Socio-political issues

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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Jun

26

2008
 
 

Six billion dollar answer



No-take marine reserves help species recover faster than expected

coral trout/grouper/cod fish!The world’s largest network of no-take marine reserves is a success. Relieved readers of Current Biology this week can see how the controversial closing down to all fishing on more than a third of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park has allowed significant recovery of target species densities in just two years. A team of scientists led by Hugh Sweatman of the Australian Institute of Marine Science found that populations of coral trout (Plectropomus spp.) — the main target for reef line fisheries — within protected areas had bounced up by around two thirds compared with those where fishing was still allowed. Big, bold initiatives might not be popular with the people they affect most but, in this case at least, they work. Source: Russ GR, Cheal AJ, Dolman AM, Emslie MJ, Evans RD, Miller I, Sweatman H & Williamson DH (2008) Rapid increase in fish numbers follows creation of World’s largest marine reserve network. Curr. Biol. DOI: tba

Image: © Timothey Kosachev

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Jun

18

2008
 
 

There’s a catch, after all



Offsetting marine bycatch could do more harm than good, study finds

Trawling for solutionsCan fisheries bycatch impacts be offset by making efforts to protect afflicted species elsewhere? Not according to a study published today in PLoS ONE, which claims that the “compensatory mitigation for marine bycatch” approach is a non-starter. A baker’s dozen of international scientists, led by University of California Santa Cruz researcher Myra Finkelstein, found that diverting attention to other conservation measures – such as removing non-native predators from breeding grounds – could potentially spell disaster. The problem is that such an approach requires action for each individual bycatch species, thereby spreading conservation resources too thinly. The focus should remain on finding ways to reduce bycatch, Finkelstein’s team concludes. Source: Finkelstein M, Bakker V, Doak DF, Sullivan B, Lewison R, Satterthwaite WH, McIntyre PB, Wolf S, Priddel D, Arnold JM, Henry RW, Sievert P & Croxall J (2008) Evaluating the potential effectiveness of compensatory mitigation strategies for marine bycatch. PLoS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002480

Image: © Thomas Shortell

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Jun

12

2008
 
 

Jets and sharks



Large predatory sharks are about to leave the Mediterranean

Do we still need a bigger boat?The Mediterranean sea is pretty much a big pond, so many European holiday makers would probably breathe a quiet sigh of relief to read in Conservation Biology that the number of big, fierce sharks swimming among them has plummeted in recent years. An international team, led by Dalhousie University’s Francesco Ferretti, fearlessly waded through public and private archives, searching for evidence of population trends among the twenty largest species known to prowl the Med. In the five species for which there were sufficient data – a paucity all too telling of our scientific neglect of these top oceanic predators – precipitous declines were clear. Hammerhead sharks Sphyrna spp. were worst hit: none have been seen in coastal waters since 1963, and no records of the sharks anywhere in the Mediterranean exist after 1995. Nervous bathers should note that only the thresher shark Alopias vulpinus has been recorded in coastal waters in recent years. If looks like it is safe to be in the water after all. Just as long as you’re not a shark. Source: Ferretti F, Myers RA, Serena F & Lotze HK (2008) Loss of large predatory sharks from the Mediterranean Sea. Cons. Biol. DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.00938.x

Image: © Bart Coenders

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Jun

4

2008
 
 

A fish called… what?



Overfished species sold mislabeled, hindering consumer choice

What's your fish?Mmmm, red snapper. But hang on, is that really what you’re eating? A group of Stanford University scientists, led by Cheryl Logan, have used DNA forensics to uncover fishy goings on in the seafood marketplace. Taking 77 “Pacific red snapper” whole fish or fillets from a range of sources in California and Washington, including grocers, fish markets and sushi restaurants, they found a total of eleven species, only one of which was true red snapper Lutjanus campechanus. Between 60% and 63% of the samples were from fish not on the FDA Seafood list. Writing in Biological Conservation, Logan’s team say that although around 80% of all fish landed are identified to species level, that picture changes somewhat by the time they reach our plates. This “institutionalized mislabeling” is preventing customers from making informed, conservation-minded choices about what fish to eat and what to avoid. Source: Logan CA, Alter SE, Haupt AJ, Tomalty K & Palumbi SR (2008) An impediment to consumer choice: overfished species are sold as Pacific red snapper. Biol. Conserv. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2008.04.007

Image: © Jill Chen

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May

29

2008
 
 

