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Tag: Wildlife

  • Polar experiments reveal seasonal cycle in Antarctic sea ice algae

    Polar experiments reveal seasonal cycle in Antarctic sea ice algae

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    Newswise — In the frigid waters surrounding Antarctica, an unusual seasonal cycle occurs. During winter, from March to October, the sun barely rises. As seawater freezes it rejects salts, creating pockets of extra-salty brine where microbes live in winter. In summer, the sea ice melts under constant daylight, producing warmer, fresher water at the surface. 

    This remote ecosystem is home to much of the Southern Ocean’s photosynthetic life. A new University of Washington study provides the first measurements of how sea-ice algae and other single-celled life adjust to these seasonal rhythms, offering clues to what might happen as this environment shifts under climate change. 

    The study, published Sept. 15 in the International Society for Microbial Ecology’s ISME Journal, contains some of the first measurements of how sea-ice microbes respond to changing conditions. 

    “We know very little about how sea-ice microbes respond to changes in salinity and temperature,” said lead author Hannah Dawson, a UW postdoctoral researcher who did the work while pursuing her doctorate in oceanography at the UW. “And until now we knew almost nothing about the molecules they produce and use in chemical reactions to stay alive, which are important for supporting higher organisms in the ecosystem as well as for climate impacts, like carbon storage and cloud formation.” 

    The polar oceans play an important role in global ocean currents and in supporting marine ecosystems. Microbes form the base of the food web, supporting larger life forms. 

    “Polar oceans make up a significant portion of the world’s oceans, and these are very productive waters,” said senior author Jodi Young, a UW assistant professor of oceanography. “These waters support big swarms of krill, the whales that come to feed on those krill, and either polar bears or penguins. And the start of that whole ecosystem are these single-celled microscopic algae. We just know so little about them.” 

    The tiny organisms are also important for the climate, since they quietly perform photosynthesis and soak up carbon from the atmosphere. Polar algae are especially good at producing sulfur-containing molecules that give beaches their distinctive smell and, when lofted into the air in sea spray, promote formation of clouds that can reduce penetration of solar rays. 

    Antarctic sea ice, though long stable, is at an all-time record low this year. 

    In other oceans, satellite instruments can capture dramatic seasonal phytoplankton blooms from space — but that isn’t possible for microbes hidden under sea ice. And Antarctic waters are particularly challenging to visit, leaving researchers with almost no measurements in winter. 

    In late 2018, Dawson and co-author Susan Rundell traveled to Palmer Station, a U.S. research station on the West Antarctic Peninsula. They used a small boat to sample seawater and sea ice at the same nearby sites every three days. 

    Back on shore, the two graduate students performed 10-day experiments in tanks to see which microbes grew as temperature and salinity were adjusted to mimic sea-ice formation and melt. They also shipped samples back to Seattle for more complex measurements of the samples’ genetics and metabolites, the small organic molecules produced by the cell. 

    Results revealed how single-celled algae deal with their fluctuating environments. As temperatures drop, the cells produce cryoprotectants, similar to antifreeze, to prevent their cellular fluid from crystallizing. Many of the most common cryoprotectant molecules were the same across different microbial lifeforms. 

    As salinity changes, to avoid either bursting in freshening waters or becoming desiccated like raisins in salty conditions, the cells change the concentration of salt-like organic molecules. Many such molecules serve a dual role as cryoprotectants, to balance conditions inside and outside the cell to maintain water balance. 

    The results show that under short-term temperature and salinity changes, community structure in each sample remained stable while adjusting the production of protective molecules. Different microbe species showed consistent responses to changing conditions. This should simplify modeling future responses to climate change, Young said. 

    Results also hint that the production of omega-3 fatty acids may decline in lower-salinity environments. This would be bad news for consumers of krill oil supplements, and for the marine ecosystem that relies on those algae-derived nutrients. Future research now underway by the UW group aims to confirm that result — especially with the prospect of increasing freshwater input from melting sea ice and glaciers. 

    “We’re interested in how these sea-ice algae contend with changes in temperature, salinity and light under normal conditions,” Dawson said. “But then we also have climate change, which is completely remodeling the landscape in terms of when sea ice is forming, how much sea ice forms, how long it stays before it melts, as well as the quantity of freshwater input from glaciers. So we’re both trying to capture what’s happening now, and also asking how that can inform what might happen in the future.”

    The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Simons Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Other co-authors are Anitra Ingalls, Jody Deming, Joshua Sacks and Laura Carlson at the UW; Natalia Erazo, Elizabeth Connors and Jeff Bowman at Scripps Institution of Oceanography; and Veronica Mierzejewski at Arizona State University.

     

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    University of Washington

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  • Arctic beavers boost methane emissions

    Arctic beavers boost methane emissions

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    Newswise — The climate-driven advance of beavers into the Arctic tundra is causing the release of more methane — a greenhouse gas — into the atmosphere.

    Beavers, as everyone knows, like to make dams. Those dams cause flooding, which inundates vegetation and turns Arctic streams and creeks into a series of ponds. Those beaver ponds and surrounding inundated vegetation can be devoid of oxygen and rich with organic sediment, which releases methane as the material decays.

    Methane is also released when organics-rich permafrost thaws as the result of heat carried by the spreading water.

    A study linking Arctic beavers to an increase in the release of methane was published in July in Environmental Research Letters. 

    The lead author is Jason Clark, a former postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. Research Professor Ken Tape, also of the Geophysical Institute, was Clark’s adviser and is a co-author. Other co-authors include Benjamin Jones, a research assistant professor at the UAF Institute of Northern Engineering; and researchers from the National Park Service and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

    Tape has done extensive research about the northward migration of beavers and their resultant impact on the Arctic environment.

    “What we found is that there are lots of methane hotspots right next to ponds and they start to diminish as you go away from the pond,” he said.

    The new study is the first to link large numbers of new beaver ponds to methane emissions at the landscape scale. It suggests that beaver engineering in the Arctic will at least initially increase methane release. 

    “We say ‘initially’ because that’s the data we have,” Tape said. “What the longer-term implications are, we don’t know.” 

    As a greenhouse gas, methane is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in Earth’s atmosphere.

    It accounts for about 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The agency says human activities have more than doubled atmospheric methane concentrations in the past two centuries.

    The new research focused on 166 square miles of the lower Noatak River basin in Northwest Alaska. Data was obtained by airborne hyperspectral imaging through NASA’s Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment program. That program and the National Science Foundation funded the research.

    Hyperspectral cameras image an area in hundreds of wavelengths across the electromagnetic spectrum, including many not visible to the human eye. That differs from other cameras, which typically only image in the primary colors of red, green and blue.

    The researchers compared the location of methane hot spots to the locations of 118 beaver ponds and to a number of nearby unaffected stream reaches and lakes. They analyzed the area up to approximately 200 feet from the perimeter of each water body and found a “significantly greater” number of methane hot spots around beaver ponds.

    “We have these datasets that largely overlap, in space and mostly in time,” Tape said. “It’s kind of a simple design relying on a new tool.”

    Additional research about the relationship between beaver migration and Arctic methane release will occur next year.

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    University of Alaska Fairbanks

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  • Biden administration cancels years-long attempt to drill in Alaska National Wildlife Refuge | CNN Politics

    Biden administration cancels years-long attempt to drill in Alaska National Wildlife Refuge | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The Biden administration announced Wednesday it will cancel seven Trump-era oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and protect more than 13 million acres in the federal National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, stymieing a years-long attempt to drill in the protected region.

    The cancellation will affect Alaska’s state-owned oil development agency, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, which bought the leases covering about 365,000 acres on ANWR’s Coastal Plain during the Trump administration.

    “With today’s action, no one will have rights to drill for oil in one of the most sensitive landscapes on Earth,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland told reporters on a press call. “Public lands belong to all Americans, and there are some places where oil and gas drilling and industrial development simply do not belong.”

    President Joe Biden echoed Haaland’s comments in a statement and said that his administration will “continue to take bold action” on climate change.

    Wednesday’s actions, Biden said, “will help preserve our Arctic lands and wildlife, while honoring the culture, history, and enduring wisdom of Alaska Natives who have lived on these lands since time immemorial.”

    The 2017 GOP tax bill opened a small part of the pristine wildlife refuge for drilling, a measure championed by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican. But it was never developed or drilled – or came close to doing so. Haaland suspended the leases in June 2021, and some major oil companies, including Chevron, canceled their leases in the area the following year.

    However, the 2017 tax law mandates leasing in ANWR, meaning the Biden administration will have to launch a new leasing process and hold another lease sale by the end of 2024, albeit likely with tighter environmental provisions.

    “We intend to comply with the law,” a senior Biden administration official said, adding they didn’t have a timeline for an additional lease sale apart from the law’s deadline of holding one by December 2024.

