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What happened to the sea stars?

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Billions of sea stars off the Pacific coast of North America from Mexico to Alaska have died from a wasting disease since 2013.  This die-off is considered to be the largest ever marine epidemic.  Over 90% of the population of sunflower sea stars has succumbed to the disease.

The result has been an explosion in the population of the sea urchins that the sea stars feed on.  In turn, the sea urchins have devoured kelp forests that provide habitat for thousands of marine creatures.  These kelp forests support a multi-million-dollar economy through fisheries and tourism as well as sequestering carbon dioxide and protecting vulnerable coastlines. 

The disease begins with lesions and eventually kills sea stars by seemingly melting their tissues over a period of about two weeks.  Sea stars with the disease become contorted and lose their arms.

For years, the definitive cause of the wasting disease has been elusive.  But researchers from the University of British Columbia, the Hakai Institute, and the University of Washington have now identified a bacterium that is the disease-causing agent.

A strain of the Vibrio pectenicida bacteria – named FHCF-3 – is responsible.  The Vibrio genus of bacteria includes pathogens that infect corals, shellfish, and even humans.  Vibrio cholerae is the cause of cholera.

Research is now underway to understand the link between the disease and warming ocean temperatures due to climate change.  The hope is that the discovery of the cause of the wasting disease will help guide management and recovery efforts for sea stars and impacted ecosystems.

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‘Disease detectives’ discover cause of sea star wasting disease that wiped out billions of sea stars

Photo, posted April 16, 2011, courtesy of Brian Gratwicke via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Abandoned farmland and the environment

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Abandoned farmland has been increasing dramatically in recent decades.  Estimates are that a billion acres – an area half the size of Australia – have been relinquished from cultivation globally.  While more and more of the tropics have been cultivated in recent times, the global amount of land used for agriculture has been in decline since 2001.  In the past 30 years, arable land in the United States has declined by almost a sixth.  The situation in Europe is similar.  Huge amounts of the former Soviet Union now lie abandoned. 

Farmland is abandoned for various reasons.  It may suffer from damaged soil so that crop yields are too low to be worth the effort.  Farm owners may become too old or be physically unable to continue farming.  Many younger people head for jobs in the cities and more attractive opportunities.  Wars, natural and man-made disasters, and political turmoil have all contributed.

Another form of largely ignored lands are so-called degraded forests.  These are forests that were logged in the past but are no longer productive and aren’t protected either.  These places also represent unused land with great potential value.

Ecologists point to the potential of these lands as neglected resources for rewilding efforts, improving biodiversity, and for increasing natural ways to capture carbon.  Left to its own devices, nature will usually reclaim abandoned places.  This generally provides benefits for biodiversity and climate.  But mapping, studying, managing, and protecting the increasingly vast tracts of abandoned land could increase their potential to contribute to climate change mitigation and the restoration of species and their habitats.

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Abandoned Lands: A Hidden Resource for Restoring Biodiversity

Photo, posted January 26, 2023, courtesy of Larry Syverson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Disappearing wetlands

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More than 170 countries gathered recently to discuss how to save wetlands, which are critical ecosystems.  However, the U.S. was a no-show for most of the summit and Russia said it will withdraw from the wetlands treaty.

Wetlands are a crucial element of all life on Earth, supplying fresh water, oxygen, habitat, and food.  The Ramsar Convention, an international treaty focused on the conservation and wise use of wetlands, is the oldest modern global environmental agreement, adopted in 1971. 

Despite this agreement, since 1970 more than 35% of wetlands have been lost or degraded.  A recent report compiled by more than 60 experts from around the world issued a dire warning that the decline of wetlands spells trouble for global food security, climate stability, and even the capacity for life on Earth to persist.

Sadly, geopolitics have overtaken even the instinct for survival.  Because of a prior resolution to monitor Ukranian wetlands harmed during Russia’s ongoing war there, Russia now intends to withdraw from the treaty.  Meanwhile, the U.S. delegate to the wetlands summit only showed up near the end of the meeting to demand that conference documents make no mention of climate change, diversity equity and inclusion, gender, UN sustainable development goals, or zero growth.

