Best of our wild blogs: 2 Mar 08

The White Royal
A classy little butterfly on the butterflies of singapore blog

Ubin views from a bicycle
if ducks can cycle so can you! on the budak blog plus endearing photos at the house of the headman and more photos of visiting the datuk. More links on the toddycats blog

Sensory Trail at Ubin
although the walk was canceled the guides still went out on the tidechaser blog

Distracting junglefowl
a dedicated mom on the bird ecology blog

Pet or pest?
the role of geckos on the manta blog

Little mantis
Amazing what you can see if you look, on the urban forest blog

Marine Debris 101
lots of info and photos, on the singapore celebrates our reefs blog

Young Singaporeans are not communicating with each other, not even on the Internet; "Why do they call it a community, just because a stranger or two drops a comment in the response box?" on the brand new Social Media and Environmental Education blog

Read more!

Wonderful 'wet' assets of Johor

R. Sittamparam, The New Straits Times 2 Mar 08;

JOHOR is the home of three Ramsar sites (wetlands of international importance), which make up 60 per cent of the country's wetlands. They are Pulau Kukup, Tanjung Piai and Sungai Pulai.

Malaysia's other Ramsar sites are Tasik Bera in Pahang and Kuching in Sarawak.

The Ramsar Convention has been the principal instrument for international co-operation in the conservation and wise use of wetlands.

Signed in Iran in 1971, it was the first of the modern global conservation treaties, dedicated to a particular ecosystem which is one of the most ecologically productive.

Parties to the convention had committed themselves to designate all of their "suitable wetlands" to the Wetlands of International Importance list and maintain their wetland ecology through conservation and sustainable use.

Mangrove forests are common in wetlands and they have an important role in pollution control as they absorb organic pollutants.

They also play a vital role in storm protection and coastal stabilisation.

After the 2004 tsunami, which killed some 300,000 people from 11 countries including Malaysia, more attention has been given to the forests.

Johor is currently home to 27,733ha of mangrove forests and about 50 per cent of it is found in the southwest.

Here lies the state's three Ramsar sites designated in February 2003 (Sungai Pulai, Tanjung Piai National Park and Pulau Kukup National Park).

These sites, covering 10,300ha, are fully protected under the Johor State Parks Enactment 1989.

And whenever possible, sustainable use is encouraged at the area to benefit the local people, who have been dependent on its natural resources for many generations.

Pulau Kukup

Pulau Kukup, located 1km from the southwestern tip of Johor, is recognised as an island with the world's largest mangrove forest, covering 647ha.

It is uninhabited and is one of the few intact wetland mangrove forests in southeast Asia.

The forest supports wildlife species such as the flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus), smooth otter (Lutra perspicillata), bearded pig (Sus barbatus) and the long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis), all listed as endangered.

It has also been identified as one of the important bird landing areas in Malaysia.

The globally endangered lesser adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus) chooses the island as a stopover and breeding ground.

Pulau Kukup is also important for flood control.

It serves as a wind-breaker and protects the shoreline as it shelters the mainland town from severe sea storms.

The straits between Pulau Kukup and the mainland is a location to the thriving industry of marine-cage culture.

The mudflats are rich with shellfish and provide food and income to the local people.

The island is now an important eco-tourism destination with infrastructure such as boardwalks, watch towers and a hanging bridge.

Sungai Pulai

The Sungai Pulai Forest Reserve, about 48km from Pontian, is the largest riverine mangrove system in Johor.

It is located at the estuary of the Sungai Pulai River.

With its seagrass beds, intertidal mudflats and freshwater mangrove forests, the site represents one of the best examples of a lowland tropical river basin, supporting a rich diversity of flora and fauna.

It is home to the rare small tree Avicennia lanata and animals such as the long-tailed macaque, smooth otter and the flat-headed cat.

Threatened bird species such as the mangrove pitta and mangrove blue flycatcher also make their nests there.

Undisturbed parts of the estuary, including the nipah swamps, may be nesting sites of crocodiles.

The forests also play a significant role to protect the shoreline and prevent floods in the adjacent 38 villages.

The local population depends on the estuary for fish as its mudflats, an ideal feeding and spawning ground, support many species of fish.

The mangrove forests provide wood for charcoal production and a site for aquaculture activities, plus eco-tourism.

