Cities Can Help Migrating Birds on Their Way By Planting More Trees and Turning Lights Off at Night
8h
Animals
By Frank La Sorte and Kyle Horton
Millions of birds travel between their breeding and wintering grounds during spring and autumn migration, creating one of the greatest spectacles of the natural world. These journeys often span incredible distances. For example, the Blackpoll warbler, which weighs less than half an ounce, may travel up to 1,500 miles between its nesting grounds in Canada and its wintering grounds in the Caribbean and South America.
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1OTYwNy9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzM0MTg3OH0.nNQfbJ7kSW-dhYN2fzUsXifK_9BZ0m-DgJ_O48NaMzk/img.png?width=980" id="17556" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="62e2bb2642ac5ed6921afa9f11210d6c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1000" data-height="697" />
Blackpoll warbler abundance in breeding, non-breeding and migration seasons. Cornell Lab of Ornithology / CC BY-ND
<p>For many species, these journeys take place at night, when skies typically are calmer and predators are less active. Scientists do not have a good understanding yet of how birds navigate effectively at night over long distances.</p><p><span></span>We study bird migration and how it is being affected by factors ranging from <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=S04C3UMAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">climate change</a> to <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pPk38-8AAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">artificial light at night</a>. In a recent study, we used millions of bird observations by citizen scientists to document the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116085" target="_blank">occurrence of migratory bird species in 333 U.S. cities</a> during the winter, spring, summer and autumn.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1OTYxMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMzk5NjQ2OX0.wgZKuxg3PNrZY0fvQEfZwX6kKXWapi0OEegDeQOL0ZI/img.jpg?width=980" id="d5433" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0c08ac2b38d68da1788b356a5841f0f9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1000" data-height="604" />
Blackpoll warbler. PJTurgeon / Wikipedia
<p>We used this information to determine how the number of migratory bird species varies based on each city's level of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/light-pollution" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">light pollution</a> – brightening of the night sky caused by artificial light sources, such as buildings and streetlights. We also explored how species numbers vary based on the quantity of tree canopy cover and impervious surface, such as concrete and asphalt, within each city. Our findings show that cities can help migrating birds by planting more trees and reducing light pollution, especially during spring and autumn migration.</p>Declining Bird Populations
<p>Urban areas contain numerous dangers for migratory birds. The biggest threat is the risk of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1650/CONDOR-13-090.1" target="_blank">colliding with buildings or communication towers</a>. Many migratory bird populations have <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw1313" target="_blank">declined over the past 50 years</a>, and it is possible that light pollution from cities is contributing to these losses.</p><p>Scientists widely agree that light pollution can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1708574114" target="_blank">severely disorient migratory birds</a> and make it hard for them to navigate. Studies have shown that birds will cluster around brightly lit structures, much like insects flying around a porch light at night. Cities are the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2029" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">primary source of light pollution for migratory birds</a>, and these species tend to be more abundant within cities <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.13792" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">during migration</a>, especially in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103892" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">city parks</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1OTYyNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0Nzk5NTUwOH0.h8aA9ZJUJvLbHP82CVZAOkYcY54eljqMy4rrMaunO9M/img.jpg?width=980" id="608a8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3da85b14a1c03abfd4f95c00439fb36e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1000" data-height="640" />
Composite image of the continental U.S. at night from satellite photos. NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using Suomi NPP VIIRS data from Miguel Román, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
The Power of Citizen Science
<p>It's not easy to observe and document bird migration, especially for species that migrate at night. The main challenge is that many of these species are very small, which limits scientists' ability to use electronic tracking devices.</p><p>With the growth of the internet and other information technologies, new data resources are becoming available that are making it possible to overcome some of these challenges. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-07106-5" target="_blank">Citizen science initiatives</a> in which volunteers use online portals to enter their observations of the natural world have become an important resource for researchers.</p><p>One such initiative, <a href="https://ebird.org/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eBird</a>, allows bird-watchers around the globe to share their observations from any location and time. This has produced one of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04632" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">largest ecological citizen-science databases in the world</a>. To date, eBird contains over 922 million bird observations compiled by over 617,000 participants.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="59e33da8efe0bf60f7bda00b06e1f4e2"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/StF19Qdgqn0?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p><em>Large clusters of birds (blue and green splotches) captured by weather radar during spring migration, April-May 2019.</em></p>
Light Pollution Both Attracts and Repels Migratory Birds
<p>Migratory bird species have evolved to use certain migration routes and types of habitat, such as forests, grasslands or marshes. While humans may enjoy seeing migratory birds appear in urban areas, it's generally not good for bird populations. In addition to the many hazards that exist in urban areas, cities typically lack the food resources and cover that birds need during migration or when raising their young. As scientists, we're concerned when we see evidence that migratory birds are being drawn away from their traditional migration routes and natural habitats.</p><p>Through our analysis of eBird data, we found that cities contained the greatest numbers of migratory bird species during spring and autumn migration. Higher levels of light pollution were associated with more species during migration – evidence that light pollution attracts migratory birds to cities across the U.S. This is cause for concern, as it shows that the influence of light pollution on migratory behavior is strong enough to increase the number of species that would normally be found in urban areas.</p><p>In contrast, we found that higher levels of light pollution were associated with fewer migratory bird species during the summer and winter. This is likely due to the scarcity of suitable habitat in cities, such as large forest patches, in combination with the adverse affects of light pollution on bird behavior and health. In addition, during these seasons, migratory birds are active only during the day and their populations are largely stationary, creating few opportunities for light pollution to attract them to urban areas.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="19d2d2bc77cd31e4374fd12cdadbe4bf"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/08ET47-b13o?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p><em><strong></strong>Darkening skies at night during migration season makes it easier for birds to navigate.</em></p>
Trees and Pavement
<p>We found that tree canopy cover was associated with more migratory bird species during spring migration and the summer. Trees provide important habitat for migratory birds during migration and the breeding season, so the presence of trees can have a strong effect on the number of migratory bird species that occur in cities.</p><p>Finally, we found that higher levels of impervious surface were associated with more migratory bird species during the winter. This result is somewhat surprising. It could be a product of the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/heatislands" target="_blank">urban heat island effect</a> – the fact that structures and paved surfaces in cities absorb and reemit more of the sun's heat than natural surfaces. Replacing vegetation with buildings, roads and parking lots can therefore make cities significantly warmer than surrounding lands. This effect could reduce cold stress on birds and increase food resources, such as insect populations, during the winter.</p><p>Our research adds to our understanding of how conditions in cities can both help and hurt migratory bird populations. We hope that our findings will inform urban planning initiatives and strategies to reduce the harmful effects of cities on migratory birds through such measures as <a href="https://www.arborday.org/programs/treecityusa/index.cfm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">planting more trees</a> and initiating <a href="https://aeroecolab.com/uslights" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lights-out programs</a>. Efforts to make it easier for migratory birds to complete their incredible journeys will help maintain their populations into the future.</p><p><em><span style="background-color: initial;"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/frank-la-sorte-1191494" target="_blank">Frank La Sorte</a> is a r</span>esearch associate at the </em><em>Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kyle-horton-1191498" target="_blank">Kyle Horton</a> is an assistant professor of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at the Colorado State University.</em></p><p><em></em><em>Disclosure statement: Frank La Sorte receives funding from The Wolf Creek Charitable Foundation and the National Science Foundation (DBI-1939187). K</em><em>yle Horton 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/cities-can-help-migrating-birds-on-their-way-by-planting-more-trees-and-turning-lights-off-at-night-152573" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>
Read More
Show Less
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
A wolverine in Finland on June 19, 2019. yrjö jyske / CC BY 2.0
A Yellowstone National Park trail camera received a surprising visitor last month.
<p>An elusive wolverine triggered a camera near the Mammoth Hot Springs area, the park announced on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/YellowstoneNPS/posts/4279714232043898" target="_blank">Facebook Wednesday</a>.</p><p>"This is the first video footage of a wolverine since remote cameras have been deployed in the park," the park wrote.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="acfc8f3b6664d5f6d7d34ec82ca970a8"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/YellowstoneNPS/videos/399150214715661/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div>
<p>Yellowstone National Park first began installing cameras to track the movement of cougars in 2014. In the seven years since, the cameras have also proved useful for detecting and studying a variety of species. But never before have those species included wolverines.</p><p>Wolverines (<em>Gulo gulo) </em>are mid-sized carnivores in the weasel family who thrive in snowy environments. Worldwide, they are found in Scandinavia, Russia, China, Canada and the U.S., according to <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/9561/45198537" target="_blank">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a> (IUCN). In the U.S., the southernmost part of their range extends into the lower 48 states, particularly the North Cascades in Washington and the Northern Rocky Mountains in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Wyoming, according to the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/es/wolverine.php" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a> (FWS). This includes the greater Yellowstone area, where they prefer mountainous areas with forest or tundra habitats, the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/wolverine.htm?fbclid=IwAR2zmzVYPN-dgY9Opq4HDnOy_99_WCNLBN8lICxMUAK_IMfec6D5L_l_XM8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">park explained</a>. Between 2006 and 2009, seven wolverines (two females and five males) were documented in the eastern Yellowstone area and nearby national forests.</p>
<p>In the Facebook post, the park wrote that they lived in "low densities" in the park itself and were "rarely detected."</p><p>The elusive mammals are hard to document because they tend to live in remote areas and can move quickly over a short period, FWS explained.</p><p>"Wolverines are so rarely seen and inhabit such remote terrain at low densities that assessing population trends is difficult and sudden declines could go unnoticed for years," Yellowstone National Park warned.</p>
<p>And they may become even more elusive because of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. By 2050, the only places in the lower 48 states that will have enough spring snow pack for the animals will be greater Yellowstone, the southern Rocky Mountains and California's Sierra Nevada, but there are no wolverine populations currently in the latter two locations.</p><p>Despite this, the FWS refused Endangered Species Act protections to wolverines in October of 2020, as <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/endangered-species-wolverines-denied-endangered-species-protections" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">High Country News reported</a>. The department argued that enough snow would last in the lower 48 states to allow the animals to remain living there.</p><p>Conservationists disagreed, and <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/American_wolverine/pdfs/20-12-14-Wolvernine-Complaint-for-Declaratory-and-Injunctive-Relief.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sued</a> the department to reverse the ruling in December of 2020.</p><p>"For years scientists have been sounding the alarm on how wolverines are severely affected by climate change," said Andrea Zaccardi, a senior attorney at the <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Center for Biological Diversity</a>, said in a <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/conservation-groups-sue-feds-over-failure-protect-wolverines-2020-12-14/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">press release</a> announcing the lawsuit. "The future of the wolverine in the lower 48 now stands on a knife edge thanks to the Fish and Wildlife Service refusing to do its job. We hope this lawsuit finally puts the species on the road to recovery."</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Road to Nowhere: Highways Pose Existential Threat to Wolverines ... ›
- Court Ends Attempt to Mine for Gold Near Yellowstone - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Like many other plant-based foods and products, CBD oil is one dietary supplement where "organic" labels are very important to consumers. However, there are little to no regulations within the hemp industry when it comes to deeming a product as organic, which makes it increasingly difficult for shoppers to find the best CBD oil products available on the market.
