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Surviving Climate Change | Earth Wise

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The sixth mass extinction of wildlife on Earth is happening now.  According to an analysis published last year in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, more than 500 species of land animals are on the brink of extinction and are likely to be lost within the next 20 years. Without the impact of humans, this quantity of extinctions would have taken thousands of years. 

Anthropogenic climate change continues to exacerbate problems that drive species to the brink.  Which species will be able to adapt and survive?

Using genome sequencing, a research team from McGill University in Montreal has found that some fish, like the threespine stickleback, can adapt very rapidly to extreme seasonal changes. Known for their different shapes, sizes, and behaviors, stickleback fish can live in both saltwater and freshwater, and can tolerate a wide range of temperatures.

Stickleback fish, which can be found in different estuaries along coastal California, provided researchers with an opportunity to study natural selection in real-time.  The researchers analyzed six populations of threespine stickleback fish before and after seasonal changes to their environment.   The research team discovered evidence of genetic changes driven by the seasonal shifts in habitat that mirrored the differences found between long-established freshwater and saltwater populations.  Since these genetic changes occurred in independent populations over a single season, the study highlights just how quickly the effects of natural selection can be detected. 

These findings suggest that scientists may be able to use the genetic differences that evolved in the past as a way to predict how species may adapt to climate change in the future.

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Which animals will survive climate change?

Sixth Mass Extinction of Wildlife Accelerating- Study

Photo, posted August 3, 2015, courtesy of Jason Ching/University of Washington via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Vanishing Kelp Forests | Earth Wise

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Bull kelp is the dominant species in offshore kelp forests north of Santa Cruz, California along the west coast of North America.  Bull kelp has similar physical structures to terrestrial plants; it anchors to the ocean floor with root-like structures called holdfasts, and has stem-like structures called stipes from which leaf-like blades stretch out through the water, absorbing nutrients and sunshine.

These giant seaweeds form lush underwater forests in northern California’s coastal waters and have long provided critical habitat for many species like salmon, crabs, and jellyfish.  But now, for much of the California coast, only a few patches of bull kelp remain.

A team from University of California Santa Cruz has studied satellite images of about 200 miles of coastline.  They found that starting in 2014, the area covered by kelp has dropped by more than 95%. 

The die-off was driven in part by an underwater heat wave that depleted nutrients in the water and made it harder for the kelp to grow.  Making matters much worse, populations of purple sea urchins, which eat kelp, have exploded in the region because of overfishing and other reductions in urchin predators such as sea otters.  The sea urchins eat kelp holdfasts, creating so-called urchin barrens where their destructive grazing has decimated kelp forests.

Bull kelp is a species at high risk of becoming endangered.  In coming decades, more marine heatwaves are expected.  These events as well as stronger El Niños will become more common and frequent with climate change.  Between these thermal events and the sea urchins, it will be difficult for kelp forests to survive.

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Ninety-five percent of bull kelp forests have vanished from 200-mile stretch of California coast

Photo, posted October 28, 2015, courtesy of Florian Graner/Green Fire Productions via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Protecting The Ocean Has Multiple Benefits | Earth Wise

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An international team of authors from 18 institutions has recently published a paper in the journal Nature that offers a solution that addresses several of humanity’s most pressing problems at the same time.  The paper provides a comprehensive assessment of where strict ocean protection can contribute to a more abundant supply of healthy seafood, help address climate change, and protect embattled species and habitats.

The study identified specific areas of the ocean that could provide all of these benefits if they were protected.  Currently, only about 7% of the ocean is under any kind of protection.  According to the study, if the appropriate 30% of the ocean was protected by the actions of the relevant countries by 2030, the cited benefits would be realized.

Safeguarding these regions would protect nearly 80% of marine species while increasing fishing catches by almost 9 million tons a year. It would also prevent the release of more than 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide by protecting the seafloor from bottom trawling, which is a widespread and destructive fishing practice.

