Long-finned pilot whales are seen during a 1998 stranding in Marion Bay in Tasmania, Australia. Auscape / Universal Images Group / Getty Images
More long-finned pilot whales were found stranded today on beaches in Tasmania, Australia. About 500 whales have become stranded, including at least 380 that have died, the AP reported. It is the largest mass stranding in Australia's recorded history.
<p>The stranding started on Monday when the whales became stuck on sandbars in Macquarie Harbor on Tasmania's west coast. Rescue efforts started on Tuesday morning and successfully helped 50 whales back into the water. On Wednesday afternoon, rescuers were trying to save the remaining 30 survivors, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/23/more-than-450-whales-now-stranded-in-tasmania-after-rescuers-discover-pod-of-200-dead" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>"While they're still alive and in water, there's still hope for them — but as time goes on they do become more fatigued," Nic Deka, regional manager for Tasmania's Parks and Wildlife Service, told the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-54260278" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p><p>The Tasmanian government officials said that rescue efforts would continue as long as there were survivors. At the same time, The Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service will address removing the carcasses dotting Macquarie Harbor, the BBC reported.</p>
<p>"We have a couple of options that we are considering, but we need to consider all aspects before we settle on a decision," Deka said in a <a href="https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/Media%20Release%20Whale%20Stranding%20Strahan%2023%20September%2012%20pm.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tasmanian government press release.</a> "We can't leave the whales in the harbor as they will present a range of issues. We are committed to retrieving and disposing but our key priority is to remain focused on the rescue effort."</p><p>The first pod, containing about 270 stranded whales, were spotted Monday near the small town of Strahan. Aerial surveillance found another pod Wednesday morning with about 200 whales further south. Experts believe the two groups represent one mass stranding event, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/23/australia/tasmania-whale-stranding-new-pod-intl-hnk-scli/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>"From the air most of the additional whales detected appear to be dead, but a boat has headed over there this morning to do an assessment from the water," Deka said in the press release.</p>
<p>He explained that the whales were difficult to detect partly because of the dark water. "In that part of the harbor the water is a very dark tannin color so we think potentially they stranded, washed back into the water and then have been washed back into the bay, so that made it more difficult for them to be detected earlier in the piece."</p><p>Tasmania experiences more than 80 percent of Australia's whale stranding events, the BBC reported, although the last mass stranding with more than 50 whales occurred in 2009.</p><p>There's no clear reason why stranding occurs, but several theories exist, including the notion that whales become confused if they get too close to the shoreline. Since whales are social creatures, it might take only one confused whale to lead an entire pod ashore, BBC reported.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Annual Whale Slaughter Still a Tradition on the Faroe Islands ... ›
- Hundreds of Pilot Whales Die in Devastating Mass Stranding in New ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
A home burns during the Bobcat Fire in Juniper Hills, California on September 18, 2020. Kyle Grillot / AFP/ Getty Images
By Stuart Braun
"These are not just wildfires, they are climate fires," Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington State, said as he stood amid the charred remains of the town of Malden west of Seattle earlier this month. "This is not an act of God," he added. "This has happened because we have changed the climate of the state of Washington in dramatic ways."
<p>As megafires devastated the entire West Coast of the U.S., Inslee rejected reference to wildfires since the word implies naturally occurring fires.</p><p>By contrast, the term climate fires explicitly links record-breaking blazes that have burned across California, Oregon and Washington to global heating caused by the burning of coal, oil and gas. </p><p>As California Governor Gavin Newsom inspected the ashen countryside in the county of Oroville in his home state, he doubled down on the source of the fires. "This is a climate damn emergency," he said.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQyNzMwNy9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTY1MzE3OH0.AJoxfvXx3isdh4RDPwAsP3EQ5hROX38poO_ZU9eRBJ4/img.png?width=980" id="eaf1a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7168b081bbcd14500a8bcef691b4d659" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>The pointed link to climate has been partly a response to <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/trump-downplays-climate-concerns-over-deadly-us-wildfires/a-54928125" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">President's Donald Trump's insistence</a> that poor forest management, not climate change, is to blame for the fires. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/cable-news/cable-news-largely-failed-mention-connection-between-climate-change-and-wildfires-its" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">research shows</a> barely 13% of broadcast news segments about the West Coast fires during their peak mentioned climate change.</p>
'These Aren't Wildfires'
<p>Sam Ricketts, who led climate policy and strategy for Governor Jay Inslee's 2020 presidential campaign, tweeted on September 11 that "These aren't wildfires. These are #climatefires, driven by fossil fuel pollution."</p><p>"The rate and the strength and the devastation wrought by these disasters are fueled by climate change," Ricketts told DW of fires that have burnt well over 5 million acres across California, Oregon, Washington State, and into neighboring Idaho. </p><p>In a two-day period in early September, Ricketts notes that more of Washington State burned than in almost any entire fire season until now, apart from 2015. </p><p>California, meanwhile, was a tinderbox after its hottest summer on record, with temperatures in Death Valley reaching nearly 130 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. It has been reported as the hottest temperature ever measured on Earth.</p><div id="29ad9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8346fe7350e1371d400097cd48bf45a2"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1306969603180879872" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Drought-parched wetlands in South America have been burning for weeks. https://t.co/pjAKdFcKPg #Pantanal https://t.co/ImN2C5vwcp</div> — NASA Earth (@NASA Earth)<a href="https://twitter.com/NASAEarth/statuses/1306969603180879872">1600440810.0</a></blockquote></div><p>As evidenced by Australia's apocalyptic Black Summer of 2019-2020, fires are burning bigger and for longer, with new records set year-on-year. Right now, Brazil's vast and highly biodiverse Pantanal wetlands are suffering from catastrophic fires.</p>
#climatefires Started in Australia
<p>Governor Inslee this month invoked the phrase climate fires for arguably the first time in the U.S., according to Ricketts.</p><p>But the term was also used as fires burnt out of control in Australia in late 2019. In the face of a 2000km (more than 1,200 miles) fire front, and government officials and media who <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/trump-climate-change-denial-emissions-environment-germany-fake-heartland-seibt/a-52688933" target="_blank">played down the link to climate change</a>, Greens Party Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and a friend decided that reference to bushfires was inadequate. </p><p>"We both just said, we've got to start calling them climate fires, that's what they are," the Australian Senator told DW.</p><p>Hanson-Young says scientists have been warning for decades that these would be the effects of global heating. "We've been told these kinds of extreme weather events and destruction is what climate change would look like, and it's right here on our doorstep," she said from her home state of South Australia — where by early September fire warnings had already been issued.</p><p>"Calling them climate fires was making it absolutely crystal clear. It is essential that there's no ambiguity," she said </p><p>Having deliberately invoked the term, Hanson-Young soon started to push it on social media via a #climatefires hashtag. </p>How to Talk About the Urgency of Global Heating
<p>The need to use more explicit language when talking about extreme weather events linked to climate change is part of a broader push to express the urgency of global heating. In 2019, activist Greta Thunberg tweeted that the term "climate change" did not reflect the seriousness of the situation. </p><p>"Can we all now please stop saying 'climate change' and instead call it what it is: climate breakdown, climate crisis, climate emergency, ecological breakdown, ecological crisis and ecological emergency?" she wrote. </p><p>"Climate change has for a long time been talked about as something that is a danger in the future," said Hansen-Young. "But the consequences are already here. When people hear the word crisis, they understand that something has to happen, that action has to be taken."</p><p><span></span>Some terms are now used in public policy, with state and national governments, and indeed the EU Parliament, declaring an official climate emergency in the last year. </p>Words That Reflect the Science
<p>But while the West Coast governors all fervently link the fires to an unfolding climate crisis, U.S. President Donald Trump continues to avoid any reference to climate. In a briefing about the fires, he responded to overtures by Wade Crowfoot, California's Natural Resources Secretary, to work with the states on the climate crisis by stating: "It'll start getting cooler. You just watch." Crowfoot replied by saying that scientists disagreed. Trump rejoined with "I don't think science knows, actually." </p><p>It was reminiscent of the anti-science approach to the coronavirus pandemic within the Trump administration, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/donald-trump-admits-playing-down-coronavirus-risks/a-54874350" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">at least publicly</a>. Fossil fuel companies are also benefiting from his disavowal of climate science, with the Trump administration having <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-trumps-paris-climate-accord-exit-isnt-really-a-problem/a-51124958" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pulled out of the Paris Agreement</a> and reopened fossil fuel infrastructure like the Keystone XL pipeline. </p><p>But the science community has responded, with Scientific American magazine endorsing Trump's Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden, the first presidential endorsement in its 175-year history. </p><p>Hanson-Young says the use of explicit language like climate fires has also been important in Australia due to the climate denialism of politicians and the press, especially in publications owned by Rupert Murdoch. As fires burnt out much of Australia's southeast coast, they were commonly blamed on arson — a tactic also recently used in the U.S.</p>Climate Rhetoric Could Help Decide Election
<p>The language of climate has begun to influence the U.S. presidential election campaign, with Democratic nominee Joe Biden labelling President Trump a "climate arsonist."</p><p>Biden is touting a robust climate plan that includes a 2050 zero emissions target and a return to the Paris Agreement. Though lacking the ambition of The New Green Deal, it has been front and center of his policy platform in recent days, at a time when five hurricanes are battering the U.S. Gulf Coast while smoke blanketing the West Coast spreads all the way to the East. </p><p>People are experiencing the climate crisis in a visceral way and almost universally relate to the language of an emergency, says Ricketts. "They know something is wrong."</p>From Your Site Articles
- The Vicious Climate-Wildfire Cycle - EcoWatch ›
- How Climate Change Ignites Wildfires From California to South Africa ›
- 31 Dead, 250,000 Evacuated in California Fires as Governor ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Mining Company CEO Forced to Resign After Blasting of 46,000-Year-Old Aboriginal Site
11 September
Popular
Western Australia's Juukan Gorge has been home to a sacred site to local Indigenous peoples for over 46,000 years. In May of 2020, the site was destroyed in an explosion designed to expand a nearby iron ore mine. About the House: the official channel of the Australian House of Representatives
The chief executive officer and two senior executives are being forced out of the mining giant Rio Tinto several months after investors started to revolt over the company's destruction of an ancient aboriginal rock shelter, according to CNN.