<p>Here you can learn about the importance of organic hemp oil, why it's better for the environment, and which CBD companies actually make trustworthy products with sustainable farming processes. origins which weigh heavily on many consumers who want to buy a product that's produced in the best way possible for not only themselves to ingest, but for the environment as well through sustainable farming methods. </p><h2>What Is CBD Oil?</h2><p>First things first, CBD stands for cannabidiol, and it's a cannabinoid found within cannabis sativa plants. This plant compound is believed to have many potential benefits, and it is primarily derived from hemp plants via a CO2 extraction process. </p><p>Since CBD is extracted from industrial hemp, which contains only trace amounts of THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis plants), this means that CBD won't make you feel high like marijuana, which has much higher levels of THC that causes psychoactive effects. Instead, the effects of CBD are much more subtle and promote a general sense of calm and relaxation in most users.</p><h2>What Makes a CBD Oil Organic?</h2><p>In terms of organic labels, perhaps the most important (and prominent) certification comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This government organization has been labeling foods as "organic" for many years, but what exactly does this certification entail? Essentially, a label indicating that a product is "USDA Organic" or "Certified Organic" means that at least 95% of the ingredients are obtained from organic sources.</p><p>For a crop to be considered organic by the USDA, it must be grown without the use of industrial solvents, irradiation, genetic engineering (GMOs), synthetic pesticides, or chemical fertilizer. Instead, farmers rely on natural substances and <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mechanical, physical, or biologically based farming</a> techniques to cultivate healthy and organic crops.</p><p>Before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, no hemp-derived products could be dubbed as "certified organic" since the hemp plant and its extracts were still categorized as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. However, it's still difficult for CBD companies to obtain a USDA certified organic label for their products due to the legal grey area that still surrounds CBD extracts. </p><p>Because of these challenges, and due to the fact that industrial hemp has only recently become an agricultural crop, very few CBD oils are USDA certified organic. Rather, many CBD products contain hemp extracts from plants that were grown in organic conditions but may not be federally certified.</p><h2>What are the Best Organic CBD Oil Brands?</h2><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected by the writer. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p><em><br></em>
<h2>Why Organic Hemp Oil Matters</h2><p>Hemp is a unique plant, not only for its rich cannabinoid content, but also for its ability to absorb a wide variety of components in soil. But this trait poses great risks when it comes to the creation of CBD products derived from hemp.</p><p>Because hemp has a high capacity for compound uptake, this means that the plants can retain <a href="https://www.remedyreview.com/industry/lab-test-results/" target="_blank">harmful chemicals like pesticides</a>, heavy metals, and other residual solvents. This is especially true when it comes to synthetic chemicals that are more toxic to humans, and difficult to remove once they have been absorbed by the hemp plant.</p><p>Organic farming practices help reduce the risk of hemp crops absorbing harsh chemicals that may later end up in CBD oil after extraction. When you're taking CBD as a wellness supplement to help alleviate your symptoms or improve your overall well-being, the last thing you want is to ingest compounds that might negatively outweigh the benefits of CBD. This is an important reason to look for third party lab test results when shopping for CBD products since these certificates of analysis can show the full cannabinoid and terpene profile of a hemp extract, as well as test results that search for the presence of any residual solvents.</p><p>In addition to creating a better end product, organic farming practices are also better for the environment. Sustainable and organic farming methods may <a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy</a>. The use of natural pest deterrents as opposed to chemical pesticides is also better for nearby animal populations and ecosystems.</p><h3>Organic vs. Natural</h3><p>While there are only a select few companies offering certified organic ingredients in their products, almost every brand in the CBD market creates "natural" products. The term "all-natural" or "plant-based" does not mean that a product is organic, and since hemp oil is a natural derivative of hemp plants, these products are often referred to as all-natural. However, there are some synthetic CBD oils that should be avoided because they are chemically constructed and may produce unwanted side effects that are not caused by naturally derived CBD extracts.</p><h2>What are the Benefits of Organic CBD Oil?</h2><p>There's a long list of potential CBD oil health benefits, and some of the most common wellness advantages include:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/" target="_blank">Chronic pain relief</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/" target="_blank">Anti-anxiety effects</a></li><li>Better sleep</li><li><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inner-source/201901/cbd-oil-mental-health-should-you-take-it-too" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improvements in mood</a></li><li>Internal balance and regulation</li></ul><p>When dealing with pain, inflammation, sleep issues, and mental health struggles, it can be hard to find sufficient treatment options. The use of certain prescriptions can cause unwanted side effects, yet they are often the only solution for patients with these medical conditions. In search of other therapies, people have started to flock towards CBD oil as an alternative remedy for a variety of conditions. However, it should be noted that CBD products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and you should seek your doctor's advice before using CBD if you have a serious medical condition.</p><h2>Look at the Labels Before You Buy CBD Oil</h2><p>When you go online to buy CBD oil, you'll quickly realize there is an overwhelming number of brands that are saturating the market. It can be difficult to determine which products are truly as good as they make themselves out to be. Always look for up-to-date third-party lab tests so you know you are getting a great product, and don't hesitate to contact the brand if you have any additional questions. And if you're intent on purchasing 100% organic CBD oil, it's best to look for certified products or brands that are held to strict regulatory standards.</p><p><strong>Melena Gurganus </strong>is the Reviews Editor at EcoWatch. She is passionate health and wellness and her writing aims to help others find products they can trust. Her work has been featured in publications such as Health, Shape, Huffington Post, Cannabis Business Times, and Bustle.<br></p>
Spruce
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjI3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTM2NzgzOX0.axY0HjeqRctJsR_KmDLctzDpUBLBN-oNIdqaXDb4caQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="774be" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8379f35b1ca8a86d0e61b7d4bfc8b46e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="spruce organic cbd oil" data-width="710" data-height="959" /><p>As one of the best brands in the business, Spruce CBD is well-known for its potent CBD oils that feature many additional beneficial phytocannabinoids. This brand works with two family-owned, sustainably focused farms in the USA (one located in Kentucky and one in North Carolina) to create its organic, small product batches. The max potency Spruce CBD oil contains 2400mg of full-spectrum CBD extract, but the brand also offers a lower strength tincture with 750mg of CBD in total.</p>
$89
CBDistillery
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjkzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTU4OTM4Nn0.ypRdeDSBcE87slYrFfVrRwtJ2qGIK6FD5jBB4pndTMo/img.jpg?width=980" id="b473b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9930b53c9d58cb49774640a61c3e3e75" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="cbdistillery cbd oil" data-width="1244" data-height="1244" /><p>All of the products from CBDistillery are <a href="https://ushempauthority.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Hemp Authority Certified</a>, and for good reason. The company only uses non-GMO and pesticide-free industrial hemp that's grown organically on Colorado farms. Its hemp oils are some of the most affordable CBD products on the market, yet they still maintain a high standard of quality. CBDistillery has a wide variety of CBD potencies across its product line (ranging from 500mg to 5000mg per bottle) and offers both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils to give customers a completely thc-free option.</p>
$35
FAB CBD
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDIwOTEyMn0.MlTjz096FJ0ev_-soK7_Z-FeQeJczWoeh9Qi9SSkHsY/img.jpg?width=980" id="04b26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="76aa4862f44603242e318982acea6646" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="fab cbd oil" data-width="800" data-height="800" /><p>For an organic CBD oil that has it all, FAB CBD offers plenty of variety for any type of consumer. All of its products are made with zero pesticides and extracted from organically grown Colorado industrial hemp. FAB CBD oil comes in five all-natural flavors (mint, vanilla, berry, citrus, and natural) and is also available in four strengths (300, 600, 1200, and 2400mg per bottle).</p>
$39
NuLeaf Naturals
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzExNTgyMX0.D6qMGYllKTsVhEkQ-L_GzpDHVu60a-tJKcio7M1Ssmc/img.jpg?width=980" id="94e4a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3609a52479675730893a45a82a03c71d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="nuleaf naturals organic cbd oil" data-width="600" data-height="600" /><p>As an industry-leading brand, it comes as no surprise that NuLeaf Naturals sources its CBD extract from organic hemp plants grown on licensed farms in Colorado. The comany's CBD oils only contain two ingredients: USDA certified organic hemp seed oil and full spectrum hemp extract.</p><p>NuLeaf Naturals uses one proprietary CBD oil formula for all of its products, so you will get the same CBD potency in each tincture (60mg per mL), but can purchase different bottle sizes depending on how much you intend to use.</p>
$38.50
Charlotte's Web
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjk3NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQ0NjM4N30.SaQ85SK10-MWjN3PwHo2RqpiUBdjhD0IRnHKTqKaU7Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="84700" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2174067dcc0c4094be25b3472ce08c8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="charlottes web cbd oil" data-width="1244" data-height="1244" /><p>Perhaps one of the most well-known brands in the CBD landscape, Charlotte's Web has been growing sustainable hemp plants for several years. The company is currently in the process of achieving official USDA Organic Certification, but it already practices organic and sustainable cultivation techniques to enhance the overall health of the soil and the hemp plants themselves, which creates some of the highest quality CBD extracts. Charlotte's Web offers CBD oils in a range of different concentration options, and some even come in a few flavor options such as chocolate mint, orange blossom, and lemon twist.</p>
$60
From Your Site Articles
- Best CBD Oils of 2020: Reviews & Buying Guide - EcoWatch ›
- Best CBD Oil for Pain Management - Top 10 CBD Oil Review 2020 ... ›
- Best CBD for Dogs 2020 - Organic CBD Oil for Pets - EcoWatch ›
- Full Spectrum CBD Oil: What To Know - EcoWatch ›
- Charlotte's Web: A Review of the Certified B Corp CBD Brand ›
- Best CBD Waters: Plus All You Need to Know - EcoWatch ›
- The Best Water Soluble CBD Available Online - EcoWatch ›
- Best CBD for Sleep (Lab-Tested, Person-Tested Oils) - EcoWatch ›
- CBD Oil for Dogs: 7 Benefits & Treatment Guide - EcoWatch ›
- NuLeaf Naturals CBD Review | Are They Worth The Cost? - EcoWatch ›
- Best CBD Capsules & Pills - Buyer's Guide (Update for 2021) - EcoWatch ›
- Because Price Matters: Most Affordable CBD Oils of 2021 - EcoWatch ›
- Strongest CBD Oils to Buy in 2021? - EcoWatch ›
- Best CBD Oils For Pain: Top 3 Brands of 2021 - EcoWatch ›
- Best CBD Vape Pen: Top Brands of 2020 - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
eBay is still selling ivory products despite a company ban in 2009. JohanWElzenga / Getty Images
New research found that elephant ivory is still being sold on the online marketplace eBay, despite a company ban in 2009.