Disengagement by the United States from the world’s increasing and shared environmental problems is a global crisis that only worsens existing global crises.

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Earth’s Wetlands Are Disappearing and Global Efforts to Save Them Are Unraveling

Photo, posted October 8, 2013, courtesy of Marek Kusmin via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The benefits of agroecology

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Agroecology focuses on sustainably managing agricultural systems by applying ecological principles.  The goal is to optimize the interactions between plants, animals, humans, and the environment.

A four-year study by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology found that incorporating nature-friendly practices within farming increases biodiversity, pollination by bees, natural pest control, and the numbers of earthworms. 

The study compared three agricultural systems:  typical intensive agriculture, enhanced ecological farming, and maximized ecological farming.  Enhanced ecological farming involves planting wildflower field margins to provide habitat for bees, beetles, and spiders, and sowing overwinter cover crops to capture carbon and retain soil nutrients.  Optimized ecological farming adds planting in-field strips of wildflowers to attract beneficial insects and adding organic matter such as farmyard manure to improve soil health.

The ecological systems had increased populations of earthworms and pollinators, as well as natural predators of crop pests. 

The study concluded that while there are multiple benefits in terms of biodiversity, soil carbon, and crop yield when ecological farming systems are used, many farmers will be deterred from adopting agroecological farming practices and system because of the reduced profitability.  They argue that financial incentives such as subsidies are needed and are well worth it for the long-term sustainability of agriculture.

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Nature-friendly farming boosts biodiversity and yields but may require new subsidies 

Photo, posted July 27, 2023, courtesy of Judy Dean via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Restoring oil well sites with moss

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Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada have developed a method for restoring peatlands at tens of thousands of oil and gas exploration sites in Western Canada. 

A well pad is a prepared area used for drilling oil or gas wells, encompassing the site where drilling equipment, wellheads, and related facilities are located.  Preparing well pads involves burying native peatland vegetation under clay or sand, thereby eliminating the ability of the peatland to sequester carbon as well reducing available habitat for wildlife.

Restoring well sites has typically involved planting trees or grasses to eventually establish forests or grasslands.  The Waterloo method returns a well pad to its condition before drilling occurred and is part of ongoing efforts to restore peatlands, which are known to be even more effective for sequestering carbon than tropical forests.

The Waterloo technique involves lowering the surface of a decommissioned well site and transplanting native mosses onto it to effectively recreate a peatland.    They tested the technique to scale at an entire well pad and found that it results in sufficient water for the growth of peatland moss across large portions of the study site.

The results suggest that re-establishment of peatland vegetation on lowered well pads is possible.  The researchers plan to continue monitoring the ecosystem in the study’s well pads to confirm that the transplanted mosses will be self-sustaining over the coming decades.  They will focus on increasing the amount of water that flows from surrounding natural peatlands into the converted well pads to further optimize soil moisture. 

This work could represent an important milestone in ecological restoration.

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Restoring oil wells back to nature with moss

Photo, posted November 6, 2014, courtesy of Chris Boyer / Kestrel Aerial Services via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The human impact on biodiversity

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Biodiversity is under threat.  More and more plant and animal species are disappearing and humans are to blame.  Humans cause biodiversity loss through habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, direct exploitation, and climate change, all of which are significantly influenced by human activities.

But until now, drawing broad conclusions about human impacts on biodiversity has been difficult because a clear, global overview of how human activity affects nature across all species did not exist. Most studies have focused on specific places, impacts, or time periods.

To fill these research gaps, a research team from the University of Zurich in Switzerland and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology conducted an unprecedented synthesis study.  The researchers compiled data from around 2,100 studies that compared biodiversity at almost 50,000 sites affected by humans with similar places that hadn’t been affected by humans. 

The synthesis study, which was recently published in the journal Nature, found humans are having a highly detrimental impact on biodiversity worldwide.  In fact, not only is the number of species declining, but the composition of species communities is also changing.  On average, the number of species at impacted sites was almost 20% lower than at unaffected sites.

The study, which is one of the largest ever conducted on this topic, highlights the widespread negative impact of human activities on nature, and emphasizes the need to consider all forms of life when assessing biodiversity loss. 

