Best of our wild blogs: 23 Jul 09

First sightings of Waders at Sungei Buloh
from Mendis' World

Nem Hunt Day 3: Changi
from wild shores of singapore and Singapore Nature

Nocturnal Changi
from Urban Forest

The skinny on Sekudu's sea stars
from The annotated budak and transparency

An Oriental Honey-buzzard came a-visiting
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Proud to call Singapore home because
from The Straits Times Blogs - Latest Entries

GeoHacking - What are the Dangers of Reconfiguring the Planet's Ecology
from The Daily Galaxy: News from Planet Earth & Beyond

Read more!

Monkeying around on Bukit Timah Hill

Straits Times Forum 23 Jul 09;

I REGULARLY hike up Bukit Timah Hill for my daily workout. Nature's symphony in the woods, quiet streams, lofty trees, occasional encounters with reptiles and the company of playful monkeys make every trip delightful.

However, I am troubled to see regulars and visitors to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve help themselves to fruit such as wild jackfruit, mangoes and durians. Perhaps there is a thrill to collect seasonal fruit from the wild, but do these people realise that their selfishness will rob certain animals of their natural provision?

If this situation continues unchecked, monkeys, in particular, may turn aggressive towards humans for food. Instinctively, they will scout for other food sources, becoming a nuisance to homes in the vicinity.

I have seen monkeys patrol the overhead bridge, studying how to get into Beauty World Shopping Centre. If they succeed, imagine what chaos that will cause.

Sadly, I have come across some long-tail macaques killed on the Pan-Island Expressway near the nature reserve. Were they looking for greener pastures?

Let us be more responsible to the inhabitants of the nature reserve. We must protect these creatures, not deprive them of their food supply. I implore the authorities to monitor the situation and post educational posters to drive home the message.

Simon Nagarajan


Stop picking the wild fruit
Letter from Simon Nagarajan, Today Online 29 Jul 09;

I HIKE up Bukit Timah Hill every day for a workout. Quiet streams, lofty trees and the company of playful monkeys make every trip unique and delightful.

However, I am troubled seeing regulars and visitors to the nature reserve helping themselves to fruits such as wild jackfruit, mangoes and durians. Perhaps there is a thrill in collecting these fruits, but do they realise that their selfish delight is robbing certain animals of their natural provisions?

If this situation goes unchecked, the monkeys in particular, may turn aggressive toward humans because of food. Instinctively, they will start scouting for other food sources, thus becoming a nuisance to the homes in the vicinity.

I have seen monkeys patrolling the overhead bridge studying their chances of getting into the Beauty World Shopping Centre. If they succeed, imagine what chaos that will bring about there. Sadly, I have also come across some long tail macaques killed tragically on the stretch of the Pan Island Expressway near the reserve. Were they looking for greener pastures?

Let's be more responsible. We must protect these creatures, not deprive them of their essential food supplies. I urge the authorities to monitor the situation and post educational posters to drive home the message.

Read more!

Once upon a time in Singapore

Edric Sng, Today Online 23 Jul 09;

I AM surrounded by dusty photographs, family mementos, memories. Every day I come to work to see a fresh stack of yellowing pictures on my desk, and my email inbox is creaking under the strain of dozens of attachments sent in daily.

The Today "My Life: Then & Now" photo contest has tapped a rich vein of nostalgia, and thank you, dear readers, for responding by the hundreds to our call for pictures which demonstrate how life has improved in the 50 years since Singapore earned the right to self-rule.

In my pile there are panoramic shots of Singapore's impressive skyline of today, contrasted shots of the bumboat-packed Singapore River of the '60s, taken by someone's father, someone's grandfather.

There are lovely yellowed pictures of policemen (you guessed it) wearing shorts, looking a far cry from the security forces of today.

Somewhere in the stack is a picture of a young, sprightly Elizabeth Choy - "look how pretty she was," says the caption - in a picture so old she wasn't even a national hero then, just a daily hero to the students she taught. Then there's a black-and-white snapshot of a young Yaacob Ibrahim, submitted by a classmate from days long past.

On my desk, in other words, are this nation's memories. You were there. Thank you for giving us a glimpse of how you saw the world then, and what you love about the country today.

Tomorrow is the deadline for entries. I can't wait to see what might sneak into our inbox at the last minute.

And for those of you who are unwilling to let go of those photos on your mantelpiece which are your family's most precious heirlooms, here's my promise to you: If you submit your old, priceless photographs to us by snail mail we will make sure you get them all back intact. We'll accept all entries as long as they're post-dated by tomorrow, July 24.

So, go on. Make us laugh, make us cry. And we hope, as you dig out your old photo albums and talk to your parents about The Way Things Were, that you'll savour the memories as much as we

Read more!

Interview: Saving wild China

Phil McKenna, New Scientist 22 Jul 09;

Are attitudes to the environment in China changing as people's wealth increases?

There are two trends. One is a greater awareness. For instance, a group of young Chinese entrepreneurs is calling for an end to the consumption of shark fin soup. But there is also a rise in the number of affluent people who want to show off their wealth. Eating wildlife is a part of Chinese culture, so when people get richer they eat more wildlife. They need something to persuade them. I think culture is the most effective tool. A respect for life is part of the Buddhist tradition, which has had a big influence on Chinese culture, though sometimes people forget it.