<p>In 2008, eBay conducted the vast majority of online trade in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_self">endangered animals</a>, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/us/21animals.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New York Times</a> reported. After intense pressure from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservationists</a> over elephant poaching, the popular online shopping site banned selling ivory via its Animal and Wildlife Products policy, <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/digest/ebay-bans-ivory-sale-after-pressure-over-elephant-poaching" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Yale Environment 360</a> reported.</p><p>However, illegal goods are still being trafficked on the website today through vague or mislabeled listings, researchers from the <a href="https://research.kent.ac.uk/dice/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent</a> found. Code words like "bone" are used as a cover description to disguise and misrepresent illegal listings as non-restricted materials, the study noted. Also complicating enforcement is the fact that "ivory" can be used to describe the color of any product, making enforcement searches using the word unproductive, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/05/business/ebay-ivory-sales-continue-scli-intl/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>Study co-author David Roberts is well versed in the illicit <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ivory-trade" target="_self">ivory trade</a>. He previously developed an <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/cs-10/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">algorithm identifying illegal elephant ivory</a> on eBay with a 93 percent accuracy, studied the <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/3048/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">behaviors of ivory sellers</a> on the online platform and examined the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/code-word-usage-in-the-online-ivory-trade-across-four-european-union-member-states/55F53864C8288E0689245BD9FBAE6E8C" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">use of code words</a> across four European Union countries.</p><p>In his most recent research, published in the journal <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1940082920974604" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tropical Conservation Science</a>, Roberts and his team investigated the discrepancy between how vendors described the objects in their listings versus what the study's authors identified as the actual materials, which they achieved by studying the images provided in the listings.</p>
<p>The researchers focused on listings for netsuke, carved objects attached to the cord of Japanese kimonos, which are offered on eBay UK, a <a href="https://www.kent.ac.uk/news/environment/27536/elephant-ivory-continues-to-be-disguised-and-sold-on-ebay" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">University of Kent statement</a> said. Netsuke are often made of ivory, and the researchers found that authentic elephant ivory was most frequently — and misleadingly — described as bone in netsuke listings, the statement said.</p><p>The authors identified mislabeled ivory by looking for Schreger lines in netsuke listing images, Roberts told EcoWatch. Schreger lines are a unique overlapping pattern found in elephant ivory. This pattern allowed them to identify authentic ivory without having to obtain the physical items for analysis, which would be ethically undesirable, the Kent statement said.</p><p>According to Keith Somerville, a professor at the <a href="http://commonwealth.sas.ac.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London</a> and author of "Ivory: Power and Poaching in Africa," certain elephant populations around the world are being hunted for their tusks. Globally, the world's largest land animal has also suffered due to habitat loss, poaching and confrontation with humans.</p><p>"<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/elephants-poaching-africa-botswana-2601907339.html" target="_self">Illegal ivory trade is a major threat</a>," Somerville emphasized. There is no accurate estimate for how many animals are killed each year for ivory because "it is all underground." Somerville estimated that as many as 20,000 elephants might be killed annually for the black market.</p>
<p>"They have to kill the elephant. No other way to remove the ivory. They are shot or poisoned and the tusks hacked out," he told EcoWatch.</p><p>In late 2019, an eBay trader was jailed after being repeatedly caught selling ivory on the site, <a href="https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/ebay-elephant-tusk-3439291" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lincolnshire Live</a> reported. The trader shipped ivory products mislabeled as jewelry and wood carvings. During sentencing, the presiding judge said, "Without an illegal ivory market there would be no need for the capture of elephants in the wild. That market feeds the destruction of elephants," reported Lincolnshire Live.</p><p>In addition to ivory, Roberts' team also saw "all sorts of illegal wildlife or <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> that violates their terms and conditions for sale on sites such as eBay, including a case of rhino horn, traditional Asian medicines, rare orchids and cacti, exotic skins, [and] shells to name a few," Roberts told EcoWatch. While ivory buyers and sellers use code words and disguise their trade with closed group communications, trade in "less charismatic species happens out in the open with no code words" on these websites, Roberts warned.</p><p>An eBay spokesperson told CNN that the company is a founding member of the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online and works with the World Wildlife Fund and the International Fund for Animal Welfare.</p>
<p>"We have global teams dedicated to upholding standards on our marketplace, and over a recent two-year period we blocked or removed over 265,000 listings prohibited under our animal products policy," the spokesperson told CNN.</p><p>Still, Roberts and fellow researchers returned to eBay a month after their initial search and found that only 1.3 to 6.9 percent of genuine ivory netsuke listings had been removed by eBay. More than half were already sold, and half of the unsold items were re-listed.</p><p>"If eBay was effectively enforcing its policy... on ivory, these items would have been removed," CNN reported the researchers saying.</p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/illegal-wildlife-trade-facebook-2640791262.html?rebelltitem=5" target="_self">eBay is not the only commerce service</a> facilitating online <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife-trafficking" target="_self">wildlife trafficking</a>, but it is a major site on which ivory can be found relatively easily, Roberts told EcoWatch. "While detecting illegal sales of ivory items can be particularly difficult, companies like eBay have the resources and data that could be mobilized to tackle the challenge of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/illegal-wildlife-trade" target="_self">illegal wildlife trade</a>," Roberts said in the Kent statement.</p><p>He suggested tackling the illegal <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife-trade" target="_self">wildlife trade</a> online by making items more difficult to find, removing illegal listings and enforcing existing bans. Ultimately, Roberts called upon eBay and other technology companies to help develop algorithms for automating illegal product identification, he told EcoWatch. He also advocated for better reporting mechanisms that result in illegal listings actually being removed.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Beloved Elephant Yongki Killed by Ivory Poachers, Sparks Outrage ... ›
- Ivory Trade in China Is Now Banned - EcoWatch ›
- 'No Place Is Safe From Poaching': 25,000+ Elephants Killed in Key ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trending
A gorilla and baby in San Diego. Mohamed Abdelrazek / EyeEm / Getty Images
Gorillas at California's San Diego Zoo Safari Park have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the zoo announced on Monday.
<p>While studies have shown that primates can be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, this is the first time the virus has been passed to great apes, as far as scientists are aware.</p><p>"Aside from some congestion and coughing, the gorillas are doing well," San Diego Zoo Safari Park executive director Lisa Peterson said in the press release. "The troop remains quarantined together and are eating and drinking. We are hopeful for a full recovery."</p>
<div id="48f1e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="07ae85abcb5d8869a6cddab4bbced806"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1348721392624168960" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Members of our gorilla troop tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Aside from some conges… https://t.co/8nzpISp7qm</div> — San Diego Zoo Safari Park (@San Diego Zoo Safari Park)<a href="https://twitter.com/sdzsafaripark/statuses/1348721392624168960">1610395212.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Zoo staff first became concerned about the gorillas Jan. 6 when two of them began coughing. So they sent fecal samples to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System (CA HFS) to test them for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Preliminary tests did show that the virus was present in the troop Jan. 8. The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) then <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/stakeholder-info/sa_by_date/sa-2021/sa-01/ca-gorillas-sars-cov-2" target="_blank">confirmed</a> the presence of the virus in three gorillas on Monday. However, Peterson told <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gorillas-test-positive-coronavirus-728944350363be5d4b0bc907f31f3b8d" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> Monday that eight gorillas who live together are all believed to be infected.</p><p>The zoo suspects the infection first passed to the gorillas from a member of their care team, who also tested positive for the virus. The individual was asymptomatic and wore a mask around the gorillas at all times. The zoo has been closed to the public since Dec. 6, <a href="https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-diego-zoo-says-gorilla-troop-positive-with-sars-cov-2-marking-1st-known-transmission-to-apes/2492954/" target="_blank">NBC7 San Diego reported</a>.</p>
<p>"There is some question: Did it come human-animal? That's being determined and want us to respect that process," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said, as NBC7 San Diego reported. "But nonetheless, that's long been a concern – human to animal transmission – but our beloved gorillas, obviously, we are concerned about."</p><p>The zoo noted it is unclear how the gorillas will react to the virus, since it has never been observed in apes before. However, conservationists have been <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coronavirus-great-apes-2645576034.html" target="_self">concerned</a> since the pandemic started that the disease might spread to great apes. Gorillas have been known to die of human respiratory viruses like the common cold. In March of 2020, 27 experts from the Great Ape Health Consortium wrote an open letter calling for all great ape tourism to pause and for field work to be reduced to protect wild gorillas from catching the new disease.</p>
<p>The gorillas in San Diego are western lowland gorillas, according to The Associated Press. Poaching and disease have decreased this type of gorilla's population by more than 60 percent in 20 years, the World Wildlife Fund said.</p><p>For now, the San Diego gorillas are receiving vitamins, fluids and food, but they are being monitored by veterinarians and the zoo is talking to experts who have treated coronavirus in humans in case the gorillas get worse. Any information the zoo officials acquire will be shared with scientists, health officials and conservationists to protect gorillas in the wild.</p><p>While no other great apes have contracted the virus, it has spread to other zoo animals, mostly large cats, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/11/gorillas-san-diego-zoo-coronavirus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. All of them have recovered. The virus has also been reported in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/denmark-mink-coronavirus-2648633663.html" target="_self">farmed</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/utah-mink-coronavirus-2649520996.html" target="_self">wild minks</a> and some <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pets-coronavirus-2645784937.html" target="_self">cats and dogs</a>.</p>
<p>The USDA said that the risk of animals passing the virus to people is currently considered low, but encouraged those who are infected or think they may be infected to stay away from pets or other animals.</p><p>Director of viral diagnostics at the University of California San Francisco Charles Chiu <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Two-gorillas-test-positive-for-coronavirus-at-San-15862229.php" target="_blank">told the San Francisco Chronicle</a> that the important thing to determine from a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a> perspective was if the gorillas had all contracted the virus from one person or spread it amongst themselves. The latter would be much more serious.</p><p>"Then you can have an ongoing source of infection, and ongoing source of new variants that in turn can be transmitted back to humans," Chiu said. "It's very worrisome."</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Can Your Pets Get and Transmit Coronavirus? - EcoWatch ›
- Coronavirus Shines Light on Zoos as Danger Zones for Deadly ... ›
- Utah Mink Becomes First Wild Animal to Test Positive for Coronavirus ›
- Coronavirus: Tiger at Bronx Zoo Is First Animal in US to Test Positive ›
- COVID-19 Could Threaten Already Vulnerable Great Apes - EcoWatch ›
Read More
Show Less
Mountain goats roam the streets of LLandudno on March 31, 2020 in Llandudno, Wales during the COVID-19 outbreak and quarantine measures. Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
By Marie Quinney and Gabriela Martinez
This article is part of The Davos Agenda.
During 2020, many of us saw images of deserted urban areas being reclaimed by animals and heard reports of carbon dioxide emissions plummeting as transportation ground to a halt. A new analysis shows that the U.S. had reached its lowest level of emissions in three decades.
<p>It would be easy to assume that COVID-19 allowed nature to thrive. However, we must not prematurely celebrate nature's comeback.</p><p>Far from downplaying glimmers of hope and beauty that were welcomed interruptions to an otherwise difficult year, acknowledging that these have little impact in the long run will serve us better to achieve meaningful progress.</p><p>The outlook on the coming decade may be bleak if we do not seize the narrowing window of opportunity that we have to make systemic changes. By doing this, we can both prevent similar crises in the future and create sustainable, healthy and equitable jobs, societies and economies. The pandemic made an unquestionably strong case for a shift towards a<a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/09/what-does-net-zero-emissions-mean-6-common-questions-answered" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/09/what-does-net-zero-emissions-mean-6-common-questions-answered" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">net-zero</a>,<a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Future_Of_Nature_And_Business_2020.pdf" target="_blank"> </a><a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Future_Of_Nature_And_Business_2020.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nature-positive</a> global economy and, thankfully, we have the knowledge and the tools to make it happen.</p>
<h3>Nature Bouncing Back?</h3><p>Amidst the tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy entering a global recession, you could be forgiven for thinking that it wasn't all bad news.</p><p>We were inundated with delightful images of previously unseen animals strolling through city streets. <a href="https://www.insider.com/shaggy-mountain-goats-welsh-town-lockdown-2020-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mountain goats explored Welsh towns</a>,<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/22/animals-cities-coronavirus-lockdowns-deer-raccoons" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/22/animals-cities-coronavirus-lockdowns-deer-raccoons" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">deer were spotted congregating outside metro stations in Japan</a> and<a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200403-pumas-in-santiago-wildlife-takes-to-cities-amid-coronavirus-lockdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200403-pumas-in-santiago-wildlife-takes-to-cities-amid-coronavirus-lockdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pumas took to the streets of Santiago, Chile</a>.</p><p>Many ecosystems also appeared to have been given time to regenerate, being temporarily spared humanity's polluted hand. The<a href="https://www.insider.com/venice-canals-clear-city-residents-self-isolate-prevent-coronavirus-spread-2020-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.insider.com/venice-canals-clear-city-residents-self-isolate-prevent-coronavirus-spread-2020-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">canals of Venice famously turned clear</a> and plants started to make a comeback in built-up areas such as<a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/nature-reclaims-public-spaces-during-loc-idUSRTX7EJ1H" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/nature-reclaims-public-spaces-during-loc-idUSRTX7EJ1H" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">parks</a> and<a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/nature-reclaims-public-spaces-during-loc-idUSRTX7EJ1H" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/nature-reclaims-public-spaces-during-loc-idUSRTX7EJ1H" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">city squares</a>.<br></p><p>Similarly, due to the slowdown of economic and social activities, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/08/covid-19-lockdowns-global-air-quality-india-london-uk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air quality</a> improved in many places around the world, including megacities including <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720326036" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Delhi</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/08/covid-19-lockdowns-global-air-quality-india-london-uk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">London</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51944780" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New York</a> and various cities in <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11869-020-00963-y" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">China</a>. Global CO2 emissions and total nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions decreased by as much as 30% and, as car traffic plummeted and industrial production slowed down, the<a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-19-coronavirus-greenhouse-gas-emissions-climate-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> reduction of greenhouse gas emissions</a> followed. It seemed that at least the atmosphere was benefiting from the global pandemic.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ0ODUzMy9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzQ5ODI0MX0.NaCx18e_NCBB5SnFxwxI7L_sZclIuFAR6YlnpIxl1eg/img.gif?width=980" id="902a5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="adef5c711181422b7e367aeb853ca9a7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="640" data-height="474" />