The Port of Tanjung Pelepas, located at the estuary, works hand-in-hand with environmental groups for the conservation of the estuary.

The site is managed in line with the integrated management plan for the sustainable use of mangroves in the state.

Tanjung Piai

The Tanjung Piai National Park consists of coastal mangrove forests and mudflats in the southernmost point of peninsular Malaysia.

It supports many threatened and vulnerable wetland species such as the pig-tailed macaque and birds like the mangrove whistler.

The lesser adjutant is also seen in the area, together with the scaly anteater, common porcupine, smooth otter and bearded pig.

Water from the four main rivers traversing Tanjung Piai are abundant with commercially valuable aquatic species.

Tanjung Piai is also a popular eco-tourism site that is complete with a visitors' centre and boardwalks.

Visitors can enjoy walks, stay overnight at the camping or chalet facilities and enjoy various activities.

The view of the Straits of Malacca from the site, especially at sunset, is stunningly beautiful.

Read more!

10 Singapore hotels receive ASEAN Green Hotel awards

Channel NewaAsia 1 Mar 08;

SINGAPORE: Ten hotels in Singapore have received the thumbs-up for being green. They were recently given the ASEAN Green Hotel awards by the ASEAN Tourism Forum.

The inaugural awards recognises the ten most environmentally friendly hotels in each ASEAN country.

The winners from Singapore are Grand Hyatt, Allson Hotel, Shangri-La Hotel, The Regent, Sheraton Towers Singapore, Royal Plaza on Scotts, Furama City Centre, Intercontinental Singapore, Conrad Centennial and Rasa Sentosa Resort.

When Sheraton Towers Singapore first asked guests to cut down on the use of towels and linen to save the environment, it did not go down well.

Steven Long, general manager of Sheraton Towers, said: "We faced many challenges as customers misunderstood the intent of the programme and thought that the hotel was not doing its job by cleaning the rooms and changing the linen."

But that has changed in recent years.

One-in-five guests, mostly Europeans and Americans, now use the 'Care for the Environment' card provided by the hotel which instructs housekeepers to only tidy the bed and not change the sheets.

That saves the hotel about S$2,000 per month on washing linen.

"The savings on washing extra linen go to saving water... a responsible citizen has a responsibility to take care of the environment as a whole," said Mr Long.

Over 2,000kg of paper products and glass are also recycled every month.

The hotel spent S$80,000 to have pipes specially installed in 2007 to channel Newater into the laundry rooms and the cooling tower for all the air conditioners in the hotel.

Besides being cleaner, the hotel said the price of Newater is only a third of the price of domestic water which is why it has plans to pipe Newater into all the bathrooms in the future.

Together with nine other hotels in Singapore, Sheraton Towers was certified 'green' based on 11 criteria by the ASEAN Tourism Standards for Green Hotels.

These include the use of green products, energy and water efficiency, air quality control and waste management.- CNA/so

Read more!

Putting the WOW into a masterplan: Surbana

Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 2 Mar 08;

Environmental issues have always been part of our urban-planning philosophy. But now more than ever, this needs to be expressed physically in our plans, and in the landscape too, using green spaces and green technology.

A good urban plan must have impact and give a sense of excitement, says Jeffrey Ho, executive vice-president of home-grown Surbana Urban Planning Group, which has won global planning awards

HOME-GROWN Surbana International Consultants, which used to be part of the Housing Board (HDB), is well-known for winning architecture awards for its work in designing and building Singapore's public homes.

But elsewhere in the global arena, Surbana has also carved out a name for itself. It has fought off competition from international firms to win awards and clinch contracts to create masterplans for various projects, and even whole cities.

Surbana's urban planning arm, Surbana Urban Planning Group, has traversed far and wide to draw masterplans for diverse locations including China, the Middle East, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Cambodia.

Some of Surbana's masterplans to have won international awards include those for Tianjin Port Island in China, the Van Chuong New Urban Area in Vietnam and Greater Doha in Qatar.

Q What defines masterplanning and what do you consider when planning a new town or project?

A A masterplan is actually a physical plan that defines land uses in a specified area.

More specifically, in our context, it is called urban planning.

This requires a multi-disciplinary group of professionals to put together plans, perspectives, scale models, computer- generated animation and written reports.