<p>CEO Jean-Sebastian Jacques will leave in March 2021, while two senior executives, Chris Salisbury, iron ore chief executive, and Simone Nieven, head of corporate relations who had the responsibility of handling relations with Indigenous communities, will leave at the end of 2020, according to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/09/11/ceo-of-one-of-the-worlds-largest-mining-companies-forced-to-resign-over-destruction-of-sacred-indigenous-site/#790943ed412a" target="_blank">Forbes</a>.</p><p>The 48-year-old chief executive is being forced out after investors listened to a continuing outcry from the Indigenous people of Australia who were horrified that Rio Tinto would trounce upon their sacred ground and blast away the ancient Juukan Gorge rock shelters, two culturally significant rock shelters in Western Australia's Pilbara region. Despite knowing the importance of the grounds to the the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people, Rio Tinto blasted the site in order to mine a better quality of iron ore, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/11/rio-tinto-ceo-senior-executives-resign-juukan-gorge-debacle-caves" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>The company's board responded to the move by cutting executive pay and stripping the three executives of $7 million in bonuses, but investors lined up to denounce that penalty as inadequate.</p><p>"There were certainly some shareholders who felt strongly that the accountability was inappropriate and that this was an issue that needed to be addressed to rebuild trust," said Rio Tinto Chairman Simon Thompson to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/rio-tinto-ceo-top-executives-resign-amid-cave-blast-crisis-20200910-p55uf8.html" target="_blank">The Sydney Morning Herald</a>.</p><p>"While there is general recognition of the transparency of the board review and support for the changes recommended, significant stakeholders have expressed concerns about executive accountability for the failings identified," the company said in a statement, as The Guardian reported.</p>
<p>The wanton destruction of the site has shed light on the remarkable power the mining industry has over sacred, traditional lands. It has shown the need for greater legal guarantees to make sure heritage sites are protected.</p><p>A spokesperson for the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people told The Sydney Morning Herald, "Our focus continues to rest heavily on preserving Aboriginal heritage and advocating for wide-ranging changes to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again. We cannot and will not allow this type of devastation to occur ever again."</p><p>Among the prominent shareholders to express their misgivings were several large Australian investment funds and a group of 81 British pension funds. Also, the National Native Title Council in Australia said the board was divorced from reality in thinking that the pay cuts were somehow just punishment for destroying a 46,000-year-old site, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.</p>
<p>"There is more work to be done," said Jamie Lowe, chief executive for the National Native Title Council, as The Guardian reported. "The law needs to be strengthened. We can't rely on the goodwill of mining companies, we need the law strengthened. We can't rely on their word that things will get better."</p><p>"What happened at Juukan was wrong," Thompson said Friday to The Sydney Morning Herald. "We are determined to ensure the destruction of a heritage site of such exceptional archaeological and cultural significance never occurs again at a Rio Tinto operation."</p><p>Ian Silk, the chief executive of Australia's biggest superannuation fund, AustralianSuper, said that he was "satisfied that appropriate responsibility has now been taken by executives at Rio Tinto," according to The Guardian,</p><p>"Rio can now work with traditional owners to guarantee that its processes are appropriate for the protection of culturally important sites and that it has the right internal accountabilities," he added, as The Guardian reported.</p>
<p>Additionally, the Australian Center for Corporate Responsibility applauded Friday's announcement as an end to the "dishonest malaise of Rio Tinto's board and senior management," according to The Guardian.</p><p>While the news of the executives departing is welcome, the institutional investors who have the clout to spur action within the company said the company would have to take steps to repair its relationship with Australia's Indigenous people.</p><p>"Rio Tinto now has the opportunity to address the necessary remediation, cultural heritage and risk processes with fresh eyes," said Louise Davidson, chief executive of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, which advises 38 large super funds on governance issues, to The Guardian.</p><p>"Rio Tinto must prioritise working with traditional owners the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people to rebuild their relationship. It is critical that this is not delayed," she added.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Gold Miners Murder Indigenous Leader, Force Villagers in Brazil's ... ›
- Brazil's Bolsonaro Unveils Bill to Open Indigenous Lands to Mining ... ›
- Mining Giant BHP Pauses Plans to Blast 40 Aboriginal Heritage Sites ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Support Ecowatch
Adani Coal Company Attempted to Search Home of Activist Who Opposes Its Australian Mine
27 August
Business
Protestors demonstrate against the Adani coal company outside Australia Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg's Camberwell office on Oct. 3, 2017. John Englart / Flickr
Coal company Adani sought to raid the home of an environmental activist who opposed its controversial mine in Queensland, Australia's Galilee Basin, court documents have shown.