Is it possible to preserve biodiversity in the world's fastest-developing country?

It depends. If you take pandasSpeaker as an example, then yes, it is. But if you take the Yangtze river dolphin, which was declared functionally extinct in 2006, then no, it isn't. The critical point is to make conservation relevant to others. The panda has no practical value to people but its looks help ensure its survival.

What about the vast majority of wildlife that lacks the emotional draw of the panda?

We use the panda as a flagship to protect all the other creatures and plants where it lives. But what is really needed is a new economic system that recognises and pays for the value of nature.

Is this new economic system in place?

In some provinces of China, GDP is not the only measure of development. The economic value of ecosystems, such as the carbon dioxide absorbance of forests, are factored in. At Shan Shui, the NGO I run, we want to show specific things that can be implemented, such as water users paying a proportion of their water-use fee to subsidise forest conservation upstream. It's a market-based attempt at conservation.
What comes next?

To work with economists. I recently went to a forum to brainstorm issues to be discussed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In one discussion there were 30 to 40 people focusing on the economy and me, with my focus on ecology. I looked out for how often they mentioned biodiversity or conservation. Neither term was mentioned. That was a reality check for me. I think the next step is to work with economists, otherwise we conservationists are just talking to ourselves.

How did last year's earthquake in Sichuan affect the pandas that breed there?

Their habitat was damaged by landslides, increasing the fragmentation of the wild populations. There are at least 10 separate panda populations, each with fewer than 10 individuals. These groups are the concern.
Profile

Lü Zhi is the director of the Center for Nature and Society at Peking University, Beijing, China. She has studied pandas for two decades, served as the director of the World Wide Fund for Nature's panda conservation programme and runs the conservation NGO Shan Shui.

Read more!

Controversial palm-oil plan may save the orang-utan

Priya Shetty, New Scientist 22 Jul 09;

THE mournful eyes of the orphaned baby orang-utans held in Borneo's sanctuaries would tug at the stoniest of hearts. But while rehabilitating abandoned orang-utans is admirable, it seems increasingly clear that it will not help to conserve a species in danger of extinction through habitat loss.

Instead, orang-utan researchers and conservationists in Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo, may have to do what had until recently been unthinkable: join forces with the palm oil industry whose plantations have eaten into much of the orang-utan's habitat. October this year will see an unprecedented meeting of Malaysia's palm oil producers, conservationists and local government to figure out how to protect the world's last orang-utans.

Such collaborations will be especially important given the poor start for the international Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), set up in 2002, which is supposed to address the issues of environmental damage and wildlife conflict by encouraging producers to ensure their plantations are certified as sustainable. This includes undertaking environmental assessments before planting, and not planting in forests of high conservation value.

The conservation group WWF wants palm oil to be 100 per cent sustainable by 2015, but the initial results have been dispiriting. A WWF report released in May showed that just 1 per cent of the 1.3 million tonnes of sustainable palm oil produced since November 2008 had been sold - in part because it is more expensive.

Many believe that if the orang-utan is to have a chance of surviving anywhere, it will be in Sabah. Both the industry and the government say there is virtually no suitable land left there for new plantations and there are just about enough wild orang-utans to ensure the survival of the species. The key now is to join up their remaining habitats.

Until recently, rehabilitating orang-utans hurt through conflicts with plantation workers, or kept as pets, had seemed like the most obvious way to boost the species' dwindling numbers. In practice, however, this approach is riddled with problems. A key risk is transferring diseases such as the malaria parasite, which orang-utans in rehabilitation are prone to, into wild populations. Furthermore, because orang-utans learn their survival skills from their mothers, "not all of the [rehabilitated] animals will be able to adapt to the wild", says Marc Ancrenaz, who co-founded the Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Project near the Kinabatangan river in Sabah.

Many rehabilitation centres are becoming overcrowded, partly because some orang-utans can never be rehabilitated but also because the release criteria are stringent. The centres want to release animals into protected rainforest, with no risk of poachers, loggers or plantations, but few of these areas now exist in either Malaysia or Indonesia.

It is also impossible to know how rehabilitated animals fare after release, as orang-utans remove electronic tracking devices. David Chivers at the University of Cambridge argues that rehabilitated orang-utans "are becoming an increasing proportion of the whole gene pool of the species, and reintroducing [them] will significantly increase the prospects of the orang-utan avoiding extinction". Ancrenaz disagrees: "Rehabilitation is a welfare approach, not a conservation one; it's not necessary for the sake of the species".

Sabah's 26,000-hectare Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary is home to about 1000 orang-utans (see Map). The sanctuary has been heavily fragmented by oil palm plantations, and is now an archipelago of animal "islands". For large animals like orang-utans and pygmy elephants, these fragments are unnaturally restricted habitats.

An offshoot of Ancrenaz's organisation, The Nature Heritage Conservancy, has joined up with a local NGO called LEAP and the UK-based World Land Trust to raise funds and buy up pieces of land to link the sanctuary's fragments as wildlife corridors. So far they have bought up about 200 acres at a cost of $280,000. These are tiny patches of land in the grand scheme of things, but highly strategic in location.

