is time for a science update, especially since it is pouring rain as I write, and our biodiversity education mission on the big island is completed for now. Last week, and for the first time, Academy scientists collected the top of Pico do Sao Tome. At over 2,000 meters, the peak is remote and can be quite dangerous to ascend in the rainy season, especially carrying…
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    The Sticky Tongue Project

  • Herpin’ Time Radio: Justine Deschuiteneer Talking about Draco’s Adventure Book

    The Sticky Tongue Project
    16 May 2012 | 9:12 am
    Join HTR as they welcome Justine Deschuiteneer and talk about the “Draco’s Adventure Book Series” and other projects! Herpin’ Time Radio is a talk show dedicated to reptiles and amphibians both in captivity and in the wild. The shows airs every Wednesday at 6 PM Eastern time and runs for 60 minutes. Listeners are encouraged to call in to the broadcast at 310 982-4202. To check out this week’s show (as well as their archives), please click HERE.

  • Questions About Incredible Sea Turtle Migration Answered by Scientists

    The Sticky Tongue Project
    16 May 2012 | 5:15 am
    Immediately after emerging from their underground nests on the lush beaches of eastern Florida, loggerhead sea turtles scramble into the sea and embark alone on a migration that takes them around the entire North Atlantic basin. Survivors of this epic migration eventually return to North America’s coastal waters. The most comprehensive perspective to date on precisely how young loggerheads navigate their transoceanic migration was recently published in two complementary papers produced by a research team led by Kenneth J. Lohmann, [...]

  • Cameras are for licking

    The Sticky Tongue Project
    16 May 2012 | 4:15 am
    Cameras are for licking!

  • Nearly One-Tenth of Hemisphere’s Mammals Unlikely to Outrun Climate Change

    The Sticky Tongue Project
    15 May 2012 | 8:38 am
    Nearly one-tenth of hemisphere’s mammals unlikely to outrun climate change A safe haven could be out of reach for 9 percent of the Western Hemisphere’s mammals, and as much as 40 percent in certain regions, because the animals just won’t move swiftly enough to outpace climate change. For the past decade scientists have outlined new areas suitable for mammals likely to be displaced as climate change first makes their current habitat inhospitable, then unlivable. For the first time a new [...]

  • What did Kermit the Frog say to Miss Piggy?

    The Sticky Tongue Project
    15 May 2012 | 4:45 am
    Hi ho! Kermit the Frog here (and then she slapped him).
 
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    Ohio Birds and Biodiversity

  • Miami Mist

    15 May 2012 | 11:23 pm
    I found myself along the banks of the Mad River in Logan County this evening. The Mad is fed by innumerable springs, and as a consequence its waters are perennially cool, even in the heat of summer. Much of the river is also buffered by extensive swaths of riparian forest, such as the locale that I visited tonight.The stands of this delicate little wildflower, Miami mist, Phacelia purshii, were truly dazzling. There must have been acres of the stuff, all in peak bloom. Even though the fading light presented photographic challenges, I found it necessary to try and capture some of this plant's…

  • Mississippi Kites return

    14 May 2012 | 9:34 pm
     Photo: Melissa KrygierThey're back! The now famous Mississippi Kites that have taken up summer residence in recent years in the Hide-A-Way Hills (henceforth HAH) of Ohio's Hocking County are back on their turf. I've received updates over the past week or so from Elizabeth vanBalen Delphia and Melissa Krygier, and Melissa sent along these fantastic images.In the above image, the male kite is passing some sort of large insect to the female. This, apparently, is how boy kites charm girl kites. I can make out long knobbed antennae on the hapless insect gift and wonder if it might be an…

  • The Wilds

    13 May 2012 | 10:54 pm
    Looking rather Montanaesque, the sprawling 10,000-acre reclaimed strip mines known as the Wilds in Muskingum County, Ohio offers some very interesting birding. I was there all weekend, leading a wonderful group of people around the area. Last October, I was auctioned off - or at least my services were - at the annual Columbus Zoo & Aquarium fundraiser, "Wine for Wildlife". The high bidders got a trip to the Wilds to look for birds, but we packed in much more than just birding. I'll try and share some of the nonbird highlights later.But birds galore did we see. In all, about 100…

  • Cecropia moths

    11 May 2012 | 10:07 am
    I found this big cocoon last January, stitched to the branch of a shrub. It would (hopefully) go on to hatch one of our largest and most spectacular moths, the Cecropia, Hyalophora cecropia. Well, apparently the mild winter or perhaps other factors were conducive to the 2012 Cecropia hatch, as there seems to have been more reports of the adults this spring than I can ever recall. I wrote more about Cecropias and their life cycle HERE. Photo: Jennifer ThompsonJennifer Thompson had the great fortune to stumble into this pair of Cecropias in western Ohio, and made the spectacular image…

  • Green-tailed Towhee in Ohio!