<p>The company tried twice to request a search order known as an Anton Piller order to enter the home of activist Benjamin Pennings, maintaining that he had access to confidential documents that only company higher ups should possess, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-27/queensland-adani-secretly-applied-to-raid-ben-pennings-home/12602472?fbclid=IwAR0-8rbCykcC834iCVlLaHC97h6VmMdg4e7yaH_Pd5gybUIDLtqze9fLPWc" target="_blank">Australia's ABC News reported Wednesday</a>.</p><p>"My wife and I have three school-aged children living at home, one with a disability," Pennings said in a statement reported by ABC News. "Adani has failed in two recent Supreme Court applications to raid our family home for corporate secrets they believe I possess. They want to silence dissent about their destructive thermal coal project that a majority of Australians oppose."</p>
<div id="1085f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5cba4ecad661b760f22037d71734405c"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1298832350004953088" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The next step in their leaked ‘Trained Attack Dog’ legal strategy 👇🏼 is approx. 1500 pages of legal documents serve… https://t.co/fixsKbEJE3</div> — Ben Pennings (@Ben Pennings)<a href="https://twitter.com/BenPennings/statuses/1298832350004953088">1598500738.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Pennings handles media and strategy for <a href="https://galileeblockade.net/" target="_blank">Galilee Blockade</a>, an activist group that uses non-violent direct action like boycotts and blockades to prevent <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> extraction in the Galilee Basin.</p><p>Adani's mine is controversial in part because it would open up the area, a currently untapped coal reserve, for eight other mines, according to another activist group <a href="https://www.stopadani.com/why_stop_adani" target="_blank">Stop Adani</a>. Adani's mine alone would add 4.6 billion tonnes (approximately 5 billion U.S. tons) of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere at a time when Australia is already suffering from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/australia-wildfires-climate-models-2645279035.html" target="_self">bushfires</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/about-500-000-cattle-feared-dead-after-historic-queensland-floods-2628662464.html" target="_self">flooding</a> made worse by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>.</p><p>Adani's attempts to search Pennings' home were intended to bolster a civil case the company served against the activist on Wednesday, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/27/adani-fails-to-win-court-order-to-conduct-surprise-search-of-environmental-activists-home" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>.</p>
<p>Adani is suing Pennings for financial losses, intimidation, conspiracy and court costs. They claim activist pressure prompted contractors Downer EDI, AECOM and Greyhound Australia to drop their support of the mine.</p><p>Adani also wants Pennings to stop promoting the "<a href="https://galileeblockade.net/dob_in/" target="_blank">Dob in Adani</a>" campaign, which solicits information on Adani's contractors and their activities, ABC News reported.</p><p>Ahead of the suit, the company and its Carmichael Rail Network applied for the Anton Piller order to prove Pennings had "confidential information on a computer at his home" that only company executives should have had access to. Anton Piller orders are used to secure evidence from defendants for legal proceedings.</p><p>Adani and Charmichael first applied for the order in June and then appealed the court's initial rejection in July.</p>
<p>In rejecting the appeal, the court ruled that the company did not have enough evidence to justify a search that could cause undue harm to Pennings and his family.</p><p>"Surely, to permit a search of a defendant's house, with the humiliation and family distress which that might involve, lies at the outer boundary of the discretion," the Court of Appeal judges ruled last week, as ABC News reported. "This is because, for reasons that anyone can understand, the 'shock, anger, confusion' and the 'sense of violation and powerlessness' will be much greater in such a case and may be suffered not only by someone who is proved in due course to be a wrongdoer, but by entirely innocent parties as well."</p>
<p>Adani maintained that, in pursuing legal action against Pennings, it was not seeking to restrict free speech.</p><p>"We really believe that everyone has the right to express their own opinion, we support that. It's a core part of democracy," Adani in Australia communications lead Kate Campbell told ABC News. "But we think it's important that people express their opinions in a way that's legal, that's safe and that does not prevent others from going about their legal and legitimate business. Mr. Pennings is preventing us from going about our business because of the campaign of intimidation and harassment."</p><p>However, Australia's former Greens leader Bob Brown disagreed.</p><p>He said Adani's legal action would "send a shudder through every Australian who values democracy, free speech and the right to peaceful protest," The Guardian reported.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Australia, Your Country Is Burning — Dangerous Climate Change Is ... ›
- Indigenous Australians Take Fight Against Giant Coal Mine to the ... ›
- Australia's Controversial Adani Coal Mine Now One Approval Away ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trending
A shoot of the Dicksonia antarctica, ready to unfurl. JJ Harrison / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 3.0
By Gregory Moore
With massive fronds creating a luxuriously green canopy in the understory of Australian forests, tree ferns are a familiar sight on many long drives or bushwalks. But how much do you really know about them?
<p>
<br/>
</p>
<p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gregory-moore-1779" target="_blank">Gregory Moore</a> is a </em><em>Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Gregory Moore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em>
</p><p>
<em></em><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/tree-ferns-are-older-than-dinosaurs-and-thats-not-even-the-most-interesting-thing-about-them-138435" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
</p><iframe height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138435/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" width="1"></iframe>
<p>First of all, tree ferns are ferns, but they are not really trees. To be a tree, a plant must be woody (undergo secondary plant growth, which thickens stems and roots) and grow to a height of at least three meters when mature. While tree ferns can have single, thick trunk-like stems and can grow to a height of more than 15 meters, they are never woody.</p><p>They're also incredibly hardy — tree ferns are often the first plants to show signs of recovery in the early weeks after bushfires.</p><p>The unfurling of an almost iridescent green tree fern fiddlehead amid the sombre black of the bushfire ash is almost symbolic of the potential for bushfire recovery.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU2NzA0OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MjEzNjg4MH0.KG0a-T1xA3I4Eotyu0DpHSeqN1O8DdBhOwi_PJoMhzU/img.jpg?width=980" id="aecd7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="13046fd5306841e2dd456b563612a618" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Ferns are often the first plants to grow back after bushfires. Greg Moore, Author provided
Ancient Family Ties
<p>Tree ferns are generally slow growing, at rates of just 25-50 millimeters height increase per year. This means the tall individuals you might spot in a mature forest may be <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5426625/#:%7E:text=The%20tree%20fern%20species%20in,grow%20to%2020m%20%5B16%5D." target="_blank">several centuries old</a>.</p><p>However, in the right environment they can grow faster, so guessing their real age can be tricky, especially if they're growing outside their usual forest environment.</p><p>As a plant group, tree ferns are ancient, dating back <a href="https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/ferns-the-glory-of-the-forest/" target="_blank">hundreds of millions of years</a> and pre-dating dinosaurs.</p><p>They existed on earth long before the flowering or cone-bearing plants evolved, and were a significant element of the earth's flora during the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/carboniferous/" target="_blank">Carboniferous</a> period 300-360 million years ago, when conditions for plant growth were near ideal. This explains why ferns don't reproduce by flowers, fruits or cones, but by more primitive spores.</p><p>In fact, fossilized tree ferns and their relatives called the fern allies laid down during the carboniferous then have provided much of the earth's fossil fuels dating from that period. And tree ferns were a great <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/9452631" target="_blank">food source</a>, with Indigenous people once <a href="https://museumsvictoria.com.au/bunjilaka/about-us/the-plants-of-milarri-garden/" target="_blank">eating the pulp</a> that occurs in the center of the tree fern stem either raw or roasted as a starch.</p><p>Until recent times, ferns were quiet achievers among plant groups with an expanding number of species and greater numbers. Today, human activities are limiting <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/28b03b9a-2b02-4a50-82d0-54697736ab6e/files/threatened-tasmanian-ferns.pdf" target="_blank">their success</a> by the clearing of forests and agricultural practices. Climate change is also a more recent threat to many fern species.</p>Species You’ve Probably Seen
<p>Two of the more common tree fern species of south eastern Australia are <em><a href="https://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2003/cyathea-spp.html" target="_blank">Cyathea australis</a></em> and <a href="https://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2003/dicksonia-antarctica.html" target="_blank"><em>Dicksonia antarctica</em></a>. Both species have a wide distribution, extending from Queensland down the Australian coast and into Tasmania.</p><p>They're often found growing near each other along rivers and creeks. They look superficially alike and many people would be unaware that they are entirely different species at first glance. That is, until you look closely at the detail of their fronds and run your fingers down the stalks.</p><p><em>C. australis</em> has a rough almost prickly frond, hence its common name of rough tree fern, and can grow to be 25 meters tall. While <em>D. antarctica</em>, as the soft tree fern, has a smooth and sometimes furry frond and rarely grows above 15 meters.</p><p>Both contribute to the lush green appearance of the understory of wet forests dominated by eucalypts, such as mountain ash (<em>Eucalyptus regnans</em>).</p>Stems That Host a Tiny Ecosystem
<p>The way tree ferns grow is quite complex. That's because growth, even of the roots, originates from part of the apex of the stem. If this crown is damaged, then the fern can die.</p><p>At the right time of the year, the new fronds unfurl in the crown from a coil called a fiddlehead. The stem of the tree fern is made up of all of the retained leaf bases of the fronds from previous years.</p><p>The stems are very fibrous and quite strong, which means they tend to retain moisture. And this is one of the reasons why the stems of tree ferns don't easily burn in bushfires — even when they're dry or dead.</p><p>In some dense wet forest communities, the stems of tree ferns are a miniature ecosystem, with epiphytic plants — such as mosses, translucent filmy ferns, perhaps lichens and the seedlings of other plant species — growing on them.</p><p>These epiphytes are not bad for the tree ferns, they're just looking for a place to live, and the fibrous, nutrient-rich, moist tree fern stems prove brilliantly suitable.</p>Engulfed by Trees
<p>Similarly, the spreading canopies of tree ferns, such as <em>D. antarctica</em>, provide an excellent place for trees and other species to germinate.</p><p>That's because many plants need good light for their seedlings to establish and this may not be available on the forest floor. Seeds, such as those of the native (or myrtle) beech, <em>Nothofagus cunninghamii</em>, may germinate in the crowns of tree ferns, and its roots can grow down the tree fern trunks and into the soil.</p><p>As time passes, the tree species may completely grow over the tree fern, engulfing the tree fern stem into its trunk. Decades, or even centuries later, it's sometimes still possible to see the old tree fern stem embedded inside.</p><p><span></span>Still, tree ferns are wonderfully resilient and give a sense of permanence to our ever-changing fire-affected landscapes.</p>
Read More
Show Less
The peloton ride passes through fire-ravaged Fox Creek Road in Adelaide Hills, South Australia, during the Tour Down Under cycling event on January 23, 2020. Brenton Edwards / AFP / Getty Images
A professional cycling race in Australia is under attack for its connections to a major oil and gas producer, the Guardian reports.