There are many aspects of a site that urban planners need to understand before any masterplan can be developed. These aspects are related to existing conditions such as: land uses, transport, landscape, community values and traditions, climatic conditions, constraints, environmental quality, vibrancy and the general feel of the place as a whole.

Q What does the work of urban planners entail?

A A masterplan can take three months to a year to complete.

We develop the plan through site visits and meetings with the relevant authorities, local businessmen, academics, fellow consultants and stakeholders. We also review documents, statistical reports and so on.

We go beyond being a tourist in the country that we are planning for. We have to live and breathe the country.

Sometimes, I find urban planning quite intuitive. Once you understand the place, you have a knack for knowing what goes where.

There is a pattern and formula you can apply, but you need to adapt it to the local context. For urban planning, there is no one fixed approach.

Q What challenges do you face and how do you tackle these issues?

A Sometimes being an Asian firm is a disadvantage as we are competing with very established European firms. But this does not deter us. Rather, it sharpens our professional and negotiation skills.

We started small but we have tried as much as possible to get international exposure. Slowly, after doing more projects and getting a proven track record, we have started to gain a reputation. It's a very steep learning curve but we are getting there.

Also, Singapore has a tight labour market, which makes it hard to find good and committed people - and cost is high.

Q How different is it working overseas?

A Language can sometimes be a big problem in places such as Vietnam and Cambodia. You need a translator, and sometimes the essence and meaning of words get lost in translation.

Then other things you have to consider include how to find the right place to get the information you need, understanding the political situation of various countries and being able to respond to changes in government policies. Basically, we have to be more flexible.

Q So what makes an iconic masterplan?

A A good urban plan must be what I call 'imageable'. You have to look at it and go 'wow'. It must have impact and make you feel a sense of excitement.

If it is well-composed, you also get a certain feeling of 'comfortability'.

Some key aspects of an iconic plan are: attractiveness, convenience and efficiency.

Our projects in the Middle East are examples of mega and iconic masterplans. One of them is the Al Salam City Masterplan that we did in 2006 - it is a 2,000ha site in Umm Al Quwain - one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates.

Our clients were so satisfied that they have engaged us to implement the masterplan.

From there, we went on to clinch the biggest masterplan project with the Qatar government: a 4,000 sq km planning of two municipalities.

Most of the Middle East projects are done on a clean slate with hardly any constraints. And here lies the golden opportunity for us to showcase our creativity, capabilities, knowledge and skill in delivering a project on time and meeting international standards.

Q What are some current global trends in urban planning?

A The biggest buzzword now is sustainability. Everywhere you go, people are 'going green'. Future urban planning will place special emphasis on eco-friendliness.

Environmental issues have always been part of our urban- planning philosophy. But now more than ever, this needs to be expressed physically in our plans, and in the landscape too, using green spaces and green technology.

There are two major trends on top of this - one is the desire to create a 'must visit' destination that attracts investment and people.

The masterplan must have that 'wow' factor I talked about, that differentiates the location and helps it stay ahead of other developments. This is more prevalent in the Middle East.

In other places like China, the other trend is more apparent - that of using the masterplan to focus on solving issues such as traffic congestion, environmental pollution, housing needs, growing population and the need to conserve.

Q Which is your most memorable project?

A I have to say the next project will be the most memorable one, because you start all over again. Every project is interesting so I can't really single out any one.

But for me, the greatest job satisfaction is actually the interaction with my clients. If they are really enlightened and are open to ideas, the whole development process becomes very stimulating and inspiring.

Read more!

US to cut food aid due to soaring costs

Channel NewsAsia 1 Mar 08

WASHINGTON: The United States will drastically reduce emergency food aid to some of the poorest countries this year because of soaring food prices, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.

Citing unnamed officials, the newspaper said the US Agency for International Development was drafting plans to cut down the number of recipient nations and the amount of food provided to them.

A 41-percent surge in prices of wheat, corn, rice and other cereals over the past six months has generated a 120-million-dollar budget shortfall that will force the USAID to reduce emergency operations, the report said.

That deficit is projected to rise to 200 million dollars by the end of the year.

The USAID is reviewing all of the agency's emergency programs, which target countries like Ethiopia, Iraq, Somalia, Honduras and Sudan's Darfur region.