    The Interior Department is also proposing federal protections for 13 million acres of land in the NPR-A, limiting future oil and gas development and taking steps to implement conservation protections it announced in March, alongside the controversial Willow oil drilling project. The proposed rule would expressly prohibit new oil and gas leasing in 10.6 million acres, or over 40% of the NPR-A, according to an Interior Department press release.

    The protected area would span areas including Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon and Peard Bay Special Areas – home to migrating caribou, polar and grizzly bears and migratory birds.

    The new regulations would also reverse a Trump-era rule expanding oil and gas development in the area and shrinking protections for habitat and animals, while also protecting subsistence hunting and gathering from Alaska Native communities who live in the area.

    Haaland and White House senior adviser John Podesta pointed to the impacts of climate change quickening warming in the area.

    “Alaska is ground zero for climate change,” Podesta told reporters. “The Arctic is warming more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet. Today’s actions help protect their future, America’s future and they build on President Biden’s historic climate and conservation record.”

    The administration’s initial suspension of the leases was challenged in court by Alaska’s state-owned oil developer, but AEIDA lost their lawsuit in early August.

    AEIDA did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

    The Biden administration’s move on Wednesday was cheered by environmental groups and some Democrats in Congress.

    “It’s a significant step to permanent protection of the Arctic refuge, but it’s not mission accomplished,” Rep. Jared Huffman, a Democrat from California, told CNN. “That terrible law requires them to do a leasing process, but not on a deeply flawed environmental review and not without considering more protective alternatives and the best available science.”

    Although Alaska Natives are split on Arctic drilling, some groups commended the Biden administration and urged Congress to undo the 2017 law mandating drilling in ANWR.

    “We urge the administration and our leaders in Congress to repeal the oil and gas program and permanently protect the Arctic Refuge,” Bernadette Dementieff, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, said in a statement.

    This story has been updated with additional information.

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  • Climate change: Emperor penguin breeding fails due to Antarctic sea ice loss

    Climate change: Emperor penguin breeding fails due to Antarctic sea ice loss

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    Newswise — Four out of five emperor penguin colonies in the Bellingshausen Sea, Antarctica, saw no chicks survive to fledge successfully in the spring of 2022, reports a study published in Communications Earth & Environment. The study suggests that this complete breeding failure is a direct consequence of the unprecedented loss of sea ice recorded in the region in recent years due to climate change.

    Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) colonies generally need stable ice attached to the land between April and January to ensure successful breeding and moulting. Any change in the extent of the Antarctic sea ice can affect their reproduction as chicks do not develop waterproof feathers until fledging.

    Peter Fretwell and colleagues used satellite images covering the period between 2018 and 2022 to monitor the presence of emperor penguins during the breeding season at five colonies in the Bellingshausen Sea in Antarctica. The colonies are known as Rothschild Island, Verdi Inlet, Smyley Island, Bryan Coast, and Pfrogner Point and range in size from around 630 pairs on Rothschild Island to around 3,500 pairs on Smyley Island.

    The authors found that four colonies — Verdi Inlet, Smyley Island, Bryant Coast, and Pfrogner Point —experienced total reproductive failure and were abandoned in the period after the sea ice broke up before the start of the fledging period in December 2022. The authors indicate that it is unlikely that any chicks survived to successfully fledge at these colonies. However, satellite images suggest that chicks did fledge successfully at Rothschild Island colony. The authors note that of the five colonies only Bryant Coast colony had been identified as having experienced total breeding failure prior to 2022.

    This is the first regional breeding failure of emperor penguins observed in the past 13 years in the region, and among the first evidence of the direct impact of Antarctic warming on the viability of emperor penguin populations.

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    Scientific Reports

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  • Watch Otters Use ‘Turtle Tunnel’ To Cross Safely Underneath Road

    Watch Otters Use ‘Turtle Tunnel’ To Cross Safely Underneath Road

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    A project to help animals cross the road has been completed in Minnesota, and it looks to be an otter success.

    Two otters were caught on camera utilizing a newly built wildlife passage in Minnesota’s Dakota County, with the footage shared to social media Friday.

    “The wildlife corridor under Cliff Road along Lebanon Hills Regional Park is busy!” Dakota County Parks wrote in a Facebook post.

    A team of natural resource staffers from the county and the Minnesota Zoo had previously determined that this particular road was a “hotspot” for small animals getting killed by vehicles, the post said.

    In a press release, the county said that it had completed “three ‘turtle tunnels’ or ‘critter crossings’ designed to provide safe passage for turtles and other wildlife that travel near the area.”

    “When we have projects like these wildlife tunnels, we are helping to facilitate wildlife movement within the landscapes they travel — a little better and a little safer,” Tom Lewanski, a natural resources manager with the parks department, said in the statement.

    The new tunnels are already popular with the local four-legged population.

    “In the short time since the tunnels have been operational, we have already documented many animals using them including otters, muskrats, squirrels, and snapping turtles!” Dakota County Parks wrote on Facebook.

    In a post last week, the department also shared images of a passage being used by a squirrel, a muskrat and, yes, a turtle.

    The United States’ most famous turtle tunnel is the Lake Jackson Ecopassage in Florida’s Leon County. That project was completed in 2010 after researchers documented thousands of turtles and other animals being killed on a particular stretch of four-lane highway over a five-year period.

    The Lake Jackson Ecopassage attracted some controversy in 2009 after then-Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) claimed it was an example of wasteful government spending. But after its completion, Matthew Aresco, the biologist who spearheaded the project, said it was a big success in terms of saving animal lives.

    “I monitored it over the last several months and it’s working exactly as it was intended,” he told Tallahassee Magazine in 2012. “Animals are using it back and forth (through) the culverts, and they’re staying behind the barrier wall. They’re not being killed on the highway.”

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  • Subaquatic Molecular Exchange

    Subaquatic Molecular Exchange

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    Newswise — “Eat or be eaten” is not always the way things are in nature. It can be beneficial for different species to team up and pool their capabilities. Cnidarians such as corals and anemones were already committing to this kind of biological joint venture with algae from the dinoflagellate group 250 million years ago. Thanks to these symbioses, both sides are able to flourish in nutrient-poor waters where, in isolation, neither would stand a chance of surviving. Corals can thus lay the structural foundation for the most biodiverse of all marine ecosystems. They protect their dinoflagellate symbionts from predators and supply them with inorganic nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Conversely, the algae provide the coral with the products of their photosynthesis: carbohydrates, protein and fat.

    Yet this happy marriage can only work if the ‘barter’ arrangement is precisely regulated. And although a successful exchange of nutrients is critical to the health of the corals and, hence, to the whole of the coral reef ecosystem, the molecular mechanisms that regulate communication within this partnership are still largely unknown. A new study in Current Biology now shows that a signal path from way back in the evolutionary process plays a crucial role in the ‘trade’ that takes place between algae and coral.

    Eaten but not digested

    “Most types of coral have to absorb new dinoflagellate symbionts from their environment in each new generation,” explains LMU biologist Professor Annika Guse, lead author of the new study. The symbionts are initially absorbed like food into the coral’s digestive cavity and from there into the host’s cells. During this process, a kind of bubble known as the symbiosome forms around the algae. The symbiosome is chemically similar to a lysosome – another cell organelle that plays a pivotal role in digestion. “The difference to the lysosome is that, in the symbiosome, the dinoflagellates remain intact,” Guse notes. In effect, the host eats its symbionts without digesting them. “We do not yet know exactly how the algae survive this process.” Inside the symbiosome, the algae then continue to photosynthesize and produce nutrients that they share with their host. All nutrients and communication processes between the partners must therefore penetrate the shell of the symbiosome, which is made up of membranes from both host and symbiont.

    A ‘cell tax’ between symbiont and host

    To do all this, the symbiotic partners evidently use a signal path known as the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), which regulates cellular metabolism in all eukaryotes as a function of environmental factors such as the availability of nutrients. It has already been proven for other species that mTOR is also used for nutritional symbioses: “Various insect hosts use mTOR signal transmission for their bacterial endosymbionts,” Guse says. “Evidence of the same path has also been found for legumes and their fungal partners.” The researchers therefore suspected that mTOR could also be involved in the partnership between cnidarians and dinoflagellates. “We have been able to prove that endosymbiontic corals use the mTOR signal path to incorporate nutrients from the symbionts in the host metabolism.” All the vital components of mTOR exist in both anemones and corals. Annika Guse and her colleagues investigated the extent to which this signal path is activated by the presence of algae partners from the Symbiodiniaceae family at different developmental stages in anemones of the genus Aiptasia. They also tested how inhibiting mTOR signal transmission affected the symbiotic function. “Our findings show that mTOR signal transmission is activated by the symbiosis, and that disruptions to the signal path impair symbiosis at both the cellular and the organismic level,” Guse explains. “With the aid of a specific antibody, we were also able to show that mTOR is localized on the membranes of the symbiosome.”