Benoît Goossens at the Danau Girang Field Centre within the sanctuary has undertaken research that shows why wildlife corridors are so important. He has mapped the orang-utans' genetic diversity - important for the health of a population - and modelled future changes in diversity. Though Sabah's populations are fairly diverse, this will change drastically for the worse within the next 100 years if the forest fragments are not joined up, he says.

Connecting the sanctuary's fragments will also link Sabah's central forest reserve with the coastal mangroves, creating a more comprehensive habitat (see map). Two other forest reserves, Kulamba and Tabin, now need to be linked to the sanctuary, but the gaps between them are so heavily planted with oil palms that buying small segments of land will not do. In October, conservationists will seek a commitment from palm oil growers to create corridors within their plantations. Part of the debate will centre on what constitutes a viable wildlife corridor.

Corporate collaborations are also vital for the Sabah government (see "Banking on biodiversity"). Its forests have been so heavily logged that there is no more revenue from logging. In the long term, the government plans to create sustainable logging reserves that can house wildlife too. Results from a 55,000-hectare trial area called Deramakot suggest the approach is feasible, but growing suitable forests will take decades. In the meantime, palm oil will be vital to see the government through its economic famine, says Sam Mannan, the head of the forestry department. Let's hope the orang-utans see it through, too
Banking on Biodiversity

Biodiversity-rich, cash-poor countries are coming up with ways to make conservation sustainable.

In 2008, Malaysia became the first such nation to launch a scheme to allow private investment in the rainforest that would generate "conservation dollars" - money specifically set aside for conservation. The scheme is voluntary, but the government is considering making such investment a requirement for land developers.

The Malua Biobank, which differs from the biobanks established in other countries to bank genetic material, covers a 34,000-hectare forest reserve in Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo, which buffers virgin rainforest from palm oil plantations. It sells conservation certificates for 100 square metres of forest at $10 each, making a total possible fund of $34 million. Of this, 20 per cent will create an endowment fund to restore the previously logged forest, says Darius Sarshar of New Forests, an international environmental investment management group with offices in Malaysia that advises Malua Biobank.

Buyers can either "retire" their certificates, effectively making a donation, or put them into a trading account. Once the endowment fund is secured, any additional profits will be split between the investors and the government.

The scheme is unlikely to compete with traditional stock markets, however, and so far the biobank has relied on companies wanting to reinvent their environmental image. Initial sales have been sluggish - it has sold 21,500 certificates for a total of $215,000, all to logging companies - but that will change if the government makes the scheme mandatory.

Habitat quality is likely to be a factor, says Sarshar. "So if you trash a degraded forest, you have less of an offset obligation than if you trash a pristine forest."

Read more!

Indonesian police seize dozens of smuggled sea turtles

Alit Kertaraharja, The Jakarta Post 22 Jul 09;

Buleleng police officers have seized 45 green sea turtles being transported in a truck in Buleleng regency.

The endangered animals, along with truck driver Made Winata, are currently being held at the Buleleng Police headquarters.

Seririt Police in Buleleng regency made the seizure at dawn Saturday, recovering the animals, aged around 10 years old, from the truck with registration number DK 9374 AU.

The truck was stopped on the way from Gerokgak, in the western part of Bali, to Busungbiu in the south.

Winata could not show official documents for the turtles, whose shells averaged 45 by 50 centimeters.

"I didn't know these turtles were being smuggled," Winata said.

"I was just told to take them from Rakyat Pegametan Harbor. I don't know whether they had official documents or not.

"All I know is, an army officer owns these animals."

Buleleng Police say they are waiting for an expert from the Buleleng Natural Resources Conservation Office before they continue the investigation.

"We've asked for a turtle expert to come over and help us, but we've had no one come," said an investigator speaking on condition of anonymity.

"We don't know how to handle these endangered creatures, and meanwhile, they're still considered evidence."

According to the The Jakarta Post's observations, most of the turtles had been left strung up.

Read more!

Turtle: For some, it's the other white meat

John Platt in 60-Second Extinction Countdown
Scientific American 22 Jul 09;

American freshwater turtles are being harvested at an unsustainable rate to feed the voracious appetite for turtle meat in Asia, warns the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, Arizona.

Earlier this month, the organization petitioned eight U.S. states (Arkansas , Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee) to ban turtle hunting in all public and private waters. Meanwhile, Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has proposed its own ban, and will present a draft of the rules at a Commission meeting next month. The Commission recently estimated that 3,000 pounds of softshell turtles are flown out of Tampa International Airport every week, enroute to food markets in Asia.

According to data collected by the CBD, turtle harvesting has increased dramatically over the past decade. Harvesters in Iowa, for example, collected 235,000 pounds of turtles in 2007, up more than 800 percent from the 29,000 pounds collected in 1987. In Arkansas, nearly 600,000 turtles were collected between 2004 and 2006.

While some freshwater species are endangered in the U.S., protection is difficult since many species look similar to untrained eyes. Alligator snapping turtles (Macrochelys temmickii), which are protected by state law in Iowa and Illinois, look almost exactly like common snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina), which are not endangered.

So why is turtle collection from the wild such a problem? "Because freshwater turtles are long lived (some may reach 150 years of age), breed late in life, and have low reproductive and survival rates, they are highly vulnerable to overharvest," the CBD said in a statement.