<p>Santos, an Australia-based oil and gas company is the title sponsor of the Tour Down Under, a prestigious stage race held each January at the beginning of the professional cycling calendar. </p><p>Race organizers were forced to shorten or modify stages of in 2017, 2018, and 2019 due to extreme heat and in 2020 the peloton rode through areas hit by bushfires. </p><p>Organizers with Fossil Free South Australia criticized the hypocrisy of the event, so directly affected by climate change, for accepting sponsorship from an oil and gas company.</p>
<p>The interplay of professional cycling and climate change are myriad, if ironic. </p><p>Though cycling is promoted the world over as a form of low-carbon transportation, multiple World Tour teams are sponsored by fossil fuel companies and Middle Eastern petro-states, and the carbon footprint of the infrastructure around the professional peloton — from international air travel between races to the caravans of cars and motorbikes that follow the peloton on the road — is enormous. </p><p>Yet professional riders feel global warming's impacts acutely. One stage of last year's Tour de France saw temperatures above 40°C (104°F) with temperatures on the road, directly above the scorching pavement, as much as 20°C (68°F) hotter.</p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/aug/12/this-is-a-wake-up-call-how-will-pro-cycling-address-its-own-climate-crisis?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=93243956&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-89WdLT7XpWfvv3jnnmmZpN3ni_6AliBFTGSoRav6n9xGLRpezRzt0F0MGkhxKJlTzP49ynOGwQ4Wj17C7xOOIyhaORDMf-AtPkEy04YOyhfdCEvKM&utm_content=93243956&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">The Guardian</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Burning All Fossil Fuels Would Lead to a 17 C Rise in Arctic ... ›
- All Renewables Will Be Cost Competitive With Fossil Fuels by 2020 ... ›
- G20 Nations Spend $77 Billion a Year to Finance Fossil Fuels ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Recycled paper at the Northern Adelaide Waste Management Authority's recycling site piles up in Edinburgh, Australia, on April 17, 2019. Brenton Edwards / AFP / Getty Images
By Alex Thornton
The Australian government has announced a A$190 million (US$130 million) investment in the nation's first Recycling Modernization Fund, with the aim of transforming the country's waste and recycling industry. The hope is that as many as 10,000 jobs can be created in what is being called a "once in a generation" opportunity to remodel the way Australia deals with its waste.
Waste Mountain
<p>The need for a dramatic increase in Australia's recycling capacity pre-dates the COVID-19 pandemic. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-27/where-does-all-australias-waste-go/11755424" target="_blank">Australians create approximately 67 million tons of waste a year</a>, and like in many wealthy countries, much of that was sent overseas. That all changed when China announced it was <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/10/china-has-banned-foreign-waste-so-whats-the-future-of-world-recycling" target="_blank">banning the import of a huge range of foreign waste</a> and recyclables. Soon <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/malaysia-flooded-with-plastic-waste-to-send-back-some-scrap-to-source" target="_blank">other countries followed suit</a>, and Australia was forced to look for alternative solutions.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzNjY4Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNDc4NjgwNH0.kcj4RYDc0cQERhMB5duEBzcdA9A0eJ5qad1OyIyIH98/img.png?width=980" id="37769" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2546d96e25cd54902ceb66a326743b4c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Biggest exporters of plastic. Statista
Waste Export Ban
<p>Australia has adopted a strategy of taking responsibility for its own waste. Starting in January 2021, it is phasing in <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste-resource-recovery/waste-export-ban" target="_blank">bans on the export of different forms of waste</a>. By mid 2024, Australia's home-grown recycling industry will have to deal with an extra 650,000 tons of waste plastic, paper, glass and tires.</p><p>"As we cease shipping our waste overseas, the waste and recycling transformation will reshape our domestic waste industry, driving job creation and putting valuable materials back into the economy," federal environment minister Sussan Ley said in a <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-australia-waste/australia-to-set-up-132-million-fund-to-boost-recycling-following-export-curbs-idUKKBN247060" target="_blank">statement to Reuters</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzNjY4OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDU2NzA0M30.5pHIN6g44hCE4tNeeiJebL9KkNEb8Awnr3mOzRYWUDE/img.jpg?width=980" id="0aad3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="927fc17a933d0287cf67f633a3e745b9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Timeline for Australia's waste export ban. Australian Government
Trash Into Treasure
<p>The benefits to the environment of boosting recycling rates are well known – less landfill, less plastic in our ocean, reduced need for virgin materials, and lower carbon emissions. The Recycling Modernization Fund initiative aims to divert more than 10 million tons of waste from landfill, part of an <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste-resource-recovery/publications/national-waste-policy-action-plan" target="_blank">overall strategy to reduce the total waste generated per person by 10%</a>, and push <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/7381c1de-31d0-429b-912c-91a6dbc83af7/files/national-waste-report-2018.pdf" target="_blank">Australia's total resource recovery rate from 58% in 2017</a> to 80% by 2030.</p><p>But like many countries, Australia is focusing on the economic benefits of better waste management as well.</p><p>"This will mean Australia converts more waste into higher valued resources ready for reuse locally by manufacturers and brands in their packaging and products," Rose Read, CEO of the National Waste and Recycling Industry Council, <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-australia-waste/australia-to-set-up-132-million-fund-to-boost-recycling-following-export-curbs-idUKKBN247060" target="_blank">told Reuters</a>.</p>Green Jobs
<p>The great potential of the circular economy to create green jobs is being recognized across the world.</p><p>In the UK, the Waste and Resources Action Program has launched a <a href="https://wrap.org.uk/buildbackbetter" target="_blank">six-point plan which it claims could add $90 billion to the economy, and create 500,000 new jobs</a>. Investment in the circular economy forms a significant part of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/us/politics/biden-climate-plan.html" target="_blank">$2 trillion climate plan that Democratic candidate Joe Biden</a> is taking into November's US presidential election. And the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_940" target="_blank">European Union has put its Green New Deal at the heart of its plans for recovery</a> from the economic shock of COVID-19.</p><p>The World Economic Forum's <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Future_Of_Nature_And_Business_2020.pdf" target="_blank">Future of Nature and Business</a> report identifies 15 systemic transitions with annual business opportunities worth $10 billion a year that could create 395 million jobs by 2030.</p><p>As is the case with Australia's Recycling Modernization Fund, a combination of private enterprise and government investment can offer ways to get people back to work by building a more environmentally sustainable economy.</p>From Your Site Articles
- The Complex and Frustrating Reality of Recycling Plastic - EcoWatch ›
- U.S. Products Labeled Recyclable Really Aren't, Greenpeace ... ›
- Mutant Enzyme Recycles Plastic in Hours, Could Revolutionize ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
A kangaroo rushes past a burning house in Lake Conjola, Australia on Dec. 31 2019. Bruce Detorres / Flickr
Unprecedented bushfires that ravaged Australia in 2019 and 2020 killed or displaced almost 3 billion animals, according to an interim report released Tuesday.
<p>Compiled by scientists from several Australian universities, the survey said the blazes impacted an estimated 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds and 51 million frogs.</p><p>The report, commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), did not specify how many animals may have died. But the prospects for those that escaped the fires "were probably not great" because they lost food sources, native habitat and shelter from predators, report co-author Chris Dickman said. </p><p>The bushfires that swept across Australia between late 2019 and early 2020 scorched 115,000 square kilometers (44,000 square miles) of bush and forest, killing 30 people and destroying thousands of homes. It was one of the worst bushfire seasons on record.</p><p>Experts say prolonged drought and climate change will likely make such events longer lasting and more frequent. </p>
'Shocking' Findings
<p>A previous study released in January had estimated that around 1 billion animals perished in the hardest-hit states of Victoria and New South Wales in eastern Australia. But the survey published Tuesday was the first to assess fire zones across the entire country, lead scientist Lily van Eeden of the University of Sydney said.</p><p>The survey's results are preliminary, with a full report to be released next month, but scientists said the estimate of 3 billion animals affected was unlikely to change.</p><p>"The interim findings are shocking," WWF Australia CEO Dermot O'Gorman said. "It's hard to think of another event anywhere in the world in living memory that has killed or displaced that many animals."</p><p>"This ranks as one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history," he added.</p><p>Arnulf Köhncke, species protection expert at WWF Germany, warned that horrific bushfires could become a common occurrence: "The record fires in Australia could become the new normal, just a taste of what's to come, if we don't manage to limit the global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit)," he said.</p><p>Limiting temperature increases to 1.5 C above pre-industrial averages, as stipulated in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, is seen as crucial to preventing catastrophic global warming and worsening weather events.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/study-says-australias-bushfires-harmed-3-billion-animals/a-54344204?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2646814591#/" target="_self"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
- Koalas Face Extinction Threat After Wildfires: New Report - EcoWatch ›
- 25 Humans, More Than One Billion Animals Dead in Australia ... ›
- Australia Wildfires Were Far Worse Than Climate Models Predicted ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trending
Scientists at the Australian Institute of Marine Science are engineering heat-resistant corals. Jonas Gratzer / Mongabay
By Johan Augustin
In a lab on Australia's east coast, scientists are concocting what they hope will be the solution to the steadily worsening problem of coral bleaching.