Ocean life has been declining worldwide because of overfishing, habitat destruction, and climate change.  The study pioneers a new way to identify the places that – if protected – will boost food production and safeguard marine life, while at the same time reducing carbon emissions.  The study finds that countries with large national waters and large industrial trawl fisheries have the highest potential to contribute to climate change mitigation by protecting the carbon stored on the ocean floor.  The ocean covers 70% of the Earth and its importance in solving the challenges of our time must not be underestimated.

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Three Times the Gains

Photo, posted January 10, 2016, courtesy of Hafsteinn Robertsson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Protecting Nature Is Valuable | Earth Wise

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A study by the University of Vermont, the University of Cambridge, and several other institutions compared the value of protecting nature at particular locations with that of exploiting it.   The study concluded that the economic benefits of conserving or restoring natural sites outweigh the profit potential of converting them for intensive human use.

The study analyzed dozens of sites across the globe – from Kenya to Fiji and China to the UK across six continents.  It was published in the journal Nature Sustainability.

The analysis utilized a methodology devised ten years ago called TESSA (the Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment) which enables users to measure, and in many cases, assign monetary values to services provided by sites – clean water, nature-based recreation, crop pollination, and so on.  This is then compared with the economic benefits that can be derived by converting the site for farming, logging, or other human uses.

A major economic benefit of natural sites comes from their ability to sequester carbon and thereby help regulate the quantity of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  If one assigns a value to global society of $31 a ton of carbon removed, over 70% of the sites surveyed had a greater value to society when kept natural rather than being converted.  Many scientists actually consider this carbon price to be conservative.  Nevertheless, if carbon is assigned the paltry cost of $5 a ton, 60% of the sites are still more valuable in their natural state.

Beyond these economic calculations, there is the pressing issue that current rates of habitat conversion are driving a species extinction crisis unprecedented in human history.  But even if one is only interested in dollars and cents, conserving and restoring nature is now very often the best bet for human prosperity.

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Economic Benefits of Protecting Nature Exceed Value of Exploiting it, Global Study Finds

Photo, posted June 7, 2017, courtesy of Mouli Choudari via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Transmission Lines And Wildlife Habitat Connectivity | Earth Wise

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Electrical transmission lines and their support towers tend to be a blight on the landscape but are something modern society cannot avoid.  Power transmission networks – with towers every 200 meters or so of line – are in place throughout the world’s developed nations.  Another common feature of developed nations is the fragmentation of animal species caused by human activity breaking up their natural habitats.

It is important for biodiversity conservation for animals to get their environments connected.   It turns out that transmission line infrastructure can provide an important tool for reconnecting wildlife habitats.

In a study conducted in Spain’s Andalusia region, scientists planted native shrubs and seedlings under six towers along power lines running through cereal cropland.  The area of each tower base was 100 square meters.

Compared to four control sites, the researchers measured increased population density and diversity among arthropods and small mammals observed in the four-year study. 

Enhancing connectivity through networks of habitat corridors or stepping-stone patches has become a key concept in conservation biology and landscape ecology.  Renting or buying large parcels of land to connect protected natural areas to one another would be cost prohibitive but planting suitable native shrubs and other flora under existing transmission line networks can provide many of the same benefits.

In general, power companies pay rent to landowners – often farmers or agribusinesses – for the rights to place towers on their land.  Because it is difficult to work the areas under towers with farm equipment, that space is typically unused, which opens the door to low-cost efforts by environmentalists.

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Electrical transmission lines have power to enhance habitat connectivity for wildlife

Photo, posted April 29, 2018, courtesy of Georgi Todorov/digitalnovas.com via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Oil Platforms And Biodiversity | Earth Wise

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We have previously reported on the important role that offshore oil platforms seem to play for fish.  In short, the support structures of offshore oil platforms that often rise hundreds of feet through the water column create essentially a prefabricated reef for marine life.

