Constantine Alexander's blog

Λίμνη Ρειτών - Reiton Lake (in Greek)

Λίμνη Κουμουνδούρου: Ο ρημαγμένος υγρότοπος, μέχρι πριν από λίγο καιρό, δεν υπήρχε πουθενά. Αποτελούσε έναν τόπο φάντασμα, ένα σημείο no man's land, όπου απλώς έκλεινες τη μύτη σου και προσπερνούσες. Εδώ και πολλά χρόνια αποτελεί τη χαβούζα αποβλήτων των γειτονικών βιομηχανιών και το σουρωτήρι της υπερχωματερής των Αθηνών! Κι όμως αυτός ο τραγικός υγρότοπος, η λίμνη της Περσεφόνης, η λίμνη του πετρελαίου, αντιστέκεται και προσπαθεί να επιβιώσει μέσα σε μια ανελέητη επίθεση σοκάροντας μας με τη δύναμη και την αντοχή του. Η συλλογική προσπάθεια και η επιμονή 'δίνει' τα πρώτα θετικά αποτελέσματα για τη λίμνη ενσωματώνοντας την στους υγρότοπους της Αττικής! Από 'κει και πέρα πρέπει να διανυθεί ένας πολύ δύσκολος δρόμος μέχρι την απορρύπανση και ανάδειξή της. φιλοξενεί τον μεγαλύτερο πληθυσμό υδρόβιων πτηνών της Αττικής το χειμώνα! Επίσης μαζί με τον υγρότοπο του Σχινιά φιλοξενεί τις παγκοσμίως απειλούμενες βαλτόπαπιες.

 

Eπιστολή προς το Βουλή - Letter to the Greek Parliament (in Greek)

The Hellenic Parliament

Προς
Τα μέλη της Εθνικής Αντιπροσωπείας
Βουλή των Ελλήνων 

Θέμα: Επικίνδυνη τροπολογία στο σχέδιο νόμου «Ποινική προστασία του περιβάλλοντος –Εναρμόνιση με την Οδηγία 2008/99/ΕΚ - Πλαίσιο παραγωγής και διαχείρισης αποβλήτων – Εναρμόνιση με την Οδηγία 2008/98/ΕΚ- Ρύθμιση θεμάτων Υπουργείου Περιβάλλοντος, Ενέργειας και Κλιματικής Αλλαγής». 

  Αξιότιμοι κύριοι Βουλευτές,

Με την παρούσα επείγουσα επιστολή, επιθυμούμε να σας ενημερώσουμε για δεύτερη φορά για τη νέα απαράδεκτη τροπολογία που περιλαμβάνεται στο σχέδιο νόμου «Ποινική προστασία του περιβάλλοντος –Εναρμόνιση με την Οδηγία 2008/99/ΕΚ - Πλαίσιο παραγωγής και διαχείρισης αποβλήτων – Εναρμόνιση με την Οδηγία 2008/98/ΕΚ- Ρύθμιση θεμάτων Υπουργείου Περιβάλλοντος, Ενέργειας και Κλιματικής Αλλαγής».

Η νέα τροπολογία η οποία κατατέθηκε, από τον Υπουργό ΠΕΚΑ στο επίμαχο άρθρο 53 ως νέα παράγραφος 5, έρχεται να υπονομεύσει για δεύτερη φορά την προστασία σημαντικών περιοχών εντός των Εθνικών Δρυμών της χώρας. Η νέα διάταξη τροποποιεί τον Νόμο για την Βιοποικιλότητα. Συγκεκριμένα:

«Η παράγραφος: η παρ 4 του άρ. 9 του Ν. 3937/2010. Αναδιατυπώνεται ως ακολούθως:

«Δάση και δασικές εκτάσεις συμπεριλαμβανομένων των χορτολιβαδικών και των βραχωδών εκτάσεων, εντός των περιοχών των παρ. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 του αρ. 19 του 1650/86 μπορούν να διατίθενται σε φυσικά και νομικά πρόσωπα για τη δημιουργία ορειβατικών καταφυγίων και χιονοδρομικών κέντρων, σύμφωνα με διαδικασία ανάλογη με την προβλεπόμενη του άρ. 51 του 998/79, καθώς και για τις χρήσεις τις προβλεπόμενες στην παρ. 5 του αρ. 46 του ως άνω νόμου εφόσον οι παραπάνω χρήσεις επιτρέπονται από τις πράξεις χαρακτηρισμού και οριοθέτησής τους κατά το άρ. 21 του 1650/86 και το άρ.8 του παρόντος.»