<p>Few people understand the Great Barrier Reef, and the challenges it faces, better than the scientists at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). And events of the past few years have them concerned about how well it can cope with rising water temperatures that have increased the <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/reef-bleaching-five-times-more-frequent-now-than-in-the-1980s-study-finds/" target="_blank">frequency</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/04/06/great-barrier-reef-coral-bleaching/" target="_blank">severity</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/world/australia/great-barrier-reefs-bleaching-dying.html" target="_blank">extent</a> of coral-bleaching events.</p><p>As water temperatures rise, the coral polyps flush out the photosynthetic algae that live in their tissue and give them their color. The corals depend on the algae for their energy, and without these symbionts, the newly bare, or "bleached," reefs slowly start to die.</p><p>Historically, bleaching events have occurred far enough apart in time that reefs have been able to recover, typically within about a decade. But in March this year, the Great Barrier Reef suffered its third <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/great-barrier-reef-suffers-biggest-bleaching-event-yet/" target="_blank">major bleaching event</a> in just five years.</p><p>"Three major widespread mass bleaching events throughout the Great Barrier Reef are clear indicators that ocean warming is happening faster than expected and the severity of the warming events is pushing corals beyond levels that these reefs can sustain," says Neal Cantin, a coral reef biologist at the AIMS.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxMDUxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTc5NTg3M30.8HWZCyAHlLzByK_5G-SdZvJsUteDk6kw_oVuOyA_Dkg/img.jpg?width=980" id="c18d4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6b4668c3cc408cd0ea3e87af0beb870f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A branch of bleached coral. Jonas Gratzer / Mongabay
‘Remarkable Resiliency’
<p>Water temperatures this time around didn't reach as high as during the <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/03/climate-change-induced-bleaching-decimating-great-barrier-reef/" target="_blank">2016 event</a>, but the bleaching was worse for two key reasons, Cantin says.</p><p>"The first is how soon it follows the 2016 and 2017 back-to-back bleaching events. The second concern is the footprint of heat in 2020," he says.</p><p>That "footprint" refers to the total extent of reef affected by bleaching. While the 2016 event had the most extreme levels of heat, Cantin says, it was limited mostly to the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef, severely bleaching 35% of the total reef area. This time around, the entire length of the reef — a span of 2,300 kilometers (1,300 miles) — was exposed to heat stress "capable of causing bleaching." That resulted in severe levels of bleaching on an additional 25% of the reefs, Cantin says.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxMDUzOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTk5NzQxOH0.ZmUkJz3x1bsXmrwXBMKQ-VAFTrI8pbc4lG9R6GbLGmY/img.jpg?width=980" id="63720" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="531cdf1c8901036f10b2a06f846e65d5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Bleached coral on the Great Barrier Reef. Jonas Gratzer / Mongabay
<p>But brewing in the AIMS lab are pioneering experiments aimed at finding <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/05/models-maps-and-citizen-scientists-working-to-save-the-great-barrier-reef/" target="_blank">scientific breakthroughs</a> for a problem that experts agree is <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/05/new-map-shows-warming-waters-where-coral-reefs-could-be-under-threat/" target="_blank">bound to get worse</a> over time. And they've already come up with a strong candidate for the answer to the bleaching problem: corals engineered to take the heat. In a method known as assisted gene flow — similar to how food crops are crossbred to emphasize favorable traits — scientists here single out the genetic properties that make certain coral species more resistant to heat, and find ways to pass it on.</p><p>These hybrids have already "demonstrated remarkable resiliency" to high water temperatures at the juvenile life stage inside the AIMS National Sea Simulator, says reef restoration scientist Kate Quigley. Her team also works with enhancing the symbiont algae.</p><p>"By pairing these enhanced corals with enhanced symbionts, we have been able to increase their heat resistance up to 26 times," Quigley says, pointing to a <a href="https://bio.biologists.org/content/9/1/bio047316" target="_blank">recently published study</a> with those findings. The researchers have also found that breeding these enhanced corals <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mec.15482" target="_blank">creates new genetic diversity</a> in key traits associated with resisting higher water temperatures.</p><p>"The early results we have found in regards to enhancing corals' heat tolerance are encouraging," Quigley says. "I would describe these early experiments as successes."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxMDU0My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MzY4NTQ1OX0.Ewr_3ToVZ8LuJBQPE_nFEMt-G3h01Z2Xsdv13F85gDI/img.jpg?width=980" id="f2a1b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6fcfdaecd61d63211491732290baabbe" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A tank of enhanced coral at the AIMS center being tested for their warm-water tolerance. Jonas Gratzer / Mongabay
Large-Scale Deployment
<p>The hybrids have one parent from northern, warmer, parts of the reef and one from the central, cooler, part. The results show that some of the strains have inherited the northern corals' temperature tolerance and can survive when placed in cooler environments. That suggests that over time, as these cooler regions heat up, these corals will be able to tolerate the rising temperatures better than the native corals.</p><p>"We have learned key fundamental biology about coral reproduction and heat tolerance that will be important moving forward in further developing new, scalable coral restoration methods," Quigley says. "We are [also] finding that heat tolerance can be passed from parents to offspring in reproducible, persistent ways."</p><p>These research projects fall under the wider Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program, which Cantin calls "the biggest single effort anywhere in the world to develop options for intervening on the reef to help it adapt and cope better with climate change."</p><p>"These interventions are promising," Cantin adds, "but none are ready to deploy large-scale."<span></span></p><p>For the enhanced corals to have any meaningful effect across a reef that stretches the same distance as New York City to Miami, they will need to be deployed in massive volumes. Another experiment at the AIMS, the Larval Restoration Project, is looking into how to do this, but with naturally occurring warm-adapted corals rather than the gene-edited ones from the AIMS lab. It's the largest coral reseeding project in history, launched in 2016 and funded by the Australian government.</p><p>The idea is that during the annual mass coral spawning, which takes place every year during the November full moon, researchers harvest millions of coral eggs and sperm. They then grow them in enclosures on the reef to produce coral larvae, which are later released onto bleached and damaged sections of the reef to repopulate them.</p><p>The coral species that spawn this year will be the ones that survived the bleaching in March, and therefore those with proven better heat tolerance. The harvest this time around "will allow us to find reefs, populations and individuals that are particularly hardy and that will act as breeding stock for the production of coral offspring able to withstand high heat," Quigley says.</p><p>"The search for hardy and resilient corals continues, but we have already seen some very promising results," she adds.</p>From Your Site Articles
- Coral Reef Tipping Point: 'Near-Annual' Bleaching May Occur ... ›
- Great Barrier Reef Has Third Major Bleaching Event in Five Years ... ›
- Severe Coral Reef Bleaching Now 'Five Times More Frequent' Than ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Australia Wants to Build a Huge Concrete Runway in Antarctica. Here’s Why That’s a Bad Idea
19 July
Insights + Opinion
The Penguin suspicious on the shore looking at the camera, on January 3 in King George Island, Antarctica. Alessandro Dahan / Getty Images
By Shaun Brooks and Julia Jabour
Australia wants to build a 2.7-kilometre concrete runway in Antarctica, the world's biggest natural reserve. The plan, if approved, would have the largest footprint of any project in the continent's history.
The runway is part of an aerodrome to be constructed near Davis Station, one of Australia's three permanent bases in Antarctica. It would be the first concrete runway on the continent.
<p>
The plan is subject to federal environmental approval. It coincides with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2506-3" target="_blank">new research</a> published this week showing Antarctica's wild places need better protection. Human activity across Antarctica has been extensive in the past 200 years – particularly in the coastal, ice-free areas where most biodiversity is found.
</p>
<p class=""><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shaun-brooks-698938" target="_blank">Shaun Brooks</a> is a University Associate at the University of Tasmania. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/julia-jabour-90480" target="_blank">Julia Jabour</a> is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Tasmania.</em><br/></p><p><em>
Disclosure statement:
</em></p><p><em>
Shaun Brooks receives funding from the the Australian Antarctic Science Program (Project 4565 - Conservation Planning for Antarctic Stations).