NO₂ levels in the air above India (U.S. date format). World Economic Forum
<p>Lockdowns also highlighted both a fundamental human need for nature and the divisions between those who had access to it and those who did not. For those with a balcony, view of nature or a garden, the lockdowns may not have felt as oppressive. People craved their own patch of green and marvelled at the sight of animals roaming around freely. Nature, we may have thought, was healing.</p><p>Sadly, however, the breather that nature appeared to get is not only temporary but is extremely localized. Other areas have not been having the same luck.</p>
<h3>Nature Loss and Climate Change on the Rise</h3><p>If not for COVID-19, the year 2020 would have been remembered for environmental disasters that continued despite scattered improvements. COVID-19 news domination was punctuated by reports of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-exceeds-4-million-acres-burned-wildfires-2020-n1242078" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildfires</a>,<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54433904" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54433904" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">flooding</a>,<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-2020-atlantic-hurricane-season-was-a-record-breaker-and-its-raising-more-concerns-about-climate-change-150495" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-2020-atlantic-hurricane-season-was-a-record-breaker-and-its-raising-more-concerns-about-climate-change-150495" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tropical storms</a> and the<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/19/highest-recorded-temperature-ever-death-valley" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/19/highest-recorded-temperature-ever-death-valley" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">highest temperature ever recorded</a> on Earth.</p><p>As pollution levels decreased in many cities, the effects were countered by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896972033059X" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increased emissions from home activities</a>. Although nitrogen dioxide <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0883-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">declined sharply</a> in <a href="https://cen.acs.org/environment/atmospheric-chemistry/COVID-19-coronavirus-quarantines-cause/98/i11" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Italy</a>, <a href="https://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146362/airborne-nitrogen-dioxide-plummets-over-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">China</a> and <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/nitrogen-dioxide-concentrations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New Zealand</a>, COVID-19 responses triggered the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896972033059X" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increase of global ozone concentrations</a>, which contributes to climate change.</p><p>Lockdowns in countries with high levels of biodiversity also restricted the ability of governments and communities to protect wildlife. Incidences of illegal poaching and deforestation increased in<a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/covid-19-lockdown-precipitates-deforestation-across-asia-and-south-america/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/covid-19-lockdown-precipitates-deforestation-across-asia-and-south-america/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">South America</a>,<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-deforestation-idUSL8N2BJ12Z" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-deforestation-idUSL8N2BJ12Z" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Asia</a> and<a href="https://www.conservation.org/blog/poaching-deforestation-reportedly-on-the-rise-since-covid-19-lockdowns#:~:text=%E2%80%9CPoaching%20and%20deforestation%20are%20unfortunate,humans%20in%20the%20first%20place." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.conservation.org/blog/poaching-deforestation-reportedly-on-the-rise-since-covid-19-lockdowns#:~:text=%E2%80%9CPoaching%20and%20deforestation%20are%20unfortunate,humans%20in%20the%20first%20place." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Africa</a>. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-environment-idUSKCN21S1I1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deforestation</a> in the Brazilian Amazon increased by 30% in March 2020 compared to the previous year and <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/double-blow-to-colombian-amazon-and-indigenous-groups-from-armed-militants-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">forest fires</a> lit by land grabbers broke records in Colombia. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/illegal-fishing-philippines-2646162839.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self" rel="noopener">Illegal fishing</a> is also on the rise in many areas, with fishermen taking advantage of a drop in enforcement capacity.</p><p>COVID-19 has also halted the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-1275-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nature-based tourism industry</a>. In many countries, communities relied on this as a source of income, in addition to these funds being used to protect nature. For countries like the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/seychelles/overview#:~:text=Tourism%20accounts%20for%20approximately%2030,decline%20by%20more%20than%2050%25" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Seychelles</a> and <a href="https://data.adb.org/media/4411/download" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vanuatu</a>, tourism accounts for 30% and 45% of their GDP, respectively. The economic crisis may prevent such tourism from returning for quite some time, while conservation is unlikely to be perceived as a priority for government spending.</p><p>The improvements witnessed in biodiversity and emissions during the lockdowns are unlikely to remain, and the situation is on course to get worse than before the pandemic. For the climate, there is historical precedent for this. There were also <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17387-financial-crisis-may-have-been-good-for-the-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dips in emissions during the 2008 financial crisis</a>, yet emissions bounced back as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-climate-change.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">economies recovered</a>.</p><p>Today, experts are concerned that global emissions in 2021 <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/global-carbon-project-coronavirus-causes-record-fall-in-fossil-fuel-emissions-in-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">will rise beyond 2019 levels.</a> In addition, many countries have been <a href="https://in.boell.org/en/2020/11/24/environmental-regulation-and-post-covid-19-economic-recovery" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">loosening environmental regulations </a>and, in some countries, early recovery packages were targeted towards bailouts for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/09/revealed-covid-recovery-plans-threaten-global-climate-hopes" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">oil and high-carbon infrastructure</a>.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ0ODU0OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NTg2NDYwNH0.9fcY_k1mLyDQDdv0FvUlonL0Z-lt7yYOocof6Tw2h4Q/img.png?width=980" id="bbe9a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="63b2896e84d3e53a93eee3818daa4aea" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1522" data-height="1012" />
Human activity is destroying our natural world. World Economic Forum Nature Risk Rising
<h3>Towards a Net-Zero, Nature-Positive Recovery</h3><p>While the lockdowns provided a glimpse of how life could be different for our planet, this will only be the case through decisive and deliberate action. It shouldn't take a pandemic, with devastating consequences on millions of lives, to let nature reappear and emissions drop. Rather than being good for the environment, COVID-19 only showed us how unsuitable our current socioeconomic systems are.</p><p><a href="https://www.vivideconomics.com/casestudy/greenness-for-stimulus-index/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Some stimulus packages</a> are acknowledging the importance of placing nature at the heart of our recovery, and in September world leaders<a href="https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/press_releases/?893466/Leaders-Pledge-for-Nature-World-leaders-commit-to-reversing-nature-loss-by-2030" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/press_releases/?893466/Leaders-Pledge-for-Nature-World-leaders-commit-to-reversing-nature-loss-by-2030" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pledged to reverse nature loss</a> by 2030. However, on average, the pandemic is likely to reinforce negative environmental trends with stimulus packages in only <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20201217092751-wk5b9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">seven of 25 major economies</a> estimated to have a net positive impact for the climate and nature.</p><p>As world leaders discussed stimulus and recovery packages to keep the economy afloat, milestone global meetings to decide how to address biodiversity loss and climate change had to be postponed to 2021. These are critical opportunities to reset our economies and societies for the better. Governments and businesses must focus on addressing some of the increasingly indefensible realities of our societies and economies that this pandemic has uncovered. For example, they must ensure that economic activity is regenerative, rather than destructive, to nature, that businesses reduce their carbon footprint, and that there are sustainable, equitable jobs.</p><p>As the World Economic Forum's recent reports have found, <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_New_Nature_Economy_Report_2020.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more than half of the world's GDP</a> is highly or moderately dependent on nature, and opting for a nature-positive economy in key sectors could create <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Future_Of_Nature_And_Business_2020.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">395 million jobs by 2030</a>. We are likely to, therefore, pay a high price in the future for overlooking its importance in decisions made today.</p><p>Similarly, in the <a href="https://www.hacfornatureandpeople.org/" target="_blank">High Ambition Coalition</a>'s <a href="https://www.highambitioncoalition.org/statements/green-recovery-statement-2020" target="_blank"><em>Statement on Resilient Recovery</em></a>, it stressed the importance of aligning <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/coronavirus-tracking-how-the-worlds-green-recovery-plans-aim-to-cut-emissions?utm_campaign=Carbon%20Brief%20Daily%20Briefing&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter" target="_blank">green measures</a> from stimulus packages with climate ambitions. The UN's 2020 <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/green-pandemic-recovery-essential-close-climate-action-gap-un-report" target="_blank">Emission Gap Report</a> highlighted that recovery investments in climate action could cut up to 25% off the emissions projected for 2030. Countries need effective policies to <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1079602" target="_blank">support zero-emissions technologies and infrastructure, reduce fossil fuel subsidies, stop new coal plants and promote nature-based solutions</a>.</p>
<p>The pandemic transcended borders in more ways than one. We saw unprecedented levels of international cooperation, with information sharing and the deployment of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52431627" target="_blank">healthcare personnel</a> and <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200410-donating-masks-and-shipping-gear-vietnam-promotes-its-own-coronavirus-diplomacy" target="_blank">equipment</a>. It also taught us that, when we work together, we can enact great change. This needs to be channelled into the fight against nature loss and climate change too.</p><p>COVID-19 offered many the chance to stop and reflect on the sort of world we belong to. If nothing else, the pandemic revealed that our economies are inherently vulnerable to shocks. Images of animals reclaiming once-bustling city streets, and a dip in greenhouse gas emissions were a relief during a time of such angst, but they are exceptions that are likely to be long forgotten unless we work towards a better future. Designing net-zero, nature-positive stimulus packages is key in preventing future outbreaks, improving economic and environmental stability and enabling people to live healthier, more fulfilling lives.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/davos-agenda-environment-net-zero-emissions-nature-positive-recovery/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- UN Leader Calls for Green Coronavirus Recovery on Earth Day ... ›
- German Business Leaders Call for Climate Action With COVID-19 ... ›
- Young Climate Leaders Conclude Mock COP26 With Calls for ... ›
- A 'Green Stimulus' Could Battle Three Crises: Coronavirus ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
A manatee is seen in Three Sisters Springs on Crystal River in Citrus County, Florida. Keith Ramos / USFWS
<p>The incident, first reported by the <a href="https://www.chronicleonline.com/news/local/federal-officials-seek-information-on-manatee-harassment/article_c84a3b66-5423-11eb-93b6-1bf69750167f.html" target="_blank">Citrus County Chronicle</a> on Monday, prompted a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) investigation and outrage from conservationists and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/animals/" target="_self">animal</a> lovers. The <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a> (CBD) is even offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.</p><p><span></span>"Manatees aren't billboards, and people shouldn't be messing with these sensitive and imperiled animals for any reason," CBD Florida Director Jaclyn Lopez said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. "However this political graffiti was put on this manatee, it's a crime to interfere with these creatures, which are protected under multiple federal laws."</p>
<div id="de844" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ab3a320267dae121ae3e306d5c993559"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1348755040798871553" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Harassment of a manatee is a federal criminal offense punishable by a $50,000 fine and up to one year in prison.… https://t.co/BZzk19XBeu</div> — Center for Bio Div (@Center for Bio Div)<a href="https://twitter.com/CenterForBioDiv/statuses/1348755040798871553">1610403235.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The Florida manatee is a subspecies of the West Indian manatee, which was classified as an <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_self">endangered species</a> in 1973, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/12/manatee-trump-florida/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>, although their status has since been lowered to threatened. Currently, manatees are protected federally under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and on the state level under the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act of 1978, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/us/florida-manatee-trump.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported. Harassing a manatee carries a federal penalty of up to $50,000 and a year in jail, and a state penalty of up to $500 and 60 days in jail.</p><p>The affected manatee was first discovered in the Homosassa River in Citrus County by Hailey Warrington, a family boat charter operator, <a href="https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2021/01/11/investigation-manatee-trump-etched-algae-back-florida/6631493002/" target="_blank">the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported</a>. Warrington said she saw the manatee while on a boat tour and took photos and a video to report the incident.</p><p>"This is just disturbing. One hundred percent disturbing," Warrington told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. "It's something we don't see very often. When we do see it, it hurts our heart."</p><p>The USFWS said that the letters appear to have been etched in algae and that the animal was not seriously harmed. Warrington claimed that while the etching reached the skin, it did not appear to leave a wound. The animal seemed healthy, but stressed.</p>
<p>Elizabeth Fleming, senior Florida representative for the <a href="https://defenders.org/" target="_blank">Defenders of Wildlife</a>, told The Washington Post that the perpetrator either had to restrain the manatee to write the message, or the manatee was so used to humans that it allowed the action.</p><p>There are more than 6,300 West Indian manatees living in Florida, <a href="https://www.fws.gov/southeast/wildlife/mammals/manatee/#conservation-challenges-section" target="_blank">according to the USFWS</a>. While that number has increased significantly in the last 25 years, the animals still face threats from habitat loss and boat collisions. About 100 manatees die every year from boat strikes, according to The Washington Post, accounting for 20 percent of total manatee deaths.</p><p>For Elizabeth Neville, Defenders of Wildlife senior Gulf Coast representative, the harassment of this particular manatee is a striking example of politics impacting <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a>.</p><p>"The content of this manatee's mutilation, however, highlights a broader and darker truth: that wildlife, despite having no ability to vote or otherwise participate in our political systems, exist and suffer profoundly at the mercy of human politics," she said in a <a href="https://defenders.org/newsroom/defenders-of-wildlife-politically-motivated-manatee-mutilation-incident-beyond-cruel-and?utm_source=social&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=newsroom-ManateeTrump-01112" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">statement</a>. </p><p>"Based on the choice of the word carved in the manatee's flesh, one can only assume that this act of mutilation was politically motivated. But, this is far from the only scar borne by manatees due to politicians' destructive choices. Other scars include policies that favor unsustainable development and polluting industries, hamper communities' abilities to address plastic trash in our waters and impede progress on fighting climate change."</p><p>Anyone with information about the incident should contact the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 888-404-3922, the Citrus County Chronicle shared. </p>
From Your Site Articles
- Manatees Dying in Record Numbers from Toxic Algal Bloom ... ›
- Florida Manatee: 10% of Population Could Be Wiped Out This Year ... ›
- The Shocking Number of Florida Manatees Killed by Boats Last Year ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
A pika in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Ed Reschke / Stone / Getty Images
By Andrew Smith
Climate change is harming many special places and iconic species around our planet, from Glacier National Park's disappearing glaciers to California redwoods scorched by wildfires. But for the animal I study, the American pika (Ochotona princeps), there's actually some good news: It's not as threatened by climate change as many studies have warned.