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The Devastating Human Impact on Biodiversity

Photo, posted November 19, 2014, courtesy of Green Mountain Girls Farm via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Tearing down small dams to restore rivers

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There are more than 31,000 dams in the northeastern United States.  More than 4,000 of them are in the Hudson River watershed.  Most of these dams are quite small and were built in the 19th century to form ponds and to power grist, textile, paper, saw, and other kinds of mills as the region developed its industrial infrastructure.  The nonprofit organization American Rivers estimates that 85% of U.S. dams are unnecessary at best and pose risks to public safety at worst. 

Dam removals have been occurring for over 100 years, but the vast majority have taken place since the mid-2010s and have increased dramatically since the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided funding for such projects.

So far, 806 Northeastern dams have come down and hundreds more are in the pipeline.

Dam removals improve aquatic fish passage, water quality, watershed resilience, and habitat for all the organisms in river ecosystem food chains, ranging from insects to fish to otters to eagles.  Small dams have degraded habitat and altered downstream hydrology and sediment flows.  They have created warm, stagnant, low-oxygen pools that trigger algal blooms and favor invasive species.

But removing even small dams is not an easy matter.  Projects range in cost from $100,000 to $3 million and qualifying for funding – whether federal or state – requires projects to meet a variety of requirements including community support.  Not all dams can be removed, but many more should.

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How Tearing Down Small Dams Is Helping Restore Northeast Rivers

Photo, posted September 20, 2010, courtesy of Doug Kerr via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Climate change and an iconic Florida bird

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The Florida scrub-jay is a medium-sized bird native to Florida, known for its striking blue plumage and distinctive call. It is the only bird species that is entirely endemic to Florida, found mainly in the scrubby, sandy habitats of the central and southern part of the Sunshine State.

But extensive development, habitat fragmentation, and habitat degradation have caused the scrub-jay population to decline significantly over the past century. 

Another threat facing the Florida scrub-jay is climate change.  According to a new study by researchers from the Archbold Biological Station and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, warmer winters driven by climate change are causing Florida scrub-jays to nest one week earlier than they did in 1981.  This seemingly innocuous change has reduced the number of offspring raised annually by 25% since 1981. 

The research team examined 37 years of data to assess the impacts of warming on reproductive efforts.  From 1981 to 2018, the average winter temperature at Archbold Biological Station in Florida increased by 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit.  Despite increases in the number of nests built and eggs laid over the longer breeding season, Florida scrub-jays are not producing more young. 

The researchers hypothesize that warmer temperatures make the nests susceptible to predation by snakes for a longer period of the Florida spring than in the past.  The findings, which were recently published in the journal Ornithology, suggest that climate change could dampen the success of conservation efforts for this threatened species.

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Long-term study reveals warming climates threaten Florida scrub-jay

Florida Scrub-Jay

Photo, posted October 15, 2018, courtesy of Judy Gallagher via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Wildlife crossings

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Every year, there are one to two million collisions between motor vehicles and large animals in the U.S.  About 200 people are killed annually.  Counting smaller vertebrates, around a million animals are killed by vehicles each day.  Research has shown that global warming is triggering widespread species redistribution.  As a result, more and more animals are on the move, changing their habitats to escape warming temperatures and climate extremes.

This situation has created renewed interest in creating wildlife crossings.  These are various kinds of structures that allow animals to traverse human-made barriers like highways.  They include such things as a grassy overpass that allows pronghorn to run across a highway in Wyoming and a long underpass that allows tigers to scamper beneath a highway in India.

In the U.S., there are more than 1,000 wildlife crossings and there are more being built all the time.  Data shows that they are highly effective.  A study of wildlife crossings on Highway 9 through the Blue River Valley in Colorado found that they reduced wildlife-vehicle collisions by nearly 90%. 

Wildlife crossing structures can be expensive to build, costing between $500,000 and $6 million, but research has shown that the money saved by avoiding crashes can recoup these costs in just a few years along with the fact that they potentially save lives.  Federal funding is largely distributed based on areas with the highest number of wildlife-vehicle collisions, which is crucial for addressing public safety issues.  However, a recent study suggests that future proposals need to incorporate climate-driven changes in animal behavior and habitat.