Η διάταξη αφορά την αλπική ζώνη, και την επιβίωση των σπάνιων ειδών πανίδας και χλωρίδας που φιλοξενεί. Μία επιβίωση που απειλείται, καθώς οι ζώνες αυτές δεν είναι ενταγμένες σε Περιοχές Απόλυτης Προστασίας της Φύσης [της παρ. 1 του άρθρου 19 Ν. 1650/1986].  Αυτό συμβαίνει διότι η ρύθμιση χωροθετεί, εντός προστατευόμενων περιοχών, χρήσεις που σήμερα απαγορεύονται από τη δασική νομοθεσία, ανεξάρτητα αν υπάρχει πράξη χαρακτηρισμού, σχέδιο διαχείρισης  ή όχι.

Ειδικότερα, μέχρι σήμερα απαγορεύεται η παραχώρηση εκτάσεων εντός πυρήνων εθνικών δρυμών [80 παρ. 1 ν.δ. 86/1969], και οι χορτολιβαδικές, βραχώδεις και πετρώδεις εκτάσεις που περικλείονται από δάση, ή βρίσκονται πάνω από αυτά σε κορυφές και αλπικές ζώνες υπάγονται στην δασική νομοθεσία, και σε όσα ακολουθούν [3 παρ. 4 τελευταίο εδάφιο, 3 παρ. 6 περ. β) και γ) Ν. 998/1979, όπως τροποποιήθηκαν από το 1 αρ. 1 Ν. 3208/2003].

Μέχρι σήμερα, οι «προβλεπόμενες στην παρ. 5 του αρ. 46» χρήσεις απαγορεύονται σε δάση και δασικές εκτάσεις «που παρουσιάζουν ιδιαίτερο επιστημονικό, αισθητικό, οικολογικό και γεωμορφολογικό ενδιαφέρον ή περιλαμβάνονται σε ειδικές ζώνες διατήρησης και ζώνες ειδικής προστασίας (εθνικοί δρυμοί, αισθητικά δάση, υγροβιότοποι, διατηρητέα μνημεία της φύσης, δίκτυα και περιοχές προστατευόμενα από τις διατάξεις του κοινοτικού δικαίου, αρχαιολογικοί χώροι, το άμεσο περιβάλλον μνημείων και ιστορικοί τόποι)» [46 παρ. 5 Ν. 998/1979, σε συνδυασμό με το 4 παρ. 1 περ. (α) Ν. 998/1979, όπως το τελευταίο τροποποιήθηκε από το 1 παρ. 3 Ν. 3208/2003].

Μέχρι σήμερα, μόνο δημόσιες δασικές εκτάσεις μπορούσαν να παραχωρούνται για χιονοδρομικά κέντρα και καταφύγια [17 παρ. 2 Β) ν. 1734/1987]: σε κάθε περίπτωση, δεν επιτρέπεται η παραχώρηση δασών εντός προστατευόμενων περιοχών για ορειβατικά καταφύγια [40 παρ. 6 Ν. 3105/2003], ή τόσο δασών όσο και δασικών εκτάσεων «που παρουσιάζουν ιδιαίτερο επιστημονικό, αισθητικό, οικολογικό και γεωμορφολογικό ενδιαφέρον ή περιλαμβάνονται σε ειδικές ζώνες διατήρησης και ζώνες ειδικής προστασίας» για τουριστικές εγκαταστάσεις [51 παρ. 2 Ν. 998/1979, σε συνδυασμό με το 4 παρ. 1 περ. (α) Ν. 998/1979, όπως το τελευταίο τροποποιήθηκε από το 1 παρ. 3 Ν. 3208/2003].

Μέχρι σήμερα, οι βραχώδεις, πετρώδεις και χορτολιβαδικές εκτάσεις των ορεινών περιοχών προστατευόμενων περιοχών, και ειδικά της παραγράφου 2 [«περιοχές προστασίας της φύσης»], και 3 [«φυσικά πάρκα»] του άρθρου 19 του Ν. 1650/1986 ήταν περιοχές όπου επιτρέπονταν «κατ’ εξαίρεση» ήπιες δραστηριότητες και ασχολίες, και προστατευόταν «το φυσικό περιβάλλον από κάθε δραστηριότητα ...που μπορεί να αλλοιώσει την φυσική κατάσταση»  ή «περιοχές που προστατεύονται επαρκώς ...από ανθρώπινες ενέργειες που προκαλούν αλλοίωση της κατάστασης διατήρησης των προστατευτέων αξιών» (αντιστοίχως) [ 19 παρ. 2 και 3 Ν. 1650/86, όπως τροποποιήθηκαν από τον Ν. 3937/2011].  

Μέχρι σήμερα, η δημιουργία ορειβατικών καταφυγίων και  χιονοδρομικών κέντρων δεν μπορεί να υπαχθεί στις διαδικασίες του ν. 4014/2011. Ειδικότερα, ισχύει αναστολή επιβολής κυρώσεων μόνο για κτίρια των οποίων η χρήση «δεν απαγορεύεται από τις πολεοδομικές διατάξεις για τις χρήσεις γης που ισχύουν στην περιοχή του ακινήτου» [24 παρ. 1 και 24 παρ. 21 Ν. 4014/2011]».