<p>I have <a href="https://isearch.asu.edu/profile/9963" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">studied pikas</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/pika" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">small cousins of rabbits</a>, for over 50 years and never tire of watching them. These tailless, egg-shaped balls of fluff live primarily in cool mountainous environments in piles of broken rock, called talus.</p><p>During summer, observers can see pikas industriously gathering caches of grass and leaves into haypiles that will serve as their food supply through the winter. Their light brown coats blend well with their surroundings, so they are easiest to spot when they perch on prominent rocks and call to alert other pikas of their presence.</p>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/147811494" width="100%" height="480" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="908ba15c35ec026c2335f716f20f9c5a"></iframe>
<p>When fellow hikers see me observing pikas in California's Sierra Nevada, they often tell me they have read that these animals are going extinct. I have collected a stack of <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/american-pika-protection-climate-change_n_580f2f63e4b0a03911ee8c9e?guccounter=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">press releases that say exactly that</a>. But based on my recent research and a comprehensive review of over 100 peer-reviewed studies, I believe that this interpretation is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyaa110" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">misleading</a>.</p>
<h2>Constrained by Climate</h2><p>As I showed in my early research, pikas' biology suggests that they are likely to be affected by a warming climate. Most important, their normal body temperature is high, and this puts them <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/1935464" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">at risk of overheating when active in warm environments</a>. When temperatures are warm, pikas retreat into the much cooler depths of their talus habitat.</p><p>Temperature also plays a role in pikas' <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/1940361" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ability to move from place to place</a>. Warm weather inhibits their movements, while cooler temperatures allow them to more freely colonize new habitats.</p><p>A little ancient history is instructive here. Pikas originally came to North America from Asia and spread across the continent some five million years ago, during colder times. Their remains have been found in caves in the Appalachian Mountains and in the Mojave Desert – sites where pikas no longer live.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2OTEwOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MzE0MTEyNH0.Zlvmgr7fSH0V-47Y3lHiD1ygJACN_F-9_CJcTVNl_wY/img.jpg?width=980" id="e0694" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e670a2aadbcf0a478ffe6022abf5d6e3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="1200" />
American pikas live mainly in alpine and subalpine mountain areas extending south from central British Columbia and Alberta into the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico and the Sierra Nevada of California. Andrew Smith, CC BY-ND
<p>As the world's climate warmed, pika populations retreated to the high mountains of the western U.S. and Canada. Today they occupy most of the available talus habitat in these areas – evidence that challenges the pikas-on-the-brink narrative.</p><p>For example, in recent surveys, pikas were found at 98% of 109 suitable sites in Colorado, and at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1657/1938-4246-42.1.76" target="_blank">98% of 329 sites in the central Sierra Nevada</a>. One study of historic pika sites across California's Lassen, Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks found no evidence that pikas were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1857" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">moving to new sites or higher altitudes due to climate change</a>.</p>
<h2>Pikas in Warm Environments</h2><p>In contrast, most sites where researchers believe that pikas have disappeared are small, isolated and often compromised by human activities, such as grazing by livestock. These sites generally are lower and warmer than sites in pikas' core range.</p><p>Many of these areas are in the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/the-great-basin.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Great Basin</a> – a large desert region spanning most of Nevada and parts of Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon and California. A series of studies on a small number of marginal Great Basin sites formerly occupied by pikas has disproportionately contributed to the narrative that pikas are likely to become endangered.</p><p>To <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2018.1436296" target="_blank">investigate the big picture</a> across this region, I worked with state and federal officials on a 2017 study that identified 3,250 site records of pika habitat. Pikas were present at 2,378 sites, not found at 89 sites where they had been seen as recently as 2005, and absent from 774 sites that contained only old signs of pika occupancy.</p><p>The extirpated and old sites had the same temperature and precipitation ranges as sites where pikas still were present. This suggests that non-climatic factors may have caused pikas' disappearance from the vacant sites.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2OTEyNC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzA2MDY2M30.Cn9ptAassjM7B8Pndfn8BwOO5wx7iyRKaSAn4XTcyvs/img.png?width=980" id="6986e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8d18e7bc9bc9b59a8b342068e26ae3ee" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="1342" />
Pikas have disappeared from some parts of the Great Basin, but climate change may not have been the cause. Kmusser / Wikipedia, CC BY-S
<p>Pikas are still present in other remarkably hot places, such as the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyv040" target="_blank">ghost town of Bodie, California</a>, the nearby <a href="https://doi.org/10.3398/064.076.0408" target="_blank">Mono Craters</a> and Idaho's <a href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/wnan/vol80/iss1/6" target="_blank">Craters of the Moon National Monument</a>. At these sites, pikas retreat into the cool nooks of their talus habitat during the warmest part of the day and often forage at night.</p><p>In my research, I also found that pikas were much less active and uttered far fewer calls at these low-altitude sites compared with high-elevation pika populations. At low-elevation sites, pikas consumed a diverse diet of Great Basin plants, such as big sagebrush and bitterbrush, that was markedly different from the plants they ate at high-elevation sites. Some even failed to construct their characteristic large haypiles.</p><p>Another atypical pika population lives near sea level in Oregon's Columbia River Gorge. Here, too, they have adapted well to a very different habitat, surviving year-round on a diet that consists mainly of moss. They defend the smallest territories of any pika, and when it gets hot, they simply move off the talus and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2016.01.009" target="_blank">hang out in the shade of the nearby forest</a>.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c971a6f66d33b50e27924a42174fedb0"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AicEBRYFTeI?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<h2>A Future for Pikas</h2><p>Based on my review of dozens of studies, pika populations appear to be secure in their core range – the mountains of western North America that have large and fairly well-connected talus habitat. In these areas they can move from one habitat patch to another without having to pass through areas that are dangerously warm for them.</p><p>The fact that pikas have also adapted to a number of marginal, hot environments suggests to me that they are more resilient to climate change than many past studies have concluded. Most species exhibit losses near the edges of their geographical ranges, simply because individual animals in those zones are living in conditions that are less than ideal for them. This does not mean that they are going extinct.</p><p>Climate change is the most critical issue facing the world today, so it is particularly important that scientists communicate accurately about it to the public. In my view, the fact that pikas are coping and altering their behaviors in response to changing conditions is encouraging news for future naturalists setting out to observe one of nature's most charismatic mammals.</p>
<p>
<em>Andrew Smith is a professor emeritus of life sciences at Arizona State University.</em><br/>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: Andrew Smith 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 his academic appointment.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/pikas-are-adapting-to-climate-change-remarkably-well-contrary-to-many-predictions-150726" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
</p><script async="async" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150726/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" type="text/javascript"></script>From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trending
A crocodile jumps in the Adelaide River, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. "Amateur photographer'"/ Moment / Getty Images
By Max Stockdale
One of the most enduring tropes about crocodiles is to describe them as "living fossils." They are cold, slow moving and scaly, so they look like how one might picture a dinosaur. Like many clichés, there is an element of truth to this comparison. The crocodiles from 200 million years ago look surprisingly like the ones we know today.
<p>But why have the modern crocodilians, including crocodiles, alligators and caimans, changed so little over such an immense span of time? <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-020-01561-5" target="_blank">In new research</a>, published today, we have attempted to answer this question using advanced evolutionary modeling.</p><p>Relatives of crocodiles have been around for an extraordinary length of time, their <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1671/0272-4634%282002%29022%5B0593%3ACVANCF%5D2.0.CO%3B2" target="_blank">fossil remains</a> having been found in rocks from the early Jurassic period, around 200 million years old. Stranger still, these crocodiles from the age of the dinosaurs often look surprisingly like the crocodilians of today. All modern forms have long snouts, powerful tails, armoured skins and a sprawling gait, and many fossil forms are extremely similar.</p>
<p>This lack of change over such a long time is highly unusual, especially considering the immense diversity of modern animals that has accumulated in a much shorter time interval.<br></p><p>For example, the true birds first appear in the fossil record <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-003-0416-5" target="_blank">many millions of years after</a> the first crocodiles, yet today they number around <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-1078-9" target="_blank">10,000 species</a>, ranging from hummingbirds to ostriches. The crocodilians have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/pala.12419" target="_blank">only 25 species</a>, and besides some variation in the shape of their skull they all look fairly similar.<br><br>However, this lack of modern diversity is deceptive, and there are many more exotic and unfamiliar crocodilian relatives known in the fossil record. This has included <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-71975-y" target="_blank">fast runners</a>, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article-abstract/189/2/483/5588829" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ocean-going swimmers</a>, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1671/039.029.0409" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">burrowers</a>, <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2005.3426" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bipeds</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.2010.532674" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">herbivores</a>.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2NjI1NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDY2Njk2MH0.3I34FD6v6Gl755aBPtnSK0IKsGmD0P5hbqICTlgjNR8/img.jpg?width=980" id="ac006" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="349ef63ad1ef41411efa01562da90e9f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="828" />
The Philippine crocodile is one of 24 species of crocodilian alive today. Wikimedia, CC BY 3.0
<p>We developed an evolutionary model for our analysis by comparing body size data from crocodile fossils. This data, combined with the evolutionary relationships between each species, enabled us to calculate the trajectory of body size evolution through time. We could then calibrate this trajectory with the dates of the fossils, giving us a measure of body size change per unit time – their evolutionary rate.<br></p><p>These calculations yielded a measure of evolutionary rate for each species in our study, and the distribution of these rates revealed a new insight into how the crocodiles evolved. The majority of the species we looked at were only evolving very slowly, with a handful of species evolving more quickly. The more rapidly evolving species didn't appear independently, instead tending to emerge together when the climate was warmer.<br></p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2NjI1Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMjA5OTM2MH0.It8joYoI26Po2l3QjykD0O4o0-qFjP-r75irE-I9f8k/img.jpg?width=980" id="b0d9f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1d2d003eeace458f999d440da865e63d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="676" />
Unfamiliar crocodiles from prehistory. Author provided
<h2>Stop-Start Evolution</h2><p>This pattern of low evolutionary rates interrupted by occasional bursts of activity is known as "punctuated equilibrium." This is what we would expect to see in cases where evolution is being driven by external factors like mass extinctions or climate change, rather than intrinsic forces like sexual selection or the arms race between predators and prey. Punctuated equilibrium means that organisms will find an optimum state and remain in that state, until the environment forces them to adapt to new conditions. This results in a stop-start pattern.</p><p>It is not clear why some animals follow this model of punctuated equilibrium and others do not. There might be a few different factors at play. Modern crocodilians are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2020.08.003" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">not able to control their body temperature</a>, so they may be more sensitive to changes in the climate than perhaps a mammal or a bird would be.</p><p>Conversely, modern crocodilians are <a href="https://www.rswa.org.au/publications/Journal/94(2)/Semeniuketal.pp.407-416.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">able to survive without eating</a> for very long periods, making them more resilient in times of hardship. This punctuated equilibrium model is certainly not peculiar to crocodiles, and a promising avenue of research would be to try and detect it in other groups of similar antiquity, such as turtles.</p>
<p>Our research strongly suggests crocodilians have remained unchanged for such a very long time because they have landed upon an equilibrium state that does not require them to change often. When crocodilian evolution does happen at pace, it is likely that this is because the environment has changed and has forced them to adapt. This may also explain why the crocodilians' more unusual kin became extinct.</p><p>Temperature does seem to have been important, but there is plenty of scope for other environmental factors to have played a role. The next step for us will be to examine how rates of body size evolution interact with variables other than temperature, like rainfall or sea level. We would also like to find out if characteristics other than body size follow this same pattern of punctuated equilibrium, for example skull shape.</p>
<p>
<em>Max Stockdale is a teaching associate in vertebrate macroevolution and palaeoecology at the University of Bristol.</em><br/>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: Max Stockdale receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/crocodiles-today-look-the-same-as-they-did-200-million-years-ago-our-study-explains-why-152635" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
</p><script async="async" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152635/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" type="text/javascript"></script>From Your Site Articles
- Climate Change Could Completely Transform Earth's Ecosystems ... ›
- Meet the Sturdlefish, the Hybrid of Two Endangered Species ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Cloud of Flying-foxes in riparian monsoon forest on escarpment of central range. Broadmere Station, western Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Territory, Australia. Auscape / Universal Images Group / Getty Images
By Georgina Kenyon
Earlier this year, the term "bat tornado" started appearing in the Australian and international media. It all started with a BBC report from the town of Ingham in the northeastern state of Queensland, where the population of flying fox bats had apparently "exploded" over the last two years, leaving residents fed up with their noise and smell.