    10 May 2012 | 9:06 pm
    Photo: John PogacnikA jaunty Green-tailed Towhee peers at its discoverer in a Lake County, Ohio backyard.One of the blessings (sometimes curse) of modern technology is that one can keep apprised of nearly everything that's going on, anywhere. My Droid X smart phone is a mini techno-marvel that, among many other things, pipes my emails to me nearly anywhere I may be. Thus, on May 2 it was via the Droid that I learned of yet another uber-rarity discovered by John Pogacnik along the Lake Erie shoreline. Problem for me was I was deep in southern West Virginia's mountains, and John was reporting…
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    CBD News Headlines

  • Six Fish Populations Restored to Healthy Levels in the US

    15 May 2012 | 7:00 pm
    All are aware of the tragic loss of biodiversity that this planet is current going through in various ecosystems. However, a new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report shows that when good policies are in place, natural ecosystems can sustain themselves and thrive.

  • Canada's butterfly migration is largest on record

    15 May 2012 | 7:00 pm
    Butterflies have migrated across Eastern Canada this spring in unprecedented numbers, reflecting the warm winter throughout North America and raising alarm bells about what it might mean for other species.

  • EU is investing in toxic waste projects in developing world, GAIA claims

    15 May 2012 | 7:00 pm
    The EU's clean development mechanism (CDM) is supporting waste projects in developing countries that threaten livelihoods and cause toxic emissions, according to a report by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).

  • EU airline carbon cash should help fill climate fund

    15 May 2012 | 7:00 pm
    BRUSSELS/LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - EU nations should pledge that funds from paying for airline emissions will help poor countries deal with global warming, the bloc's climate chief said on Tuesday, after finance ministers stopped short of a firm commitment.

  • Tiny Plants Could Cut Costs, Shrink Environmental Footprint

    15 May 2012 | 7:00 pm
    ScienceDaily (May 15, 2012) - Tall, waving corn fields that line Midwestern roads may one day be replaced by dwarfed versions that require less water, fertilizer and other inputs, thanks to a fungicide commonly used on golf courses.
 
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    Island Biodiversity Race

  • The Race: Mountains That Glow

    islandbiodiversityrace
    7 May 2012 | 4:53 pm
      Drs. Brian Simison and Tomio Iwamoto and Roberta Ayres and Rayna Bell left early this morning on the TAP flight for home; five of us remain: our two botanists on Principe and three of us here on Sao Tome continue. It is time for a science update, especially since it is pouring rain as I write, and our biodiversity education mission on the big island is completed for now. Last week, and for the first time, Academy scientists collected the top of Pico do Sao Tome. At over 2,000 meters, the peak is remote and can be quite dangerous to ascend in the rainy season, especially carrying…

  • The Race: What Making a Real Difference Looks Like

    islandbiodiversityrace
    7 May 2012 | 4:47 pm
        These pictures speak for themselves. They are all by our photographer, Andrew Stanbridge.   “Today was Monday the 16th – we began early in Neves dropping into the schools (3rd grade classes) There were around 285 students today in classes that ranged from 18 – 42 students per. We travelled down some roads that you would not recognize as such to places that are old, crumbling, and surprisingly populated. It was more amazing than I can say to be bringing our coloring books to this place and teaching the kids (and their teachers) about their islands. If you could…

  • The Race: Gulf of Guinea VI. First week.

    islandbiodiversityrace
    8 Apr 2012 | 4:07 pm
    Having completed my lectures at CIBIO near Porto, and in the symposium on Sao Tome and Principe in Lisbon, I hooked up with Drs Tomio Iwamoto, Brian Simison, and James Shevock, Miko Nadel and our outstanding photographer, Andrew Stanbridge in the Lisbon airport whereupon we paid gobs of money in overweight charges to TAP airlines (coloring books). The first six of us arrived at the Omali and have been working in various sites for a week until we were joined by Rayna Bell on the Friday morning flight. Rayna is the Cornell grad student who is looking at some interesting genetic problems with…