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As Climate Changes Fuels Animal Movement, Will These Structures Still Help Species Cross the Road?

Photo, posted April 5, 2017, courtesy of Jeffrey Beall via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A dangerous invasive species

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Weeds are the bane of every gardener’s existence.  They pop up, uncontrolled and unwelcome, and must be tediously managed time and time again.  But in some cases, weeds are more than just a nuisance.  Some are a public health hazard. 

Meet giant hogweed.  Native to Europe’s Caucasus Mountains, giant hogweed belongs to the carrot family. The plant resembles Queen Anne’s Lace – on steroids. Giant hogweed can grow up to 15 feet tall with three inch stems, five-foot-wide leaves, and an umbrella-like canopy of white flowers.

Botanists brought giant hogweed to England as an ornamental plant in the 1890s.  It made its way to the U.S. via horticultural channels.  In fact, one of the first specimens was planted in a Victorian garden near Rochester, NY.  

As with most invasive plants, it quietly escaped cultivation. In the U.S., giant hogweed can be found in New England, the Mid-Atlantic Region, and the Northwest, with plants preferring moist habitat near roadside ditches and stream banks.   

While a seemingly innocent flowering plant, giant hogweed is actually one of the most hazardous plants in the U.S.  Brushing against or breaking the plant releases sap that, when combined with sunlight and moisture, can cause severe burn-like lesions, blistering sores, and purplish or blackened scars.  Getting sap in your eyes can result in temporary or even permanent blindness.

With each plant dropping up to 120,000 seeds, it’s no surprise that giant hogweed is proving difficult to eradicate.

If you suspect giant hogweed is growing near you, photograph the plant from a safe distance and report the sighting to local environmental authorities. 

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Plant Pest Risk Assessment for Giant Hogweed

Giant Hogweed

Photo, posted March 22, 2021, courtesy of Scottish Invasive Species Initiative via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Artificial reefs

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The coral reefs that surround tropical islands are a refuge for a wide variety of marine life and also form a natural buffer against stormy seas.  The changing climate is bleaching coral reefs and breaking them down.  Extreme weather events are becoming more common and are threatening coastal communities with flooding and erosion.

Researchers at MIT are designing architected reefs – sustainable offshore structures that mimic the wave-buffering effects of natural reefs and can also provide habitats for fish and other marine life.

There are already artificial reefs in a number of places used to protect coastlines.  These are typically made from sunken ships, retired oil and gas platforms, and even assemblies of concrete, metal, car tires, and stones.  Generally, it takes quite a lot of material to form an effective barrier to waves.

The MIT group has developed a cylindrical structure surrounded by four rudder-like slats.  Their experiments have shown that when this structure stands in the way of a wave, it efficiently breaks the wave and creates turbulent jets that dissipate the energy in the wave.  The engineers calculated that the new design could reduce as much wave energy as existing artificial reefs but use 10 times less material.

Based on the initial experiments with lab-scale prototypes, these artificial reefs would reduce the energy of incoming waves by more than 95%.

Coral reefs are only found in tropical waters, whereas these artificial reefs don’t depend on temperature and could be placed along any coastline for protection.  In a time of rising seas and increasingly frequent storms, these artificial reefs may be just what coastlines need.

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Artificial reef designed by MIT engineers could protect marine life, reduce storm damage

Photo, posted December 9, 2010, courtesy of Phoenix Wolf-Ray via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Otters to the rescue

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California sea otters were hunted almost to extinction in the 19th century.  Only a small number survived along California’s central coast.  But over time, the otters recovered and increasingly recolonized their former habitats.

Sea otters are playing an important role in safeguarding California’s kelp forests and marshlands against the harmful effects of climate change.

Over much of the 20th century, increasing ocean heat had devastated underwater kelp forests by driving a population explosion of sea urchins that devour kelp.  But sea otters eat urchins and as the sea otter population has grown, kelp has flourished.  According to a new study published in PLOS Climate, the underwater kelp canopy along the central coast increased by 56% since 2016.  Kelp forests have become more extensive and resilient to climate change wherever sea otters have reoccupied the California coastline.