The need for weeds



Turkish flora threatened by intensive agriculture, almost unnoticed

weeds“Weeds” provide valuable food for many species, yet their conservation status has been largely overlooked. A study by Cengiz Türe and Harun Böcük at Anadolu University, Turkey, now illustrates the extent of the oversight. Writing in Weed Research, they report on a worryingly high number of species – some 112 all told – listed on the wrong end of the IUCN’s Red List scale of endangerment. The intensification of arable farming in Europe has coincided with a dramatic decline in native plant species, hampering subsequent efforts to restore lost biodiversity. Turkey is particularly rich in endemic plant taxa, but modern agricultural practices are designed to eliminate non-crop species. Türe and Böcük make the bizarre, yet perfectly logical, suggestion that farmers should nurture weeds. Quite how farmers will react is another story… Source: Türe C & Böcük H (2008) Investigation of threatened arable weeds and their conservation status in Turkey. Weed Research DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3180.2008.00630.x

Image: © Lane Erickson

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May

24

2008
 
 

From cradle to grave



Tree pathogen brought to the US by keen gardeners, genetic study shows

dead treesSudden Oak Death, a straightforwardly named disease caused by the fungus Phytopthora ramorum, is gaining a worrying foothold in Pacific coastal forests. A study published recently in Molecular Ecology has traced the genetic origins of the pathogen in samples from dying trees at 14 Californian forests, together with samples taken from infected nursery plants in 12 states across the US. Leading an international team, Matteo Garbellotto, a University of California, Berkeley forestry pathlogist, has uncovered genetic evidence suggesting the fungus escaped into nearby forests from plant nurseries, where it affects many common species. If that’s not SOD’s law, nothing is. Source: Mascheretti S, Croucher PJP, Vettraino A, Prospero S & Garbelotto M (2008) Reconstruction of the Sudden Oak Death epidemic in California through microsatellite analysis of the pathogen Phytophthora ramorum. Molecular Ecology DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2008.03773.x

Image: © Ilbusca

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May

14

2008
 
 

Our fault? Sure is



Comprehensive analysis links global ecological changes to human activity

melting glaciers are down to usThirty five years’ worth of data covering hundreds of independent studies put beyond reasonable doubt the impact of human activity on the planet, according to a paper published today in Nature. NASA scientist Cynthia Rosenzweig and colleagues collated a diverse array of findings, allowing them to pin down the causes of physical (glacier shrinkage, warmer oceans and so on) and biological (early leaf burst, breeding seasons and algal blooms) changes that have been documented in recent decades. More than 95 percent of some 829 physical, and 90 percent of the nearly 29,000 biological changes they examined were in a direction consistent with a warming climate. If there’s any comfort to be drawn from the findings, it’s that climate warming is overwhelmingly the most important factor influencing changes in the natural world: habitat destruction, overfishing and pollution are mere trifles by comparison, so at least we know which problem to tackle first! Source: Rosenzweig C, Karoly D, Vicarelli M, Neofotis P, Wu Q, Casassa G, Menzel A, Root TL, Estrella N, Seguin B, Tryjanowski P, Liu C, Rawlins S& Imeson A (2008) Attributing physical and biological impacts to anthropogenic climate change. Nature DOI: 10.1038/nature06937

Image © Sburel

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May

8

2008
 
 

The ghost at the feast



Loss of seed dispersers has far-reaching ecosystem impacts

one hungry tortoise

Rewilding is a controversial topic: when important native species have gone, is it OK to bring in exotic alternatives to perform an essential ecosystem role? This week in PLoS ONE Stanford University researcher Dennis Hansen and colleagues report on their experiments to help save the critically endangered tree Syzygium mamillatum, which grows only on the famously dodo-devoid oceanic island of Mauritius. Plants often depend on large herbivores to disperse their seeds: Hansen’s experiments addressed the Janzen-Connell effect, whereby seedling survivorship increases dramatically with dispersal distance by virtue of escaping the specialist herbivores that plague its poor mother. Using Aldabra tortoises Aldabrachelys gigantea as willing stand-ins for the two extinct Mauritanian giant tortoise species Cylindraspis triserrata and C. inepta, Hansen’s team recorded seedling survival in relation to distance from a mature tree and whether it had passed through the gut of one of those lucky tortoises. Despite relatively few gut-passed seeds surviving the ordeal, and coupled with a lower germination rate, the fact that they are likely to be deposited many meters from their parent tree could mean an overall benefit to tortoise seed predation. So, should tortoises be brought in to help save S. mamillatum? After all, they’re not exactly the most difficult animals to keep track of… Source: Hansen DM, Kaiser CN & Müller CB (2008) Seed dispersal and establishment of endangered plants on oceanic islands: the Janzen-Connell model, and the use of ecological analogues. PloS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002111

Image © Dennis Hansen

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