  • The Race: Gulf of Guinea VI Part II (Sharing the Wealth)

    islandbiodiversityrace
    9 Mar 2012 | 5:38 pm
    Principe Island from the northeast. This island is at least 31 million years old [Phot. Eddie Herbst] Some years ago the Gulf of Guinea Project “morphed” from a pure multidisciplinary research focus to include an additional and parallel effort to share our science with the local people and non-scientists everywhere. My first couple of visits to São Tomé and Príncipe followed over thirty years of fieldwork on the African mainland, essentially doing science that is read and used by other scientists; this had been wonderfully exciting, rewarding and fun (sometimes scary).But my exposure…

  • The Race: GG VI, Part I (the Science)

    islandbiodiversityrace
    21 Feb 2012 | 11:28 pm
    Things have been very busy here at the Academy of Sciences, and this is one of my tardier blogs! However, part of the hustle and bustle has been in planning our next expedition, Gulf of Guinea VI. The first good news is that our new species of gecko from Príncipe is about to be formally published in the African Journal of Herpetology, possibly as soon as April. It is bad luck to give you its name before it is published, but here is what it looks like, and we are adding yet another endemic species to our wonderful islands! Our new gecko near Bom Bom, Principe.  Weckerphoto- GG IV As readers…
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    The Pimm Group

  • Help rebut misleading and mean-spirited anti-biodiversity Forbes article

    Roger
    23 Apr 2012 | 1:58 pm
    Forbes blogger Larry Bell is wrong about the biodiversity crisis and wrong about global warming I’ve used this blog as a forum to highlight authors who deny the biodiversity crisis as a scam or hoax. We now have another example, unfortunately featured on the widely-read business website Forbes. I posted a plea on our Biodiversity Professionals Linkedin Group for help rebutting the article. I reiterate that plea here. Please help me take some action! Read the article and tell me in a few sentences why Larry Bell, a professor of space architecture at the University of Houston is wrong to…

  • Research article in PLOS open-access science journal explains global biodiversity patterns

    Roger
    30 Mar 2012 | 11:28 am
    Global patterns of terrestrial vertebrate diversity analyzed in the study. Each of the 32 bioregions is colored by its vertebrate species richness (amphibian, reptile, bird, mammal richness combined; dark green represents the lowest values and dark red represents the highest values -- click on image for full size). Explaining the variable distribution and abundance of species such as latitudinal gradients has been the goal of biodiversity researchers since the patterns were first described by 19th century naturalists. An important paper in the March edition of PLOS (Public Library of Science)…

  • Amazon rainforest turning from a carbon sink to a source of carbon

    Roger
    19 Jan 2012 | 10:44 pm
    The increased fire risk in the Amazon could turn the region from a carbon sink to a net source of atmospheric carbon. (Image courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory.) Often cited as the lungs of the planet, it’s well-known that the Amazon rainforest is under attrition. Agriculture, mining, urban development, hydroelectric dams and global warming each pose separate threats. It seems that the lungs are suffering from the equivalent of lung cancer or emphysema. But just how bad is it, and how bad is it going to get? Some studies have suggested that the Amazon is quite resilient, able to…

  • Andean birds are now at higher elevations than 40 years ago

    Roger
    23 Dec 2011 | 11:00 pm
    Sampling locations along the elevation gradient in the Cerros del Sira (see article for more information). A recent paper published by members of The Pimm Group confirms that wildlife is being affected by increasing global temperatures. Forty years ago, ornithologist John Terborgh collected data on various bird species along an altitudinal gradient on a tropical mountain, Cerros del Sira, in Peru. In 2010, Pimm’s team returned to the same location and recorded the elevations at which those same bird species could now be found. The data clearly showed that birds are now at a higher…

  • Climate change: “one of the most brazen scams in the history of the world”

    Roger
    15 Dec 2011 | 9:19 pm
    Is climate change a scam? A RepublicanConservative friend of mine kindly asked for my response to a December 12 article by Jack Kelly about the lackluster negotiations in Durban on global warming. My friend thought that the report, by Jack Kelly, titled Long Faces in Durban, deserved a point-by-point response. Here is my rebuttal (lightly edited from the response I provided to my friend). (1) Right from the outset, Jack Kelly says climate change is “one of the most brazen scams in the history of the world.” Therefore, I know that this is not going to be a balanced analysis. The…
 
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    featured news from mongabay.com

  • Can loggers be conservationists?