    Repurposing an age-old signal path

    Studying their findings, the biologists conclude that mTOR is of tremendous importance to the incorporation of nutrients in the host’s metabolism and to the stability of the symbiosis. Given that much of the energy consumed by symbiotic cnidarians comes from their symbiotic partners, it is plausible that the highly conserved mTOR signal path has ultimately been used for efficient nutrient sensing within the framework of symbiosis. Accordingly, Guse and her team propose a model in which the nutrients released by the algae activate mTOR signal transmission in the symbiosome and in the host tissue – similar to the sensing of nutrients from external sources.

    The activation of mTOR signal transmission was probably also an important step in the evolution of this symbiosis, allowing the algae to survive within the host cells. “The mTOR activity controls what is called autophagy, a very ancient immune reaction on the evolutionary scale that is triggered when pathogens penetrate the host and that leads to the destruction of the intruder,” the biologist explains. This, she believes, is the reason why some pathogens – and the bacterial endosymbionts of some insects, too – have developed mechanisms to bypass autophagic elimination. Early symbionts could have been ingested by a cnidarian and absorbed into its cells. Instead of being ejected or destroyed, however, they were retained as they supplied the host cell with nutrients, activating the mTOR signals and thereby stopping the process of autophagy. “We are only now beginning to understand how the complex interaction between host and algae works and was able to develop over a million years of co-evolution,” Guse says.

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    Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen (Munich)

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  • World’s smallest bear finally has its time in the sun. But is that a good thing? | CNN

    World’s smallest bear finally has its time in the sun. But is that a good thing? | CNN

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    Hong Kong
    CNN
     — 

    The world’s smallest bear is finally having its moment in the sun – thanks to a viral video that sparked a conspiracy theory on Chinese social media.

    Public interest in sun bears, one of Asia’s most endangered and intriguing animals, has rocketed after video footage emerged showing a bear named Angela in her enclosure at the Hangzhou zoo in eastern China standing upright on a rock and waving her paw.

    The video sparked a global debate about the bear’s uncannily human-like appearance, so much so that conspiracy theories began emerging that Angela was really a human dressed in a bear costume.

    Experts have since debunked those theories, attributing the misunderstandings in part to the relative obscurity of the sun bear, whose numbers in the wild are thought to have dwindled to between 1,000 and 2,500, according to conservation groups.

    Various wildlife conservationists told CNN that they now hope all the attention surrounding Angela will help to raise awareness about the sun bear’s plight – they face threats including deforestation and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade.

    The bears are also commonly used in commercial bear bile farming – kept alive in tiny cages so their intestinal bile can be harvested and extracted in painful ways for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

    “They are among the least known bears in the world – a forgotten species,” said wildlife biologist Wong Siew Te who founded the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center (BSBCC) in Sabah, Malaysia.

    Wong has dedicated his life to researching, rescuing and rehabilitating sun bears and told CNN that he was encouraged to see “so much chatter and debate” about their behavior following the viral video.

    “Sun bears are finally having their moment in the spotlight,” he said. “There is a lot to love about them which many people do not know about and they play important ecological roles. They are threatened by man and need more global attention and awareness to save the species.”

    Since the videos of Angela spread across the internet, zoos in countries around the world have reported a wave of interest in the bears, which are native to Southeast Asia and named for the crescent shaped yellow, orange, amber or cream colored patches on their chests.

    The Hangzhou zoo reported a 30 per cent surge in visitors to its sun bear enclosure following the videos, while an official at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, told CNN that it had been “all about sun bears” the past week.

    Taronga zookeeper Logan Dudley said there had been an “uptick of people” this week showing interest in their resident sun bear Mary.

    “They are a lesser known bear species… and are vulnerable and endangered,” she said. “With all the media attention surrounding the (sun bear videos) we have a good opportunity to further educate ourselves to save this species.”

    Taronga Zoo is not alone. In a nod to the viral video, the Singapore Zoo shared footage of its own sun bears and confirmed they were “very real.”

    Afiqah Nasir, a mother of two who visited Singapore Zoo on Friday, told CNN that the videos had amused her children and sparked their curiosity.

    “We’re here because of that,” she said. “They now know that these are actual bears called sun bears and are not make believe, like people in T-rex costumes.”

    Conservation director Bosco Chan at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Hong Kong said that it was now “crucial to step up protection of sun bears in the wild” and stop the illegal trade of their body parts.

    “Sun bears are extremely rare and close to extinction. Their forest habitats, where destruction by industrial agriculture such as oil palm and rubber plantations remains rampant, must be strictly protected,” Chan said.

    A sun bear inside at the Vietnam bear rescue centre, in Tam Dao national park, Vinh Phuc, Vietnam, 09 July 2019.

    Aside from being mistaken as people in costume, experts say sun bears are also sometimes mistaken as big dogs due to their size.

    The bears, also sometimes known as the “honey bear,” stand about 28 inches tall and weigh between 55 lbs to 143 lbs.

    This relatively compact size, for a bear, makes them a target of the illegal wildlife pet trade.

    Cubs are especially cute and docile and can be easily tamed compared to bigger and more aggressive bears, said bear expert Dave Garshelis, chair of the IUCN SSC Bear Specialist Group.

    “Poaching has escalated in recent years but sun bears are also threatened by the pet trade,” he said.

    British colonial officer Thomas Stamford Raffles, who founded Singapore in 1819, is reputed to have kept a sun bear from Indonesia as a pet for two years, Garshelis noted.

    A couple of centuries later and instances of people keeping the bears as pets continue to appear in media reports.

    In 2019, a live sun bear was discovered in an apartment in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It came to authorities’ attention after neighbors heard it whimpering and holding its paws out of the window. The owner claimed to have mistaken the bear “for a dog” and was fined $6,000 by a court.

    Another woman was prosecuted for keeping a sun bear in her house in Singapore in 1993. She was fined $2,000 by the authorities and the animal was confiscated.

    Will the viral videos actually help save these amazing bears?

    Garshelis has “mixed feelings” about the newfound fame of the sun bears. He fears it could encourage people to take them as pets and doubts it will lead to meaningful conservation efforts.

    “All most people have learned is that sun bears often stand, have wrinkled skin and may even seem to wave their paws,” he said.

    “In fact, it’s even possible that all this exposure has made people (consider them) as pets – there might be a small zoo somewhere looking to buy one to attract more visitors.”

    “But they are a fascinating species,” he added.

    “There’s so much more (to them) than standing and waving in a zoo.”

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  • In Papua New Guinea, Inaugl Tribe Members Commit to Legally Protect More Than 12,000 ha (46 square miles) of High Biodiversity Forest

    In Papua New Guinea, Inaugl Tribe Members Commit to Legally Protect More Than 12,000 ha (46 square miles) of High Biodiversity Forest

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    Newswise — Today, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Indigenous landowners of the Inaugl tribe have joined their neighbours in the Bismarck Forest Corridor to commit to legally protecting 12,241 hectares (46.3 square miles) of forest under a conservation deed. The deed protects this high integrity forest from logging, while allowing for sustainable use of natural resources within marked zones.

    “This conservation deed, which is agreed by all five clans of the Inaugl tribe, meant that the people put aside their differences and are united to work together for common good,” said clan leader, John Kamb Sande.

    The Wildlife Conservation Society PNG program (WCS PNG), with support from the European Union-funded Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme and the USAID PNG Lukautim Graun Program, has been working with the Inaugl tribe members from Gembogl District, Chimbu Province, to empower Indigenous stewardship over their tenured lands. The lands are managed under the oversight of KGWan, a community-based organisation made up of representatives from each of the Inaugl tribe’s five clans, and monitored by local rangers or “Wasman,” who will be trained in GPS software tools to record wildlife sightings and breaches of management rules. Offenders can be prosecuted under village or state courts. Under the SWM Programme and Lukautim Graun Program, local magistrates and the Conservation Management Committee have received training on penalties and mediation processes to enforce conservation deeds.

    WCS PNG Country Director, Jennifer Baing, said that legally binding conservation deeds as community-led governance mechanisms are proving to be effective for sustainable wildlife management and conservation in PNG.

    “This community led approach is effective because it incorporates both social and environmental safeguards, such as rigorous processes of obtaining local Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). Through the process of developing conservation deeds, customary landowners are empowered to make decisions on the use of their own resources based on traditional knowledge and the community’s own needs. This is achieved by utilising information on local threats to their natural resources, food security and culture,” said Baing.

    H.E. Jacques Fradin, Ambassador of the European Union to PNG, proudly extends heartfelt congratulations to the Inaugl tribe’s clans for their collaborative efforts in signing a groundbreaking conservation deed.