Would banning the wild-turtle trade help? Supporters of such a move point to Texas as an example. The state outlawed most turtle harvesting two years ago, and as a result saw Asian exports through Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport drop from 122,610 turtles in 2004 to just 8,882 in 2007, according to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service numbers cited by the Dallas Morning News. Commercial harvesting of three turtle species from private waters is still allowed under Texas law.

U.S. Turtle Demand Booming in China
Brian Handwerk, National Geographic News 24 Jul 09;

One growing export has tipped the U.S.-China trade balance: live turtles.

Each year millions of U.S. turtles that are hatched in farms or caught in the wild are devoured in China, where the onetime delicacy has become more available to the masses.

The Chinese eat turtles—especially softshell and snapper species—and use the animals' parts in traditional medicines that are said to boost everything from the immune system to sexual prowess.

But conservationists worry that this high demand will cause some U.S. turtle species to be eaten to extinction.

That's why the U.S. state of Florida just passed a tough new law that effectively ends commercial wild-turtle harvests. (See a Florida map.)

The new statute, made effective July 20, limits individuals to a "noncommercial use" of just one turtle a day for most of the state's species.

Florida's swamps, rivers, and coasts offer rich habitats for 25 species of turtles, several of which are declining due to human harvesting, according to the Florida Turtle Conservation Trust.

Insatiable Appetite

Fears of turtle overconsumption are grounded in some sobering statistics, experts say.

Chinese demand has already decimated populations in countries such as Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam, and Indonesia, according to the nonprofit Conservation International.

The group estimates that 75 percent of Asia's 90 freshwater turtle and tortoise species are now threatened.

This drop has placed greater pressure on places where the animals are still plentiful, including many parts of the United States.

Florida-based biologist Matthew Aresco, a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, has spent more than a decade studying the state's turtles.

Dramatic and quick declines in Florida turtles prompted the recent law, Aresco said.

In the past several years, people working in the state had noticed a large number of turtles being harvested, he said.

"For a time no one really understood what was going on—that Asian buyers had come into Florida and now there was a big increase in demand."

Background statistics cited in Florida's draft turtle rule state that declared exports of U.S. wild-caught softshell turtles grew by 400 percent between 2000 and 2004.

Turtle Farms

Patricia Behnke, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Tallahassee, said that monitoring turtle populations is difficult.

But continuing to harvest turtles without some form of monitoring could put a major dent in the reptiles' populations, she said.

"We thought the most conservative measure—and the best thing for freshwater turtles—is to ban commercial harvests from the wild and move this into the aquaculture industry," she said.

American turtle farming is already a big business: Nearly 32 million live turtles were exported from the U.S. between 2003 to 2005, according to a study by World Chelonian Trust, a turtle conservation group.

And of those, more than 31 million—a large amount of which were red-eared sliders—were farmed hatchlings shipped to Asian aquaculture facilities that then raised the turtles to adulthood.

But the number of wild-caught turtles legally shipped during the period is still staggering, the study said—some 700,000.

That's a particularly tough blow, because turtles are long-lived animals: Most Florida species, for example, take between 3 to 13 years to reach reproductive age.

Sustainable Harvest?

At least one fisher who has long relied on income from turtle harvesting was disappointed with the new law.

William Shockley, a second-generation commercial turtle fisher in Okeechobee, Florida, said that tough new laws like this one are a political overreaction.

"For them to say the things they've been saying is ludicrous. They don't have the science to back it up," he said.

"They've based a lot of their studies on other states that don't have a climate like Florida's, especially South Florida. When the turtles can flourish here, they will flourish."

Shockley said fishers know that turtle catches fluctuate annually with the amount of rainfall, which determines the area of wet habitat available for turtles.

They've also long known how to manage turtle harvests sustainably, he stressed.

Peter Paul van Dijk, director of Conservation International's freshwater turtle and tortoise conservation program, agreed that some turtle species probably could be harvested sustainably under traditional fishing systems.

These programs employ limited "take" quotas and provide ample time for populations to grow.

"But the problem is that demand is potentially insatiable," van Dijk explained.

"It's basically an open-ended fishery, and unless you have real controls in place, there is every financial incentive to just overharvest, take the profit now, and then move on to another species."

Van Dijk hopes that farming will be able to keep the heat off wild turtle populations.

"My personal opinion is that of the various possible trends, I would think that farming turtles would be a lesser evil than [wild] collection."

Shell Shocked

But turtle farming isn't without its problems.

Most farmers rely on collecting wild animals to supplement breeding stocks on the farms.

Some farms have also been unmasked as "laundering" operations for the illegal sale of wild turtles—such as a New York State racket that state investigators dubbed "Operation Shell Shock."

The March 2009 undercover investigation of trade in protected New York State reptile and amphibian species led to charges against 18 people.

But Florida biologist Matt Aresco—who also directs a conservation reserve that houses tortoises—said that farms may well be the turtle's best bet.

"It will be a positive if the farms become self-sustaining and operate with their original breeding stock rather than continuing to go to the well," i.e., collecting more wild turtles for breeding, he said.