According to a new study recently published in the British journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence, the large gatherings of fish around oil and gas platforms attract harbour porpoises searching for food – despite the fact that noise from industrial activities normally scares porpoises away.    

Harbour porpoises are one of the smallest whale species and the only whale species that’s known to breed in Danish waters.  The species has been protected in Danish waters since 1967.  Previous studies have demonstrated that underwater noises from sources like shipping and industry typically scare porpoises away. 

But according to new research from scientists at Aarhus University in Denmark, there are actually more porpoises around the largest Danish oil platform – Dan F – in the North Sea than there are within the three to ten kilometers surrounding the platform.  The research team found that the platform acts as a natural reef where porpoises can find favorable habitat and food. 

Currently, the international OSPAR convention requires that all decommissioned oil and gas platforms be removed from the ocean.  But according to researchers, leaving the old platforms in the ocean to serve as artificial reefs is actually more beneficial to the marine environment. 

In the Gulf of Mexico, the United States program Rigs to Reefs has converted 558 oil and gas platforms into artificial reefs.

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Harbor porpoises attracted to oil platforms when searching for food

Photo, posted March 26, 2008, courtesy of Dave Herholz via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Collapse of Northern California Kelp Forests | Earth Wise

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For thousands of years, thick canopies of kelp formed an underwater forest spanning the coast of Northern California.  Kelp is the cornerstone of a rich subtidal community, providing food and habitat for all sorts of marine creatures.  But in recent years, a shocking transformation has occurred.  Satellite imagery reveals that the area covered by kelp forests off the coast of Northern California has declined by more than 95%.  Only a few small, isolated patches remain.  

In a new study, researchers at the University of California Santa Cruz found that the kelp forest decline was an abrupt collapse as opposed to a gradual decline. 

According to the study, which was recently published in the journal Communications Biology, kelp forests north of San Francisco were resilient to warming events in the past, like El Niños and marine heatwaves. But the decline of a key sea urchin predator – the sunflower sea star – from sea star wasting disease caused the kelp forests’ resiliency to plummet.  Sea urchins are voracious consumers of kelp.     

But it was a series of events – not just the sea urchins – that combined to decimate the Northern California kelp forest.   A marine heatwave that became known as “the blob” developed in 2014 and moved down the West Coast in 2015.  Around the same time, a strong El Niño event developed and brought warmer water up the coast from the south.  The warming ocean waters combined with the ravenous sea urchin population resulted in the dramatic decline of kelp. 

According to researchers, the prospects for a Northern California kelp forest recovery remain poor unless sea urchin predators return to the ecosystem. 

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The collapse of Northern California kelp forests will be hard to reverse

Photo, posted August 13, 2019, courtesy of Sara Hamilton of OSU College of Science via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Hudson River Tidal Marshes And Sea Level Rise | Earth Wise

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A new study at the University of Massachusetts Amherst looked at the resilience of Hudson River Estuary marshes to rising sea levels.  They observed that these marshes are growing upward at a rate two or three times faster than sea level rise, suggesting that they should be resilient to accelerated sea level rise in the future.

The study documented the fact that more than half of Hudson River tidal marshes actually formed since 1850.  In that year, the river channel was straightened, and a riverside railroad, berms, jetties and human-made islands of dredged soil were built.  All of these human-made features trapped sediment and created backwaters that often turned into marshes.

The research centered on seven sites spanning more than 100 miles of the Hudson Estuary from Wall Street up to Albany.  Although these marshes were an unintended result of early industrial development, they serve to protect the shoreline and provide rich ecosystems in terms of direct ecological and human benefits.  Marshes are a first line of defense against coastal flooding, provide an essential habitat for juvenile commercial fish species, store huge amounts of carbon that mitigates climate change, provide habitat for migratory birds, and filter nutrients coming off the land.