"We're in the process now of going country by country and analyzing the commodity price increase on each country," The Post quotes Jeff Borns, director of USAID's Food for Peace program as saying. "Then we're going to have to prioritise."- AFP/so

Related articles

Feed the world? We are fighting a losing battle, UN admits
Huge budget deficit means millions more face starvation
Julian Borger, The Guardian 26 Feb 08;

Read more!

5.9 million Chinese short of drinking water: report

Yahoo News 1 Mar 08;

The number of people facing drinking water shortages in China has more than doubled to 5.9 million because of a severe winter drought, state media reported.

The figures released late Friday jumped from 2.43 million a week earlier, the Xinhua news agency said, citing figures from the State Flood and Drought Relief Headquarters.

A spokesman was quoted saying the situation was due to lingering and severe winter drought.

The number of livestock without sufficient drinking water had jumped to 5.67 million from 1.89 million, and 15.8 million hectares of land (39 million acres) have been affected compared to 2.9 million hectares at the same time last year, it said.

Northeastern parts of the country have been hardest hit by the drought accounting for 60 percent of the drought-hit area, with rainfall in northern China down 70 percent this winter, it added.

Severe water shortages are being felt across China.

Drought has seen parts of the Yangtze river hitting their lowest water levels in at least 140 years, leading to more than 40 ships running aground since October, state media said in January.

There are concerns the drought, combined with last month's severe cold snap, could lead to further upward pressure on food prices, with inflation already at record levels in staple foods such as pork.

Read more!

Singapore's future is underground

Seah Cheang Nee, The Star 1 Mar 08;

Reclamation is, of course continuing. A S$7bil (RM16bil) project has just joined up seven outlying islands to be a chemical hub. By 2010, Singapore will grow to 730 sq km, 25% larger than before independence.

With land above ground exploited almost to the point of extinction, the only way for Singapore to grow is downwards.

PRESSED by circumstances, the 21st Century Singaporean is spending more and more time underground – working, driving, eating and shopping – and the trend is for more of it.

For years the government had been burrowing deep into the bowels of Singapore to squeeze out more use of its limited land area.

From a simple car-parking idea long ago, the subterranean concept has rapidly expanded in scope to reach almost every aspect of life.

The convenience has become an urgent solution to over-crowdedness that is expected to worsen by the proposed future population of 5.5 million people.

Today, almost every building in Singapore – from department stores to hospitals, and from military installations to churches – has one or two basement levels.

(The Gothic-style chapel of Singapore’s 141-year-old Convent has been preserved but modernised with a new underground courtyard.)

Singapore has just built South-East Asia’s longest underground tunnel to alleviate traffic jams. The 18km road – with the tunnel forming half of it – links two other expressways expanding Singapore’s network of underground transport systems.

The next will be the construction of a multi-billion-dollar MRT line (one of two new ones) that will run a circular 33.3km underneath central Singapore.

When it opens after 2010, the new Central Circle Line will have 29 stations and connect with all the radial lines leading in and out of the city.

Spotlighting on the Central Line, a Discovery Channel programme reported: “If you take all the best bits from undergrounds around the world, discard everything that does not work and then throw millions of dollars into further design and construction, then you have the project that has every Singaporean drooling over their dim sum.

“The Singapore Circle Line ... one of the biggest and certainly best underground railways in the world. In this film we witness the realisation of this utopian vision under construction. The spectacle is addictively fascinating.”

Dhoby Ghaut also stands out as an underground engineering feat. The five-level subterranean station links three MRT lines and a shopping complex and the Istana Park and will cater to 20,000 people an hour at its peak.

Two other lines are already partially below ground – as well as some roads and highways in the city.

The problems faced by affluent Singapore, especially in public transport, are best described in the Discovery Channel report:

“With a permanent population of 4.5 million, and a further 10 million visitors a year, the streets daily swarm with people, the roads are choked with cars, buses and bicycles, and the trains are packed. Gridlock beckons.”

For more than 40 years, this fourth densest city in the world, has implemented a long-term creative effort to maximise land use. Planners regard land as a non-finite commodity.

With the acute shortage, land use is strictly apportioned. Just over 50% is used to build homes, schools and hospitals, almost 38% for industrial use, and 12% for parks.