    Jeremy Hance
    10 May 2012 | 3:35 pm
    Last year researchers took the first ever publicly-released video of an African golden cat (Profelis aurata) in a Gabon rainforest. This beautiful, but elusive, feline was filmed sitting docilely for the camera and chasing a bat. The least-known of Africa's wild cat species, the African golden cat has been difficult to study because it makes its home deep in the Congo rainforest. However, researchers didn't capture the cat on video in an untrammeled, pristine forest, but in a well-managed logging concession by Precious Woods Inc., where scientist's cameras also photographed gorillas,…

  • The month in environmental news for April 2012

    Rhett Butler
    2 May 2012 | 12:00 am
    Mongabay.com provides a quick review of forest-related news for April 2012.

  • Does the Tasmanian tiger exist? Is the saola extinct? Ask the leeches

    Jeremy Hance
    30 Apr 2012 | 7:47 am
    The use of remote camera traps, which photograph animals as they pass, has revolutionized research on endangered and cryptic species. The tool has even allowed scientists to document animals new to science or feared extinct. But as important as camera traps have become, they are still prohibitively expensive for many conservationists and require many grueling hours in remote forests. A new paper in Current Biology, however, announces an incredibly innovative and cheaper way of recording rare mammals: seek out the leeches that feed on them. The research found that the presence of mammals, at…

  • New reptile discovered in world's strangest archipelago

    Jeremy Hance
    25 Apr 2012 | 10:37 am
    Few people have ever heard of the Socotra Archipelago even though, biologically-speaking, it is among the world's most wondrous set of islands. Over one third of Socotra's plants are found no-where else on Earth, i.e. endemic, while 90 percent of its reptiles are also endemic. Adding to its list of unique life-forms, researchers have recently uncovered a new skink species that is found only on the island of Abd al Kuri, which is slightly smaller than New York City's Staten Island. Dubbed the "the other Galapagos," the four Socotra islands are under the jurisdiction of Yemen, although…

  • 100 pictures for Earth Day

    Rhett Butler
    22 Apr 2012 | 11:13 am
    One of the things that makes my job enjoyable despite the hours are the opportunities for getting out in the field. Reporting on tropical forests and other environmental issues frequently takes me to some places of amazing natural beauty. Along the way, I take pictures when I can.
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    The Biodiversity crew @ NUS

  • Job: 2-year Research Assistant for PAR

    otterman
    9 May 2012 | 9:45 pm
    Department of Architecture Advertisement for Research Assistant position We are looking for a full-time Research Assistant for a 24-month appointment (with possible extension) to commence as soon as possible. The salary will be commensurate with candidate’s experience and qualification. The appointed RA will assist in the conduct of a research project focused on the evaluation of photosynthetically active radiation in the built environment, and plant responses to the light environment. The RA assist the PI in the installation of sensors, periodic downloading of data in the field,…

  • Job: Full-time Teaching Assistant (FTTA) for Life Sciences (Environmental Biology), deadline: 23 May 2012

    otterman
    8 May 2012 | 7:38 am
    Update: Note the requirement to include the completed NUS Personal Particulars Form in the submission. Full-time Teaching Assistant forLife Sciences (Environmental Biology) Undergraduate Courses@ Department of Biological Sciences, National University of SingaporeApplication Deadline: Wednesday 23 May 2012 The Department of Biological Sciences is inviting applications for the post of Full-Time Teaching Assistant (FTTA) for Life Sciences undergraduate modules, in field of Biodiversity and Ecology. The FTTA will be working as a team with professors and laboratory officers to achieve holistic…

  • Danwei’s work on the Big-Mess-idae published as “Threatened Reef Corals of the World” in PLoS ONE

    otterman
    29 Apr 2012 | 9:56 pm
    Huang Danwei is a DBS-supported graduate student (NUS-Overseas Graduate Scholar) at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography who is will defend his dissertation in August this year. His work focuses mainly on the reconstruction and application of the coral evolutionary tree – reconstruction of the “Big-mess-idae” group and using trees to examine extinction risk and conservation status. Danwei suggested this figure for a good summary of some of what the work has accomplished thus far: Click for original, with larger image available This is from his paper published in PLoS ONE…