<p>And Ingham residents are not the only ones. Complaints are also coming from other Australian towns that have long played host to large <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/convincing-australians-that-bats-arent-so-bad/a-18525040" target="_blank">flying fox</a> "camps." </p><p>"It looks like a thunderstorm is coming when they fly over, thousands of these winged <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/fruit-bats-on-the-move/a-37295373" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">flying foxes</a> arriving at dusk, just one after the other," said Justine Taylor, a retail worker who lives near the town of Grafton, New South Wales, which can host more than 100,000 flying foxes at a time. </p>
<p>The sound can be overwhelming. As can the stench from their urine. And flying foxes can also carry the rabies-like Australian bat lyssavirus, and Hendra virus.</p><p>The Australian Department of Health insists there is negligible health risk to humans from any bat. But the idea that they are carriers of disease hasn't helped their image. </p><p>"I used to dread them, hoping they would roost in someone else's garden," said Taylor. "They'd screech and chatter, you just couldn't sleep. Even in the day, if you were by the river, you'd hear them." </p>
Travelers in Search of Wood and Water
<p>The Australian mainland has four species of flying fox — also known as <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/zambia-incredible-flight-of-the-fruit-bats/a-36825859" target="_blank">fruit bats</a> — two of which are listed as nationally protected species. Some can reach a wingspan of 1.5 meters.</p><p>Flying fox camps have been likened to railway stations, where crowds of the animals come and go each day. They may travel up to 50 kilometers (30 miles) in a single night, and 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) seasonally, depending on food availability. </p><p>They also need a good source of water, drinking small amounts frequently to stay hydrated without weighing themselves down in flight. Susan Island, located in the middle of the Clarence River that runs through the city of Grafton, has become an ideal congregation spot. </p><p>But climate change and deforestation are making their movements less predictable. As their habitat is lost or water sources dry up, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/australia-heat-wave-brain-frying-bats/a-42078045" target="_blank">they seek refuge</a> in urban or suburban areas. "They're being forced into areas they would not normally be," said Tim Pearson, an ecologist and chair of the NGO Sydney Bats. </p><p>And while some Australian towns may be seeing an influx of flying foxes, nationally, their numbers have dropped significantly. </p>Perishing in the Heat
<p>Extreme temperatures over recent years have wiped out thousands — sometimes even tens of thousands — of animals at a time, with media reports showing heaps of corpses where they have fallen from trees suffering extreme heat stress.</p><p>Australia experienced the hottest November on record this year, with temperatures reaching the mid-40 degrees Celsius in some regions.</p><p>And bats are more exposed to heat in towns and suburbs where they don't have the protection of thick forest. </p><p>"This latest catastrophe to befall some of Australia's largest bat species is a symptom of a much larger problem — Australia's deforestation crisis," said Matt Brennan, head of Tasmania-based Wilderness Society. "Eastern Australia is now a designated global deforestation hotspot, alongside places like the Amazon, the Congo and Borneo." </p>Extending a Helping Hand
<p>Some towns are trying to help them. Yarra City council in Melbourne has installed sprinkler systems where flying foxes come to breed in huge colonies on the Yarra River, to try and keep them cool. </p><p>And along the Parramatta River in Sydney, the New South Wales state government has helped fund a project to plant trees to provide the bats with more habitat and shade.</p><p>However, these well-intentioned interventions don't always hit the mark. Pearson says sprinklers can startle heat-exhausted animals, increasing their stress levels. And ultimately, making urban environments more hospitable to bats is no substitute for preserving the forests where they are naturally at home.</p><p>"You can plant trees to give the flying foxes more habitat, but the real problem is climate change and ongoing deforestation," said Pearson. </p>Bats Need Forests, and Forests Need Bats
<p>While flying foxes suffer from loss of trees, loss of fruit bats is, in turn, bad news for trees. As flying foxes pop their heads into flowers to feed on nectar, or consume fruit and excrete the seeds, they help eucalypts, melaleucas, banksias and many species of rainforest trees and vines, to reproduce.</p><p>Pearson warns that if we don't address climate change and halt deforestation, Australia's flying fox numbers will fall so low within the next few decades, they will no longer be able perform this vital role.</p><p>"I think they will survive in some pockets along the coast where there is food and water," he said, "but they will not be acting as the pollinators and seed dispersers that are so necessary for our forests to survive." </p>Learning to Love Our Winged Neighbors
<p>Pearson is among the flying fox's fiercest defenders. He's studying their vocalizations and says the din their human neighbors complain about is actually the highly developed communication of an intelligent and intensely social species. </p><p>He wants the public to stop seeing them as disease-carrying invaders and start appreciating fruit bats for the extraordinary animals they are: "It's through educating people, raising awareness about how important these flying foxes are for ecosystem health that we may be able to save them."</p><p>In Grafton, spectators now sometimes gather to watch them on their nightly search for food. </p><p>"When I realized people were coming from around Australia just to see the bats here out of curiosity, I started to find out more about them, appreciate them," said Taylor. "People actually row out to the island to see them!" </p><p>"I guess the bats are kind of funky," she admits.</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/flying-foxes-australias-love-hate-relationship-with-fruit-bats/a-55949095" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2649780401#/" target="_self"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trending
A baby Sumatran rhino. Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay
By Malavika Vyawahare
Humans are driving species to extinction 1,000 times faster than what is considered natural. Now, new research underscores the extent of the planet's impoverishment.
<p>Extinctions don't just rob the planet of species but also of functional and phylogenetic diversity, the authors of a paper<em> </em><u><a href="https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1921849118" target="_blank">published</a></u> in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em> argue. "They are much newer ideas than species richness, so not as much exploration has been done about patterns of decline in these two metrics, particularly globally," said Jedediah Brodie, first author of the study and conservation biologist at the University of Montana.</p><p>For example, rhinos loom large in public imagination but are, in fact, marching into oblivion. The Bornean rhinoceros (<em>Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni</em>), a subspecies of the Sumatran rhinoceros, has <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/malaysias-last-sumatran-rhino-dies-leaving-indonesia-as-the-final-refuge/" target="_blank">gone extinct</a> in Malaysia. "It is such a tragedy because it's an iconic and culturally important species," Brodie said, "but also because they are super important both functionally and phylogenetically."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2MTk0My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MzY0NTc0MX0.qiQst_7HsVMVBDKuzWiV6fj47nzqJaiDVadD5ueGXog/img.jpg?width=980" id="c99af" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a44198ac04d55665e5bf8ea7c8bccea0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="800" />
A baby African elephant at Kruger National Park. Rhett A. Butler
<p>Harvesting animals for subsistence or sale is the greatest threat to land-dwelling mammals, the new study found. About 15% of people in the world depend on wild animals, particularly vertebrates, for food. But hunting, illegal and legal, also feeds the global supply chain for wildlife and wildlife parts.</p><p>Rhino populations plummeted in the second half of the 20th century; they are heavily poached for their horns, and their ranges have shrunk dramatically over the decades. Of the five existing rhino species, three are critically <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species">endangered</a>.</p><p>The study focused on terrestrial mammals, one of the most extensively studied groups. They used the IUCN Red List, the most widely cited and comprehensive compilation of endangered species and the threats they face.</p><p>By removing animals from their habitats, humans also remove them from ecosystems in which they evolved and play critical roles. To gauge the consequences is not a simple calculus.</p><p>"Say there are twenty species of grazing animals and only two species of seed-eating animals. If two species of the grazers go extinct, that doesn't have that much impact on the functional diversity because there are still eighteen grazers left," Brodie said. "But if the two species of seed-eating animals go extinct, it has a huge impact on functional diversity because all of a sudden you've lost this entire ecological function."</p><p>In both cases, Brodie said, the species richness would decrease by two, but the effects would be very different.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2MTk0NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MDQ1ODU3M30.gCb7rq19DrDh5HnMQWy_7Us4VRf6kFPkban7J-xWpkw/img.jpg?width=980" id="727b3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fb4e5de4d7061bab9d282e491c816047" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="768" data-height="496" />
A Bornean rhino. Jeremy Hance and Tiffany Roufs / Mongabay
<p>Despite their fearsome reputation and bulk, rhinos, some of which can weigh as much as two cars, are herbivores. Bornean rhinos are one of the few large-bodied frugivores and herbivores on Borneo, an island shared between Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. It is also home to another herbivore, the island's famous pygmy elephants. However, rhinos eat different plants than the elephants, so losing them would alter plant seed dispersal and plant evolution.</p><p>The research shows that extinctions driven by human activities lead to a more significant decline in functional diversity than if species were randomly going extinct.</p><p>"Some species groups are very vulnerable. Be an antelope, and people want to eat you. Be a parrot, and people want you as a pet. Live only on Cuba — as a subfamily of mammals does — and you're in trouble," said Stuart Leonard Pimm, an ecologist and leading authority on the extinction crisis, who was not involved in the recent study. "This leads to a disproportionate loss of ecological function as human actions drive species to extinction."</p>
<p>The disappearance of species doesn't just wipe away entire ecological functions. It also leads to the irredeemable loss of evolutionary history. Millions of years of evolution are encoded into species that coexist with humans today; to lose them is to lose that biological heritage.</p><p>The disappearance of the remaining five rhino species would sever an entire evolutionary lineage, the <em>Rhinocerotidae</em> family that arose about 40 million years ago, from the tree of life.</p><p>"They are the last remnants of what was a hugely diverse and amazing family found all across the world in the not too distant past," Brodie said of <em>Rhinocerotidae</em>, <a href="https://research.amnh.org/paleontology/perissodactyl/evolution/groups/rhinocerotidae" target="_blank">which counts more than 40 extinct</a> species.</p><p>But conservationists warn that it is not just wholesale extinctions that we should be worried about, but also disappearing populations — what Brodie and his co-authors call "biotic annihilation." Only one in every 10 dramatic declines in populations results in extinctions, but those losses have repercussions for ecosystems which experience them.</p><p>"Species extinction is an endpoint, and it's a really, really, bad endpoint. Before that happens, species will start to go extinct in individual countries first," Brodie said. "The focus on population decline is really important because it's in some ways a better illustrator of the magnitude of the extinction crisis."</p>
<p>Their research maps out the relationship between species richness and functional and phylogenetic loss for individual countries to aid national-level policymaking.</p><p>The work shows that habitat destruction results in more functional diversity loss in Indonesia, Argentina and Venezuela. "This suggests that instead of focusing on harvest management and human diets, conservation actions in these areas might be better directed toward protected areas and land use policy to best conserve this component of biodiversity," the researchers write.</p><p>The study also found that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a> is emerging as a major driver of biodiversity loss. What remains to be seen is how these relationships pan out for other animal groups, like reptiles, amphibians and birds.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/study-warns-of-biotic-annihilation-driven-by-hunting-habitat-destruction/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a></em><em>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
- Why Biodiversity Loss Hurts Humans as Much as Climate Change ... ›
- Coronavirus Pandemic Linked to Destruction of Wildlife and World's ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
The red handfish, a relative of the extinct smooth handfish. Thor Carter / CSIRO Marine Research / CC BY 3.0
By John R. Platt
A few months ago a group of scientists warned about the rise of "extinction denial," an effort much like climate denial to mischaracterize the extinction crisis and suggest that human activity isn't really having a damaging effect on ecosystems and the whole planet.