    “The signing of this historic agreement is a testament to the spirit of cooperation between the local communities, whose ancestral lands are graced with unique and diverse ecosystems. The European Union is proudly supporting the Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme and other initiatives committed to fostering sustainable development, enhancing environmental protection, with deep respect for local traditions and knowledge. This milestone serves as a tangible example of how protected areas supported through conservation deeds are proving to be a useful tool to achieve sustainable management of wildlife and natural resources. The European Union is committed to continue the Government of Papua New Guinea, the provincial administrations, local communities, and international partners in advancing sustainable practices and preserving the natural wonders that grace this astonishing country,” said H.E. Jacques Fradin.

    As part of the management plan the community has designated zones within the conservation area to support sustainable traditional hunting. In addition, to increase the supply of protein, two hundred households will receive chickens to set up village backyard poultry farming.

    Jenny Steven, speaking on behalf of women from the Inaugl tribe, said, “Conservation will not be fully achieved in PNG unless people’s livelihoods are integrated.” This integration is a core component of both the Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme and Lukautim Graun Program.

    Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Lukautim Graun Program, Tom Pringel said, “Papua New Guinea, land of 840 language and culture is living through a time of environmental degradation which is not only resulting in biodiversity loss, but loss of cultural identity associated with traditional bilas, folklores, songs, areas of cultural significances, loss of water sources, loss of herbal medicine, loss of useful plants, animals, and insects. All living and non-living things in the natural environment are interconnected and form various elements of the ecosystems life supporting systems. With the increase in human population and demand for more resources there is now a greater need to promote biodiversity conservation and environmental protection in PNG. USAID funded Lukautim Graun Program promotes and supports biodiversity conservation efforts by providing alternative solutions to promote biodiversity through livelihood programs, capacity building and training. Additionally, gender equality in PNG is rated as one of the lowest out of the 159 countries, therefore the Lukautim Graun Program also supports and promotes equal participation for girls and women in biodiversity conservation programming and livelihood activities. On this occasion we are proud to be part of the achievement and celebrate a milestone achievement with the Danbalg Community who have taken the initiative to setup the Inaugl Natural Resource Management Area. Congratulations to the Danbalg Community, WCS and everyone who has been part of the journey in creating the Conservation Area.”

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    Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme The SWM Programme is developing innovative solutions based on field projects in fifteen countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. This seven-year (2018-2024) initiative is funded by the European Union and implemented by a unique consortium of four organisations with expertise in wildlife conservation and food security: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). https://www.swm-programme.info/papua-new-guinea

    The USAID PNG Lukautim Graun Program (LGP) The USAID PNG Lukautim Graun Program (LGP) aims to protect Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) rich biodiversity, which is under increasing threat from industrial development, population growth, and other anthropogenic factors. “Lukautim graun” means “protect the environment” in Tok Pisin. The Program aims to improve the conservation of biodiversity and equity among genders in priority terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecosystems. www.pnglgp.org

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    Wildlife Conservation Society

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  • Poaching Risks Kordofan Giraffe Extinction in 15 Years

    Poaching Risks Kordofan Giraffe Extinction in 15 Years

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    Newswise — Poaching of two Critically Endangered Kordofan giraffes per year could result in extinction in just 15 years within Cameroon’s Bénoué National Park without intervention. These are the alarming new findings of a University of Bristol and Bristol Zoological Society-led study published in the African Journal of Ecology.

    One of the last populations of Kordofan giraffes roam Cameroon’s Bénoué National Park in Africa with current estimates indicating there are fewer than 50 individuals left in the park. Bristol Zoological Society have been working to conserve this highly-threatened mammal since 2017.

    While poaching is frequently cited as a cause of population decline, evidence remains mostly anecdotal, with little research into its overall impact. Illegal hunters kill giraffes for their meat but also for their pelts, bones, hair and tails which are highly valued by some cultures.

    Researchers from Bristol Vet School and Bristol Zoological Society sought to analyse the effectiveness of different conservation measure interventions using a population modelling technique. The team compared anti-poaching interventions, population supplementation, and habitat protection. Each intervention was simulated individually and in combination to investigate their relative impact on population viability.

    Their modelling found the removal of one male and one female giraffe every year would result in an average time to extinction of just 15.3 years. The poaching of female giraffes had a more significant impact on population viability than males.

    The team’s findings confirm that conservation management should prioritise strengthening existing anti-poaching activity in conjunction with protecting wildlife corridors to aid dispersal.

    Kane Colston, the study’s lead author, who undertook the study as part of his Master’s degree at Bristol Vet School in conjunction with teaching partners Bristol Zoological Society, said: “Our findings confirm anti-poaching measures appear the most significant for population viability. The extent of poaching in Bénoué National Park is still unclear as far higher giraffe poaching rates have been reported in other national parks, but recent confirmed reports of the poaching of two giraffes in a period of just three months highlight the urgency of conservation intervention.”

    Dr Sam Penny, the project lead from Bristol Zoological Society, added: “These findings really underscore the magnitude of the threat facing Bénoué National Park’s Kordofan giraffe and highlight the importance of our conservation work in the area. We will continue to work with the park’s Conservation Service and our partner NGO Sekakoh to ensure anti-poaching initiatives are prioritised within the landscape.”

    Ends

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  • A Florida wildlife center says it lost ‘nearly all’ of its animals in a fire: ‘We are devastated’ | CNN

    A Florida wildlife center says it lost ‘nearly all’ of its animals in a fire: ‘We are devastated’ | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A Florida wildlife center was badly damaged and “nearly all” of its animals were killed in an overnight fire, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and the wildlife center said.

    Over 250 animals “including lizards, small mammals, amphibians, turtles and tortoises, fresh and saltwater marine life, and of course …. alligators,” were housed at the Alligator & Wildlife Discovery Center in Madeira Beach, its website states.

    The animals came from several sources, according to the center, including the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and individual owners “who can no longer care for their pets,” the center said.

    Pinellas County deputies on foot patrol at the John’s Pass Village Boardwalk saw flames coming from a building around 3 a.m. Thursday and requested assistance from the fire department, authorities said.

    The wildlife center, as well as surrounding businesses, sustained “major damage,” Cpl. Dave Brenn of the sheriff’s office said.

    “We suffered from a tragic fire last night. Nearly all of the animals are gone. We are devastated,” the center said in a Facebook post Thursday morning.

    The cause of the fire is under investigation, the sheriff’s office said.

    Madeira Beach is about 27 miles southwest of Tampa.

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  • Rattlesnakes find calm with nearby ‘friend’ amid stress

    Rattlesnakes find calm with nearby ‘friend’ amid stress

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    Newswise — When animals suffer from acute or chronic stress, they produce more hormones causing shifts in the nervous system, immune response, and behavior. Some animals, if they are in the presence of a conspecific, can modulate their response to buffer stress. This is known as social buffering.

    There is some research suggesting that snakes can exhibit complex social behavior. Nevertheless, social buffering in reptiles, as well as in other asocial organisms and solitary foragers, hasn’t been studied extensively. Now, researchers in the US have examined if rattlesnakes inhabiting Southern California use social buffering to alleviate acute stress.

    “We showed that when two snakes were together and experienced a stressful situation, they could buffer each other’s stress response, much like what happens to humans when they endure a stressful event together,” said Chelsea Martin, a PhD student at Loma Linda University and first author of a new Frontiers in Ethology study. “This dampening of the stress response has not been reported previously in any reptile species.”

    Snakes that rattle buffer

    When exposed to stress, the presence of a snake companion reduced the change in heart rate of snakes significantly. Because the researchers worked with wild-caught rattlesnakes, they could show that social buffering likely exists in nature and can persist in captivity.

    “Our test snakes came from populations that overwinter individually and communally. We found no differences in snake populations who did or didn’t overwinter in groups,” Martin explained. “We also did not observe a difference in social buffering between the sexes.”

    Montane rattlesnakes hibernate communally, which could have been an indicator of stronger social networks than in lowland rattlesnakes, which usually overwinter alone. It is also known that female rattlesnakes aggregate during pregnancy and remain with newborn offspring. Testing for these variables helped the researchers establish that proclivity to buffer was equally pronounced in both populations as well as female and male snakes.

    Snakes in a bucket

    For their study, the researchers assessed social buffering in 25 wild-caught southern Pacific rattlesnakes in three scenarios: when the snakes were alone, in the presence of a rope that served as inanimate control object, and while the snakes were in the presence of a same-sex companion.

    Measuring rattlesnakes’ heart rates should be a reliable indicator of acute stress levels and social buffering. To obtain data, the researchers outfitted the snakes with electrodes near their hearts and attached the sensors to a heart rate monitor. They then placed the snakes in a bucket – a dark, enclosed testing environment.

    After an adjustment period of 20 minutes, the snakes were artificially disturbed. Then Martin et al. measured the snakes’ heart rate increase from baseline, the time it took for their heart rate to return to normal, and the time they spent rattling.

    An image boost for rattlesnakes

    “Our results provide insights into social behavior patterns of snakes,” said Martin. “But it might also improve rattlesnakes’ image. In the public eye they are often maligned. Our findings could help to change that,” she added.