Οι συνυπογράφουσες οργανώσεις σας καλούν να απορρίψετε συνολικά την προτεινόμενη τροποποίηση. Η ψήφισή της θα έχει ως αποτέλεσμα την αποδυνάμωση της δασικής μας νομοθεσίας και του καθεστώτος των προστατευόμενων περιοχών, και την επιβεβαίωση μίας οπισθοδρομικής και αναχρονιστικής πολιτικής σε θέματα περιβάλλοντος. Συγχρόνως σας καλούμε να μην επιτρέψετε την επέκταση του Χιονοδρομικού Κέντρου Παρνασσού, όπως αυτή δρομολογείται μέσω της ρύθμισης του αρ. 53 παρ.4 για την οποία έχετε ήδη ενημερωθεί, τουλάχιστον μέχρι να ολοκληρωθεί το καθεστώς προστασίας του μέσω έκδοσης Προεδρικού Διατάγματος, ώστε να μην υποβαθμιστεί περαιτέρω ένας από τους παλαιότερους Εθνικούς Δρυμούς της χώρας.

Αξιότιμοι κύριοι Βουλευτές,

Προσβλέποντας στις δικές σας, έστω και την ύστατη στιγμή, θετικές πρωτοβουλίες για βελτίωση του συγκεκριμένου σχεδίου νόμου στα ανωτέρω ζητήματα, παραμένουμε ευχαρίστως στη διάθεσή σας για οποιαδήποτε άλλη διευκρίνιση.

Με τιμή,

• WWF Ελλάς

• Ελληνική Εταιρεία Περιβάλλοντος και Πολιτισμού

• Ελληνική Ορνιθολογική Εταιρεία

Περισσότερες πληροφορίες:

• Γιώργος Χασιώτης, WWF Ελλάς, τηλ. 6977706752
• Δάφνη Μαυρογιώργου, Ελληνική Εταιρεία Περιβάλλοντος και Πολιτισμού, τηλ. 6977205351
• Μαλαμώ Κορμπέτη, Ελληνική Ορνιθολογική Εταιρεία, τηλ. 6946249450

Big Miracle (the movie)

Inspired by the true story that captured the hearts of people across the world, the rescue adventure Big Miracle tells the amazing tale of a small town news reporter (John Krasinski) and a Greenpeace volunteer (Drew Barrymore) who are joined by rival world superpowers to save a family of majestic gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle. Local newsman Adam Carlson (Krasinski) can't wait to escape the northern tip of Alaska for a bigger market. But just when the story of his career breaks, the world comes chasing it, too. With an oil tycoon, heads of state and hungry journalists descending upon the frigid outpost, the one who worries Adam the most is Rachel Kramer (Barrymore). Not only is she an outspoken environmentalist, she's also his ex-girlfriend. With time running out, Rachel and Adam must rally an unlikely coalition of Inuit natives, oil companies and Russian and American military to set aside their differences and free the whales. As the world's attention turns to the top of the globe, saving these endangered animals becomes a shared cause for nations entrenched against one another and leads to a momentary thaw in the Cold War.

 

Sea Turtle Baby Boom on Turtle Islands Breaks 28-year Record

Conservation efforts deliver 1.4 million green turtle eggs, 14,220 nests, on priority Philippine beaches in 2011.

Female turtles crawl out of the water, usually at night, to dig a nest and lay their eggs. The entire process can take one to two hours. Turtles reach sexual maturity between 20 and 50 years old, and can live up to 200 years. Credit: © A.G. Saño

Citing figures obtained from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Conservation International (CI) announced that more than one million green turtle  (Chelonia mydas)eggs were laid last year in Baguan Island of Turtle Islands, Tawi-Tawi, achieving an all-time high since recording of nesting started in 1984.

A total of 14,220  green turtle nests  were recorded in Baguan in 2011, breaking the previous record of 12,311 nests in 1995. The 2011 figures translate to 2,844 nesting green turtles and 1.44 million turtle eggs laid.

“1.44 million eggs is an astounding number and it presents great hope for boosting green turtle populations,” said Romeo Trono, CI Philippines Country Executive Director.   “With an average of 90% hatching success and 1% survival rate up to sexual maturity, Baguan in 2011 alone could contribute 13,000 to the adult turtle population.”

The 36-hectare Baguan in southern Philippines is one of the nine islands of the Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area (TIHPA), a unique protected area jointly managed by two countries: Malaysia and the Philippines. It is made up of six islands of the Philippines’ Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary, where Baguan is located, and three islands of Sabah’s Turtle Islands Park (TIP). 