  • Job: Full-time Research Assistant for Mangrove Propagule Dispersal project at NUS SDWA / Geography / Biological Sciences

    otterman
    16 Apr 2012 | 7:05 pm
    Job: Full-time Research Assistant at NUS SDWA/Geography/Biological Sciences (Deadline: 15th May 2012) The Singapore-Delft Water Alliance, National University of Singapore, is offering a full-time research assistant for the project “Mangrove Propagule Dispersal around Singapore and the Wider Thai-Malay Peninsula”. This is a joint project with the Department of Geography, Department of Biological Sciences, and the Singapore-Delft Water Alliance, National University of Singapore. The candidate will have the opportunity to work closely with National Parks Board staff and volunteers. This…

  • Richard Corlett leaves NUS for Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, July 2012

    otterman
    13 Apr 2012 | 12:21 am
    Richard Corlett says, “I will be leaving NUS and moving to the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, at the beginning of July. At XTBG I will be Director of a new ‘Center for Integrative Conservation’. My position will be generously funded under the national “One Thousand Foreign Experts Project”. The Garden is at Menglun in SW Yunnan, near the borders with Laos and Myanmar, 96 km from Jinghong, the capital of the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. Jinghong is, in turn, an hour’s flight southwest from the provincial capital Kunming.
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    Biodiversity Heritage Library

  • BHL and Our Users: Dr. Chris Mah

    15 May 2012 | 8:51 am
    Meet Dr. Chris Mah, Research Collaborator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. His specialty is starfish, and he's been using BHL in combination with Google Translate to efficiently conduct research involving foreign monographs.What is your title, institutional affiliation, and area of interest?Greetings! I am a Research Collaborator in the Invertebrate Zoology Dept. at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. I am one of the world’s only experts in the evolution and classification of starfish (aka sea stars). As a consequence I study a hybrid of taxonomy,…

  • JSTOR Early Journal Content in BHL

    14 May 2012 | 12:42 pm
    BHL is pleased to announce that a selection of JSTOR’s Early Journal Content (EJC) relevant to biodiversity is now available in BHL’s citation repository, Citebank.In the fall of 2011, JSTOR announced they were making their journal content published prior to 1923 in the United States and prior to 1870 elsewhere freely available to anyone, anywhere in the world. This spring BHL has worked to ingest nearly 30,000 articles from JSTOR’s EJC into Citebank so that they may be searched alongside other biodiversity-related materials. Once a citation is retrieved, users will be taken to the…

  • Happy Birthday BHL!

    12 May 2012 | 9:00 am
    BHL at launch in May, 2007Like proud parents, we're excited to announce that today BHL turns 5 years old! In 2007, the Biodiversity Heritage Library portal was launched with 306 titles, 3,236 volumes, and 1,271,664 pages of taxonomic literature, presented via a simple portal bathed in earthy tones. What began as a consortium of just 10 natural history and botanical libraries has today grown into a global project, with 14 US/UK consortium members as well as BHL nodes on every continent in the world except Antarctica.Today, BHL includes:Over 55,000 titles, 105,000 volumes, and 38.6 million…

  • Book of the Week: Hawaii’s Natural Treasures

    10 May 2012 | 9:38 am
    If you didn’t already know, we are in the midst of celebrating Asian-Pacific American Heritage month, which asks us to honor the people, culture, history and biodiversity of a broad region which encompasses the entire Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. This region includes exciting and exotic locales such as Palau, Guam, Fiji, New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Tonga, and Easter Island just to name a few.Today we are focusing our attention on our 50thstate, Hawaii, a place synonymous with paradise. While many of us longingly pine for Hawaii’s…

  • Announcing the BHL Newsletter!

    9 May 2012 | 11:11 am
    Want to keep up with all the latest BHL project updates? Then subscribe to our quarterly newsletter! It's full of great information about all the fun things BHL is doing. The Spring 2012 newsletter (excerpt below) highlights the retirement of BHL's founding director, Tom Garnett, our recent iTunes U collections, our NEH grant to support improved access to BHL images, and our shared booth with EOL at the American Libraries Association midwinter meeting.Click here to subscribe to the BHL Newsletter.Newsletters will be archived on our public wiki.
 
