California Butterflies See Big Declines from Eco Double Blow
Jan/100
The Clodius Parnassian butterfly is more common at the top of its elevation range in the California mountains than in the past.
Climate change is making things rough for many vertebrate and invertebrate species. But add to this a steady loss of habitat, and many species just can’t adapt successfully to the combined stresses.
From the coastal lowlands to the coniferous tree lines of Northern California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, scores of species of butterfly are in an existential fight for their evolutionary futures. The survival challenge seems to be most impacting those species whose preferred habitats lay in the lower elevations, but the effects are being felt further up as well, as more butterfly species are moving into higher-elevated habitats. This evolutionary struggle might have gone unnoticed but for the diligent work of one research team, lead by butterfly expert Arthur Shapiro of the University of California at Davis.
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California Butterflies See Big Declines from Eco Double Blow
Mango Glut Overloads Brisbane Garbage System – Gluts in Africa are Critical and Need Solutions
Jan/100
While Brisbane’s waste removal system battles to discard perfectly good mangos, this contrasts starkly with the difficulties and opportunities associated with agricultural produce gluts in poor communities in rural Africa.
Brisbane Mangoes
So good is the mango harvest this year, that residents of Brisbane’s suburbs are battling to get rid of their excess mangos.
Apparently some trees are dropping up to 60 mangoes overnight. If these are simply placed in rubbish bins they are too heavy for the mechanical garbage trucks and get left on the street. Normally there would be a $24 fee to get a garbage truck to come back and empty the bin, but the City Council has agreed to waive this cost so long as residents first remove the mangoes. The Council has also removed the charge for dumping mangoes at the city’s transfer stations.
So in Australia the fuss is about getting the mangoes to the dump and not about the waste of food or the loss of income opportunities, that bother the African.
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Mango Glut Overloads Brisbane Garbage System – Gluts in Africa are Critical and Need Solutions
Record Number of Endangered Panthers Killed by Vehicles
Jan/100
According to Defenders of Wildlife, 2009 was a very bad year for the Florida panther, Puma concolor coryi. Nearly 20 percent of the Florida panther population was killed by vehicles last year. Years ago, these magnificent cats roamed free in eight states. Today, less than 100 of the endangered panthers are believed to exist in the wild.
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Record Number of Endangered Panthers Killed by Vehicles
On the Brink of Extinction: Time is Running Out for Tigers
Jan/100
Time is running out for one of the world’s most beautiful, charismatic and powerful species, the tiger. According to conservationists, the wild tiger population has declined by 95 percent during the past century. Only 3,200 tigers, Panthera tigris, remain in the wild today.
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On the Brink of Extinction: Time is Running Out for Tigers
Alaska’s Erosion Threatens Migratory Shorebirds
Dec/090
Alaska’s erosion is not a new discovery – natural ice barriers along Alaska’s coastline have been eroding at a rate of 45 feet a year along the North Slope. While concerns have always surrounded the impact upon Alaska’s oil fields and energy industry dominated by Exxon Mobil Corp and BP Plc, some are shifting their focus to the devastation this could cause to migratory shorebirds along the coast.
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Alaska’s Erosion Threatens Migratory Shorebirds
Economic Value of Ecosystems and Biodiversity — New Report
Nov/090
A new report, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), attempts to bring to the world’s attention the truly great economic value of ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as the benefits of taking these into account when making policies.
The value of the world’s natural ecosystems and biodiversity is something lacking in most economic analyses. Lack of value for what is truly priceless doesn’t just hurt the environment, however. It is also a sort of economic suicide. This new report, hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme and supported by key EU, UK, German, Swedish, Dutch, and Norwegian bodies, attempts to bring all of this to our attention more and show some positive case studies of how taking the environment into consideration can actually save us money.
As the report says: “the failure of markets to adequately consider the value of ecosystem services is of concern not only to environment, development and climate change ministries but also to finance, economics and business ministries.”
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Economic Value of Ecosystems and Biodiversity — New Report
The International Ecotourism Society’s African Safari Auction
Nov/090
The International Ecotourism Society is offering a Surperb Safari Experience as an auction to raise funds for global environmental awareness. The Safari location is at Ol Seki Mara Camp.
Safari Details: Located in the heart of Eastern Koiyaki, Kenya, Ol Seki Mara Camp offers luxury “Nina” tents with 270 degree panoramic views of the famous Maasai Mara.
Magnificent Wildlife: Eastern Koiyaki, provides an opportunity to enjoy wildlife viewing in a pristine oasis nestled amongst Cordia and Acacia trees attracting an abundance of wildlife and birds.
Your Dream Vacation: Elegant candle lit dinners, romantic dining for honeymooners, a resident masseuse – a delight for all senses!
What are Ol Seki Mara Camp’s specific sustainability Practices?
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The International Ecotourism Society’s African Safari Auction
Freshwater Fish of the World – A Status Report
Oct/090
Pundamilia nyererei is a species of freshwater fish in the Cichlidae family. It is found in lakes in Kenya and Tanzania. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.
In may not be a great surprise to learn that fish are the most species-rich vertebrate group on the Planet–with an estimated 32,500 member species. But what is surprising is that 43% of these species are found in freshwater habitats, such as lakes and rivers.
This rich diversity of freshwater species is all the more startling when one considers that freshwater systems represent just one hundredth of one percent (.01%) of the Earth’s surface water. According to Fishes of the World (J.S. Nelson), over 5000 new species of freshwater fish have been discovered in just the past three decades–a time period marked by expanded exploration of fish habitats and better understanding of “taxonomic boundaries” (mostly, due to more accurate genetic analysis).
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Freshwater Fish of the World – A Status Report
Mision 2020: A Clean and Dolphin Filled Ganges
Oct/090
Ganga, the holiest of holy rivers in the Indian sub-continent is also one of the most polluted rivers in the region. Last year, after much lobbying, Ganga was declared the National River of India owing to its religious as well as environmental significance. However, just that could never have been enough for cleaning a river on which millions of Rupees have already been spent.
Now, the Union Environment Minister of India Mr. Jairam Ramesh, who had previously unveiled the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), has put the NBRBA on a “mission mode” to clean the river by 2020. And his indicator for success is not clear blue waters but the return of the Gangetic dolphins that were once sighted in the river in plenty!
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Mision 2020: A Clean and Dolphin Filled Ganges
Wildlife Authorities Kill Pair of Wolves in Oregon
Sep/090
One of only three wolf pairs in Oregon was killed by U.S.D.A. Wildlife Services with approval from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Center for Biological Diversity announced today that Oregon’s wolf recovery program suffered a serious setback when a pair of wolves residing in the Eagle Cap Wilderness in eastern Oregon were killed over the weekend by wildlife authorities.
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