Figures from the DENR show that since the previous high of 12,311 nests recorded in 1995, Baguan’s nesting records have been declining and dropped to as low as just over 4,000 nests in 2003.  Poaching by foreign fishermen, egg harvesting by local communities for food and trade, destruction and disturbance of habitats through illegal fishing methods and weak law enforcement were identified as the causes of the decline in the sea turtle population in the sanctuary.

“The increasing nest numbers show that when turtles are protected on their nesting beaches and in the water for long enough, they will recover,” said Dr. Bryan Wallace Director of Science for the Marine Flagship Species Program at CI. “The Turtle Islands are a globally important area for green turtles, especially for the West Pacific population, because of the relatively high abundance present and because of increasing protections for turtles in the area.”

Bilateral conservation efforts:

 Since 2007, CI has been working with the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the local government as well the Malaysian Sabah Parks to advise and implement marine conservation strategies in the region, including:  setting up of the protected area management board, formulation of a ten-year management plan, and delineating 1,200 hectares around Baguan as strict protection zone or no take areas.

Law enforcement in Baguan was also strengthened by providing trainings to park wardens, law enforcers and community volunteers and stepping up patrolling efforts. The Philippine Turtle Islands’ enforcement team also includes officers from the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy Marines deployed to the area.

 “These partnerships with other agencies like the Coast Guard and Marines provide a big boost to law enforcement efforts in the Turtle Islands,” said Dr. Mundita Lim, director of DENR’s Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau. “We also enjoy a good working relationship with our Sabah counterparts in charge of managing their side of the Turtle Islands. Turtles nest throughout the entire area, regardless of political boundaries. That is also the approach we are using in managing these islands through productive partnerships.”

The law enforcement team in the Turtle Islands are composed of officers from the Philippine Navy-Marines, Philippine Coast Guard and DENR park wardens. Credit: © Conservation International/photo by Orlando Maliwanag

Small islands, huge regional importance:

“The work that we are doing in Turtle Islands is an important contribution to the overall health of the Coral Triangle,” said DENR Secretary Ramon Paje, emphasizing the Turtle Islands as a conservation priority not only for the Philippines and Malaysia but for all the other countries in the region. “If the Turtles Islands are not protected, it can have serious implications to the whole region’s turtle population and marine ecosystem as a whole.”

Dr. Nicolas Pilcher, director of Sabah-based Marine Research Foundation and Co-Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Marine Turtle Specialist Group, noted that bold protection measures such as the establishment of Baguan no-take zone and the complete protection status of the Turtle Islands Park in Sabah had been instrumental in ensuring a safe haven for turtles while other beaches in the region were being lost to coastal development.

“Indeed, the combined Philippine and Malaysian turtle stocks from TIP, which share genetic similarities, is the single largest and most stable population of green turtles in all of Southeast Asia, and is of paramount importance in ensuring the long-term survival of the population," Pilcher added.

An average of 30 to 35 green turtles nest on Baguan’s shores every night, with totals increasing to as many as 140 during the peak nesting season of July to September. With each nesting, a sea turtle lays around 100 eggs and nests as much as five times within one nesting season. Only green turtles nest in Baguan though its surrounding reefs and water also serve as development and feeding habitats for hawksbill turtles.

Conservation initiatives in Baguan are partially supported by the Coral Triangle Support Partnership with the United States Agency for International Development.

“The hatchlings that emerge from the Turtle Islands still face great risks throughout their lives as they journey through the ocean, but at least here in the Turtle Islands, we are determined to provide them with a good start,” Trono added.

Conservation International (CI) — Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, CI empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity, for the long term well-being of people. Founded in 1987 and marking its 25th anniversary in 2012, CI has headquarters in the Washington DC area, and 900 employees working in nearly 30 countries on four continents, plus 1,000+ partners around the world.

For more information, contact:

Romeo Trono, Country Executive Director, Conservation International Philippines
Office +632 924-8235 / mobile +639178144703 / email rtrono@conservation.org  

Corina Bernabe, Communications Coordinator, Conservation International Philippines
Office +632 924-8235 / mobile +639209554874 / email cbernabe@conservation.org  

New probiotic bacteria shows promise for use in shellfish aquaculture

The use of probiotic bacteria, isolated from naturally-occurring bacterial communities, is gaining in popularity in the aquaculture industry as the preferred, environmentally-friendly management alternative to the use of antibiotics and other antimicrobials for disease prevention. Known to the public for their use in yogurt and other foods to improve human digestion and health, probiotic bacteria isolated from other sources can also be used to improve survival, nutrition and disease prevention in larvae grown in shellfish hatcheries.

Researchers at NOAA's Milford Laboratory in Milford, Conn. have shown that naturally-occurring bacteria isolated from the digestive glands of adult eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and northern bay scallops (Argopecten irradians irradians) may be used as potential probiotic candidates in oyster larviculture.

