Best of our wild blogs: 28 Aug 11

Massive flaring at Jurong Island
from wild shores of singapore

Butterflies @ Semakau Island On 20 Aug
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Life History of the Yellow Streak Darter
from Butterflies of Singapore

Farting birds – food for thought
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Florida's Reefs Cannot Endure a 'Cold Snap'

ScienceDaily 26 Aug 11;

Remember frozen iguanas falling from trees during Florida's 2010 record-breaking cold snap? Well, a new study led by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science shows that Florida's corals also dropped in numbers due to the cold conditions.

"It was a major setback," said Diego Lirman, associate professor at the UM Rosenstiel School and lead author of the study. "Centuries-old coral colonies were lost in a matter of days."

The chilly January temperatures caused the most catastrophic loss of corals within the Florida Reef Tract, which spans 160 miles (260 kilometers) from Miami to the Dry Tortugas and is the only living barrier reef in the continental U.S.

Members of the Florida Reef Resilience Program, a group composed of Florida scientists and resource managers, conducted a month-long survey of 76 reefs sites from Martin County to Key West, both during and shortly after the unusually cold weather.

The research team compared the mortality rates of corals from the cold event to warm-water events, such as the highly publicized bleaching event in 2005, and concluded that the cold-water event cause even more widespread morality than previous warm-water events. The results were published in the August 2011 issue of the journal PLoS One.

The study found coral tissue mortality reached over 40-percent for several important reef-building species and that large colonies in shallow and near-shore reefs were hardest hit. This is in contrast to a less than one-percent tissue mortality caused by warm-water events since 2005. Coral species that had previously proven tolerant to higher-than-normal ocean temperatures were most affected by the cold-water event.

"This was undoubtedly the single worst event on record for Florida corals," said Lirman.

Ice-cold Arctic air swept into Florida in early January 2010, plummeting air temperatures to an all-time low of 30°F (1°C) and dropping ocean temperatures to a chilly 51°F (11°C).

"The 2010 cold-water anomaly not only caused widespread coral mortality but also reversed prior resistance and resilience patterns that will take decades to recover," the study's authors conclude.

Florida's reefs are located in a marginal environment at the northernmost limit for coral development. Corals have adapted to a specific temperature range and are typically not found in areas where water temperatures drop below 60°F (16°C).

Changes in climate patterns as well as others impacts, such as coastal development, pollution, overfishing and disease have put added stress on coral reefs worldwide. The authors cite the need to improve ecosystem resilience through reef restoration, pollution reduction efforts and the use of management tools, such as marine protected areas, in order for coral reefs to survive future large-scale disturbances.

"We can't protect corals from such an extreme event but we can mitigate other stresses to help them recover," said Lirman.

The study was supported by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, The Nature Conservancy, and the ARRA program.

Journal Reference:

Diego Lirman, Stephanie Schopmeyer, Derek Manzello, Lewis J. Gramer, William F. Precht, Frank Muller-Karger, Kenneth Banks, Brian Barnes, Erich Bartels, Amanda Bourque, James Byrne, Scott Donahue, Janice Duquesnel, Louis Fisher, David Gilliam, James Hendee, Meaghan Johnson, Kerry Maxwell, Erin McDevitt, Jamie Monty, Digna Rueda, Rob Ruzicka, Sara Thanner. Severe 2010 Cold-Water Event Caused Unprecedented Mortality to Corals of the Florida Reef Tract and Reversed Previous Survivorship Patterns. PLoS ONE, 2011; 6 (8): e23047 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0023047

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Emerging powers call for extending climate deal

AFP Yahoo News 28 Aug 11;

Brazil, South Africa, India and China said Saturday that November's UN climate talks should aim to extend the Kyoto Protocol, the only binding global deal to cut greenhouse gases.

The four key emerging powers -- seen as critical to the success of any future effort to combat climate change -- said keeping Kyoto alive should be the "central priority" at the key UN summit in South Africa.

The bloc released the statement after two days of talks in southeast Brazil to prepare for the next UN climate conference scheduled to take place in Durban from November 28 to December 9.

The ministers "reaffirmed that the Kyoto Protocol is a cornerstone of the climate change regime," it said.

Xie Zhenhua, a top Chinese climate change official, said he hoped the statement would "send a sign to the international community that we are pursuing efforts to make the Durban conference a success."

The four countries also said they hoped ministers gathered in Durban would work to get the Green Climate Fund -- which aims to channel billions of dollars in aid to poor countries exposed to climate change -- off the ground.

The Durban meeting is seen as the last chance to renew the Kyoto Protocol, whose initial five-year commitment period, covering 37 industrialized countries, expires at the end of 2012.

Its future is uncertain because China and the United States, the world's top two polluters, are not subject to its constraints.

Japan, Canada and Russia have all rejected a new round of carbon-cutting commitments, and the United States and the European Union have already said there is zero chance of reaching a binding emissions deal in Durban.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota said Friday that the four emerging market countries have "done a lot to combat climate change and presented ambitious objectives."

"We demand that industrialized countries set more meaningful objectives toward CO2 reductions than what they have presented up to now," he said.

South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and India's deputy environment minister J.M. Mauskar also participated in the meeting at Inhotim.

Emerging powers press rich world on CO2 cuts
AFP Yahoo News 26 Aug 11;

Brazil, South Africa, India and China called Friday on industrialized nations to step up their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a key UN climate summit later this year.

"We demand that industrialized countries set more meaningful objectives toward CO2 reductions than what they have presented up to now," Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota told a meeting in Inhotim, Brazil.

The bloc of four emerging market countries "has done a lot to combat climate change and presented ambitious objectives," Patriota said.

China's climate change minister Xie Zhenua called for greater cooperation from industrialized countries at the next UN climate conference scheduled to take place in Durban, South Africa from November 28 to December 9.

"We want to deepen the dialogue with developed nations so that a joint effort for the Durban conference will yield satisfactory results and equality for all parties," he added.

European Union and US leaders have however already warned that there will be no binding deal on emissions at this year's climate summit in South Africa.

The key issues for participants ahead of Durban are how to bring timid agreements reached in Cancun, Mexico last December to life and whether or not to extend the Kyoto Protocol, which is the only international agreement with binding targets for curbing greenhouse gases and expires next year.

Its future is uncertain because China and the United States, the world's No. 1 and No. 2 polluters, are not subject to its constraints.

Agreed in skeletal form in 1997 and implemented in 2005 after agonizing talks over its rulebook, Kyoto commits 37 advanced economies to trim six greenhouse gases by an overall five percent by a 2008-2012 timeframe compared to 1990.

Washington was one of the chief architects of the protocol but never ratified the treaty.

Former president George W. Bush said Kyoto was fatally flawed because it does not require developing giants, already major polluters, to take on similar constraints.

European countries are generally on track for their emissions reductions, but Canada is poised to miss its target by a wide margin.

At the same time, emissions by China, India, Indonesia and Brazil have rocketed -- nations bound by Kyoto account for less than 30 percent of global CO2 emissions, which hit record levels in 2010.

Japan, Canada and Russia have said they will not sign up for a new round of carbon-cutting vows.

The European Union (EU) says it will only do so if other nations -- including emerging giants such as China and India, which do not have binding targets -- beef up efforts in a parallel negotiating arena.

Developing countries, though, insist the Protocol be renewed in its current form.

The host of the upcoming UN conference, South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, and India's deputy environment minister J.M. Mauskar also participated in the meeting at Inhotim.

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