At the same time, sea otters started recolonizing their former habitat in a central California estuary several decades ago and erosion has slowed by as much as 90%.  The main reason is that otters love to eat the marsh crabs that were devouring the plants in this coastal ecosystem.  The marsh plants establish dense root systems that can withstand waves and flooding.  It would cost millions of dollars for humans to rebuild creekbanks and restore these coastal marshes.  Instead, sea otters have been stabilizing them for free in exchange for a crab feast.

Sea otters are playful creatures that people enjoy watching.  It turns out that they are also very valuable ecosystem engineers that are helping to mitigate the effects of the warming climate.

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How Sea Otters Are Protecting the California Coast Against Climate Change

Photo, posted May 17, 2021, courtesy of Michael L. Baird via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The importance of Alaska’s National Forests

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The world’s forests play a crucial role in taking carbon out of the atmosphere and mitigating the effects of climate change.  An analysis of U.S. national forests shows that two southern Alaskan forests are key to meeting climate and biodiversity goals.

The Tongass Forest in Alaska is America’s largest national forest, encompassing 16.7 million acres.  Alaska’s Chugach Forest is the country’s second largest at just under 7 million acres.  These two forests are not only the largest national forests, they are also the most intact. 

A study by researchers at the Oregon State University College of Forestry looked at 152 national forests and compared them in terms of carbon density and accumulation, total biomass carbon stocks, habitat for eagles, bears, and wolves, and landscape integrity – which is the extent of modification by human activity.  According to the study, almost 31% of all high-landscape-integrity area found in national forests is in the Tongass and Chugach forests.  The Tongass alone represents over 25%.

These forests are cool and wet.  Their carbon stocks are only minimally affected by wildfire, unlike many other forests in the lower 48 states.  Given the size and stability of the two forests, protecting them is a high priority for making it possible to meet global goals relating to climate and diversity of species.

Ecosystems remove about 30% of all the carbon dioxide humans put into the atmosphere and intact forests with high carbon density do most of that work.  Protecting Alaska’s forests is crucial.

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Southern Alaska’s national forests key to meeting climate, conservation goals, OSU study shows

Photo, posted August 4, 2014, courtesy of Jeff Canon via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Aphids And Monarchs | Earth Wise

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Last year, the monarch butterfly was officially designated as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.  Estimates are that the overall population of the species has dropped between 20% and 90% over the past several decades. 

The migratory western population of monarchs is at the greatest risk of extinction, having declined by as much as 99.9% between the 1980s and 2021.  Legal and illegal logging and deforestation to make space for agriculture and urban development has destroyed much of the butterflies’ winter shelter in Mexico and California and pesticides and herbicides throughout the butterflies’ range kills both the butterflies and the milkweed that their larvae feed on.

A new study by the University of Florida has found that aphids feeding on the milkweed that grows across the southern portions of the US causes the butterflies to lay fewer eggs on the plants and the caterpillars developing on those plants were slower to mature.  The study showed that monarch laid three times as many eggs on aphid-free plants as they did on aphid-infested plants.

For years, there have been efforts to plant milkweed in urban areas to support monarch populations.  However, aphids and other insect pests often reach high densities on plants in urban settings. 

The researchers are advising home gardeners in the southern U.S. who want to conserve monarch butterflies to make use of safe techniques to limit aphid populations such as insecticidal soap.  This may not always be an option and the researchers are investigating other options to keep aphids at low levels that aren’t harmful to monarchs.

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Aphids make tropical milkweed less inviting to monarch butterflies, study finds

Photo, posted October 12, 2018, courtesy of Renee Grayson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Top Fish Predators And Climate Change | Earth Wise

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Climate change is taking its toll on forests, farms, freshwater sources, and the economy, but ocean ecosystems remain the epicenter of global warming.  In fact, oceans have absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions since the 1970s.

As a result, many marine fish species are responding to ocean warming by relocating towards the poles.  According to new research recently published in the journal Science Advances, climate change is causing widespread habitat loss for some of the ocean’s top fish predators, driving these species northward.