Two related research studies published in the Journal of Shellfish Research identify a new probiotic bacterium, designated OY15, which has been shown to significantly improve larval survival in pilot-scale trials during the first two weeks of life, the most critical stage for the organism when mortality rates are among the highest.

"We are cautiously optimistic that this probiotic candidate, OY15, will offer a number of significant benefits to the shellfish industry," said Gary Wikfors, co-author of both studies and head of the Milford Laboratory's Biotechnology Branch. "Commercial and public shellfish hatcheries can have low survival rates for shellfish seed during the first two weeks, so improving those survival rates and the health of the organisms beyond that point is a pretty significant step forward."

Hatcheries produce shellfish seed to supplement natural seed, which is often limited by loss of habitat, contamination from pollution, climate change and other factors. Bacterial diseases caused mainly by pathogenic bacteria such as Vibrio are a major cause of mortality in hatchery shellfish, particularly at the very early larval stage. The result: significant financial losses to commercial growers and to production of farmed shellfish, which accounts for 25 percent of the total world aquaculture product.

Antimicrobial drugs approved for use in aquaculture in some countries, but not the US, have traditionally been used to treat bacterial diseases, but overuse of antibiotics can result in the development of resistant strains of bacterial pathogens. The use of probiotic bacteria has become increasingly popular for improved nutrition, healthy digestion and disease prevention and is used in human foods like yogurt and in pet foods.

As demand for environmentally-friendly aquaculture grows, the use of probiotics for disease prevention and improved nutrition in shellfish aquaculture is also growing. While a number of research studies have shown promise, development of probiotics that can be used in aquaculture is a multistep process requiring fundamental research and full-scale trials.

"The objective of the first part of this study was to isolate and evaluate new probiotic bacteria which, when incorporated into foods used in shellfish hatcheries, might significantly improve larval survival," said co-author Diane Kapareiko, a microbiologist at the Milford Laboratory. The second part of the study was to test the new probiotic candidate on the survival of oyster larvae in pilot-scale trials during their first two weeks of life.

"We conducted a very cautious, step by step study, to identify the best candidates under a variety of scenarios," Wikfors said. "Our bench-scale challenge studies indicated that oyster larvae exposed to probiotic candidate OY15 had the highest survival rate, and that the survival of pathogen-challenged larvae was further improved by the presence of OY 15 compared to the pathogen alone. It is somewhat analogous to a human building up immunity to a certain organism by being exposed to it, but without the involvement of antibodies."

The Milford scientists isolated 26 candidate probiotic bacteria from oysters and scallops of which 16 had an inhibitory effect against a known shellfish-larval pathogen (B183) of the Vibrio species of bacteria. Further screening for safe use in culturing the oyster larvae and their microalgal feed indicated which probiotic candidates would inhibit growth of the pathogen most effectively and therefore could confer a protective effect upon oyster larval survival.

Lab studies indicated that survival of two-day old oyster larvae during two-week pilot scale trials improved when supplemented with the probiotic candidate OY15 strain. Four treatments were conducted: a larval control with no bacteria, a pathogen control with larvae and pathogen B183 only, a probiotic control with larvae and probiotic candidate OY15 only, and a combination treatment comprised of larvae and both probiotic and pathogen.

"Our research focused on the critical first stage of larval growth, when mortality rates are among the highest," Kapareiko said. Positive effects of probiotic candidate OY15 were found on the survival of oyster larvae (short term), on growth of phytoplankton used as larval feed, and upon oyster survival during pilot-scale larviculture conditions.

"This two-part study confirms that use of naturally-occurring probiotic bacteria confers protection to oyster larvae against bacterial disease and improves their survival," Kapareiko said. "The results can be used as guidelines for isolating and screening other potential probiotic candidates for similar aquaculture applications, and provide the basis for developing functional foods for use in shellfish hatcheries that incorporate a naturally occurring, probiotic bacteria."

Contact: Shelley Dawicki
Shelley.Dawicki@noaa.gov
508-495-2378
NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center

Mammals shrink at faster rates than they grow

Research helps explain large-scale size changes and recovery from mass extinctions

		Transformations can happen much faster in animals that live in the water. An increase from rabbit-sized to elephant-sized would take at least five million generations, but the equivalent change in whales takes half as many generations. Becoming smaller is also easier: dwarfing in elephants occurred 10 times faster than the equivalent increase to evolve large elephants. Credit: Image courtesy of Alistair Evans, David Jones and co-authors of the PNAS paper: The maximum rate of mammal evolution.

Just how big can mammals get and how fast can they get there? These are questions examined by an international team of researchers exploring increases in mammal size after the dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago.

Research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows it took about 10 million generations for terrestrial mammals to hit their maximum mass: that's about the size of a cat evolving into the size of an elephant. Sea mammals, such as whales took about half the number of generations to hit their maximum.