"That's an important part of it, and it has the potential to be a big loophole if it's not regulated and enforced."

Read more!

Views sought on knotweed predator in the UK

BBC News 22 Jul 09;

The public's views are being sought on the introduction of a plant-eating predator from Asia into Britain to help control Japanese knotweed.

Scientists have identified an insect that keeps the superweed under control in its native home of Japan and think it could do the same in Britain.

The consultation is being carried out by Defra and the Welsh Assembly before a final decision is made.

If the plan gets the go-ahead, the insect could be released next summer.

This would be the first time that biocontrol - the use of a natural enemy to control another pest - has been used in Europe to fight a weed.

The release would initially take place at a small number of sites before a wider introduction in England and Wales.

The superweed research has been carried out by Cabi, a not-for-profit agricultural research organisation, and the study has been peer reviewed by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment.

The team has spent several years trying to find potential candidates to control the spread of Japanese knotweed, looking for predators that feed only on knotweed and not on any of Britain's native plants.

Their chosen insect is a small psyllid called Aphalara itadori that feeds on the sap of the superweed, stunting its growth.

Dick Shaw, the lead researcher on the project, said: "This psyllid is a true knotweed specialist and our research shows that it could be a safe and effective control agent for one of our worst weeds.

"We are really pleased that the programme has reached the public consultation phase and look forward to hearing the outcome."

Japanese knotweed was first introduced to the UK as an ornamental plant in the 19th Century, but it has since spread rapidly, damaging plant biodiversity as well as hard structures, such as buildings, paving stones and flood defences.

But getting rid of it using current methods - weed killers and physical removal - is expensive - in 2003 the cost of national eradication was estimated at £1.56 billion.

The researchers claim that biological control will be a cheaper and more environmentally friendly option for controlling the superweed.

Read more!

New Species of Horny Toad Identified in California

livescience.com 22 Jul 09;

A meticulous review of genetic, anatomical and ecological information has identified two new species of horned lizards, also known as horny toads, in California.

The findings mean what was thought to be one species is actually three. And that has implications for how the creatures should be viewed in conservation efforts.This coast horned lizard from Torrey Pines State Park is distinctly different from populations in central and southern Baja California, and has been designated a new species, Phrynosoma blainvillii.

In the study, published this week in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers found that when the coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum) moved north from Baja California and spread throughout the state, it diverged into at least two new species.

"When you stack up all the data sets, they all support three species," said lead author Adam Leache, a recent University of California, Berkeley Ph.D. recipient who is now at UC Davis. "If you were to pick only one data set, you would get a different number of species. One lesson we learned about the speciation process is that you can't rely on one type of data to accurately track a species' history."

Aside from the oldest and original species, P. coronatum, found only in southern Baja California, the researchers identified a new species, P. cerroense, in central Baja and a third, P. blainvillii, whose range extends from northern Baja to Northern California.

Within the third, wide-ranging species, the study's authors found enough genetic and ecological differences to suggest there are at least three distinct populations of P. blainvillii, each requiring separate management and protection.

The findings have implications for conservation efforts, because coast horned lizard populations are in decline from southern Baja California to Northern California due to several factors. Among these are loss of lowland habitat from agriculture and urbanization and the introduction of Argentine ants, which displace the more nutritious harvester ants, the favored diet of the lizards. The lizard is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, as are California's two other horned lizards, the desert and flat-tailed horned lizards.

"For decades, it has not been clear what might be useful conservation units within the declining horned lizards in coastal California. Our study finally gives some clarity and direction for conservation actions to follow," said co-author Robert Fisher, a research biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in San Diego, Calif.

For more than 100 years, scientists have been trying to distinguish species among coast horned lizards, with the number of recognized species ranging from 1 to 6 depending on the author. These prior studies were reliant almost entirely on morphology. But when it comes to recently diverged species like the coast horned lizard, where morphological differences are subtle, it can be difficult to distinguish species, according to co-author Jimmy McGuire, UC Berkeley associate professor of integrative biology.

"This sort of analysis is going to be necessary in order to tackle questions of recent speciation," McGuire said. "Lineages that have been separated for a long time are not controversial - we have no trouble distinguishing chimps from humans, for example - but it is trickier with species that are younger and thus less morphologically heterogeneous."

"This could have an impact on the number of species that we recognize on the planet, because many species are young like this," he added.

In particular, the number of species in California could be substantially underestimated because even well-studied groups like horned lizards are likely to be comprised of multiple cryptic species, McGuire said. Studies integrating diverse data sets and focusing on the question of gene flow between lineages will almost certainly result in the discovery of many new species, he added.

Over the course of millions of years, populations of horned lizards migrating northward have separated and diverged from one another, producing an array of genetic lineages all along the western coast of North America that are adapted to unique ecological niches, according to the study.

"The genetic differences between the populations of horned lizards in California are striking - nobody could have predicted this high degree of differentiation simply by looking at the physical differences between the lizards," Leache said.

Given enough time and continued environmental protection for the lizards to persist for the long-term, it's likely that the California horned lizards, like those in Baja California, will also evolve more dramatic physical differences through natural selection.

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, California Department of Fish and Game, California Department of Parks and Recreation, Metropolitan Water District, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Department of Defense.

Read more!