The study determined that such marches form relatively quickly.  When sediment is readily available, freshwater tidal wetlands can develop rapidly in sheltered settings.   There is concern that marshes globally will be drowned by rising sea levels, but this Hudson River case study shows how marshes may be able to resist the rising seas.  The research will help guide future land acquisition and land conservation strategies for areas adjacent to the river.

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New Study Finds More than Half of Hudson River Tidal Marshes were Created Accidentally by Humans; Resilient Against Sea Level Rise

Photo, posted December 4, 2008, courtesy of Daina Dajevskis via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Return Of The Blue Whales | Earth Wise

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An international research team has revealed that critically endangered Antarctic blue whales have returned to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, 50 years after whaling just about wiped them out.  Other recent research has found that humpback whales are also returning to the region.

Blue whales were commonplace off South Georgia before 20th century industrial whaling taking place between 1904 and 1971 killed over 42,000 of them there.  Most of that number were killed before the mid-1930s.  As a result, blue whales essentially vanished from the region.  Whale survey ships sighted only a single blue whale between 1998 and 2018.

But things have changed in recent years.  A survey this past February resulted in 58 blue whale sightings and numerous acoustic detections.  Although commercial whaling was banned in the area in the 1960s, it has taken a long time for the whales to make a comeback.

Researchers are not sure why blue whales have taken so long to return to the area.  It may be that so many were killed over the years that the remaining population had little or no cultural memory of South Georgia Island as a foraging ground, and that it is only now being rediscovered.

In total, 41 individual blue whales have been photo-identified from South Georgia over the past 10 years, although none of those matched the 517 whales in the current Antarctic blue whale photographic catalogue.  Dedicated whale surveys are difficult in a region known for its harsh weather and inaccessibility but are crucial to the future management of South Georgia’s seas.  In any case, researchers see the recent sightings as a very positive step forward for conservation of the Antarctic blue whale. 

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Blue whales return to South Georgia after near extinction

Photo, posted September 7, 2007, courtesy of the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries via Flickr. Photo credit: NOAA.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

COVID-19 And The Wildlife Trade | Earth Wise

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Historically, many diseases have jumped from animals to people with serious consequences for the human host.  In fact, coronaviruses alone have caused outbreaks in humans three times in the past 20 years:  SARS, MERS, and COVID-19.  The majority of human pathogens that caused substantial damage to human health and economies during the past three decades have originated from wildlife or livestock.

According to a team of researchers from the University of Göttingen and other international institutions, more epidemics from animal hosts are inevitable unless urgent action is taken.  In order to help  protect against future pandemics, which could be even more severe than the current one, the researchers published a series of suggestions for governments to consider in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution.

The research team calls for governments around the world to establish effective legislation to do three things:  address the wildlife trade, protect habitats, and reduce the interaction between people, wildlife, and livestock. 

The wildlife trade and habitat fragmentation both facilitate disease outbreaks by increasing the potential for contact between humans and animals. Animals in wildlife markets are often kept in crowded and unsanitary conditions, which creates fertile breeding grounds for pathogens to jump to humans. Animals and humans are also forced closer together when natural habitats are cleared or otherwise fragmented in order to meet the various needs of a growing global population.  

Since the Covid-19 outbreak, China, Vietnam, and South Korea have introduced regulations to better manage the wildlife trade as well as support wildlife conservation.  According to the researchers, these actions serve as examples for other countries to consider.  The status quo isn’t good enough. 

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COVID-19 highlights risks of wildlife trade

Photo, posted August 23, 2010, courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region via Flickr. Photo credit: Rosie Walunas/USFWS.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Palm Oil Replacement | Earth Wise

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In the 1990s, cardiovascular health issues associated with partially hydrogenated oils containing harmful trans fats became a focus of great concern.  As a result, food companies looked for substitutes and the alternative they identified was palm oil.  Its ability to remain solid at room temperature made it well suited for many food applications.  Unfortunately, that property stems from its high saturated fat content, which means it also increases the risk of coronary heart disease.