The team, including Dr. Jessica Theodor of the University of Calgary, also discovered it took only about one hundred thousand generations for very large decreases, such as extreme dwarfism, to occur.

"Our research demonstrates, for the first time, a large-scale history of mammal life in terms of the pace of growth. This is significant because most research focuses on microevolution, which are changes that occur within a specific species," says Theodor, co-author of the study and an associate professor of biology at the University of Calgary.

The research team looked at 28 different types of mammals from the four largest continents (Africa, Eurasia, and North and South America) and all ocean basins for during the last 70 million years. For example, one group would include the mammals related to an elephant, another group would include carnivorous mammals.

Researchers were surprised to learn how quickly body-size decreased: the rate is more than 10 times faster than the increases.

"Many of the species which shrunk, such as the dwarf mammoth, dwarf hippo and dwarf hominids, found in the Indonesian island of Flores, became extinct," says Theodor, whose area of expertise are the artiodactyls, hoofed mammals which include in the present day, cows, pigs, sheep, camels hippos and whales.

"What caused their dwarfism? They may have needed to be small to survive in their environment or perhaps food was scarce and a small stature would require less nutrients," adds Theodor.

This research will help scientists to better understand mammal evolution: what conditions allow a certain mammals to thrive and grow bigger and what conditions would slow the pace of growth and potentially contribute to extinction.

Researchers used generations instead of time in their study because species have different life spans. A mouse only lives for about two years and elephant for 80. They created a metric using the relationship between body size and generation time in living mammals and used it to reconstruct the life history of the extinct forms.

Contact: Leanne Yohemas
lmyohema@ucalgary.ca
403-540-6552
University of Calgary

Preserved habitat near national parks helps species conservation

		The sun sets over the Brazilian Cerrado, which has been identified as the most biologically diverse savanna on Earth. But changing land-use patterns have created problems for some species. Credit: Carly Vynne

National parks often are established to help preserve species native to a particular region, but it appears that some species preservation is more successful if a significant portion of land adjacent to a park also is left as natural habitat.

The Cerrado region in Brazil has been identified as the most biologically diverse savanna on Earth, and Emas National Park is an important protected area for populations of wide-ranging large mammals such as giant anteaters, jaguars and puma.

But at about 500 square miles, the park is too small on its own to protect those species, said Carly Vynne, director of wildlife and habitat for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, who studied the effect of land-use changes on mammals in the Cerrado as part of her University of Washington doctoral work.

A major concern is that areas around the park are rapidly being converted to farmland, making the park more like "an island in a sea of agriculture," Vynne said.

A Brazilian law requiring landowners to leave 20 percent of their farms' original vegetation intact could be key in preservation efforts, giving the animals significantly more room to roam outside the park, though there are some efforts to change that.

The effect of the law is to create "an interesting mosaic" combining a well-managed preserve linked to a network of forested river corridors and patches of woodland left intact on adjacent private land, Vynne said.

She led a team that studied how keeping some private land in natural habitat affected preservation efforts in the Cerrado, and the work was published last month in PLoS One, a journal of the Public Library of Science.

"We often hear about the bison trying to leave Yellowstone (National Park), or the grizzlies trying to move out. This was the same kind of situation," she said.

		A giant armadillo moves through grass and brush cover of the Cerrado region in Brazil. Credit: Carly Vynne

The researchers gathered evidence on the range and habitat favored by five species of large mammals – jaguar, puma, giant anteater, giant armadillo and maned wolf – in 2004 and again from 2006 through 2008. Using a team of dogs from the Center for Conservation Biology's famed troupe of scat-hunting conservation canines, the scientists gathered scat from each species and pieced together profiles of areas the animals tended to inhabit.

They found that the giant armadillos and jaguars favored the protected habitat of the park, possibly because they are more sensitive to disturbances involved with working agricultural land outside the park.

"The jaguars and the giant armadillos need 50 percent natural area for the habitat to be effective," Vynne said. For the other species, "just having habitat available outside the park allows them to use the landscape as a whole."

The finding comes at a time when some are trying to reduce the amount of land property owners in the Cerrado must keep in natural habitat, or to allow them to alter the use of their land near the park in exchange for keeping land elsewhere in its natural state.

"Reducing the land near the park that is left in natural habitat would likely have pretty significant implications," Vynne said.

She noted that already some agriculture land is being converted to sugar cane from soy beans, again altering the habitat and potentially changing significantly how the large mammals can use the area.

Coauthors of the PLoS One paper are Jonah Keim of Matrix Solutions Inc. of Edmonton, Alberta; Ricardo Machado and Jader Marinho-Filho of Brazil's University of Brasilia; Leandro Silveira of Brazil's Jaguar Conservation Fund; and Martha Groom and Samuel Wasser of the UW. The project was funded by the Morris Animal Foundation.