<p>That damaging effect is, in reality, impossible to deny.</p><p>This past year scientists and conservation organizations declared that a long list of species may have gone extinct, including dozens of frogs, orchids and fish. Most of these species haven't been seen in decades, despite frequent and regular expeditions to find out if they still exist. The causes of these extinctions range from diseases to invasive species to habitat loss, but most boil down to human behavior.</p><p>Of course, proving a negative is always hard, and scientists are <a href="https://therevelator.org/extinction-time/" target="_blank">often cautious about declaring species truly lost</a>. Do it too soon, they warn, and the last conservation efforts necessary to save a species could evaporate, a problem known as the Romeo and Juliet Effect. Because of that, and because many of these species live in hard-to-survey regions, many of the announcements this past year declared species <em>possibly</em> or <em>probably</em> lost, a sign that hope springs eternal.</p>
<p>And there's reason for that hope: When we devote energy and resources to saving species, it often works. A study published in 2019 found that conservation efforts have <a href="https://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/new-study-conservation-action-has-reduced-bird-extinction-rates-40" target="_blank">reduced bird extinction rates by 40%</a>. Another recent paper found that conservation actions have <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12762" target="_blank">prevented dozens of bird and mammal extinctions</a> over just the past few decades. The new paper warns that many of the species remain critically endangered, or could still go extinct, but we can at least stop the bleeding.</p><p>And sometimes we can do better than that. This year the IUCN — the organization that tracks the extinction risk of species around the world — <a href="https://www.iucn.org/news/species/202012/european-bison-recovering-31-species-declared-extinct-iucn-red-list" target="_blank">announced</a> several conservation victories, including the previously critically endangered Oaxaca treefrog (<em>Sarcohyla celata</em>), which is now considered "near threatened" due to protective actions taken by the people who live near it.</p><p>"We can turn things around. We don't just have to sit there and cry," says conservation scientist Stuart Pimm, founder of the organization Saving Nature.</p><p>But at the same time, we need to recognize what we've lost, or potentially lost. We can mourn them and vow to prevent as many others as possible from joining their ranks.</p><p>With that in mind, here are the species that scientists and the conservation community declared lost in 2020, culled from media reports, scientific papers, the IUCN Red List and my own reporting.</p>
<p><strong></strong><a href="https://therevelator.org/orchids-extinct-bangladesh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>32 orchid species in Bangladesh</strong></a> — One of the first papers of 2020 to report any extinctions announced the probable loss of 17% of Bangladesh's 187 known orchid species. Some of these still exist in other countries, but even regional extinctions (or extirpations, as they're called) tell us that we've taken a toll on our ecological habitats. A similar paper published just days later suggested that <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/inferring-the-extinction-of-species-known-only-from-a-single-specimen/446C333A40039167E16065F2A12E8B37" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nine more orchid species from Madagascar</a> may have also gone extinct.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2MTAxMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2ODgxNzQyMn0.tJZLpHZcVYq6Z9KtR08RWSxtsr-gkFp-vnF4qg5k0z4/img.jpg?width=980" id="2862b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ef8218d21aad0543b43a1bea3a5d0536" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1024" data-height="576" />
19th-century drawings of orchid species recently declared extinct in Bangladesh.
<p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/123423283/123424374" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Smooth handfish (<em>Sympterichthys unipennis</em>)</a></strong><strong> </strong>— One of the few extinctions of 2020 that received much <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/smooth-handfish-extinction-marks-a-sad-milestone/" target="_blank">media attention</a>, and it's easy to see why. Handfish are an unusual group of species whose front fins look somewhat like human appendages, which they use to walk around the ocean floor. The smooth species, which hasn't been seen since 1802, lived off the coast of Tasmania and was probably common when it was first collected by naturalists. Bottom fishing, pollution, habitat destruction, bycatch and other threats are all listed as among the probable reasons for its extinction. Even though the local fishery collapsed more than 50 years ago, the remaining handfish species are still critically endangered, so this extinction should serve as an important wake-up call to save them.</p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/plant-species-extinct-america/" target="_blank"><strong>65 North American plants</strong></a> — This past year researchers set out to determine how many plants in the continental United States had been lost. They catalogued 65, including five small trees, eight shrubs, 37 perennial herbs and 15 annual herbs. Some of these had been reported before, but for most this is the first time they've been declared extinct. The list includes <a href="https://therevelator.org/extinction-hotspot-appalachia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Marshallia grandiflora</em></a>, a large flowing plant from the American Southeast that was declared its own species this past year. Too bad it was last seen in 1919 (and has been confused with other species for even longer).</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2MTAyMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MzMzNDgzMX0.pD6u8m-1Oix9-ZrfxzUXRz8xGCqFlk58X9BpY9fYfjM/img.jpg?width=980" id="89637" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4f72d3ab355d44905ae9a6384538bf47" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1024" data-height="576" />
The original Marshallia grandiflora holotype. Smithsonian NMNH / Creative Commons
<p><strong></strong><strong>22 frog species</strong> — The IUCN this year declared nearly two dozen long-unseen Central and South American frog species as "critically endangered (possibly extinct)" — victims of the amphibian-killing <a href="https://therevelator.org/extinct-frogs-golden-goose/" target="_blank">chytrid fungus</a>. They include the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/56423/109538689" target="_blank">Aragua robber frog (<em>Pristimantis anotis</em>)</a>, which hasn't been observed in 46 years, and the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/54542/109529302" target="_blank">Piñango stubfoot toad (<em>Atelopus pinangoi</em>)</a>, which mostly disappeared in the 1980s. A single juvenile toad observed in 2008 leads scientists to say this species "is either possibly extinct or if there is still an extant population, that it is very small (<50 mature individuals)."</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/54498/54340769" target="_blank">Chiriqui harlequin frog (<em>Atelopus chiriquiensis</em>)</a> and <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/55201/54344718" target="_blank">splendid poison frog (<em>Oophaga speciosa</em>)</a> </strong>— Last seen in 1996 and 1992, these frogs from Costa Rica and Panama fell victim to the chytrid fungus and were declared extinct in December.</p><p><strong><a href="https://phys.org/news/2020-09-mite-extinctions-natural.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">15% of mite species</a> </strong>— This requires a lot more research, but a paper published this past August announced "evidence of widespread mite extinctions" since the year 2000 following similar disappearances of plants and vertebrates. Mites may not look or sound important, but they play key roles in their native ecosystems. If 15% of the world's 1.25 million mite species have been lost, we're talking more than 8,300 extinctions — a number the researchers predict will continue to rise.</p><p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ibi.12839" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Simeulue Hill mynas</strong></a> — An alarming paper called this an "extinction-in-process" of a previously undescribed bird that probably went extinct in the wild in the past two to three years due to overcollection for the songbird trade. A few may still exist in captivity — for now.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>17 freshwater fish from Lake Lanao, Mindanao, the Philippines </strong>— A combination of predatory invasive species, overharvesting and destructing fishing methods (such as dynamite fishing) wiped these lost species out. The IUCN this year listed 15 of the species as "extinct" following extensive searches and surveys; the remaining two as "critically endangered (possibly extinct)." The predators, by the way, are still doing just fine. Here are the 15 extinct species:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/18888/90996412" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes disa</em></a> — last seen in 1964.</li><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15634/90997535" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes truncatulus</em></a> – last seen in 1973.</li><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/4135/90997158" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes pachycheilus</em></a> – last seen in 1964.</li><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15633/90997194" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes palaemophagus</em></a> – last seen in 1975.</li><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/18882/90996027" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes amarus</em></a> – Last seen in 1982.</li><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/18904/90997073" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes manalak</em></a> – Once a commercially valuable fish, last seen in 1977.</li><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/18886/90996370#assessment-information" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes clemensi</em></a> – last seen in 1975.</li><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/18889/90996574" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes flavifuscus</em></a> – last seen in 1964.</li><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/18891/90996925" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes katolo</em></a> – last seen in 1977.</li><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/20687/90997252" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes palata</em></a> – last seen in 1964.</li><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/18884/90996105" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes baoulan</em></a> — last seen in 1991.</li><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/18890/90996625" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes herrei</em></a> — last seen in 1974, when just 40 pounds' worth of fish were caught.</li><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/18892/90996974" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes lanaoensis</em></a> — last seen in 1964.</li><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/12751/90997332" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes resimus</em></a> — last seen in 1964.</li><li><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/18901/90997500" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Barbodes tras</em></a> — last seen in 1976.</li></ul><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2MTA2Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMDg3Njg3M30.XLY38NFYhCjUPIJsZtRbrDzsKU8K__LTtlzc_9KvuXo/img.jpg?width=980" id="3c40e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="802d2acf447e6d0a50e10dfec771c393" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="989" data-height="882" />
Some of the extinct species from Lake Lanao. Photo © Armi G. Torres courtesy IUCN.