The widespread use of palm oil has also caused significant environmental problems.  Palm oil plantations have replaced millions of acres of tropical forests, destroying the habitat for numerous species and threatening biodiversity.

Other potential replacements for partially hydrogenated oils such as coconut oil tend to be more costly, limited in supply, and also high in saturated fats.

Food scientists at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, recently demonstrated the use of enzymatic glycerolysis (EG) to turn liquid vegetable oils into solid fats.  Their process is able to produce solid fats with the textural and structural properties desired by consumers.

The process is fairly simple, relatively easy to scale up, and is amenable to smaller food production or even local production.  Using it would enable food producers to use all sorts of readily available vegetable oils that can be produced in parts of the world that are not necessarily tropical regions.

Palm oil use is not going to go away, but this work may point a way to help slow down the destruction of ecosystems and animal habitats as well lead to more sustainable and healthy food sources.

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U of G Food Scientists Find Palm Oil Alternative That’s Good for Human, Planet Health

Photo, posted February 21, 2010, courtesy of Craig Morey via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Artificial Reefs As Havens For Marine Predators | Earth Wise

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Climate change, pollution, development and other stresses have accelerated the decline of reef ecosystems across much of the world’s oceans in recent years.  Large predators such as sharks, mackerels, barracudas, jacks and others that formerly fed around reefs have had to venture outside their normal migratory routes in search of suitable alternatives.

According to a new study by Duke University, marine predators have taken up residence at shipwrecks and other artificial reefs.  The study surveyed 30 sites along the North Carolina coast and found that predator densities were up to five times larger at the 14 artificial reefs surveyed than at the 16 natural reefs in the survey.

Shipwrecks, particularly those that rose between 4 and 10 meters up into the water column, were a big favorite of the fishes.  Some of those sites supported predator densities up to 11 times larger than natural reefs or low-profile artificial reefs.  The shipwrecks are basically high-rise timeshares in the sea.

The findings of the survey show that artificial reefs can support large predators, supplementing natural reefs if the design and placement of the artificial reefs are appropriate.  In addition, when it comes to designing artificial reefs, there appears to be a height advantage.  So, reefs either made from sunken ships or at least made to resemble them would be desirable.

Because undersea predators help maintain healthy and sustainable populations of species lower in the food web, providing suitable habitat for the predators is extremely important.  Based on the study, it appears that the strategic use of artificial reefs can be an effective way to help counter the increasing loss of natural habitat on the ocean bottom.

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Artificial Reefs Take on a Towering Presence as Havens for Marine Predators

Photo, posted July 29, 2014, courtesy of NOAA Photo Library via Flickr. Photo credit: Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Climate Change and Komodo Dragons | Earth Wise

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The Komodo dragon is the world’s largest and most iconic lizard.  Growing up to 10 feet long and weighing up to 360 pounds, Komodo dragons are endemic to five islands in southeast Indonesia, four of which are part of Komodo National Park, as well as a fifth that has three nature reserves.  Komodo dragons have existed on earth for at least four million years, and it’s estimated that 4,000 of them survive in the wild today.

But according to a new study by researchers from the University of Adelaide and Deakin University in Australia, Komodo dragons could soon be driven to extinction.  The research team found that the impacts of both global warming and sea level rise are likely to cause a sharp decline in  available habitat for Komodo dragons.  Current conservation strategies are not enough to avoid climate-driven Komodo dragon population declines. 

The study, which was recently published in the journal Ecology and Evolution, involved close collaboration with Komodo National Park and the Eastern Lesser Sunda Central Bureau for Conservation of Natural Resources.

Climate-change-informed decisions should be a common part of conservation practice.  According to the research team’s conservation model, Komodo dragons on two of the five Indonesian islands are less vulnerable to climate change.  But those two islands might not be enough for the survival of the species.  Conservation managers may need to translocate Komodo dragons in the future – to sites where these animals have not been found for decades – in order to protect the species from extinction. 