    The scientists also pointed to some limitations they worked with. During the experiment’s duration, the snake pairs were kept in very confined spaces. Accordingly, they did not examine whether a stress buffering response occurs when snakes are close, but not in physical contact with each other. Another unknown variable, which the researchers hope to test in the future, is if familiarity between two snakes impacts their social buffering response.

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    Frontiers

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  • Serious monkey business: chimpanzee heart check via digital camera

    Serious monkey business: chimpanzee heart check via digital camera

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    Newswise — A world-first experiment to measure chimpanzee heart rates via a digital camera could help curb cardiovascular disease in great apes in captivity and provide valuable insights into how their brain develops from an early age.

    Using a contact-free technique to extract cardiac signals from chimpanzees by filming subtle movements in their face or thorax, and monitoring their emotional response to different stimuli, a team of researchers led by the University of South Australia (UniSA) has made some startling discoveries.

    Chimpanzees – our closest living relatives – show similar responses to human babies when they experience fear, excitement, or joy, causing their heart rate to increase or decrease.

    Their response to videos of nature scenes is also the same as humans, relaxing them and lowering their heart rate significantly, despite not being familiar with the environment.

    By monitoring their heart rates from a distance, researchers are confident they can pinpoint early signs of cardiac disease in chimpanzees – one of the main causes of mortality in captive great apes – and flag these endangered animals for treatment.

    Seven chimpanzees were filmed in captivity from a short distance at the Wolfgang Koehler Primate Research Centre in Leipzig, Germany, for the study. UniSA engineers were sent the footage and used artificial intelligence to determine the heart rates.

    Remote sensing engineer UniSA Professor Javaan Chahl says it is the first time that chimpanzee heart rates have been recorded by a digital camera, extracting cardiac signals from their facial hues using image-processing algorithms.

    Previous studies have either relied on sensors attached to the chimpanzee’s body, requiring primates in captivity to be trained to tolerate them, or ensuring the animal is anaesthetised before undertaking basic health checks.

    The researchers not only recorded chimpanzee heart rates using the new technology, but also compared how the apes’ heart rates changed when shown videos of aggressive behaviour between chimpanzees from different groups, scenes of chimpanzees eating, and nature videos.

    Lead author, UniSA PhD student Danyi Wang, says the apes’ heart rate increased when viewing video footage of chimps fighting and feeding, and slowed when looking at nature scenes.

    “Heart rate changes can be linked to emotional responses, mental effort, attention and focus,” Danyi says. “Babies show emotional responses early in development, which can be observed by physiological changes that help them adapt and integrate into their environment. We observed the same in the chimpanzees we monitored.

    “Their responses to viewing nature scenes could be an innate physiological response to the natural world. We know that when humans spend time in nature, or view nature-related stimuli, it has a calming effect. It appears nature has the same effect on chimpanzees, and this could be deeply rooted in our evolutionary history.”

    Because primates have similar DNA to humans, monitoring their physiological changes may provide vital information about the development of their thinking, attention, language, learning, memory and perception.

    Prof Chahl says, as with human infants, heart rate measures could be used to test recognition memory and therefore help reveal mental processes in different contexts.

    “This would not only complement existing efforts to understand the evolution of cognition, but it would also enable us to test populations that otherwise do not engage in cognitive tasks, such as very young or untrained primates.”

    Cardiovascular disease is very common in captive great apes, typically due to age-related changes, thickening of the heart muscles and reduced elasticity. By monitoring their heart, researchers believe they will be able to detect abnormal heart rhythms and potential signs of cardiac disease earlier.

    “Our contact-free technique opens up new routes to study primates’ emotional and cognitive states and may also greatly enhance the health management of a wide range of animal species,” Prof Chahl says.

    The study is published in Behaviour Research Methods, one of the world’s leading journals in experimental psychology.

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    University of South Australia

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  • Surging Monkey & Pig Populations Threaten Disease Risk

    Surging Monkey & Pig Populations Threaten Disease Risk

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    Newswise — Exploding populations of wild pigs and macaque monkeys in Southeast Asia are threatening native forests and disease outbreaks in livestock and people, according to research led by The University of Queensland.

    Dr Matthew Luskin, from UQ’s School of the Environment, and his team collated and analysed species population data from across the region, some of it collected with a network of cameras.

    “Macaques and wild pigs are taking over Southeast Asia’s disturbed forests,” Dr Luskin said.

    “Humans are largely to blame for this by altering forests with logging and establishing palm oil farms which provide food and ideal breeding conditions for these animals.

    “We saw that wild boar and macaque numbers were 400 per cent higher in forests near the plantations than in untouched environments.

    “These animals take full advantage of the farmland, raiding crops and thriving on calorie‐rich foods.”

    Setting and monitoring the camera traps provided Dr Luskin with an up-close experience of the exploding numbers.

    “I encountered huge troops of macaques in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia – they were everywhere in the forest edges, following us and interfering with our equipment,” Dr Luskin said.

    “At first it was frustrating but then was eerie as we became completely surrounded.”

    Dr Luskin said there were significant human health risks in the rising pig and macaque populations.

    “The wildlife origins of the COVID-19 pandemic show that mammals in human-modified ecosystems often host high pathogen loads and pose serious zoonotic disease risks,” he said.

    “Both pigs and macaques are recognised as carriers of diseases that can be transmitted to people and they’re the most common species in a region considered to be the global zoonotic disease hotspot.”

    Collaborator, Professor Carlos Peres from the University of East Anglia (UK), said abnormally high populations of wildlife species that are disease reservoirs often occur in human-modified tropical forests.

    “This study again shows that densely settled rural areas in Southeast Asia may be a source of future human epidemics,” he said.

    University of East Anglia and Southern University of Science and Technology (China) PhD candidate, Jonathan Moore, said the immediate effects of the population explosions could be seen on native flora in the affected regions.

    “Both pigs and macaques trigger negative cascading impacts in these pristine ecosystems,” Mr Moore said.

    “They kill the seeds and seedlings of native plants and eat bird and reptile eggs.

    “The Malaysian pigs alone were found to reduce rainforest tree regeneration by 62 per cent.”

    The researchers say action is needed to minimise population expansions of wild pigs and macaques.

    “Efforts to manage the populations of these species have failed in the past because of their rapid reproductive capacity and public outcry,” Dr Luskin said.

    “Nobody favours needless killing of wildlife but the negative social and ecological impacts from hyperabundant pest species does demand ethical and urgent management solutions.”

    The research is published in Biological Reviews.

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  • Study estimates that gray whales near Oregon Coast ingest millions of tiny particles daily through their diet and feces.

    Study estimates that gray whales near Oregon Coast ingest millions of tiny particles daily through their diet and feces.

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    Newswise — CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University researchers estimate that gray whales feeding off the Oregon Coast consume up to 21 million microparticles per day, a finding informed in part by poop from the whales.

    Microparticle pollution includes microplastics and other human-sourced materials, including fibers from clothing. The finding, just published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, is important because these particles are increasing exponentially and predicted to continue doing so in the coming decades, according to researchers Leigh Torres and Susanne Brander.

    Microparticle pollution is a threat to the health of gray whales, in addition to obstacles related to increased boat traffic and loss of prey.

    “These are quite scary numbers,” said Leigh Torres, an associate professor at Oregon State and an author of the paper. “I think they should raise concern for people who care about the marine environment or about their own environment and exposure to microplastics.

    “Little by little we are all getting exposed to more and more microplastics. That’s inescapable at this point across all ecosystems, including right off our coast here in Oregon.”

    Susanne Brander, an associate professor and ecotoxicologist at Oregon State and co-author of the study, said the findings reinforce the need to curb the release of microparticles because of the adverse impacts they have on organisms and ecosystems.

    “This issue is gaining momentum globally and some states, such as California, have taken important steps,” Brander said. “But more action needs to be taken, including here in Oregon, because this problem is not going away anytime soon.”

    The study focused on a subgroup of about 230 gray whales known as the Pacific Coast Feeding Group. They spend winters in Baja California, Mexico and migrate north to forage in coastal habitats from northern California to southern British Columbia from June through November.

    Since 2015, Torres, who leads the Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Laboratory in the OSU Marine Mammal Institute, and her team, including doctoral student Lisa Hildebrand, have used drones and other tools to study the health and behavior of this subgroup of gray whales off the Oregon Coast. As part of this work, they collect poop samples from the gray whales.

    For the new study, the researchers collected zooplankton, which are an important food supply for gray whales, and commercial and recreational fish.

     

    “We had determined the caloric content of several zooplankton species, so next we wanted to know what their microparticle loads might be to get a more complete picture of the quality of these prey items,” Hildebrand said.

    Brander, Hildebrand and members of Brander’s Ecotoxicology and Environmental Stress Lab analyzed the microparticle loads in 26 zooplankton samples collected from whale feeding areas and found microparticles in all of them. A total of 418 suspected microparticles were identified, with fibers accounting for more than 50% of them.