<p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/17365/22123157" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bonin pipistrelle (<em>Pipistrellus sturdeei</em>)</a></strong><strong> </strong>— Scientists only recorded this Japanese bat one time, back in the 19th century. The IUCN listed it as "data deficient" from 2006 to 2020, a period during which its taxonomy was under debate, but a paper published in March <a href="https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4755.1.8" target="_blank">settled that issue</a>, and the latest Red List update placed the species in the the extinct category. The Japanese government itself has listed the bat as extinct since 2014.<strong></strong></p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/44792108/44798207" target="_blank"><em>Pseudoyersinia brevipennis</em></a> </strong>— This praying mantis from France hasn't been seen since 1860. Its declared extinction comes after some extended (and still unresolved) debate over its validity as a unique species.</p><p><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/123986030/123986038" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em><strong>Agave lurida</strong></em></a> — Last seen in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 2001, this succulent was finally declared extinct in the wild this year after numerous expeditions searching for remaining plants. As the IUCN Red List notes, "There are only a few specimens left in <em>ex-situ</em> collections, which is a concern for the extinction of the species in the near future."</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/136808736/137376234" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Falso Maguey Grande (<em>Furcraea macdougallii</em>)</a> </strong>— Another Oaxacan succulent that's extinct in the wild but still exists in cultivated form (you can buy these cacti online today for as little as $15). Last seen growing naturally in 1973, the plant's main habitat was degraded in 1953 to make way for agave plantations for mezcal production. Wildfires may have also played a role, but the species' limited distribution also made it easier to kill it off: "The restricted range of the species also made it very vulnerable to small local disturbances, and hence the last few individuals were easily destroyed," according to the IUCN.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/140416589/140416594" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Eriocaulon inundatum</em></a> </strong>— Last scientifically collected in Senegal in 1943, this pipewort's only know habitat has since been destroyed by salt mining.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/113204000/113309830" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Persoonia laxa</em></a> </strong>— This shrub from New South Wales, Australia, was collected just two times — in 1907 and 1908 — in habitats that have since become "highly urbanized." The NSW government still lists it as "<a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedSpeciesApp/profile.aspx?id=20230" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">presumed extinct</a>," but the IUCN placed it fully in the "extinct" category in 2020.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/147088627/149821996" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nazareno (<em>Monteverdia lineata</em>)</a> </strong>— Scientific papers declared this Cuban flowing plant species extinct in 2010 and 2015, although it wasn't catalogued in the IUCN Red List until this year. It grew in a habitat now severely degraded by agriculture and livestock farming.<strong></strong></p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/113168368/185558142" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wynberg conebush<em> (Leucadendron grandiflorum)</em></a> </strong>— This South African plant hasn't been seen in more than 200 years and was long considered the <a href="https://wynbergresidents.wordpress.com/2016/12/01/remembering-a-lost-wynberg-flower/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">earliest documented extinction from that country</a>, although it only made it to the IUCN Red List recently. Its sole habitat "was the location of the earliest colonial farms," including vineyards.</p><p><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/113166006/185559739" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Wolseley conebush (<em>Leucadendron spirale</em>)</strong></a> — Another South African plant, this one last seen in 1933 and since extensively sought after, including high <a href="https://www.proteaatlas.org.za/ldspir.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rewards</a> for its rediscovery. The IUCN says the cause of its extinction is unknown "but is likely the result of habitat loss to crop cultivation, alien plant invasion and afforestation." Oh yeah, and it probably didn't help that in 1809 a scientist wrote that the species possessed "<a href="https://www.ispotnature.org/communities/southern-africa/view/observation/545420/the-ugly-duckling-conebush-wolseley-conebush" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">little beauty</a>" and discouraged it from further collection.</p><p><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/169838762/169838772" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em><strong>Schizothorax saltans</strong></em></a> — This fish from Kazakhstan was last seen in 1953, around the time the rivers feeding its lake habitats were drained for irrigation. The IUCN did not assess the species before this past year.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/190888/1960457" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Alphonsea hortensis</em></a> </strong>— Declared "extinct in the wild" this year after no observations since 1969, the last specimens of this Sri Lankan tree species now grow at Peradeniya Royal Botanic Garden.</p><p><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15006/22009211" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Lord Howe long-eared bat (<em>Nyctophilus howensis</em>)</strong></a> — This island species is known from a single skull discovered in 1972. Conservationists held out hope that it still existed following several possible sightings, but those hopes have now been dashed.</p><p><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/126612397/126613386" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em><strong>Deppea splendens</strong></em></a> — This IUCN declared this beautiful plant species "extinct in the wild" this year. All living specimens exist only because botanist Dennis Breedlove, who discovered the species in 1973, collected seeds before the plant's sole habitat in Mexico was <a href="https://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/view/?id=2209" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">plowed over</a> to make way for farmland. Now known as a "holy grail" for some gardeners, cultivated plants descended from Breedlove's seeds can be purchased online for as little as $16.95.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/54549/54358350" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pass stubfoot toad (<em>Atelopus senex</em>)</a> </strong>— Another Costa Rican chytrid victim, last seen in 1986.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/56782/54369332#threats" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Craugastor myllomyllon</em></a> </strong>— A Guatemalan frog that never had a common name and hasn't been seen since 1978 (although it wasn't declared a species until 2000). Unlike the other frogs on this year's list, this one disappeared before the chytrid fungus arrived; it was likely wiped out when agriculture destroyed its only habitat.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/44791445/170111359" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Spined dwarf mantis (<em>Ameles fasciipennis</em>)</a> </strong>— This Italian praying mantis was only scientifically collected once, in or around 1871, and never seen again. The IUCN says the genus's taxonomy is "rather confusing and further analysis need to be done to confirm the validity of this species." Here's what we do know, though: There are none to be found today, despite extensive surveys.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/140414966/140414986" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Scleria chevalieri</em></a> </strong>— This Senagalese plant, last seen in 1929, once grew in swamps that have since been drained to irrigate local gardens.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/33562/83804687" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hawai'i yellowwood (<em>Ochrosia kilaueaensis</em>)</a> </strong>— This tree hasn't been seen since 1927. Its rainforest habitat has been severely degraded by invasive plants and goats, as well as fires. It's currently listed as <a href="https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/5248" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">endangered</a> under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, but the IUCN declared it extinct this past year.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/38690/87708976#threats" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Roystonea stellate</em></a> </strong>— Scientists only collected this Cuban palm tree a single time, back in 1939. Several searches have failed to uncover evidence of its continued existence, probably due to conversion of its only habitats to coffee plantations.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/59376/54381158" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jalpa false brook salamander (<em>Pseudoeurycea exspectata</em>)</a> </strong>— Small farms, cattle grazing and logging appear to have wiped out this once-common Guatemalan amphibian, last seen in 1976. At least 16 surveys since 1985 did not find any evidence of the species' continued existence.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/126612753/126613426#assessment-information" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Faramea chiapensis</em></a> </strong>— Only collected once in 1953, this Mexican plant lost its cloud-forest habitat to colonialism and deforestation.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/31679/149812995" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Euchorium cubense</em></a> </strong>— Last seen in 1924, this Cuban flowing plant — the only member of its genus — has long been assumed lost. The IUCN characterized it as extinct in 2020 along with <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/35254/149816104#assessment-information" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Banara wilsonii</em></a>, another Cuban plant last seen in 1938 before its habitat was cleared for a sugarcane plantation.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/110097724/110113066#text-fields" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Aloe silicicola</em></a> </strong>— Last seen in 1920, this plant from the mountains of Madagascar enters the IUCN Red List as "extinct in the wild" due to a vague reference that it still exists in a botanical garden. Its previous habitat has been the site of frequent fires.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/157719927/89815479" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Chitala lopis</em></a> </strong>— A large fish from the island of Java, this species hasn't been seen since 1851 (although many online sources use this taxonomic name for other "featherback" fish species that still exist). It was probably wiped out by a wide range of habitat-degrading factors, including pollution, unsustainable fishing and near-complete deforestation around nearby rivers.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/140416686/140416698" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Eriocaulon jordanii</em></a> </strong>— This grass species formerly occurred in two known sites in coastal Sierra Leone, where its previous habitats were converted to rice fields in the 1950s.</p><p><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/152357598/154696297" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em><strong>Amomum sumatranum</strong></em></a> — A relative of cardamom, this plant from Sumatra was only scientifically collected once, back in 1921, and the forest where that sample originated has now been completely developed. The IUCN says one remaining cultivated population exists, so they've declared it "extinct in the wild."</p><p><a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/115696622/115696628" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Lost shark (<em>Carcharhinus obsoletus</em>)</strong></a> — This species makes its second annual appearance on this list. Scientists <a href="https://therevelator.org/lost-shark/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">described this species in 2019</a> after examining decades-old specimens, noting that it hadn't been observed since the 1930s. This year the IUCN added the species to the Red List and declared it "critically endangered (possibly extinct)."</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2MTEwMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MjE3MTkyMn0.Tm2BAY1LuWPDBgvHrdArhWA0Ah_XF7MMZfKUxEgvDxE/img.jpg?width=980" id="2d633" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="01f5eea468a9a3ea17dd3b3ef92aeb96" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" />
"Lost shark." Photo: PLOS One
<p><strong><em><a href="https://bioone.org/journals/the-bryologist/volume-123/issue-4/0007-2745-123.4.657/----Custom-HTML----iCora/10.1639/0007-2745-123.4.657.short?tab=ArticleLink" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cora timucua</a></em></strong><strong> </strong>— This lichen from Florida was just identified from historical collections through DNA barcoding. Unfortunately no new samples have been collected since the turn of the 19th century. The scientists who named the species this past December call it "potentially extinct" but suggest it be listed as critically endangered in case it still hangs on in remote parts of the highly developed state. They caution, however, that it hasn't turned up in any recent surveys.</p><p><strong><a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/202004190028.html?fbclid=IwAR33mKWioEaLjHXIBdJqOyB40tp90UA-DEi69IecBTMQ8SQUyt1fEOCGf4g" target="_blank">Dama gazelle (<em>Nanger dama</em>) in Tunisia</a> </strong>— This critically endangered species still hangs on in a few other countries, and in captivity, but the death of the last individual in Tunisia marked one more country in which the gazelle has now been extirpated and serves as a stark reminder to keep the rest from fading away.</p><p><em><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/john/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">John R. Platt</a> is the editor of The Revelator. An award-winning environmental journalist, his work has appeared in Scientific American, Audubon, Motherboard, and numerous other magazines and publications. His "Extinction Countdown" column has run continuously since 2004 and has covered news and science related to more than 1,000 endangered species. He is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and the National Association of Science Writers. John lives on the outskirts of Portland, Ore., where he finds himself surrounded by animals and cartoonists.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/species-extinct-2020" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- 503 New Species Identified in 2020, Including Endangered Monkey ... ›
- Meet Five 'Extinct' Species That Have Returned to Life - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will no longer penalize or prosecute companies when their actions cause the inadvertent death of birds. Jeff R Clow / Getty Images
By Julia Conley
Just over two weeks before President Donald Trump is set to leave the White House, his U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday finalized a rollback of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act—a law that's been in place since 1918 and which conservation groups credit with holding corporate polluters accountable for harming bird species.
<p>In what the Western Values Project called a "parting gift to Big Oil by corrupt former oil lobbyist Interior Secretary David Bernhardt," the USFWS <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/climate/trump-migratory-bird-protections.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced </a>a new rule under which the federal government will no longer penalize or prosecute companies when their actions cause the inadvertent death of birds. </p><p>In the case of oil spills like the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed more than one million birds in 2010; electrocutions by power lines; ducks and other species<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2009/03/31/syncrude-triples-number-dead-ducks-oil-sands" target="_blank"> stuck in fossil fuel tailings ponds;</a> and illegal actions like the spraying of banned pesticides, companies will no longer be held to account as long as they don't intentionally kill birds.</p>
<div id="f0f81" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e84637ab4594c5bbe67da8bb21bc0c57"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1346517062726930433" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Antithetical to its purpose, US Fish and Wildlife Service finalized a rule rolling back protections for migratory b… https://t.co/sC7gB0SX7R</div> — Aric Caplan (@Aric Caplan)<a href="https://twitter.com/CaplanComms/statuses/1346517062726930433">1609869659.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>When it was passed into law more than 100 years ago, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) made it illegal to hunt, take, capture, or kill birds from endangered species "by any means or in any manner."</p><p>Bernhardt said Tuesday the new rule "reaffirms the original meaning and intent of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act," while the Center for Western Priorities called it a "radical interpretation of the law."</p><p>"The Trump administration wants to make sure extractive industries can continue to kill birds after they leave office," said Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the group. "Secretary Bernhardt's former oil industry clients have explicitly asked for this policy change, and now he is delivering, just days before returning to the private sector. By finalizing this proposal, the Trump administration is signing the death warrants of millions of birds across the country."</p><p>Conservation groups pointed to data showing that three billion birds have been lost in North America since 1970, while six million fewer birds were counted by the Audubon Society in 2019 than previous tallies showed.</p><p>As <em>Common Dreams</em> <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/16/ecological-disaster-massive-scale-hundreds-thousands-dead-migratory-birds-southwest" target="_blank">reported</a> in September, the wildfires that overwhelmed the West Coast last year were thought to be behind the deaths of thousands of migratory birds in the southwest.</p>
<p>"This brutal blow hits America's birds when many populations are already plummeting, so it's really the last thing they need," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Trump officials are giving oil companies and other polluters a license to kill birds. Vast numbers of birds will be electrocuted by power lines, drowned in oil waste pits and killed in other easily preventable ways."<br></p><p>Advocates say the MBTA has worked in recent years to show the oil and gas industry that it will be held accountable if its activities kills birds. The federal government <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/climate/trump-migratory-bird-protections.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">reached </a>a $100 million settlement with BP after the Deepwater Horizon disaster.</p><p>Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), who was named as President-elect Biden's nominee for Interior Secretary last month, is expected to repeal the USFWS's rule, but that process could take time. Meanwhile, Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.) introduced the Migratory Bird Protection Act last year as the administration was considering the rollback, with the aim of reaffirming the original law's intent of protecting vulnerable birds—not corporations.</p><p>Advocates also expressed hope that the federal courts will strike down what Greenwald called the Trump administration's "reckless attack on one of America's oldest and most important conservation laws," as Judge Valerie Caproni of the Southern District of New York <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/12/major-victory-court-tosses-out-trump-interiors-gutting-century-old-protections" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">did in August.</a></p><p>"There is nothing in the text of the MBTA that suggests that in order to fall within its prohibition, activity must be directed specifically at birds," Caproni <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/12/major-victory-court-tosses-out-trump-interiors-gutting-century-old-protections" target="_blank">said</a> in her ruling at the time. "Nor does the statute prohibit only intentionally killing migratory birds." </p>
<div id="b6b56" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="95790fd24d47e8369de4bd6a06d03868"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1346503503238205442" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The Trump administration is kicking off the new year and its remaining weeks—and, to add insult to injury,… https://t.co/uydTahSeao</div> — Audubon Society (@Audubon Society)<a href="https://twitter.com/audubonsociety/statuses/1346503503238205442">1609866426.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Jamie Rappoport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife said the group would call on the Biden administration "to restore protections for birds immediately and affirm that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits incidental take."</p><p>"Even though a federal court already ruled that the Trump administration cannot eliminate protections for migratory birds, the administration continues its relentless campaign to undermine environmental protections and harm wildlife," said Clark. </p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/05/brutal-blow-wildlife-and-gift-big-oil-trump-finalizes-rollback-migratory-bird-treaty" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Trump Administration Pushes To Relax Rules Protecting Birds ... ›
- Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump Admin Rollback of Law ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less