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    Tales from Toriello

  • Mange tout recipes and ideas

    Ian and Luis
    13 May 2012 | 3:08 pm
    We planted peas, sugar-snap peas and mange tout this year. The sugar snaps have not performed that well, the peas are swelling daily and the mange tout are cropping abundantly. Each day we are collecting a good bowl full. This year they are particularly sweet especially if eaten soon after picking.In addition to eating them raw in salads, they are so tasty we have been processing and cooking them in a variety of ways.At their simplest, the mange tout are lightly steamed until tender but with some bite. Served as a side dish with a drizzle of minted vinaigrette or a dash of…

  • Salad days

    Ian and Luis
    7 May 2012 | 3:41 pm
    Being able to walk around the garden and harvest a mixture of fresh salad leaves is a treat. Our temperate climate means that we can grow salad crops most of the year however, now is the time when we get an abundant crop of leaves such as various lettuces, rocket, young beetroot leaves, chives and fresh herbs. Plenty of variety readily available to make the basis of a good fresh salad.Crisp and vibrant mange tout add variety and sweetness to any salad and are best eaten within an hour of picking if you are going to get the full benefit of the natural sugars.We eat a lot of salad during the…

  • Spring update from La Pasera

    Ian and Luis
    29 Apr 2012 | 7:34 am
    Spring weather is certainly making it's presence known here with abundant showers, forceful April winds and cool in the shade temperatures. The trees and shrubs are budding into leaf and blossom, albeit battered by the wind and rain, they seem to be clinging on and setting fruit. The worst affected are the cherry trees as they were in full bloom just as the weather showed its full force.The mood here is Spain is subdued with the growing problems of the economy and the increasing number of unemployed. The young seem to have little chance of meaningful employment in the short term and…

  • Vinegar and other natural cleaning products

    Ian and Luis
    19 Apr 2012 | 10:45 am
    There is something quite off-putting about using commercial cleaning products that glow. Their pungent added aromas are usually over-powering and nauseating, they are full of chemicals and have the ability to strip your hands of any natural oils and eventually dissolve your fingers (well almost), consequently they do not come high up the list of products we want to use.We have always worked towards developing and using more natural products to keep our home clean and bug free...and it seems to be working. Well we haven't come down with the plague yet. The…

  • Cycling in Asturias: The challenge of cycling to the mountain lakes.

    Ian and Luis
    13 Apr 2012 | 11:59 am
    Trip Report by Luis Asturias is a beautiful region with a dramatic landscape where you are never very far away from the coast, luscious green valleys and the majestic Picos de Europa Mountains. Setting off cycling from La Pasera  to the surrounding villages is a flat and enjoyable ride and if we go further afield along the coastal plains it starts to require a certain affinity for cycling up and down hills and mountains.When we first moved here I disliked venturing further afield due to a lack of fairly flat terrain and well defined off-road paths. Cycling along…
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    ConservationBytes.com

  • Conservation value of paddy wagon currency: civil disobedience by scientists

    CJAB
    11 May 2012 | 11:30 pm
    A couple of years ago, James Hansen visited Adelaide and I was fortunate enough to attend dinner with him and his lovely wife Anniek. A truly inspiring scientist in all respects. His academic track record is unbeatable, and he puts his money where his mouth is in terms of climate change activism. In a similar vein, but something I’m not used to publishing on Conservation Bytes, my colleague Alejandro Frid requested I publish his essay here. I’m a firm advocate for standing up for evidence-based policy, and Alejandro (inspired by James Hansen), shows us how it’s done. –…

  • No more ecology

    CJAB
    8 May 2012 | 11:49 pm
    To all ecology people who read this blog (students, post-docs, academics), this is an intriguing, provocative and slightly worrying title. As ecology has matured into a full-fledged, hard-core, mathematical science on par with physics, chemistry and genetics (and is arguably today one of the most important sciences given how badly we’ve trashed our own home), its sophistication now threatens to render many of the traditional aspects of ecology redundant. Let me explain. As a person who cut his teeth in field ecology (with all the associated dirt, dangers, bites, stings, discomfort,…