The research team studied 12 species of highly migratory fish predators, including sharks, tuna, and billfish, such as marlin and swordfish, inhabiting the Northwest Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.  These two regions are undergoing rapid changes in sea surface temperatures, and are among the fastest warming ocean regions on earth.

The research, which was led by researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, with collaboration from San Diego State University, NOAA, and several other U.S. institutions, found that most species will encounter widespread habitat losses by 2100.  Some species could lose upwards of 70% of suitable habitat by that year.  Areas offshore of the Southeast United States and Mid-Atlantic coasts were identified as likely hotspots of multi-species habitat loss. 

According to the researchers, strategies for managing fish have historically been static. But marine systems need to be treated as dynamic and changing.  This study helps provide the scientific data needed for marine conservation and fisheries management efforts.

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Top fish predators could suffer wide loss of suitable habitat by 2100 due to climate change

Photo, posted March 18, 2015, courtesy of Kenneth Hagemeyer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Endangered Plants And The Changing Climate | Earth Wise

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Plants are a critical resource because of the countless ways they support life on Earth. Plants release oxygen into the atmosphere, absorb carbon dioxide, and provide food and habitat for humans and wildlife.  Plants are also used to produce fibers, building materials, and medicines. 

Plants form the backbone of natural ecosystems, and absorb about 30% of all the carbon dioxide emitted by humans each year.  But plants are struggling to adapt in a human-dominated world.  Even though they are easier and cheaper to protect than animals, plants are often overlooked in conservation efforts.

Ironically, conservation efforts appear to be overlooking a key threat to endangered plants.  According to a new study led by researchers from Penn State University, all plants and lichens listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act are sensitive to climate change, but there are few plans in place to address that threat directly. 

The threat that climate change poses to endangered plants and lichens had not been thoroughly evaluated in more than a decade.  In the study, which was recently published in the journal PLOS Climate, the research team adapted existing assessment tools used to examine the threat of climate change for wild animals and applied them to 771 endangered plant species.  The researchers found that all endangered plant and lichen species are at least slightly threatened by climate change, and little is being done to protect the listed species from that threat.

The researchers hope their findings will be used to aid future conservation planning.  After all, plants can live without humans, but humans cannot live without plants.

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Climate change threatens 771 endangered plant and lichen species

Photo, posted June 12, 2014, courtesy of Mark Freeth via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Beaver Believers | Earth Wise

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Beavers are ecosystem engineers based on their ability to construct dams and create ponds.  By doing so, they create wetland habitat for other species.  They create biodiversity by allowing plant species to emerge in new places as they clear out existing trees and other plants.  Beavers improve water quality and their dams store water during droughts.  Their handiwork minimizes flood risk and mitigates flooding impacts.

Before beavers were widely trapped, there were beaver dams just about everywhere in the American west.  Now beaver rewilding is trying to restore many western ecosystems. In places like Idaho, ranchers have gone from seeing beavers as a nuisance to actually recruiting them onto their land.  One cattle rancher began stream restoration on his land with beaver rewilding in 2014.  By 2022, he was a firm “beaver believer”.  There are now over 200 beaver dams along Birch Creek near Preston, Idaho, and the stream now flows 40 days longer into the year.

NASA has established a team to investigate the extent to which beavers can have an outsized and positive impact on local ecosystems.  The team is using NASA’s Earth Observation satellites to observe the effects beavers are having.  Satellites can collect data from large areas and can pass over the same areas regularly and across seasons.  The goal is to support people on the ground who are implementing beaver rewilding efforts to increase water availability and to increase habits for fish and other species.  NASA’s project will run through 2025 and it plans to expand it to other states with similar terrain and water management strategies.

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Researchers Become “Beaver Believers” After Measuring the Impacts of Rewilding

Photo, posted February 23, 2021, courtesy of Deborah Freeman via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Value Of Seagrass | Earth Wise

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Seagrasses are found in shallow salty and brackish waters in many places around the world, from the tropics to the Arctic Circle.  They get their name from their long green, grass-like leaves.  They are not seaweeds at all but are more closely related to flowering plants on land. 

We hear a lot about threatened ocean ecosystems and most of the attention is on coral reefs and coastal mangrove forests.  Seagrass meadows get much less press, but they in fact provide wide-ranging services to society and store a great deal of carbon.