The strategy began after independence by reclaiming land from the sea and building upward, packing millions of people into high-rise homes and offices.

Reclamation is, of course continuing. A S$7bil (RM16bil) project has just joined up seven outlying islands to be a chemical hub. By 2010, Singapore will grow to 730 sq km, 25% larger than before independence.

Cemeteries were cleared after 1965, when citizens, except Muslims, were asked to reclaim family members for cremation.

The five-year cemetery exhumation plan immediately freed land to build 12,000 centrally located, high-rise apartments.

Over the past two decades, the government has exhumed more than 36 cemeteries of different races and religions.

Today there are no burial grounds in Singapore for non-Muslims; the dead had long made way for the living.

And now, with increasing tempo, it has indulged in a much more expensive programme of building below ground.

Underground caverns have been created as bomb shelters and storage for ammunition.

Singapore is also building subterranean ring roads, a science lab, shopping complexes and a S$9bil (RM20.6bil) underground sewage system that will take 20 years to finish.

Creating a city underground is, of course, slow and very costly, but less intrusive; something that goes on almost without interruption through the years.

Several years ago Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew returned from Paris impressed with its central underground ring roads and called for an eventual adaptation in Singapore.

The result is a S$4.8bil (RM11bil) plan to build a network of ring roads below the central business district.

Other mega subterranean projects include:

> A large sewage system that comprises two highway-size tunnels criss-crossing the island 12 storeys below ground; stretching for 80km with a series of smaller link sewers running another 170km, the project will take 20 years to finish;

> Singapore’s first underground ammunition storage depots, leading to land savings equivalent to half a fair-sized New Town;

> An underground science complex, being planned near the National University of Singapore; and,

> Shifting the big oil-storage business, which takes up much land, to underground caverns.

“Underground space is an alternative for the future space development in Singapore,” an official said.

This could be created in the form of caverns, tunnels and deep basements, for commercial, transportation, industrial and institutional purposes, he added.

The Economist recently wrote of Singapore's future underground ambitions. “Then perhaps concert halls, sports stadiums – who knows? Such schemes are hugely costly, but Singapore has massive financial reserves for its size,” it commented.

“In creating enough space to continue its breakneck expansion, money will be no object.”

Read more!

More protected Indonesian forests up for grabs

Ika Krismantari, The Jakarta Post 1 Mar 08;

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro told hundreds of mining investors on Friday they would soon be able to apply to operate in productive as well as protected forests.

Purnomo cited a newly issued forestry regulation and said, "Under the new government regulation, we will allow you to mine in productive and protected forests, subject to you giving us compensation".

At present, there are 13 mining companies operating in protected forests.

The companies were granted an exception by the government in 2004 via a presidential decree, despite the fact their operations would violate a forestry regulation completely banning all mining activities in protected forest areas.

The exemption was allowed despite intense public opposition that said the mining operations jeopardized the nation's already depleted forests.

Those 13 companies include PT Aneka Tambang (Antam), PT Inco, PT Freeport McMoran Indonesia, PT Nusa Halmahera, PT Nataran Mining and PT Indominco Mandiri.

Beyond the 13, Purnomo said there would soon be another presidential decree indicating other mining firms could join the group.

Mining companies allowed to operate would be required to pay at most Rp 3 million per hectare per year for operating in a protected forest.

"We need a presidential decree to include all mining firms (not just the 13)," Purnomo said.

"They should pay compensation if they want to mine in protected and productive forestry."

Simon Sembiring, the ministry's director general for coal, mineral and geothermal, confirmed the presidential decree would soon be introduced.

But he said before the issuance of the decree, the government would coordinate with the Forestry Ministry and various research agencies to ensure a level of sustainability in the firms' mining operations.

"We will be very selective, however, all mining companies can submit their request for permits and we will decide which ones are selected," Simon said.

He said the 13 firms currently operating in protected forests had been selected from 150 submitted proposals.

He said the selection process applied only for applications to mine in protected forests and not in productive forests.

The Indonesian Mining Association (IMA) said the plan was a good arrangement and would improve the country's investments in the mining sector.

"What we need is certainty," IMA chairman Arif S. Siregar said.