Multiplying like bunnies? Not this jackrabbit

Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press Yahoo News 22 Jul 09;

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Rabbits are certainly known for their propensity for multiplying, but one species of jackrabbit is having trouble keeping up. There are an estimated 150 white-sided jackrabbits left in the United States, and federal wildlife officials announced Wednesday they will study the elusive rabbit to determine if it needs to be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

It's not lack of libido that's holding back the white-sided jackrabbit.This undated photo provided by WildEarth Guardians shows a white-sided jackrabbit in New Mexico.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the biggest threat is change to the rabbits' habitat brought on by drought, grazing, the suppression of wildfire and the encroachment of shrubs into the Chihuahuan grasslands of New Mexico's bootheel — the only place in the United States where the jackrabbit has been documented. Wildfire helps keep shrubs in check and revitalizes grasslands, which the rabbits depend on.

The rabbit also lives in Mexico, and those populations have also declined, said Nicole Rosmarino, a biologist with the Western environmental group WildEarth Guardians.

Rosmarino said the existing pressures on the white-sided jackrabbit likely will worsen. Forecasters predict extended and more-frequent periods of drought in the Southwest because of climate change.

The Fish and Wildlife Service says it's uncertain how climate change will affect the jackrabbit and its habitat, but it plans to look more closely at the potential impact during its 12-month review.

After the review, the agency will decide whether the rabbit warrants protection as an endangered or threatened species. In New Mexico, the rabbit has been listed as a state endangered species since 1975.

"The rabbit has cleared the first hurdle toward federal protection, so that's good news," Rosmarino said.

The Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to review the rabbit is the result of a petition and lawsuit filed by environmentalists.

The rabbit's name comes from a conspicuous white area along its body, most noticeable when the rabbit runs. The jackrabbits, usually seen in pairs, mate for life. While they can produce several litters a year, the litters are usually small — between one and three young.

The rabbit's large ears and long limbs are disproportionate to its body, creating more surface area to help the animal dissipate the heat that's part of living in the desert.

Besides the white-sided jackrabbit, WildEarth Guardians is seeking protections for other species, including the Sonoran desert tortoise. The Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to issue a finding on that species, but WildEarth Guardians says the tortoises' numbers have also been cut in half in recent decades.

As Rosmarino points out, Wednesday's decision by the agency puts the rabbit ahead of the tortoise, in both species' race to avoid extinction.

___

On the Net:

WildEarth Guardians: http://www.wildearthguardians.org

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: http://www.fws.gov

Read more!

NOAA: Coral Bleaching Likely in Caribbean

Similar conditions may develop in Gulf of Mexico and Central Pacific
NOAA 22 Jul 09;

Scientists from NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch Program say conditions are favorable for significant coral bleaching and infectious coral disease outbreaks in the Caribbean, especially in the Lesser Antilles. The forecast is based on the July NOAA Coral Reef Watch outlook, which expects continued high water temperatures through October 2009.

Scientists are concerned that bleaching may reach the same levels or exceed those recorded in 2005, the worst coral bleaching and disease year in Caribbean history. In parts of the eastern Caribbean, as much as 90 percent of corals bleached and over half of those died during that event."

“Just like any climate forecast, local conditions and weather events can influence actual temperatures. However, we are quite concerned that high temperatures may threaten the health of coral reefs in the Caribbean this year,” said C. Mark Eakin, Ph.D., coordinator of NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch.

Prolonged coral bleaching of more than a week can lead to coral death and the subsequent loss of coral reef habitats for a range of marine life. It also affects local economies and tourism.

“By providing local officials with advance warning that a bleaching event is about to occur, some steps can be taken to protect the corals,” said Eakin. “Possible responses include mobilizing monitoring resources to measure extent and impact of bleaching, and establishing temporary restrictions on other reef uses like diving, boating and recreational fishing, to keep these activities from adding to the stress of higher sea temperatures already affecting the coral reefs.”

There is also potential for similar conditions in the central Gulf of Mexico and a region stretching from the Lesser Antilles to Puerto Rico, across to the southern coast of Hispaniola and the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. Other areas of concern are the central Pacific region including the equatorial Line Islands and Kiribati. Some heat induced stress may also develop between the Northern Mariana Islands and Japan.

Coral bleaching is associated with a variety of factors, especially increased ocean temperatures. This causes the coral to expel symbiotic micro-algae living in their tissues – algae that provide sustenance for coral. The loss of algae leaves coral tissue devoid of color, making it appear bleached.

The bleaching risk may in fact be higher in certain regions than in this initial forecast as the model used for the outlook does not account for El Niño, something NOAA’s operational Climate Forecast System indicates is likely over the next year. If El Niño continues to strengthen, this could increase the bleaching risk in the central to eastern Pacific and Caribbean. NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center also reported that in June the world’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.

Read more!

Genetically modified rice 'crucial in drought battle'

Yahoo News 22 Jul 09;

MANILA (AFP) – Genetic modification may be the only viable way to produce sufficient quantities of rice in the future as drought, climate change and dwindling acreage impact yields, experts said in a new report.

Rice is the staple food of around three billion people and the main challenge facing producers is how to raise yields of the water-dependent crop as 70 percent of the world's food-growing areas turn increasingly parched, said the International Rice Research Institute in its latest quarterly magazine.

