Archive for July, 2008

Jul

31

2008
 
 

Patchy chances



Small species ranges increase extinction risk, study finds

glacial lakeSpecies with small ranges face a greater extinction risk from climate change, according to a paper published this week in Biology Letters. University of Durham researcher Ralf Ohlemüller – now at York – and colleagues studied species ranges in European butterflies and plants and Western Hemisphere birds, and noticed a link between rare pockets of habitat and smaller species ranges. Those rare patches — at unusually high or low altitude compared to the surrounding landscape, for example — and their atypical species composition and diversity, are likely relicts from the last ice age. Species there have clung onto survival under the warmer climes they’ve experienced since, but they are particularly vulnerable to the impact of future climate change, being marooned in ever-shrinking oases. Source: Ohlemüller R, Anderson BJ, Araújo MB, Butchart SHM, Kudrna O, Ridgely RS & Thomas CD (2008) The coincidence of climatic and species rarity: high risk to small-range species from climate change. Biol. Lett. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2008.0097

Image: © Ljupco Smokovski

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Jul

29

2008
 
 

Yay for raccoons



Leaving egg-eating top predators alone is good for turtle conservation

hands up who loves raccoons?Raccoons Procyon lotor love loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta eggs, as do ghost crabs Ocypode quadrata. The trouble with the often-used conservation measure of controlling raccoons at turtle nesting beaches is it lets the ghost crabs off the hook: raccoons are also partial to the odd crustacean for dinner. A study published recently in Biological Conservation suggests that leaving at least some raccoons might actually benefit the beleaguered turtles, because they suppress predation levels by crabs. Yale researcher Brandon Barton’s field study found the highest ghost crab numbers – and highest overall turtle nest predation – occurred where there were the fewest raccoons. Go on, go cuddle a raccoon today. Source: Barton BT & Roth JD (2008) Implications of intraguild predation for sea turtle nest protection. Biol. Cons. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2008.06.013

Image: © Hans-Walter Untch

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Jul

23

2008
 
 

Lynx between wildlife and disease



Wildlife harbors tuberculosis, threatening survival of world’s rarest cat

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is emerging as a major conservation problem in some parts of the world, as a study published this week in PLoS ONE shows. The incidence of the bacterial disease among the wild boar Sus scrofa, red Cervus elaphus and fallow deer Dama dama at Spain’s Doñana National Park – a UNESCO biosphere reserve sheltering the few remaining Iberian Lynx Lynx pardinus – has reached epidemic proportions in places. National Wildlife Research Institute biologist Christian Gortázar and colleagues found the incidence of wildlife bTB was highest in cattle-free areas of the Park. That’s a problem for the lynx, as those areas have been cleared of cows to make way for its preferred quarry, the humble rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus. Source: Gortázar C, Torres MJ, Vicente J, Acevedo P, Reglero M, de la Fuente J, Negro JJ & Aznar-Martín J (2008) Bovine tuberculosis in Doñana biosphere reserve: the role of wild ungulates as disease reservoirs in the last Iberian Lynx strongholds. PLoS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002776

Image: © Morozova Tatiana

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Jul

22

2008
 
 

Life’s a bleach



Taxonomic splits needed to understand how lumps of coral get bleached

Susceptibility to bleaching is down to the fine-scale genetic type of a coral’s dinoflagellate symbionts, according to a study published this week in PNAS. A group of University of Queensland marine biologists, led by Eugenia Sampayo, followed the fate of individually tagged corals Stylophora pistillata on the Great Barrier Reef, monitoring the conditions under which they suffered bleaching and subsequently recovered. The broad symbiont “clades” — genetic subdivisions – weren’t sufficient to explain the observed pattern of bleaching. However, within the “C” clade, some subtypes were more thermally tolerant than others. The discovery suggests a return to the drawing board might be needed to fully understand the role symbionts play in their reef-building host’s ability to withstand changing climatic conditions. Source: Sampayo EM, Ridgway T, Bongaerts P & Hoegh-Guldberg O (2008) Bleaching susceptibility and mortality of corals is determined by fine-scale differences in symbiont type. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0708049105

Image: © Giorgio Fochesato

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Jul

21

2008
 
 

Starfish suckered



Coral-bashing starfish held in check by fishing ban, study finds

bad news for bad news No-catch zones can protect coral reefs against attack from predatory starfish Acanthaster planci, according to a report published today in Current Biology. The aptly named crown of thorns starfish – a coral-munching nightmare of fearsome-looking spines – periodically reaches epidemic proportions in areas of the Great Barrier Reef with predictably devastating results. Hugh Sweatman’s study shows how areas in which fishing is banned suffer much less frequent attacks, leaving the reef in better shape. It’s not that predatory fish are directly keeping starfish numbers down, the Australian Institute of Marine Science biologist explains. Rather, the big fish are eating the little fish, stopping the little fish from eating the crustaceans that like nothing better than a tasty young starfish for supper. Aren’t trophic cascades brilliant? Source: Sweatman H (2008) No-take reserves protect coral reefs from predatory starfish. Current Biology DOI: tba