A new study by the University of Michigan demonstrates that seagrass ecosystems should be high up on the global conservation agenda.  The study puts a dollar value on the many services – which include storm protection, fish habitat, and carbon storage – provided by seagrasses in the Caribbean.  The numbers are enormous.

The researchers estimate that the Caribbean holds up to half of the world’s seagrass meadows by surface area, and it contains about a third of the global carbon storage by seagrasses.  They calculated that the Caribbean seagrasses provide about $255 billion in services to society each year, which includes $88 billion in carbon storage.

In the Bahamas alone, ecosystems services provided by seagrasses are valued at more than 15 times the country’s 2020 gross domestic product.

Blue carbon is the name used to describe carbon stored in coastal and open-ocean ecosystems.  The idea of selling blue carbon offset credits, which monetize the carbon stored in this way, is gaining traction.  For many Caribbean nations, this is likely to provide impetus for protecting seagrass ecosystems from human impacts, including nutrient pollution and overfishing.

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Caribbean seagrasses provide services worth $255B annually, including vast carbon storage, study shows

Photo, posted June 27, 2023, courtesy of Daniel Eidsmoe via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Cryo Conservation | Earth Wise

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Recent studies have shown that there has been a 69% decline in global animal populations since 1970.  There is a biodiversity crisis in the world.  In the face of this situation, there is a growing interest in using cold storage to preserve genetic samples taken from animals threatened with extinction.

Just as egg-freezing is used to preserve human fertility for a later date, the cryogenic freezing of genetic material from animals could be important in reducing species extinctions.  Living cell banks – also known as cryobanks – could preserve genetic materials from animals that include skin cells, embryos, semen, and live tissues.  These materials could be cultured and used for various applications including DNA extraction, assisted reproduction, ensuring genetic diversity in animal populations, and potentially reintroducing species back into their natural habitats.

There is a facility called the Frozen Zoo at the San Diego Wildlife Alliance which has genetic material from 965 different species, including 5% of the vertebrates currently listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List.  Further sampling from zoos and aquariums could increase that representation to almost 17%.

Genetic samples of 50% of the species currently listed as extinct in the wild are already represented in the Frozen Zoo.  Further sampling from the zoological community could increase this number to 91%.  This could provide a critical lifeline for these species that are on the brink of extinction.  As wildlife populations continue to decline around the world, it is more critical than ever to collect and preserve genetic samples from threatened species.

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Cryo conservation – a cool solution to saving species from extinction

Photo, posted September 30, 2018, courtesy of Andy Morffew via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A New Deep-Sea Reef In The Galapagos | Earth Wise

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Like in many other places around the world, ocean warming has mostly destroyed the shallow-water reefs in the Galapagos Islands.  The islands are some of the most carefully protected places in the world, but they can’t escape the effects of a warming planet.

Recently, however, scientists have discovered a healthy, sprawling coral reef hidden deep under the sea in the Galapagos.  More than 1,300 feet underwater, the reef extends for several miles along the ridge of a previously unknown volcano in the Galapagos Marine Preserve.

The reef is pristine and is teeming with all sorts of marine life including pink octopus, batfish, squat lobsters, and a variety of deep-sea fish, sharks, and rays.

The expedition that discovered the new reef was led by the University of Essex in the UK.  Prior to this discovery, scientists thought that coral reefs were all but gone from the Galapagos.  A period of ocean warming in 1982 through 1983 wiped out more than 95% of the corals in the archipelago.  Only a few reefs in shallow waters remained.  The newly discovered reefs are sheltered deep under the sea and would have been protected from the deadly heat.

According to the scientists from the expedition, the newly discovered reef potentially has global significance because it represents a site that can be monitored over time to see how such a pristine habitat evolves with the ongoing climate crisis.  Reefs like this are clearly very old because coral reefs take a long time to grow. Finding this one means that it is likely that there are more healthy reefs across different depths that are waiting to be discovered.

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Pristine Deep-Sea Reef Discovered in the Galápagos

Photo, posted March 28, 2009, courtesy of Derek Keats via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)