"He hope that with this, things will be clearer and the energy and mineral resources ministry can finally resolve its endless dispute with the forestry ministry," he said.

Read more!

Spate of Dolphin Deaths hits Cornwall

wildlife extra.com

February 2008. In the past two weeks Cornwall Wildlife Trusts Marine Strandings Network volunteers have attended ten strandings, nine of which were common dolphins and one of which was a harbour porpoise.

Volunteers along the south coast were called out to strandings spread between Downderry in the east to Penzance in the west. The Roseland peninsular was identified as a hotspot with three of the strandings recorded in the area.

Very Worrying Trend

Tom Hardy, Marine Conservation Officer for CWT says ‘Ten strandings in a ten day period is a cause for concern but when taking into account five of these were recorded over one weekend alone, it becomes a much more worrying trend.’ So why are these dolphins being found on our beach? Tom Hardy explains : ‘The majority of the strandings showed signs of bycatch in fishing gear. This evidence of bycatch ranged from the very obvious marks such as amputation of the tail or the stomach being slit open, to help the animal sink and hide the evidence, to monofilament net marks across the body and the beak of the animal.’

Cornwall Wildlife Trust does not rely solely on visual evidence but also conducts post mortems at the Veterinary Laboratory Agency in Truro. Only one of the recently stranded animals was in good enough condition to undergo a post mortem which concluded that the injuries sustained were consistent with bycatch in fishing nets.

Tom continues: ‘By recording stranded cetaceans over the last 12 years, we have worked tirelessly to show the link between certain fishing methods and dead stranded cetaceans. In 2006 175 dead cetaceans were recorded and although this figure was lower in 2007 (81), this recent spate of strandings suggests the problem has not gone away.’

Acoustic deterrent device

Cornwall Wildlife Trust has been campaigning for protection of our dolphin populations and is currently working on appropriating funding for a project to introduce a pinger (an acoustic deterrent device) trial in inshore waters. Pingers have been shown to alert porpoises to the presence of a net and significantly reduce bycatch in certain fisheries. Cornwall Sea Fisheries officers are very supportive of this trial of pingers on smaller vessels operating in coastal waters.

Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Marine Conservation Officer, Joana Doyle and cetacean expert, Nick Tregenza recently met with Jonathan Shaw, Minister for Marine, Landscape and Rural Affairs and Andrew George MP of West Cornwall and Isles of Scilly to discuss the ongoing problem of dolphin bycatch in fisheries around the Southwest. During this meeting the pinger trial proposal was presented to Jonathan Shaw and CWT have since officially approached DEFRA for funding to undertake this trial.

Read more!

Climate Change Hitting the Sea's Little Guys Too

Graeme Stemp-Morlock, National Geographic News 29 Feb 08;

When it comes to climate change, polar bears and sharks may grab the bulk of the headlines—but it's the threat to the sea's tiniest creatures that has some marine scientists most concerned.

Malformed seashells show that climate change is affecting even the most basic rungs of the marine food chain—a hint of looming disaster for all ocean creatures—experts say.

Climate change could drastically reduce sea urchin populations in particular, according to Gretchen Hofmann, a marine biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The purple sea urchin is commonly found off the coast of Australia and Antarctica. It is an essential food source for many marine animals such as cod or lobster, as well as a common ingredient in sushi.

Hofmann is concerned because increasing amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide are also raising the amount of the gas dissolved in ocean water. This makes the seas more acidic, decreasing the available amount of shell-forming calcium carbonate.

Future Ocean in a Box

To test the theory, Hofmann tested sea urchins in highly acidic water similar to what is predicted for the oceans.

"We checked if they can make the skeleton that forms their bodies, and yes it is formed," Hofmann said. "But it was shorter and stumpier—not the same shape—so they swim and move differently. Plus it comes at a cost, which is they are more sensitive to temperature."

Hofmann refers to this malformed skeleton and sensitivity to heat as "double jeopardy."

She went further than any previous research by analyzing the recently sequenced sea urchin genome to find out what genes were turning off and on under this new environmental stress.

"We wanted to ask them how they were doing and get a sense of their health and physiology," Hofmann said. "We found it caused their shell-forming genes to go up threefold, so their developing system was having to put more energy into making the skeleton and less into other things."

Hofmann presented her findings at the recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston, Massachusetts.