Biotechnology, the process of modifying the genes of an organism to produce new products, is becoming an increasingly important tool for the Philippines-based institute as it tackles the impact of climate change, IRRI said in its "Rice Today" publication.

The institute, based in the university town of Los Banos south of Manila, developed many of the high-yielding varieties of rice during the so-called Green Revolution of agricultural breakthroughs in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Former IRRI director-general Nyle Brady said the institute must use biotechnology to "develop rice lines that efficiently utilise plant nutrients, that tolerate adverse conditions such as drought, and that are resistant to insects and diseases" to reduce the need for pesticides.

Brady said he recognised "the political reasons why this is difficult because some countries don't want biotechnology to be used for this purpose.

"But the developing countries need the improved crops much more than we do in the United States," Brady added.

Gurdev Khush, a University of California professor who was a former senior IRRI scientist, agrees "the environment for accepting genetically modified crops is not as good as it should be."

The institute estimates between 15-20 million hectares (about 37-49 million acres) of irrigated rice would be hit by "some degree of water scarcity" by 2025.

Areas growing genetically modified crops rose 9.4 percent from a year earlier to more than 120 million hectares across 25 countries last year, it said.

Read more!

Smart tech could save billions of liters of water

Mark Kolmar and Michael Szabo, Reuters 22 Jul 09;

LONDON (Reuters) - Americans can save some of the 225 billion gallons of water (852 billion liters) wasted each year through over-watering by installing smart systems which deliver just the right amount of moisture.

Homeowners and companies over-water their grass and plants by between 30 and 300 percent, said Chris Spain, chief sustainability officer at water management company HydroPoint, citing a report by the American Water Works Association.

"The reason for the waste is because of dumb technology," Spain said. "There are 45 million irrigation systems in the U.S. (controlled) by simple timers. They do a great job of keeping time but a lousy job of irrigating to what the land requires."

City landscaping, or "urban irrigation," makes up 58 percent of urban water use, Spain said, adding that the water wasted generates over 544,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually.

Smart irrigation systems are programed to optimize water use based on parameters including plant and soil types and amount of sunlight, and also feature weather sensors that monitor soil moisture levels following rainfall.

"U.S. water-related energy use is at least 521 million megawatt hours a year -- equivalent to 13 percent of the nation's electricity consumption," said a River Network Carbon Footprint of Water report published in May.

"The carbon associated with moving, treating and heating water in the U.S. is at least 290 million tonnes a year."

Climate change also affects water levels, with western states experiencing their driest years since records began.

This year marks the third of drought for the most-populous state of California where lawmakers are urging residents to take shorter showers and water lawns less frequently to cut consumption a fifth.

Several studies found that smart irrigation systems command water savings of between 16 and 30 percent over traditional timer-based controllers, which come at a similar cost.

"It's not like solar, lighting or other systems which require vast infrastructure changes," Spain said, adding that his clients have saved $75 million in water cost savings.

Jennifer Riley-Chetwynd of Rain Bird said her company saw a corporate headquarters nearly halve water used for irrigation from 416,000 gallons per year to 214,000 gallons.

Over-watering also pollutes and damages buildings, drawing $375 million in insurance claims in California in 2005, according to the California Insurance Association.

New California legislation makes smart irrigation controllers mandatory for new properties from 2012, Spain added.

BRITAIN

The United States is not alone with concerns over water.

A joint study published on Wednesday by the UK's Energy Saving Trust and the Environment Agency warned that as new homes became more and more energy efficient, hot water use could overtake heating as the main cause of carbon emissions.

"Six percent of the UK's annual carbon emissions are related to water use -- nearly 90 percent of that is from hot water use in the home," the report said.

Britain's Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee also issued a report on Wednesday to water regulator Ofwat warning that water scarcity will become "an increasingly critical issue in the South and East of England" and urging improved water efficiency

(Editing by William Hardy)

Saving water could cut water-heating emissions by 30%, report finds
Energy Saving Trust and Environment Agency report estimates simple water-saving measures could save a typical household £225 per year
Alok Jha, guardian.co.uk 22 Jul 09;

Britons could save 30% of the carbon emissions associated with heating water at home by following simple advice such as lagging pipes and using low-flow taps, according to energy experts.

They estimate that installing just a few water-saving measures could save a typical household £225 per year on combined water and energy bills.

In a joint report launched today, the Energy Saving Trust (EST) and the Environment Agency examined the carbon impact of domestic water use in the UK. They concluded that heating water would continue to be a major source of carbon emissions from homes in the future unless urgent action was taken to reduce demand and the associated energy losses from inefficient boilers.

Energy use in homes accounts for more than a quarter of the UK's carbon emissions. In a bid to reduce overall emissions by 80% by 2050, the government has announced plans to reduce the footprint of homes by retrofitting existing homes with energy efficiency measures, such as loft and cavity-wall insulation, and wants all new homes built from 2016 to be zero-carbon.

But the energy used to heat water, around 23% of an average home's carbon footprint, will not be tackled by the government's proposals. "If the drive toward zero-carbon homes goes as planned, by the time you get to a really energy-efficient home, the energy required for space heating is going to be quite small, but unless you do something about water use, that's going to dominate and will account for over 70% of carbon emissions," said Magda Styles, water and waste strategy manager at the EST.