  • Sharks: the world’s custodians of fisheries

    CJAB
    4 May 2012 | 12:30 pm
    Today’s post comes from Salvador Herrando-Pérez (who, incidentally, recently submitted his excellent PhD thesis). – Three species co-occurring in the Gulf of Mexico and involved in the trophic cascade examined by Myers et al. (8). [1] Black-tips (Carcharhinus limbatus) are pelagic sharks in warm and tropical waters worldwide; they reach < 3 m in length, 125 kg in weight, with a maximum longevity in the wild of ~ 12 years; a viviparous species, with females delivering up to 10 offspring per parturition. [2] The cownose ray (Rhinoptera bonasus) is a tropical species from the…

  • If a tree falls… preventing deforestation with insurance

    CJAB
    2 May 2012 | 8:08 pm
    As CB readers will know, I’ve reported a few times on our iREDD idea, and it got a little pick-up overseas. Here’s a great article by Rachel Nuwer covering the concept, published in Ecoimagination.com. – Almost everything we own – our houses and cars and our very health – is insured. It works on a simple principal: the higher the risk, the higher the premium. It’s an age-old concept that ecological modelers have decided to apply to a new area: forest preservation. A new proposal, published in the journal Conservation Letters, would create forest insurance to make the…

  • We only have decades…

    CJAB
    26 Apr 2012 | 1:36 am
    … not centuries. Here’s a little video production The Environment Institute put together that explains some of our lab‘s work and future directions. – – CJA Bradshaw Filed under: anthropocene, Australia, biodiversity, climate change, conservation, ecosystem, ecosystem services, environmental science, extinction, modelling
 
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    Conservation Magazine

  • Chow Down

    roberta
    16 May 2012 | 10:52 am
    Countries could cut a lot of greenhouse gas emissions if people would just stop wasting so much food, a review article in Nature Climate Change has concluded. The authors focused on nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas emitted as a result of fertilizer use on crops. More than half of nitrous oxide emissions caused by human activities in 2005 was due to agriculture, and emissions are expected to increase even more as the planet’s population rises. Researchers predict that developing countries will also consume more meat, dairy, and cereals per person in the future. The researchers wondered…

  • Go Fish

    roberta
    15 May 2012 | 1:13 pm
    Scientists have tracked the mysterious manta ray using satellites, finding that these animals’ paths often intersect with shipping routes but rarely take them into marine protected areas. The data could help managers develop conservation strategies for this vulnerable species. Researchers have used satellite tracking to follow other marine animals and determine where protected areas should be located. But little is known about the habits of the manta ray (Manta birostris), a giant fish that can grow more than 7 meters wide. Fishermen sometimes catch these creatures — either accidentally…

  • Sneaky Spores

    roberta
    14 May 2012 | 8:26 pm
    Invasive fungi could be sneaking into new territories on manufactured wood products such as utensils, a study published in Biological Invasions has found. Exotic fungi can trigger widespread damage to crops and ecosystems. For example, chestnut blight and Dutch elm disease are both caused by fungi. These invading pests can enter countries on timber and packaging materials, so many of these products are inspected. But some manufactured wood products can breeze through without inspection because they are thought to be unlikely hosts of pests. A team of researchers analyzed boxes of wooden…

  • Off the Leash

    roberta
    11 May 2012 | 7:02 pm
    Looks like Fido needs a fence. Domestic dogs in South America are terrorizing a threatened species of deer, forcing these wild animals to retreat to different parts of the forest. There are more than half a billion domestic dogs in the world, and many are free to roam beyond their owners’ homes. Previous studies have suggested that dogs may threaten other species by killing them, spreading disease, or causing stress. A team of researchers wondered if dogs were also changing the distribution of wild animals, which might flee to other areas. The study authors focused on a forested region near…

  • Waste Not, Want Not

    roberta
    9 May 2012 | 4:00 am
    At least one small species is benefiting from the giant patch of plastic garbage in the North Pacific. According to a study in Biology Letters, the mass of junk has given an ocean-dwelling insect plenty of new places to lay eggs. The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is a huge collection of plastic debris floating in the ocean. Much of the debris is made up of small particles called “microplastic,” which can be swallowed by fish or help transport invasive species. Scientists wondered if microplastic might also affect populations of invertebrates. Such changes “could have ecosystem-wide…
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