    Torres and Hildebrand then combined that data with known estimates of energetic requirements for lactating and pregnant female gray whales to quantify how many zooplankton and microparticles they consume in a day. That yielded estimates that lactating and pregnant whales consume between 6.5 million and 21 million microparticles per day.

    “It’s a wake-up call that whales are getting that much microplastic from what they eat,” Torres said. “It’s likely that humans are also getting a lot of microplastics from our own fish diet.”

    Torres notes that the microparticle consumption estimates are likely conservative because they only account for what the whales consume from zooplankton.

    Gray whales likely ingest more microparticles directly from the water and seafloor sediment because they are filter feeders that engulf large amounts of water while consuming prey and also use suction feeding to obtain prey from the seafloor.

    Analysis of the poop samples provided a window to what kind of microparticles these gray whales were digesting. The researchers analyzed five poop samples and found microparticles in all of them. Similar to zooplankton, the majority of the microparticles were fiber.

    The researchers also found that the microparticles in the poop were significantly larger than those found in the zooplankton, leading them to believe the larger particles came from the water or sediment, not the prey (too small to consume these larger particles).

    The findings raise concerns for Torres, whose past research has shown that this subgroup of gray whales is skinnier than other groups of gray whales.

    “These whales are already stressed out with boats driving around all the time and the risk of getting hit by one of those boats,” she said. “They might also have less prey around because of changes in the environment, like less kelp. And now the quality of the prey might be poor because of these high microplastic loads.”

    Brander and Torres are continuing their investigations by studying the effects of microfibers on zooplankton that are an important food source for whales and fish in Oregon waters.

    “That all can lead to being poorly nourished and having poor health,” Torres said, “That can lead to stunted growth, smaller body size, lower ability to have calves and animals not using this habitat anymore. All of those are areas of significant concern.”

    Other authors of the paper are Julia Parker, Elissa Bloom, Robyn Norman, Jennifer Van Brocklin and Katherine Lasdin. They are all from Oregon State and in the colleges of Agricultural Sciences, Engineering and Science. Brander is also affiliated with Oregon State’s Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.

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    Oregon State University

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  • Study raises doubts about the effectiveness of controlling sagebrush to protect sage grouse.

    Study raises doubts about the effectiveness of controlling sagebrush to protect sage grouse.

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    Newswise — Efforts to improve sage grouse habitat through conventional management practices may be ineffective — and even counterproductive — according to research by University of Wyoming and other scientists.

    Sagebrush reduction strategies, including mowing and herbicide application, are often employed to enhance habitat for the greater sage grouse and other sagebrush-dependent species. The theory is that clearing large sagebrush shrubs improves food sources in sage grouse nesting and brood-rearing habitats by allowing other, more nutritious vegetation to grow with less competition. This, in turn, should increase invertebrate populations, another food source for sage grouse.

    But a new paper published in the journal Wildlife Monographs suggests these methods may be misguided.

    In a nine-year experimental study, researchers examined how sage grouse populations in central Wyoming responded to mowing and applying the herbicide tebuthiuron to Wyoming big sagebrush. According to their data, these treatments did not benefit the birds.

    “Some managers think, ‘Treating sagebrush for wildlife is how it’s supposed to work, and we’ll keep doing it,’” says Jeff Beck, a UW professor of ecosystem science and management and principal investigator for the study. “Hopefully, this will get people to start thinking, ‘If we’re going to spend money to improve habitat, we’ve got to find some other ideas.’”

    Beck’s co-authors include Kurt Smith, a former UW Ph.D. student who is now an ecologist with Western EcoSystems Technology; Jason LeVan, a former UW M.S. student who is now a range and wildlife conservationist for Pheasants Forever; Anna Chalfoun, a UW associate professor and assistant unit leader of the U.S. Geological Survey Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; Stanley Harter, a wildlife biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department; Thomas Christiansen, a retired Wyoming Game and Fish Department sage grouse program coordinator; and Sue Oberlie, a retired Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wildlife biologist.

    The researchers tracked behaviors and survival rates of more than 600 female greater sage grouse in response to mowing and tebuthiuron application. They also monitored effects on invertebrate populations, sagebrush and herbaceous vegetation. Throughout the study, responses were compared to untreated plots near the treated areas as well as off-site control plots.

    Pretreatment data were collected from 2011-13; mowing and tebuthiuron applications were implemented in winter and spring 2014.

    After six years (2014-19) of post-treatment monitoring, Beck and his colleagues determined that sage grouse responses to treatment were neutral at best.

    “Neither mowing nor tebuthiuron treatments influenced nest success, brood success or female survival,” they reported.

    Furthermore, treatments used to reduce Wyoming big sagebrush coverage resulted in slight avoidance by sage grouse.

    Invertebrates and herbaceous vegetation also did not respond positively to reduction of Wyoming big sagebrush, indicating treatments did not improve the quantity and quality of sage grouse food sources. 

    Instead, reduction of Wyoming big sagebrush cover may negatively impact sage grouse and other species that use sagebrush shrubs to nest and seek refuge from predators, the researchers suggest.

    They predict that expanding experimental treatments to larger areas may reveal greater negative effects of Wyoming big sagebrush reduction on sage grouse populations.

    “Management practices that focus on the maintenance of large, undisturbed tracts of sagebrush will best facilitate the persistence of sage grouse populations and other species reliant on the sagebrush steppe,” they wrote.

    Their results are consistent with many other studies suggesting that controlling Wyoming big sagebrush negatively impacts wildlife. However, they caution, their findings should not be generalized to other sagebrush species and subspecies, such as mountain big sagebrush.

    Rather than removing Wyoming big sagebrush, Beck says, conservation strategies should focus on removing encroaching pinyon and juniper and invasive species such as cheatgrass. These types of vegetation alter the sagebrush ecosystem and influence fire cycles, potentially damaging sage grouse habitat.

    Enhancing wet areas in sagebrush habitats is another promising strategy for improving the quality of sage grouse brood-rearing habitat, he notes.

     

    This research was supported by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Wyoming Sage-grouse Conservation Fund; the Bates Hole, Big Horn Basin, South-Central, Southwest and Wind River/Sweetwater River local sage grouse working groups; the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust; the BLM’s Lander field office; the Margaret and Sam Kelly Ornithological Research Fund; and the Wyoming Reclamation and Restoration Center’s graduate assistantship program.

     

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    University of Wyoming

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  • Large and In Charge

    Large and In Charge

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    BYLINE: Kelly Craine

    Newswise — WACO, Texas (June 23, 2023) – Leopard seals are prehistoric, reptilian-looking marine predators often portrayed as scary villains in movies such as “Happy Feet” and “Eight Below,” but little is known about their basic biology. The combination of the extreme climate in Antarctica, the species’ solitary habits and their lethal reputation makes leopard seals one of the most difficult apex predators to study on Earth.

    In 2018 and 2019, Sarah Kienle, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology at Baylor University, and her colleagues collected movement and dive behavior data and samples from leopard seals off the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Their goal was to compile crucial baseline data on the ecology and physiology of this enigmatic species.

    Kienle and her colleagues published their first study on leopard seals in August 2022 in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, in which they showed that leopard seals have flexible movement patterns and dive behaviors. This variability may offer leopard seals the resilience needed to survive the extreme climate and environmental disturbances occurring around Antarctica and beyond.

    Emily Sperou, a Ph.D. student at Baylor, is lead author of a new study examining the stress physiology of leopard seals.

    “Large and in charge: Cortisol levels vary with sex, diet and body mass in an Antarctic predator, the leopard seal” published this month in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science is the first in-depth study of leopard seal physiology.

    In this groundbreaking study, Sperou and colleagues, including Kienle, examined how cortisol – an important stress hormone – varies between leopard seals. Their study also shows that leopard seals have the highest cortisol concentrations of any pinniped, including seals, sea lions and walruses.

    ROLE OF CORTISOL

    As a stress hormone, cortisol is an essential biomarker in mammals that regulates physiological processes such as the immune system, reproductive function, and even behavior.

    Cortisol levels in mammals can fluctuate due to a wide variety of internal and external stressors ranging from the daily fight for survival to changes in diet. Sperou wanted to know how cortisol varied in leopard seals based on different ecological and life history traits, like sex, age, body size and diet.

     “Measuring and comparing cortisol concentrations provides important context for understanding the physiological responses of mammals,” Sperou said.

     THE STUDY

    The goals for this study were to establish baseline cortisol concentrations for leopard seals and assess how cortisol levels change among individual leopard seals within a single population. To do this, Sperou measured cortisol concentrations, body mass and diet from 19 leopard seals that were sampled in the 2018-2019 expedition.

    Prior to the latest Baylor research, only one previous study has been conducted on cortisol values in leopard seals. This earlier study only measured cortisol in four seals and did not include information on their sex or body size.  