</em></p><p><em>
Julia Jabour does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
</em></p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-wants-to-build-a-huge-concrete-runway-in-antarctica-heres-why-thats-a-bad-idea-139596" target="_blank">The Conversation</a></em><em>.</em>
</p><script async="async" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139596/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<p>The area around Davis Station is possibly Antarctica's <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00025586" target="_blank">most significant</a> coastal, ice-free area. It features <a href="http://epbcnotices.environment.gov.au/_entity/annotation/174a3e6b-4f42-ea11-b0a8-00505684324c/a71d58ad-4cba-48b6-8dab-f3091fc31cd5?t=1594857491287" target="_blank">unique lakes</a>, fjords, <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/geo/opp/antarct/aca/nsf01151/aca2_spa143.pdf" target="_blank">fossil sites</a> and wildlife.</p><p>Australia has successfully operated Davis Station since 1957 with existing transport arrangements. While the development may win Australia some strategic influence in Antarctica, it's at odds with our strong history of environmental leadership in the region.</p>
Year-Round Access
<p>The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), a federal government agency, <a href="https://www.antarctica.gov.au/living-and-working/travel-and-logistics/aviation/davis-aerodrome/about-the-project/" target="_blank">argues</a> the runway would allow year-round aviation access between Hobart and Antarctica.</p><p>Presently, the only Australian flights to Antarctica take place at the beginning and end of summer. Aircraft land at an aerodrome near the Casey research station, with interconnecting flights to other stations and sites on the continent. The stations are inaccessible by both air and ship in winter.</p><p>The AAD says year-round access to Antarctica would provide significant science benefits, including:</p><ul><li>better understanding sea level rise and other climate change impacts</li><li>opportunities to study wildlife across the annual lifecycle of key species including krill, penguins, seals and seabirds</li><li>allowing scientists to research through winter.</li></ul><p><span></span>Leading international scientists <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antarctic-science/article/delivering-21st-century-antarctic-and-southern-ocean-science/A5E6D29C34AA2794140C6B4966E63048" target="_blank">had called for</a> improved, environmentally responsible access to Antarctica to support 21st-century science. However, the aerodrome project is likely to reduce access for scientists to Antarctica for years, due to the need to house construction workers.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ4MTAzOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDEzNDgxM30.RVb1t_EnWasyVJHVeBb7jIi6hj99nSqzwh8fdTkYCFM/img.jpg?width=980" id="4d929" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f287d23aabb057f01a298ca732f2c760" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Australia says the runway would have significant science benefits. Australian Antarctic Division
Australia: An Environmental Leader?
<p>Australia has traditionally been considered an environmental leader in Antarctica. For example, in 1989 under the Hawke government, it urged the world to abandon a mining convention in favour of a new deal to ban mining on the continent.</p><p>Australia's <a href="https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-us/antarctic-strategy-and-action-plan/20-year-action-plan/" target="_blank">20 Year Action Plan</a> promotes "leadership in environmental stewardship in Antarctica", pledging to "minimise the environmental impact of Australia's activities".</p><p>But the aerodrome proposal appears at odds with that goal. It would cover 2.2 square kilometres, increasing the total "<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antarctic-science/article/what-is-footprint-in-antarctica-proposing-a-set-of-definitions/7FBDB26F3AF2F5A6C157FCB2E6A2D996" target="_blank">disturbance footprint</a>" of all nations on the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0237-y" target="_blank">continent</a> by 40%. It would also mean Australia has the biggest footprint of any nation, overtaking the United States.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ4MTAzOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTYwNDQ2Nn0.6sP4AJoMEMoSyXIbRRmW5lnDfsF0-3hZLNNyQFmt4xo/img.jpg?width=980" id="cd97c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="76cba1112e65a1b43a38c714419b4eac" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The contribution of disturbance footprint from countries in Antarctica measured from Brooks et al. 2019, with Australia's share increasing to 35% including the aerodrome proposal. Shaun Brooks
<p>Within this footprint, environmental effects will also be intense. <a href="http://epbcnotices.environment.gov.au/_entity/annotation/174a3e6b-4f42-ea11-b0a8-00505684324c/a71d58ad-4cba-48b6-8dab-f3091fc31cd5?t=1594857491287" target="_blank">Construction</a> will require more than three million cubic metres of earthworks - levelling 60 vertical metres of hills and valleys along the length of the runway. This will inevitably cause dust emissions – on the windiest continent on Earth - and the effect of this on plants and animals in Antarctica is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102019000440" target="_blank">poorly understood</a>.</p><p>Wilson's storm petrels that nest at the site will be displaced. Native lichens, fungi and algae will be destroyed, and irreparable damage is expected at adjacent lakes.</p><p>Weddell seals breed within 500 metres of the proposed runway site. Federal environment officials <a href="http://epbcnotices.environment.gov.au/_entity/annotation/174a3e6b-4f42-ea11-b0a8-00505684324c/a71d58ad-4cba-48b6-8dab-f3091fc31cd5?t=1594857491287" target="_blank">recognise</a> the dust from construction and subsequent noise from low flying aircraft have the potential to disturb these breeding colonies.</p><p>The proposed area is also important breeding habitat for Adélie penguins. Eight breeding sites in the region are listed as "important bird areas". Federal environment officials state the penguins are likely to be impacted by human disturbance, dust, and noise from construction of the runway, with particular concern for oil spills and aircraft operations.</p><p>The summer population at Davis Station will need to almost double from 120 to 250 <a href="http://epbcnotices.environment.gov.au/_entity/annotation/174a3e6b-4f42-ea11-b0a8-00505684324c/a71d58ad-4cba-48b6-8dab-f3091fc31cd5?t=1594857491287" target="_blank">during construction</a>. This will require new, permanent infrastructure and increase the station's fuel and water consumption, and sewage discharged into the environment.</p><p>The AAD has proposed measures to limit environmental damage. These include gathering baseline data (against which to measure the project's impact), analysing potential effects on birds and marine mammals and limiting disturbance where practicable.</p><p>But full details won't be provided until later in the assessment process. We expect Australia will implement these measures to a high standard, but they will not offset the project's environmental damage.</p>
Playing Politics
<p>So given the environmental concern, why is Australia so determined to build the aerodrome? We believe the answer largely lies in Antarctic politics.</p><p>Australian officials <a href="https://www.antarctica.gov.au/site/assets/files/54470/future_science_opportunities_synthesis_report_final.pdf" target="_blank">have said</a> the project would "contribute to both our presence and influence" on the continent. Influence in Antarctica has traditionally corresponded to the strength of a nation's scientific program, its infrastructure presence and engagement in international decision-making.</p><p>Australia is a well-regarded member of the Antarctic Treaty. It was an original signatory and claims sovereignty over 42% of the continent. It also has a solid physical and scientific presence, maintaining three large year-round research stations.</p><p>But other nations are also vying for influence. China is constructing its fifth research station. New Zealand <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/113844159/scott-base-rebuild-to-cost-250-million" target="_blank">is planning</a> a NZ$250 million upgrade to Scott Base. And on King George Island, six stations have been built <a href="https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.18206" target="_blank">within a 5km radius</a>, each run by different nations. This presence is hard to justify on the basis of scientific interest alone.</p>Getting Our Priorities Straight
<p>We believe there are greater and more urgent opportunities for Australia to assert its leadership in Antarctica.</p><p>For example both Casey and Mawson stations – Australia's two other permanent bases – discharge sewage into the pristine marine environment with little treatment. And outdated fuel technology at Australia's three stations regularly causes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.02.024" target="_blank">diesel spills</a>.</p><p>At Wilkes station, which Australia abandoned in the 1960s, thousands of tonnes of contaminants have been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12383" target="_blank">left behind</a>.</p><p>Australia should fix such problems before adding more potentially damaging infrastructure. This would meet our environmental treaty obligations and show genuine Antarctic leadership.</p>Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trending
White's seahorse, also called the Sydney seahorse, is native to the Pacific waters off Australia's east coast. Sylke Rohrlach / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 2.0
By Manuela Callari
It can grow to a maximum of six inches (16 centimeters), change color depending on mood and habitat, and, like all seahorses, the White's seahorse male gestates its young. But this tiny snouted fish is under threat.