Without taking immediate action to mitigate climate change, the research team says many range-restricted species like Komodo dragons are at risk of extinction.

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Climate change threatens Komodo dragons

Photo, posted August 6, 2016, courtesy of Tony Alter via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Danger For North American Biomes | Earth Wise

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Biomes are large, naturally occurring communities of flora and fauna that occupy a major habitat.  Examples include several different kinds of forests, grasslands, deserts, and tundra.  According to a new study published in the journal Global Change Biology, the resilience of North America’s plant biomes is declining, which means that they are in danger of succumbing to a major extinction event.

The research analyzed over 14,000 fossil pollen samples from 358 sites across North America for the purpose of reconstructing their “landscape resilience”, meaning the ability of the habitats to persist or quickly rebound in response to disturbances.

Some 13,000 years ago, North American ecosystems were destabilized by the one-two punch of the retreat of glaciers at the end of the last ice age along with the arrival of humans.  That combination resulted in the extinction of large terrestrial mammals on the continent. 

Today, there is a comparable one-two punch created by the rapidly changing climate combined with the dramatic expansion of the footprint of human civilization.   The result could again be the demise of some of North America’s biomes.  In past eras, forests persisted longer than grasslands, but also took longer to reestablish after disruptions.  Overall, only 64% of historic biomes regained their original ecosystem type.

The scientists said that strategic conservation effects could help counteract or slow down the impacts of climate change in the coming decades.  In particular, efforts focusing on improving landscape and ecosystem resilience by increasing local connectivity and concentrating on regions with high richness and diversity could have the greatest positive effect.

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North American Biomes Are Losing Their Resilience, With Risks for Mass Extinctions

Photo, posted January 9, 2020, courtesy of Tony Webster via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Tree-Planting Is Not Necessarily A Good Thing | Earth Wise

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There is no question that forests have a major role in efforts to combat climate change as well as to slow biodiversity loss.   As a result, tree-planting on a massive scale has gained traction as a strategy and there have been major commitments made to plant billions of trees around the world.

A new study at Stanford University has rigorously analyzed the potential effects of these efforts and has found some significant problems.  For example, the Bonn Challenge, which seeks to restore an area of forest more than eight times the size of California over the next 10 years, has 80% of its commitments in the form of  planting monoculture tree plantations or a limited mix of trees that produce fruit and rubber, rather than restoring natural forests.   The problem is that plantations have significantly less potential for carbon sequestration, habitat creation, and erosion control than natural forests.  The potential benefits of the planting dwindle further if planted trees replace natural flora – forests, grasslands, or savannahs – which are ecosystems that have evolved to support local biodiversity.

The study looked at previous policies that created subsidies for planting trees.  Chile’s Decree Law, in effect from 1974 to 2012, has served as a model for similar policies in a number of countries.  Those subsidies further reduced native forest cover by encouraging the establishment of plantations in places where forests might have naturally regenerated.  The subsidies expanded the area covered by trees, but decreased the area of native forests.

The study recommends that nations should design and enforce their forest subsidy policies to avoid undesirable ecological impacts and actually promote the recovery of carbon- and biodiversity-rich ecosystems.

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Poorly designed tree-planting campaigns could do more harm than good, according to Stanford researcher and others

Photo, posted April 28, 2016, courtesy of the U.S. Department of State via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Monitoring Wildlife For Warning Signs of the Next Pandemic | Earth Wise

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According to the World Health Organization, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 likely originated in wild bats near Wuhan, China, and may have been passed to a second animal species before infecting people.  Since then, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, more than 13 million people around the world have been infected by COVID-19 and about 600,000 have died. 

But despite the ever-present threat of a new virus sparking the next pandemic, there is currently no global system to screen for viruses in wild animals that could eventually spill over to humans. 