Image: © Boris Tarasov

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Jul

17

2008
 
 

Ground truths



Scientists begin to unravel the impact of icebergs on sea floor ecosystems

one lump or two?For marine organisms living at high latitudes, being squished by a passing chunk of ice is a daily hazard. However, little is known about the effects of “ice scour” on biodiversity, even though it affects one third of the world’s coastline. A group of scientists from the British Antarctic Survey set out an array of underwater concrete bollards at various depths, with SCUBA divers braving the icy waters to check them for damage each January between 2004 and 2008. Their findings, reported today in Science, suggest that ice scouring is likely to intensify with global warming, but only for a while. Once the glaciers have retreated far enough, very little scouring will take place. It looks like another one of those things we’ll understand just before it disappears. Source: Smale DA, Brown KM, Barnes DKA, Fraser KPP & Clarke A (2008) Ice scour disturbance in Antarctic waters. Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1158647

Image: © Pete Bucktrout/British Antarctic Survey

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Jul

14

2008
 
 

Nice legs…



Facial tumor disease forces precocious female sexuality in Tasmanian devils

grrr. get outta my face!Tasmanian devils Sarcophilus harrisii are responding to a fatal disease by breeding earlier, according to scientists writing in PNAS this week. In the ten or so years since devil facial tumor disease – a poorly understood, infectious cancer – was first reported, it has spread throughout more than half the species’ native range, leading to population declines of almost 90 percent. Cancerous cells are passed between individuals during aggressive interactions: unfortunately, the devil’s mating behavior is somewhat on the rough side, with the result that populations exposed to the disease have markedly fewer surviving adults. That might be a problem, except for the dramatic increase in mating among juveniles, say Menna Jones – a researcher at the University of Tasmania – and colleagues. Females normally begin breeding at the age of two, going on to raise around three litters in all. In disease-stricken populations, however, the majority get just one early chance before reaching an untimely end, a chance most now take before their first birthday. Longer term hopes lie in the ability of selection to counter anything that’s thrown at it. Good luck, Taz. Source: Jones ME, Cockburn A, Hamede R, Hawkins C, Hesterman H, Lachish S, Mann D, McCallum H & Pemberton D (2008) Life-history changes in disease-ravaged Tasmanian devil populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0711236105

Image: © Jessica Jones

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Jul

7

2008
 
 

The little guys



Children’s perception of rainforest biodiversity understates role of bugs

busy busy busyMost animal species are insects and they do the lion’s share of ecosystem services. Yet ask a child to draw their “ideal” rainforest and the chances are they’ll doodle you a picture populated with bigger, cuddlier animals. That’s the findings of a study carried out by Jake Snaddon and colleagues at Cambridge University. Writing in PLoS ONE, they show that children place more emphasis on mammals, birds and reptiles than the real world suggests they should. Insects and worms, on the other hand, fare poorly. Undervaluing the little guys could lead to serious funding problems for conservation, with a resulting threat to valuable ecosystem services such as pollination. Source: Snaddon JL, Turner EC & Foster WA (2008) Children’s perceptions of rainforest biodiversity: which animals have the lion’s share of environmental awareness? PLoS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002579

Image: © Eric Delmar

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Jul

3

2008
 
 

Extinction in pieces



Study reveals mixed feelings about tigers, medicine and conservation

bonesFarming tigers Panthera tigris to supply the demand for traditional Chinese medicines is not likely to safeguard their wild counterparts, according to a paper published in PLoS ONE this week. An international team of specialists, led by Save The Tiger Fund worker Brian Gratwicke, quizzed almost two thousand people in seven Chinese cities about their use of tiger-laced medicines, and the findings make grim reading. Nearly half of respondents admitted to using medicines claiming to use tiger parts, even though 93 percent agreed that a ban in the sale of tiger parts was necessary to save the world’s biggest cats from oblivion. Source: Gratwicke B, Mills J, Dutton A, Gabriel G, Long B, Seidensicker J, Wright B, You W & Zhang L (2008) Attitudes towards consumption and conservation of tigers in China. PLoS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002544
Image: © Jack Lamour

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Jul

1

2008
 
 

Cow pharming



Drugged cows produce more milk, cutting greenhouse gas emissions

cowCows might cultivate an image of gentle, vegetarian all-round pleasantness, but don’t be duped: their methane-laden flatus is the source of ten percent of the global annual emissions of this powerful greenhouse gas. Judith Capper and colleagues report a technological solution in this week’s PNAS. The Cornell University researcher has studied the effects of supplementing cow feed with recombinant bovine somatotropin, the main effect of which is to boost milk production. The knock-on effect of this is a reduction of energy input and waste output for a given quantity of milk. The laced cows have a relatively low environmental impact, presenting conservation-minded sorts with a tricky dilemma: should we ditch high impact organic dairy farming for the pharmacologically modified alternative? Source: Capper JL, Castañeda-Gutiérrez, Cady RA & Bauman DE (2008) The environmental impact of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) in dairy production. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0802446105

Image: © VeSilvio

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