<p>White's seahorse, also called the Sydney seahorse, is native to the Pacific waters off Australia's east coast. In recent years, populations have decreased drastically. It and the South African Knysna seahorse are the only two out of around 50 seahorse species to be listed as endangered.</p><p>A wild storm season from 2010 to 2013 left the Sydney seahorses' habitat in tatters, wiping out <a href="http://www.projectseahorse.org/seahorses" target="_blank">90%</a> of the population in the area. Several large storms shifted huge volumes of sand, smothering the soft corals, sponges and seagrass they call home.</p><p>That's why researchers in Sydney Harbor have built special seahorse hotels to help restore their habitat and encourage would-be White's seahorse dads to fall pregnant. </p><p>"There are two things that we're trying to gain from this project," said Robbie McCracken, an aquarist at Sydney Sea Life Aquarium, who's working with researchers from University of Technology Sydney and the New South Wales DPI Fisheries on the program.</p><p>"Number one is that we can breed these animals in an aquarium to release them into the wild. And number two is that the seahorse hotels provide a suitable environment for them to live on." </p>
Building an Ocean Seahorse Destination
<p>Seahorses are found in tropical and temperate coastal water worldwide, but are most abundant around Australia, China and the Philippines. </p><p>Trade in the tiny creatures is strictly regulated because of their use in traditional medicine, aquariums and their sale as dried curios. But because they are poor swimmers and cannot easily move elsewhere, habitat loss is a particular threat for these curious animals. </p><p>Seahorses wrap their tails around seagrass and corals to avoid being carried away on currents. They use the habitat to spawn and hide from predators such as crabs, while also feeding on riches of plankton and small crustaceans living in the reef.</p><p><span></span>Where corals aren't available, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/aqc.1217" target="_blank">scientists</a> found seahorses taking up residence in fishing nets and old crab traps abandoned at the bottom of the ocean. </p><p>This inspired the Sydney team to increase available habitat in the famous Australian harbor by building cages of net and steel. Over time, algae, sponges and corals colonize the structures, creating a safe, welcoming environment for the seahorses, say the researchers. The hotel frame will eventually corrode, leaving behind the coral mounds that have grown around them.</p><p>The researchers trialed the first hotels in 2018. Within two months, seahorses had begun to move in and soon a few males fell pregnant. Knowing that the hotels were a hit, the next step was to boost seahorse numbers. </p><p>In 2019, the team caught eight pairs of White's seahorses — the creatures are monogamous and, so, mate with one partner for life. The babies were born in September and October of last year. </p><p>"We were able to watch them court with each other, and mate with each other, and then we were able to watch the dads deliver," said McCracken, "so, it was always quite exciting." </p>
Mixing With the Locals
<p>Baby seahorse mortality is high in the wild because they are easily caught, so those bred in the protected environment of the aquarium weren't ready to be released into the wild until early May.</p><p>The team released 90 new arrivals into Sydney Harbor, placing some directly into the purpose-built hotels, and others onto a net that wild seahorses had already settled on.</p><p>Before setting them free, the researchers marked each young seahorse with a fluorescent tag with unique IDs inserted just beneath the skin to track how they get on in the different environments. </p><p>"The most exciting part was being able to put these animals into the wild and then go back a month later and still see them surviving and growing," said McCracken. </p><p>The seahorses will be old enough to mate and reproduce around October or November 2020. And researchers hope that by then, they will be able to breed with the wild population. </p>Building a Global Seahorse Hotel Chain
<p>With seahorses everywhere facing the loss of their coral reef homes, similar projects have sprung up in places like Greece and South Africa, home to the world's most endangered seahorse, the Knysna seahorse. </p><p>"The endangered South African seahorse is benefiting from something quite similar, even though it wasn't intentional," said Peter Teske, professor at the Department of Zoology, University of Johannesburg.</p><p>In the South African <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322649251_An_endangered_seahorse_selectively_chooses_an_artificial_structure" target="_blank">case</a>, seahorses have bedded down in "Reno mattresses" — wire cages filled with rocks — that were used to build a new marina. Researchers from NGO Knysna Basin Project found the structures acted as a refuge for the animals.<span></span></p><p><span></span>While Teske describes the seahorse hotels as "a positive news story" and a great way to create public awareness of conservation, he added that establishing artificial habitats in some areas will only prevent the extinction of local populations.</p><p>"For a complete recovery, it is necessary to give the natural habitat a chance to regenerate," said the seahorse expert. </p>Underwater Mascot
<p>In Australia, the researchers hope the project could provide an opportunity to raise awareness not only of the plight of the Sydney seahorses but the other animals with which it shares its ocean habitat.</p><p>The waters around Sydney and the east coast are rich in biodiversity and include several threatened species like the weedy seadragon — a relative of the seahorse — and the grey nurse shark. Like the seahorse, they're also under pressure from pollution, ocean traffic and habitat loss through storms and coastal construction. </p><p>"It's a good thing to get people's support and interest. The seahorses are a useful vehicle to get people concerned if the harbor is in trouble," said David Booth, professor of marine ecology at the University of Technology Sydney who is also working on the project. </p><p>The hotels have become an attraction for divers hoping to catch a glimpse of these small but near mythical creatures. </p><p>"Everyone loves seahorses," added Booth, "they are so popular." </p>From Your Site Articles
- 7 Amazing New Fish Species Discovered in 2017 - EcoWatch ›
- Millions of Seahorses Wind Up Dead on the Black Market for This ... ›
- Seagrass Could Play a Major Role in Slowing Climate Change ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Koala populations across parts of Australia are on track to become extinct before 2050 unless "urgent government intervention" occurs. Mathias Appel / Flickr
Koala populations across parts of Australia are on track to become extinct before 2050 unless "urgent government intervention" occurs, warns a year-long inquiry into Australia's "most loved animal." The report published by the Parliament of New South Wales (NSW) paints a "stark and depressing snapshot" of koalas in Australia's southeastern state.
<p>"Even before the devastating 2019-2020 bushfires, it was clear that the koala in NSW, already a threatened species, was in significant trouble," says the <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/inquiries/2536/Koala%20populations%20and%20habitat%20in%20New%20South%20Wales%20-%20Report%203.pdf" target="_blank">report</a>, adding that previous population estimates counting 36,000 individuals were "outdated and unreliable."</p><p>"Then came the fires. With at least 5,000 koalas lost in the fires, potentially many more, it was deeply distressing but extremely important for committee members to agree to the finding that koalas will become extinct in NSW before 2050 without urgent government intervention."</p>
<p>At least 5,000 animals were lost in the 2019 bushfires responsible for killing more than <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/australia-wildfire-deaths-2644394434.html" target="_self">1 billion animals</a>. Conservation groups <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/koalas-extinction-wildfires-australia-2645408622.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2" target="_self">warned</a> of the possible extinction in March after projections that the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires">wildfires</a> resulted in the loss of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/koala-rescue-fire-australia-2641408117.html" target="_self">80 percent of habitat</a>, forcing the charismatic marsupials into "<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/koalas-functionally-extinct-fires-2641450078.html" target="_self">functional extinction</a>."</p><p>Endemic only to the eucalyptus forests in the southeastern and eastern parts of the continent, koalas rely on the trees for both habitat and food, according to <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/k/koala/#:~:text=Koalas%20live%20in%20the%20eucalyptus%20forests%20of%20southeastern%20and%20eastern%20Australia." target="_blank">National Geographic</a>. They are threatened by the destruction of habitat through the clearing and fragmentation of their unique habitat, which is further exacerbated by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a> and ongoing <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">drought</a> conditions that have plagued the region for years.</p>
<p>As part of their analysis, the independent committee received more than 5,700 responses and 300 submissions, in addition to nine public hearings and site visitations across several locations. Philip Spark, a wildlife ecologist, warned in the report that successive extreme events in the past had reduced one koala population by as much as half and pushed another to local extinction.</p><p>"With the trees dying and the streams drying there is a recipe for disaster. Koalas are really on the brink of not surviving," said Spark. "A crisis can happen with very little warning."</p>
<p>Citing a report published by the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a>, Sparks added that by 2050, one in 100-year events are expected to occur every year with 50-degree Celsius heatwaves in the next 20 years. The committee further found that climate change has a severe impact on koalas and not only affects the quality of their food and habitat, but also compounds the "severity and threats of other impacts, such as <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">drought</a> and bushfires."</p>
<p>The committee made 42 recommendations to ensure the future of the koala, including prioritizing the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> of koala habitat, establishing more thorough approaches to monitoring koala numbers, and allocating additional resources and funding to conservation projects by calling on the government to protect and restore koala habitat on both public and private land. The report also notes that officials should investigate "without delay" the establishment of the <a href="https://koalapark.org.au/" target="_blank">Great Koala National Park</a>, a proposed public conservation area dedicated to protecting the species. An interim report on Australia's national environmental laws is expected this week and is expected to consider the findings that Australia's iconic species is in need of assistance, reports <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/30/koalas-will-be-driven-to-extinction-by-2050-in-nsw-major-inquiry-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- First Koalas Rescued From Bushfires Returned to the Wild - EcoWatch ›
- Koalas Found 'Massacred' at Logging Site - EcoWatch ›
- Koalas Become 'Functionally Extinct' in Australia With Just 80000 Left ›
- Koalas Face Extinction Threat After Wildfires: New Report - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Wildflowers blooming in box gum grassy woodland. Jacqui Stol, Author provided
By Jacqui Stol, Annie Kelly and Suzanne Prober
In box gum grassy woodlands, widely spaced eucalypts tower over carpets of wildflowers, lush native grasses and groves of flowering wattles. It's no wonder some early landscape paintings depicting Australian farm life are inspired by this ecosystem.