Contact: Vince Stricherz
vinces@uw.edu
206-543-2580
University of Washington

"Vision of the Wild". The following 24 minute video was produced by the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. It is an interpretative video about the American wilderness and how it was used in the historical past and how it is being used and managed by the Forest Service today.

 

Biodiversity enhances ecosystems global drylands

Study suggests that plant biodiversity buffers negative climate change effects and drylands desertification

An international team of researchers including Dr. Bertrand Boeken of the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev suggest in a new study that plant biodiversity preservation is crucial to buffer negative effects of climate change and desertification in drylands.

The study titled, "Plant species richness and ecosystem multi-functionality in global drylands", published in the prestigious journal Science is the outcome of a five-year research effort involving more than 50 researchers from 30 institutions in 15 different countries, including Dr. Boeken of the BGU Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research. Dr. Boeken and Dr. Eli Zaady of the Gilat Research Center, the Volcani Institute - Agriculture Research Organization contributed research data from two long-term ecological research sites in the northern Negev.

The results of this study indicate that the ability of ecosystems in drylands worldwide to maintain multiple functions, such as carbon storage and buildup of nutrient pools (multi-functionality) is enhanced by the number of perennial plant species, mainly shrubs and dwarf-shrubs, whereas increased average annual temperature reduces this ability.

While small-scale controlled experiments have provided evidence of the positive relationship between biodiversity and multi-functionality over the years, this study is the first in explicitly evaluating such relationship among real ecosystems at a global scale.

The fieldwork of this study was carried out in 224 dryland ecosystems from all continents except Antarctica, where direct measurements of plant diversity and other biotic and abiotic features of the ecosystem were taken. To assess ecosystem multi-functionality, researchers assessed more than 2,600 soil samples for 14 ecosystem functions related to carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling and storage.

The functions measured deliver some of the fundamental supporting and regulating ecosystem services (e.g. soil fertility and climate regulation), and are also used to identify the onset of desertification processes.

Drylands constitute some of the largest terrestrial biomes, collectively covering 41 percent of earth's land surface and supporting over 38 percent of the global human population. They are of paramount importance for biodiversity, host many endemic plant and animal species, and include about 20 percent of the major centers of global plant diversity and over 30 percent of the designated endemic bird areas. However, dryland ecosystems are also highly vulnerable to global environmental change and desertification. "This study provides empirical evidence on the importance of biodiversity to maintain and improve ecosystem multi-functionality in drylands.

Dr. Boeken says, "Our results also suggest that the increase in average annual temperature predicted by climate change models will reduce the ability of dryland ecosystems to perform multiple functions, which are crucial to support life on earth. Plant biodiversity enhances this ability, therefore, maintaining and restoring it can contribute to mitigating the negative consequences of global warming and to promoting the resistance of natural ecosystems to desertification."

American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision, creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. With some 20,000 students on campuses in Beer-Sheva, Sede Boqer and Eilat in Israel's southern desert, BGU is a university with a conscience, where the highest academic standards are integrated with community involvement, committed to sustainable development of the Negev. 

Contact: Andrew Lavin
andrewlavin@alavin.com
516-353-2505
American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Warming in the Tasman Sea a global warming hot spot

Ocean currents in the Australian region

Oceanographers have identified a series of ocean hotspots around the world generated by strengthening wind systems that have driven oceanic currents, including the East Australian Current, polewards beyond their known boundaries.

The hotspots have formed alongside ocean currents that wash the east coast of the major continents and their warming proceeds at a rate far exceeding the average rate of ocean surface warming, according to an international science team whose work is published in the journal Nature Climate Change today.

Paper co-author, CSIRO's Dr Wenju Cai, said that while the finding has local ecological implications in the region surrounding the hotspots, the major influence is upon the ocean's ability to take up heat and carbon from the atmosphere.

In Australia's case, scientists report intensifying east-west winds at high latitudes (45º-55ºS) pushing southward and speeding up the gyre or swirl of currents circulating in the South Pacific, extending from South America to the Australian coast. The resulting changes in ocean circulation patterns have pushed the East Australian Current around 350 kilometres further south, with temperatures east of Tasmania as much as two degrees warmer than they were 60 years ago. "We would expect natural change in the oceans over decades or centuries but change with such elevated sea surface temperatures in a growing number of locations and in a synchronised manner was definitely not expected," said CSIRO's Dr Wenju Cai.

"Detecting these changes has been hindered by limited observations but with a combination of multi-national ocean watch systems and computer simulations we have been able to reconstruct an ocean history in which warming over the past century is 2-3 times faster than the global average ocean warming rate," says Dr Cai, a climate scientist at CSIRO's Wealth from Oceans Research Flagship.

The changes are characterised by a combination of currents pushing nearer to the polar regions and intensify with systematic changes of wind over both hemispheres, attributed to increasing greenhouse gases.