But she said very simple methods of water and energy efficiency could take out 5% of the emissions associated with water, equivalent to taking 600,000 cars off the road.

Water-saving technology and sustainibility standards for new homes have helped to reduce wastage but the growing popularity and frequency with which people use power showers means that Britons still use the same amount of water today as they did 10 years ago – around 150 litres per person per day.

"Water is a precious resource and as the government outlined in last week's low carbon transition plan we urgently need to cut carbon emissions to help reduce the impact of future climate change," said Ian Barker, head of water at the Environment Agency.

The EST report suggests taking showers instead of baths, retro-fitting showers and taps with low-flow heads, lagging hot water pipes, washing dishes in a bowl rather than under a running hot tap and installing a water meter. "It's been documented quite well that metering reduces water consumption by up to 15%," she said. "We're not trying to make people endure hardship and do away with hot water. In most cases, it's a simple prevention of waste."

According to the report, changing a 16 litre per minute shower head with a six litre per minute head, and using a 4.5 litre toilet instead of nine litre one, could result in annual savings of 67m3 of water, 371kg CO2 and £225 for an average household.

Getting beyond 30% reductions in CO2 for individual households would be possible, said Styles, by additionally replacing old washing machines and dishwashers with more energy and water-efficient models and more conscious behaviour change that minimised use and heating of water.

Read more!

Massive glacier in sub-Antarctic island shrinks by a fifth

Yahoo News 22 Jul 09;

PARIS (AFP) – One of the biggest glaciers in the southern hemisphere shrivelled by a fifth in 40 years, French scientists said on Wednesday.

The Cook glacier on Kerguelen, an island in France's southern Indian Ocean territories, covered 501 square kilometres (193 square miles) in 1963.

Combining satellite images with other data, glaciologists from the Laboratory for Studying Geophysics and Space Oceanography estimate the glacier lost an average of nearly 1.5 metres (4.9 feet) in height each year by 2003, shedding almost 22 percent of its original volume.

In terms of area, the glacier shrank by 1.9 sq. kms. (0.74 sq. miles) per year from 1963 to 1991.

Thereafter the loss doubled, to 3.8 sq. kms (1.48 sq. miles) per year. By 2003, the glacier covered only 403 sq. kms (155 sq. miles), a retreat of 20 percent compared with 1963.

The study has been accepted by a US publication, the Journal of Geophysical Research.

It says Cook's early shrinkage could be attributed in part to the residual effect of natural warming that ocurred after the "Little Ice Age" that ended in the late 19th century.

But the post-1991 warming is linked more to higher temperatures and low precipitation that began to occur in the early 1980s.

This is also a period when man-made carbon emissions started to soar and the Southern Ocean that girdles Antarctica showed perceptible warming.

Other studies in Patagonia, South Georgia and Heard Island have also suggested that warmer seas are leading to "strong and accelerated wastage" of glaciers on the fringes of Antarctica, the paper says.

Read more!

Price put on Copenhagen success

Steven Duke, BBC News 22 Jul 09;

The UN's top climate official has said that the richest nations will have to put $10bn "on the table" during the Copenhagen climate change summit.

Yvo De Boer, who will lead the negotiations, said such a commitment was necessary for their success.

He insisted the burden of climate change must be shared and that the money would help developing countries.

Leading nations participating in the summit must, he said, sign an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr De Boer, head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said the $10bn (£6bn) pledge would be "a good beginning".

"(It) will allow developing countries to begin preparing national plans to limit their own emissions, and to adapt to climate change," he told the BBC World Service's One Planet programme.

Mr De Boer was less keen to put an exact figure on the levels of emission cuts the biggest economies should commit to.

Some scientists have called for a 25-40% reduction by 2020 - a proposal he describes as "a good beacon to be working towards".

As well as the hard cash and paper pledge from developed nations, success at Copenhagen will come from one other factor, he revealed.

"If on that piece of paper, China, India, Brazil and other major developing countries have offered national actions, that will significantly take their emissions below business as usual... that for me will be a success."

China leads way

Mr De Boer, who helped negotiate the Kyoto Protocol on tackling greenhouse gases in 1997, admitted the recent financial turmoil had made his job more difficult as governments focus on "budget deficits and the banks they've just bailed out".

But he praised some countries for seeking to turn the troubles to their - and the environment's - advantage.

"A number of countries - with China and Korea in the lead - are seeing this economic crisis as an opportunity to turn a corner.

"Those countries are in a serious way making investments in renewable sources of energy; modernising their power sector; coming up with different types of vehicles that are more geared towards tomorrow's needs than yesterday's."

Despite his belief that some countries are seeing the economic potential of tackling climate change, Mr De Boer said he recognised that getting 192 nations - from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe - to agree on the issue was "a bit like herding cats".

"You can take one of two approaches, you can either try and herd them from behind with a stick, which generally has them shooting off in different directions, or you can walk in front holding a tasty fish and that will get them to follow you more willingly," he said.

You can hear the full interview with Yvo De Boer on the 23 July edition of the One Planet programme on the BBC World Service.

Read more!