<p>
<br/>
</p>
<p>But box gum grassy woodlands are <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/conservation-advices/white-box-yellow-box-blakely%27s-red-gum-grassy-woodlands-derived-native-grasslands" target="_blank">critically endangered</a>. These woodlands grow on highly productive agricultural country, from southern Queensland, along inland slopes and tablelands, into Victoria.</p><p>Many are degraded or cleared for farming. As a result, <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/be2ff840-7e59-48b0-9eb5-4ad003d01481/files/box-gum.pdf" target="_blank">less than 5% of the woodlands</a> remain in good condition. What remains often grows on private land such as farms, and public lands such as cemeteries or traveling stock routes.</p><p><a href="https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/download?pid=csiro:EP154278&dsid=DS4" target="_blank">Very little is protected</a> in public conservation reserves. And the recent drought and record breaking heat caused these woodlands to stop growing and flowering.</p><p>But after Queensland's recent <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/awap/rain/archive.jsp?colour=colour&map=totals&year=2020&month=3&period=3month&area=qd" target="_blank">drought-breaking rain</a> earlier this year, we surveyed private farmland and found many dried-out woodlands in the northernmost areas transformed into flower-filled, park-like landscapes.</p><p>And landholders even came across rarely seen marsupials, such as the southern spotted-tail quoll.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxNzQyOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTE4NDQzMX0.ndrTis2Yzw9J1MdKek84AlFuTP_k5LZR7UItOm-fZGc/img.jpg?width=980" id="ebb80" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5afae467aca80b3eb469d18175c7cc17" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Native yellow wildflowers called 'scaly buttons' bloom on a stewardship site. Jacqui Stol, Author provided
Huge Increase in Plant Diversity
<p>These surveys were part of the Australian government's <a href="http://www.nrm.gov.au/national/continuing-investment/environmental-stewardship" target="_blank">Environmental Stewardship Program</a>, a long-term cooperative conservation model with private landholders. It started in 2007 and will run for 19 years.</p><p>We found huge increases in previously declining native wildflowers and grasses on the private farmland. Many trees assumed to be dying began resprouting, such as McKie's stringybark (<em>Eucalyptus mckieana</em>), which is listed as a <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=20199" target="_blank">vulnerable species</a>.</p><p>This newfound plant diversity is the result of seeds and tubers (underground storage organs providing energy and nutrients for regrowth) lying dormant in the soil after wildflowers bloomed in earlier seasons. The dormant seeds and tubers were ready to spring into life with the right seasonal conditions.</p><p><span></span>For example, <a href="https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/plants-animals/plants/herbarium" target="_blank">Queensland Herbarium</a> surveys early last year, during the drought, looked at a 20 meter (65 feet) by 20 meter plot and found only six native grass and wildflower species on one property. After this year's rain, we found 59 species in the same plot, including many species of perennial grass (three species jumped to 20 species post rain), native bluebells and many species of native daisies.</p><p>On another property with only 11 recorded species, more than 60 species sprouted after the extensive rains.</p><p>In areas where grazing and farming continued as normal (the paired "control" sites), the plots had only around half the number of plant species as areas managed for conservation.</p>Spotting Rare Marsupials
<p>Landowners also reported several unusual sightings of animals on their farms after the rains. Stewardship program surveyors later identified them as two species of rare and endangered native carnivorous marsupials: the southern spotted-tailed quoll (mainland Australia's largest carnivorous marsupial) and the brush-tailed <a href="https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:b6930f29-3f26-415e-a760-c12c320c2931" target="_blank">phascogale</a>.</p><p>The population status of both these species in southern Queensland is unknown. The brush-tailed phascogale is elusive and rarely detected, while the southern spotted-tailed quolls are listed as <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=75184" target="_blank">endangered</a> under federal legislation.</p><p>Until those sightings, there were no recent records of southern spotted-tailed quolls in the local area.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxNzQyOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzODM0MzIzMn0.pMTp9_6GjFFC8U7m3OV8L-ZuiRYpKAbjILNwBoql0VM/img.jpg?width=980" id="34656" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0444b5ddde89407d8fac735c1110afcc" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A spotted tailed quoll caught in a camera trap. Sean Fitzgibbon, Author provided
<p>These unusual wildlife sightings are valuable for monitoring and evaluation. They tell us what's thriving, declining or surviving, compared to the first surveys for the stewardship program ten years ago.</p><p>Sightings are also a promising signal for the improving condition of the property and its surrounding landscape.</p>Changing Farm Habits
<p>More than 200 farmers signed up to the stewardship program for the conservation and management of nationally threatened ecological communities on private lands. Most have said they're keen to continue the partnership.</p><p>The landholders are funded to manage their farms as part of the stewardship program <a href="http://nrmonline.nrm.gov.au/catalog/mql:2407" target="_blank">in ways</a> that will help the woodlands recover, and help reverse declines in biodiversity.</p><p>For example, by changing the number of livestock grazing at any one time, and shortening their grazing time, many of the grazing-sensitive wildflowers have a better chance to germinate, grow, flower and produce seeds in the right seasonal conditions.</p><p>They can also manage weeds, and not remove fallen timber or loose rocks (bushrock). Fallen timber and rocks protect grazing-sensitive plants and provide habitat for birds, reptiles and invertebrates foraging on the ground.</p>Cautious Optimism
<p>So can we be optimistic for the future of wildlife and wildflowers of the box gum grassy woodlands? Yes, cautiously so.</p><p>Landholders are learning more about how best to manage biodiversity on their farms, but ecological recovery can take time. In any case, we've discovered how resilient our flora and fauna can be in the face of severe drought when given the opportunity to grow and flourish.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxNzQzMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTc0MTI2OH0.VpRVICeH1bpaokXK20ESVqFL3__B-RCyBzhk0gGSgM8/img.jpg?width=980" id="f7fb8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c2da30c9e7ccc774444d7f57c4c38009" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p class="">
<em></em>
</p><p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jacqui-stol-1124670" target="_blank">Jacqui Stol</a> is a </em><em>Senior Experimental Scientist, Ecologist, CSIRO Land and Water, CSIRO.</em>
</p><p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/annie-kelly-1128826" target="_blank">Annie Kelly</a> is a </em><em>Senior Ecologist, Queensland Herbarium.<br/>
</em>
</p><p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/suzanne-prober-1128431" target="_blank">Suzanne Prober</a> is a </em><em><em>Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO.</em></em>
</p><p>
<em><em></em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Jacqui Stol works for the CSIRO, which receives funding and was contracted by the Australian Government for the Environmental Stewardship Program. </em><em>Annie Kelly works for the Queensland Herbarium, which receives funding and was contracted by the Australian Government for the Environmental Stewardship Program. </em><em><em>Suzanne Prober works for CSIRO, which receives funding from the Australian Government to undertake monitoring for the Environmental Stewardship Program.</em></em>
</p><p>
<em><em></em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-drought-breaking-rains-transformed-these-critically-endangered-woodlands-into-a-flower-filled-vista-140638" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
</p><iframe height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140638/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" width="1"></iframe>The rare hooded robin has also been recorded on stewardship sites during surveys. Micah Davies, Author provided
<p>Climate change is bringing more extreme weather events. Last year was the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/aus/" target="_blank">warmest on record</a> and the nation has been gripped by severe, protracted drought. There's only so much pressure our iconic wildlife and wildflowers can take before they cross ecological thresholds that are difficult to bounce back from.</p><p>More government programs like this, and greater understanding and collaboration between scientists and farmers, create a <a href="https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/download?pid=csiro:EP154278&dsid=DS4" target="_blank">tremendous opportunity</a> to keep changing that trajectory for the better.</p>From Your Site Articles
- Sydney Is Running out of Water as Bushfires Rage - EcoWatch ›
- Australia Just Had Its Hottest January Ever Recorded - EcoWatch ›
- 'Much-Needed' Rain Extinguishes a Third of Australia Fires in a Day ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less