    “The smaller your sample sizes and with no context for the animals, it’s hard to figure out what cortisol concentrations mean and how that compares to other individual seals and other species,” Kienle said.

    Sperou also compared the leopard seal cortisol levels to 26 other closely related carnivore species with comparable data, including pinnipeds, bears, badgers and otters.

    FINDINGS

     Leopard seals have extremely highest cortisol levels.

      • Leopard seals in this study have the highest cortisol levels ever reported for this species.
      • An adult male leopard seal now holds the record for the highest cortisol level in any pinniped and other closely related mammals.

     Leopard seal cortisol levels vary based on sex, body size and diet.

      • Females are significantly larger than males.
      • Females feed on higher energy level prey in the food chain than males.
      • Females have significantly lower cortisol concentrations than males.

     Leopard seals have cortisol values 1.25 to 50 times higher than closely related carnivores.

      • Leopard seals have higher cortisol levels than 26 other closely related mammal species, including seals, sea lions, walruses, bears, badgers and otters. OH MY!
      • Leopard seals, along with other Antarctic seals, have higher cortisol than other pinnipeds across the planet.
      • High cortisol may be a specialized adaptation within this group of Antarctic-living marine mammals.

     

    CONCLUSION

    Evaluating the physiology of leopard seals and how their physiology changes based on their life history and ecology provides critical information about the health of individual seals and their population. Leopard seals are one of the least studied apex predators on Earth but play a disproportionately large role in Antarctic ecosystem structure and function. 

    For Sperou, this groundbreaking study provides a strong foundation for assessing leopard seals’ physiology, which is fundamental for understanding their vulnerability to climate change.

    “It’s important we understand how these species are going to respond when their environment is rapidly changing,” Sperou said.

    What’s next for this team of leopard seal biologists?

    Kienle said the team is now focused on traveling to different areas around the southern hemisphere to sample leopard seals across their range. Her team will use these data to better examine their ecology and physiology at different scales – from individuals to populations to the entire species. Their ultimate goal is to understand the adaptive capacity of leopard seals and ensure the health and well-being of this amazing species now and in the future.

    ABOUT THE AUTHORS

    Sarah Kienle, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of biology at Baylor University and the principal investigator and director of the Comparative Animal Ecophysiology Lab (CEAL). Her research broadly focused on understanding how animals work in the context of their environment. 

    Emily Sperou,  Ph.D. candidate at Baylor University, is part of the research team at Dr. Kienle’ s Comparative Ecophysiology of Animals Lab (CEAL). She is broadly interested in investigating the links between organisms’ physiological systems to larger ecological processes.

    For her Ph.D. dissertation, Sperou is comparing intraspecific variation and behavioral flexibility in the ecology and physiology of leopard seals. This research will use a comparative approach to determine the relationships between behavioral patterns, life history traits, foraging ecology and physiological performance.

    In addition to Kienle and Sperou, the research team included:

     

    • Daniel E. Crocker, Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
    • Renato Borras-Chavez, Department of Biology, Post Doctoral Research for the Comparative Animal Ecophysiology Lab at Baylor University, Waco, TX
    • Daniel P. Costa, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
    • Michael E. Goebel, Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, La Jolla, CA, and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
    • Shane B. Kanatous, Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
    • Stephen J. Trumble, Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX

     

    This work was funded by the National Science Foundation grant #1644256.

    COMPARATIVE ECOPHYSIOLOGY OF ANIMALS LAB

    The Comparative Ecophysiology of Animals Lab at Baylor University focuses on understanding how different animals work in the context of their environment. Researchers use quantitative analytical techniques to examine physiological and ecological factors that shape mammalian life history strategies. Research in this lab falls into three themes:

    • Characterizing relationship between animal form and function
    • Comparing trade-offs between different life history strategies
    • Examining flexibility in ecophysiological traits

    ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

    Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.

    ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

    The College of Arts & Sciences is Baylor University’s largest academic division, consisting of 25 academic departments in the sciences, humanities, fine arts and social sciences, as well as 10 academic centers and institutes. The more than 5,000 courses taught in the College span topics from art and theatre to religion, philosophy, sociology and the natural sciences. Faculty conduct research around the world, and research on the undergraduate and graduate level is prevalent throughout all disciplines. Visit baylor.edu/artsandsciences.

     

     

     

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  • Modern horses have lost their additional toes, scientists confirm

    Modern horses have lost their additional toes, scientists confirm

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    BYLINE: Laura Thomas

    Newswise — The distant ancestors of modern horses had hooved toes instead of a single hoof, which vanished over time, according to researchers.

    The animals, such as the Eocene Hyracotherium, had feet like those of a modern tapir: four toes in front and three behind, each individually hooved with an underlying foot pad.

    In contrast, modern equids such as horses, asses, and zebras, have only a single toe, the left over original third toe on each foot, encased in a thick-walled keratinous hoof, with an underlying triangular frog on the sole that acts as a shock absorber. 

    An international team of scientists, from the UK, the US, and the Netherlands, analysed hoof prints and foot bones from modern horses and fossil records to discover what happened to the lost digits.

    Author Professor Christine Janis from the University of Bristol’s School of Earth Sciences explained: “The upper portions – the remains of the additional hand and foot bones – remain as ‘splint bones’ fused with the remaining central one, but where are the fingers and toes?”

    “In later fossil horses there were only three toes front and back. The extra toes, known as side toes, in these horses were smaller and shorter than in a tapir, and likely did not touch the ground under normal circumstances, but they may have provided support in exceptional situations, such as sliding or forceful impact.”

    In findings, published today in Royal Society Open Science, they confirm the older notion that these toes really have been completely lost in evolution, not somehow retained within the hoof, as proposed in another recent paper published in the same journal in 2018.

    Lead author Professor Alan Vincelette, of St. John’s Seminary, Camarillo, California pointed out: “Although it does seem that remainders of the proximal (upper portions) of the side digits have been retained in modern horses, as the earlier 2018 paper claimed, the distal (lower portions, or toes) have simply been lost.

    The 2018 paper proposed that in modern horses these side toes are retained within the hoof of the central toe, in part contributing to the frog – although there are no actual bones within the frog.

    This was partially based on an interpretation of the hoof prints of an extinct three-toed horse, Hipparion (not on the direct line to modern horses) from Laetoli in Tanzania 3.7 million years ago, the same site that yielded the famous foot prints of the hominid Australopithecus. These hoof prints apparently lacked a frog, and this added weight to the notion that the side toes of horses like Hipparion now contribute to the frog of modern horses.

    While not all hoof prints of modern horses with frogs record its presence, an undoubted frog can be seen in many hoof prints that are known to have been made by three-toed horses. These observations cast doubt on the notion that the frog of modern horse hooves formed out of the side toes of tridactyl equids.

    Author Professor Christine Janis from the University of Bristol’s School of Earth Sciences said: “While the notion that modern horses have retained all of their original toes as within-hoof remnants is a novel one, and so rather appealing, it can be shown to be incorrect.”

    Alan Vincelette added: “The frog of the horse’s hoof evolved independently of the side toes as a unique structure providing shock absorption and traction during locomotion.”

    The team also show that the feet of one-toed horses have a different shape from the main toe of the foot of three-toed horses, being round rather than oval, a difference that may be related to differences in weight distribution and/or ecological habitat.

     

    Paper:

    ‘Hipparion tracks and horses’ toes: the evolution of the equid single hoof’ by Alan Vincelette, Christine Janis et al. in Royal Society Open Science.

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    University of Bristol

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  • Study finds socially tolerant monkeys have better impulse control

    Study finds socially tolerant monkeys have better impulse control

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    Newswise — Researchers have tested one of the ideas put forward to explain how humanity evolved to become smarter, on non-human primates.

    The study, led by a team at the University of Portsmouth, found a significant connection between social organisation and cognitive skills in monkeys. 

    They assessed three species of macaques with different social tolerance levels, from authoritarian to more relaxed societies, in a series of cognitive touchscreen touchscreen tasks to work out how impulsive and reactive they were.

    Tonkean macaques, which are known to get along with each other the most with more diverse and complex relationships, demonstrated better overall control of distraction, emotions and actions compared to the less-tolerant long-tailed and rhesus species. 

    Lead author and PhD researcher, Dr Louise Loyant from the University of Portsmouth’s Centre of Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology (CCEP), said: “This relationship between social tolerance and cognitive abilities could explain why Tonkean macaques are better at managing complex relationships with others.

    “This is important, as it improves our understanding of our own social evolution. Macaques live in complex communities, not too dissimilar from our own, and we can learn a lot from them.

    “Existing research on human inhibitory control, or self-control, suggests the better a person is at managing their emotions and reactions, the more successful they’re likely to be in life; whether that be in relationships, work, or just generally. Our results support this hypothesis.”