"Sea Butterflies" Next?

Scott Doney, a chemical oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, said that Hofmann may have done "the same type of experiments [as previous researchers], but went beyond looking at the physiological impact of acidification on organisms.

"[Hofmann] used molecular biological tools to see what proteins are turned on or off as they experienced stress if the waters become really acidic," Doney said. "It is a validation in many ways of the physiological experiments others had done."

Doney compared sea urchins to homeowners who use all their cash to build the dwellings but don't leave any money for furniture.

"From the short-term experiments that have been running, the best indication is that likely the population as a whole will suffer dramatically," Doney said. "But, in addition to being a food source for things we eat, [sea urchins] are a harbinger of the damage we do to ecosystems."

Hofmann also pointed out that she just returned from Antarctica, where she was collecting samples of another first-rung-in-the-food-chain creature, the pteropod.

These miniscule creatures—which resemble snails flying through water—are sometimes referred to as sea butterflies.

They are an essential food source for many fish such as salmon, which feed penguins, seals, and other animals.

Hofmann plans to get a quick scan of the pteropod DNA sequence and then use that information to predict the impact climate change will have on these organisms.

"Pteropods are one of our lead organisms for understanding and predicting the effects of climate change. But they are a very unknown organism," she said.

"Pteropods are cold-adapted, so while we haven't tested it yet, we suspect their ability to tolerate temperature increases could be very narrow," Hofmann added.

"And they can't migrate anywhere to find colder water, so the pteropod situation could be even more dire than with sea urchins."

Read more!

The Real Question: Where Did the Chicken Come From?

The Jungle fowl and significance of yellow feet
LiveScience Yahoo News 29 Feb 08;

Why the chicken crossed the road is a question that'll never be answered. But the circumstances of the domesticated chicken's ancestry should be discoverable.

And a new study suggests Charles Darwin had it wrong. Darwin maintained that the domesticated chicken derives from the red jungle fowl. That seems at least partly true, but new research from Uppsala University now shows that the wild origins of the chicken are more complicated.

The researchers mapped the genes that give most domesticated chickens yellow legs and found the genetic heredity derives from a closely related species, the gray jungle fowl. The study is being published today in the Web edition of PLoS Genetics.

"Our studies show that even though most of the genes in domesticated fowls come from the red jungle fowl, at least one other species must have contributed, specifically the gray jungle fowl," said Jonas Eriksson, a doctoral student at Uppsala University.

The gray jungle fowl was probably crossed with an early form of the domesticated chicken, Eriksson's team figures.

The genes for yellow skin are spread among billions of domesticated chickens around the world. Darwin's studies of domesticated animals were of key importance to his theory of evolution, and he also explained the wild origins of domesticated animals.

"What's ironic is that Darwin thought that more than one wild species had contributed to the development of the dog, but that the chicken came from only one wild species, the red jungle fowl. Now it turns out that it's just the opposite way around," says Greger Larson, a researcher at Uppsala University and Durham University in England.

When it comes to chicken legs, you are what you eat. The more yellow carotenoids there are in the feed, the yellower the legs. The gene that these researchers have now identified codes for an enzyme that breaks down carotenoids and releases vitamin A. This gene is shut down in skin but fully active in other tissues in chickens with yellow legs. The consequence is that yellow carotenoids are stored in the skin in these chickens. This is called a regulatory mutation since the coding sequence of the gene is intact, but its regulation is modified.

"Our study is a clear example of the importance of regulatory mutations in the course of evolution, said Professor Leif Andersson, who directed the project. "What we don't know is why humans bred this characteristic. Maybe chickens with bright yellow legs were seen as being healthier or more fertile than other chickens, or were we simply charmed by their distinct appearance."

The scientists believe that the same gene may well be of significance in explaining the pink color of the flamingo, the yellow leg color of many birds of prey, and the reddish meat of the salmon. These characteristics are all caused by carotenoids. The gene may also influence the skin color of humans to some extent.

Read more!

China Cracks Down on Illegal Online Wildlife Trade

Eliza Barclay, National Geographic News 29 Feb 08;

Authorities in China recently launched a crackdown on Web sites that openly trade in animal products made from threatened species, experts say.

The move follows pressure from two international wildlife advocacy groups, which found thousands of items made from protected species for sale on major Chinese Internet auction sites in 2007.