Dr Cai said the increase of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has been the major driver of the surface warming of the Earth over the 20th century. This is projected to continue.

He said the research points to the need for a long-term monitoring network of the western boundary currents. In March next year, Australian scientists plan to deploy a series of moored ocean sensors across the East Australian Current to observe change season-to-season and year-to-year.

Lead author of the paper was Dr Lixin Wu, of the Ocean University of China, with contributing authors from five countries, many of whom are members of the Pacific Ocean Panel working under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organisation.

The research was partly funded by a grant from the Australian Climate Change Science Program supported by the Australian Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.

Contact: Sarah Wood
Sarah.K.Wood@csiro.au
61-738-335-916
CSIRO Australia

A major climate maker is Thermohaline Circulation. The oceans are mostly composed of warm salty water near the surface over cold, less salty water in the ocean depths. These two regions don't mix except in certain special areas. The ocean currents, the movement of the ocean in the surface layer, are driven mostly by the wind. In certain areas near the polar oceans, the colder surface water also gets saltier due to evaporation or sea ice formation. In these regions, the surface water becomes dense enough to sink to the ocean depths. This pumping of surface water into the deep ocean forces the deep water to move horizontally until it can find an area on the world where it can rise back to the surface and close the current loop. This usually occurs in the equatorial ocean, mostly in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. This very large, slow current is called the thermohaline circulation because it is caused by temperature and salinity (haline) variations.

The following animation shows one of the major regions where this pumping occurs, the North Atlantic Ocean around Greenland, Iceland, and the North Sea. The surface ocean current brings new water to this region from the South Atlantic via the Gulf Stream and the water returns to the South Atlantic via the North Atlantic Deep Water current. The continual influx of warm water into the North Atlantic polar ocean keeps the regions around Iceland and southern Greenland mostly free of sea ice year round.

The animation also shows another feature of the global ocean circulation: the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The region around latitude 60 south is the the only part of the Earth where the ocean can flow all the way around the world with no land in the way. As a result, both the surface and deep waters flow from west to east around Antarctica. This circumpolar motion links the world's oceans and allows the deep water circulation from the Atlantic to rise in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the surface circulation to close with the northward flow in the Atlantic.

The color on the world's ocean's at the beginning of this animation represents surface water density, with dark regions being most dense and light regions being least dense. The depths of the oceans are highly exaggerated to better illustrate the differences between the surface flows and deep water flows. The actual flows in this model are based on current theories of the thermohaline circulation rather than actual data. The thermohaline circulation is a very slow moving current that can be difficult to distinguish from general ocean circulation. Therefore, it is difficult to measure or simulate.

This animation first depicts thermohaline surface flows over surface density, and illustrates the sinking of water in the dense ocean near Iceland and Greenland. The surface of the ocean then fades away and the animation pulls back to show the global thermohaline circulation.

 

Video Credit : NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio. The Blue Marble Next Generation data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC) and NASA's Earth Observatory.

EUROPARC: Nature Scholarship for Young European Conservationists now open

The Alfred Toepfer Natural Heritage Scholarships 2012 are now open for applications! The award provides three young European conservationists with €3000 to undertake a study visit to one or more protected areas in European countries other than their own. They are awarded by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation and the EUROPARC Federation. The deadline for applications is Friday May 11^th 2012.

The €3000, donated by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation (DE), gives successful scholars the chance to gather experience and strengthen their networks. Applicants must be under 35, of European nationality and themes for applications must be connected to the management of natural areas. Some guidelines to what these should be are provided. Applications can be filled in online  and submitted by Friday 11th May 2012. All organisational aspects, such as the selection of candidates, are carried out by the EUROPARC Federation.

The Scholarships enhance international cooperation and advance the quality, innovation and European dimension of the management of natural areas, such as national parks. At the end of their study visit the scholars should produce a report on their findings which will be shared with practitioners in charge of managing Europe’s natural heritage. They are awarded at the annual EUROPARC Conference, which will be held in Genk, Belgium from 22^nd – 25^th October 2012.

In 2011 the scholarships were awarded to three individuals from Hungary, Scotland and Belgium. The topics the scholars are currently researching are: management techniques in protected areas, the creation of European partnerships and information sharing in the field of grazing management and improvement of communication between World Heritage marine sites in the Mediterranean Sea.

The EUROPARC Federation is committed to the protection and promotion of Europe’s protected areas and all they offer. We are the foremost and largest NGO representing European protected areas, uniting national parks, regional parks, nature parks and biosphere reserves in 39 countries, with the common aim of conserving Europe's unique variety of wildlife, habitats and landscapes.

The Alfred Toepfer Foundation is a charitable association with activities across Europe in the fields of culture, science, education and nature conservation. A particular focus of the Foundation is promoting European understanding whilst conserving cultural diversity. More information about the Alfred Toepfer Scholarships and the application form can be found online.