    The study, published in Animal Cognition, also highlighted the influence of ecological factors on self-control skills. Different risks and environmental pressures faced by each species might have shaped their behaviours, emotions, and impulsivity levels.

    Long-tailed and rhesus macaques living in areas with a greater number of predators, displayed more reactive and cautious behaviours, while Tonkean macaques who face lower predatory risk, exhibited quieter and less reactive behaviours.

    The researchers say that both social and ecological factors may jointly influence self-control skills in primates.

    Senior co-author, Dr Marine Joly from the CCEP, explained: “A macaque living in a more competitive environment would benefit from learning how to contain inappropriate behaviours, like feeding or mating, if they’re around others higher up in the social pyramid. 

    “But there’s also the hypothesis that our closest primate species have evolved over time to have increased brain size and higher cognitive performances, including better self-control. 

    “Our findings support both of these potential explanations, as well as suggest that species living in more complex societies might have better socio-cognitive skills too, including perception, attention, memory and action planning.”

    The team evaluated the performance of 66 macaques from two institutions, the Medical Research Council Centre for Macaques in the UK and the Centre of Primatology of the University of Strasbourg in France.

    While the study provides valuable insights, the researchers acknowledge some limitations, including the sample size and some prior cognitive testing experiences among the species. They recommend further research involving a larger number of macaques, as well as a closer evaluation of an individual’s reactions and results.

    ENDS

    Notes to Editors

    About the University of Portsmouth

    • The University of Portsmouth is a progressive and dynamic university with an outstanding reputation for innovative teaching and globally significant research and innovation.
    • The University’s research and innovation culture is impacting lives today and in the future and addressing local, national and global challenges across science, technology, humanities, business and creative industries. http://www.port.ac.uk/
    • The University actively promotes the incredible work being carried out here, including through the Life Solved podcast series. Search ‘Life Solved’ on your podcast streaming platform or visit our pod follow page: https://podfollow.com/uoplifesolved/view

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    University of Portsmouth

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  • Yellowstone Visitor Pleads Guilty To Touching Bison Calf Killed By Park Staff

    Yellowstone Visitor Pleads Guilty To Touching Bison Calf Killed By Park Staff

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    Clifford Walters pleaded guilty to one count of feeding, touching, teasing, frightening or intentionally disturbing wildlife on Wednesday, and was made to pay about $1,000, half of which will go to the park’s wildlife fund, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

    Walters had tried to help the bison calf after it was separated from its mother and struggling to get out of the Lamar River on May 20, park officials said.

    But that contact led the bison’s herd to reject the calf, in spite of park rangers’ repeated unsuccessful attempts to reunite them.

    The calf was later euthanized by park staff because it was causing a hazard by approaching cars and people on the road.

    Prosecutors said there was nothing that indicated Walters acted with malice.

    According to the park, the calf was euthanized instead of being sent to a sanctuary because federal and state regulations prohibit the transport of bison out of the park unless they are sent to meat processing or scientific research facilities.

    In a statement, Yellowstone National Park reminded visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from all wildlife and at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves.

    Subscribe to our true crime newsletter, Suspicious Circumstances, to get the biggest unsolved mysteries, white collar scandals, and captivating cases delivered straight to your inbox every week. Sign up here.

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  • DNA tech reveals wild dingoes mostly pure

    DNA tech reveals wild dingoes mostly pure

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    Newswise — Wild dingo populations have less dog lineage, with a significantly greater proportion of pure dingoes than previously thought, according to new research, challenging the view that pure dingoes are on the decline due to crossbreeding.

    The findings, published in Molecular Ecology, suggest previous studies significantly overestimated the prevalence of dingo-dog mixes in the wild and that lethal methods to control ‘wild dogs’ target pure dingoes.

    Dingoes are genetically distinct from domestic dogs but can interbreed. Cross-species breeding, or hybridisation, can threaten pure species, which may become vulnerable to extinction by genetic dilution. 

    “For decades, there was fear that dingoes were breeding themselves into extinction. But our findings suggest this isn’t the case, and dingoes are largely maintaining their identity, which has implications for their management and conservation,” says Dr Kylie Cairns, a conservation biologist from UNSW Science and lead author of the study. 

    More pure dingoes than hybrids

    For the study, the research team led by UNSW Sydney investigated the extent of dingo hybridisation in different regions across Australia. They used a new genome-wide test to analyse the DNA of 391 wild and captive dingoes and conducted detailed ancestry modelling and biogeographic analysis to find wild dingoes had far less dog ancestry than suggested by prior genetic studies. 

    “The old method, which relied on a relatively small number of genetic markers and limited reference population, overestimates the amount of dog ancestry in dingo samples – sometimes by over 30 per cent,” Dr Cairns says. “This meant it often identified an animal as crossbred when it was a pure dingo or historical backcross.

    “But with the new test, we can look at 195,000 points across the genome compared with just 23 previously. So, it’s a huge step up in reliability and accuracy.”

    In Victoria, where previous reports suggested the pure dingo population was as small as 4 per cent, the study found 87.1 per cent of animals tested were pure dingoes and 6.5 per cent were historical dingo backcrosses with more than 93 per cent dingo ancestry.

    Similarly, in New South Wales and Queensland, where dingo-dog hybridisation is assumed to be pervasive, most animals were found to be pure dingoes, and only two wild canids had less than 70 per cent dingo ancestry.

    Little evidence of hybridisation in the dingo population was also found in the Northern Territory, South Australia, and Western Australia.

    “Reliance on outdated DNA testing methods has led to the belief that dingo–dog hybridisation is much more common in Australia than it really is,” Dr Cairns says. “Most dingoes in the wild are pure dingoes, and the remaining animals are more dingo than anything else.

    “Even in the parts of Australia where dingo-dog hybridisation is higher, it is not the pervasive threat we’ve been led to believe.”

    No animals in the sample were 50 per cent hybrids – meaning none were direct offspring of a dog and a dingo in the wild. The few animals that weren’t pure dingoes were mostly historical backcrosses with a single dog ancestor four or five generations in the past.

    “While there has been some hybridisation in the past, it’s not occurring at a rapid pace today,” Dr Cairns says. “Where it does happen, we can see the offspring of the hybrids returning to their dingo roots over time.” 

    The study also found significant regional variation in dingoes, with four distinct wild dingo populations across mainland Australia.

    “We didn’t have samples from every single corner of Australia. So, there may be even more variation in dingoes,” Dr Cairns says. “There’s also a chance some dog DNA has been integrated into the dingo genome because it’s provided an evolutionary advantage, so that’s something we plan to investigate in future research using the new testing.”

    The findings are consistent with studies in other species demonstrating genome-wide analysis performs more accurate identification of ancestry, which policymakers can use to inform dingo management.

    “Existing management decisions have been based on the findings from old DNA testing technology with limited resolution,” says Professor Mike Letnic, a conservation biologist from UNSW Science and senior author of the study. “We now have a more advanced approach using higher-density genomic data that can be applied to dingoes to assess populations more accurately and inform management strategies with best-available evidence.”

    Informing evidence-based dingo management

    In Australia, the term “wild dog” is widely used in policy under the assumption there is widespread dingo–dog hybridisation and very few remaining pure dingoes. 

    Under the name “wild dog”, dingoes, dingo-hybrids, and feral domestic dogs are all considered invasive species under biosecurity legislation and subject to eradication measures like aerial baiting or trapping across parts of the Australian mainland, including National Parks where native animals are protected. 

    “It’s convenient to paint all dingoes as wild dogs. But the term obscures the reality that many pure dingoes and dingo-dominant backcrosses are being killed,” Dr Cairns says. “In fact, no other native species is treated in quite the same way as the dingo, which is subject to lethal control measures across all landscapes, including ones where they should be protected.”

    Environments without dingoes can get overrun by kangaroos, foxes and feral cats that threaten other native animals and can change vegetation significantly.

    “Dingoes are a threat to some livestock, but they’re not a pest in all contexts. They play a crucial role as apex predators in maintaining ecosystem function and biodiversity,” Prof. Letnic says. “So, there’s a real need find a balance in management and ensure there are places in the landscape where we maintain populations.”

    Lethal control methods, particularly during dingo breeding season, may inadvertently increase the risk of hybridisation by reducing the availability of pure dingo mates. However, more research is needed to confirm the link.

    “While we don’t have many hybrids running around like previously suggested, where dingo-dog hybridisation does occur, it’s in regions where intensive lethal control is used and where there are higher numbers of domestic pet dogs,” Dr Cairns says.

    The researchers suggest that the definition of “dingoes” in conservation policy should be revised to include historical dingo backcrosses with 93 per cent or more dingo ancestry and distinguish them from “feral domestic dogs.” 

    “Doing so will more accurately reflect the identity of wild canids in Australia and acknowledge the value of dingoes as a native and culturally significant species,” Dr Cairns says.

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    University of New South Wales

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