As a result of the investigation, Chinese officials have already shut down several online auctions selling banned goods, said Grace Gabriel, Asia regional director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), who is based in Beijing.

"There has been progress in identifying auctions selling illegal products," she said.

"But Chinese authorities still need a lot of help with enforcement."

(Related news: "Wildlife Trade Booming in Burmese Casino Town" [February 28, 2008].)

Thousands of Ads

IFAW and TRAFFIC, the international wildlife-trade monitoring network, conducted two recent studies of China's Internet auctions that led to this year's crackdown.

Between February and December 2007, IFAW found sites selling 1,973 items from 30 species protected by Chinese environmental law and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

China has been a member of CITES, an international treaty that regulates trade in protected species, since 1981.

TRAFFIC published a similar study in July 2007 that found 4,291 advertisements for illegal wildlife products on auction sites serving mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan over an eight-month period.

Porter Erisman is a spokesperson for Alibaba, an e-commerce company and Yahoo partner that owns the Chinese auction site Taobao, which saw some of its bids shuttered by the Chinese government.

"Any postings of products banned by CITES are prohibited on our sites, and we will take them down as soon as we become aware [if our own filtering systems happened to miss them]," Erisman told National Geographic News in an email.

But Joyce Wu, in TRAFFIC's East Asia office in Taipei, said the companies need to do more.

"The major Web site companies should be more proactive and take the responsibility for the products sold on their Web site," Wu said.

Mother, or Elephant?

IFAW's Gabriel noted that the two most popular wildlife products traded online in China are elephant ivory and items made from tiger bone.

Ivory products include decorative and religious-themed carved figurines, chopsticks, and jewelry. They are sold among collectors, who are mostly white-collar and well educated, Gabriel said.

Tiger bone, which has been banned in China for the past 15 years, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat rheumatism.

Some manufacturers still produce tiger-bone wine and claim that it has magical powers and benefits for the skin.

The market for tiger-bone products generally consists of lower-income people in rural areas who shop at local vendors, though a small market for tiger-bone products exists online, Gabriel noted.

Rhino horn, tortoise shell, and antelope horn are also banned from being traded online.

One of the key challenges to policing online trade in illegal products, the conservationists note, is Chinese vendors' ability to tweak the language to manipulate descriptions of their products.

"In other languages it might be difficult, but Chinese is tonal, and if you change the tone it could be a different word," Gabriel said.

For example, the word "ma" has four different meanings in Chinese depending on the tone and the character used. In one tone, it means "elephant" and in another tone it means "mother."

This allows vendors to advertise in a kind of code, using different characters to imply a different pronunciation of "ma" and disguise an ivory product.

IFAW therefore supplies Chinese law enforcement with identification manuals so they will recognize illegal products when they see them in markets or online.

Burden of Proof

Awareness of the illegal nature of the products and their impact on threatened wildlife populations is on the rise in China, according to Gabriel.

But recent IFAW polls, still unpublished, show that most people in China, for example, do not know that elephants must be killed to obtain ivory. (See related photos of elephants massacred in Chad for their tusks. Warning: graphic images.)

And even if authorities find a suspect product, they have to prove to the courts that it was obtained illegally, which "makes it ineffective and holds up the process," Gabriel said.

In the United States the Endangered Species Act makes it illegal just to advertise sales of protected species, much less be in possession of a banned product, said Sandra Cleva, spokesperson for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Gabriel said she would like to see a similar policy enacted in China. Until then, she noted, authorities can tell sites like Taobao to remove postings, but will still have trouble prosecuting the individuals who sell illegal items.

Meanwhile, other wildlife advocacy organizations say that China's online trade in animal products is relatively rare and that most illegal transactions still take place in physical markets.

"Multiple issues affect this, from the credibility of and trust in online trading through to the fact that much [animal product] trade is still conducted by people with no day-to-day access to the Internet or knowledge of it," said Steve Trent, president of the international animal welfare group WildAid.

Currently the United States is the top destination for illegal wildlife products bought on U.S. and international auction sites, the USFWS's Cleva noted.

But China had 210 million Internet users in 2007, according to the China Internet Networks Information Center, and will surpass the United States' 215 million users in 2008.

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