In an article recently published in the journal Science, a group of scientists is calling for the creation of a decentralized global system of wildlife surveillance.  The establishment of this global system could help identify viruses in wild animals that have the potential to infect and sicken people before another global disease outbreak begins. 

According to the scientists, coronaviruses alone have caused outbreaks in humans three times in the last 20 years:  SARS (or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), MERS (or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), and COVID-19. 

While it’s impossible to know today how often viruses jump from animals to humans, human activity is making such spillover events more and more likely.  For instance, many continue to develop wild animal habitat to build new homes or businesses.  Some catch wild animals and re-sell them either for consumption or as exotic pets.  Parts from these wild animals are often shipped around the world as trinkets or as ingredients for traditional medicines. 

A global system that could identify potentially harmful viruses before they jump to humans is technologically feasible, affordable, and clearly necessary. 

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COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU)

Global wildlife surveillance could provide early warning for next pandemic

Photo, posted January 15, 2008, courtesy of Doug Beckers via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Mangrove Trees And Climate Change | Earth Wise

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Mangrove trees are small trees that grow in coastal saline or brackish water at tropical and subtropical latitudes.  Many mangrove trees can be identified by their dense tangle of prop roots.  These roots make the trees appear as if they are standing on stilts above the water.  The tangle of roots allows mangrove trees to handle the daily rise and fall of tides and to slow the movement of tidal waters.  

Mangrove forests provide many ecosystem services, including stabilizing the coastline by reducing erosion from storm surges, waves, and tides.  The intricate root system of mangrove trees are attractive to fish and other species seeking food and shelter from predators.  Mangrove forests also store large amounts of carbon.     

But according to a new study recently published in the journal Science, mangrove trees won’t survive sea level rise by 2050 if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t reduced.  

Using sediment data from 78 locations over the last 10,000 years, an international team of scientists led by Macquarie University in Australia estimated the chances of mangrove trees survival based on the projected rates of future sea-level rise.

When sea level rise rates exceeded 6 millimeters per year, which is similar to estimates under high-emissions scenarios for 2050, researchers found that mangrove trees were unlikely to keep pace with the rising water levels.  But when the annual increase was 5 millimeters or less – which is the projected low-emissions scenario this century – mangrove trees are much more likely to survive. 

These findings underscore the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate rapid sea level rise.  The future of mangrove trees may depend on it.  

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Mangrove trees won’t survive sea-level rise by 2050 if emissions aren’t cut

Photo, posted December 17, 2012, courtesy of Edward Stojakovic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Moving Up And Away | Earth Wise

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A new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the US Forest Service, and UC Berkeley has shown that mountain-dwelling species trying to escape warming temperatures may also be finding refuge from human pressure.

The study shows that nearly 60% of the world’s mountainous areas are under intense human pressure.  Most of that pressure occurs at lower elevations and mountain bases, where more people live, grow food, and build roads.  The researchers used climate models to predict how various species would move as the climate changes.   Based upon these predictions, they found that species tend to move to higher elevations, where temperatures are lower.  But those elevations also have more intact land for species because there is less human activity.

Mountains are home to over 85% of the world’s amphibians, birds, and mammals and these species are at risk from human activities such as agriculture, livestock grazing, and development.  These things reduce their habitats, but meanwhile the warming climate pushes them upslope as they struggle to find tolerable temperatures.

The researchers point to their study as new guidance for conservation efforts.  They warn that many conservation efforts don’t take into account the effects of human pressure.   Factoring in human pressure reveals the true extent of mountainous areas for species that are restricted to intact landscapes.  These are often the species that are of greatest concern to conservationists.  This true shape refers to how much land area is potentially available as habitat for a species as it moves up in elevation.  

The results offer a glimmer of hope for mountain-based species under climate change as they move away from the most intense human activity.

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Climate change may push some species to higher elevations — and out of harm’s way

Photo, posted November 22, 2007, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Natural Habitats And Strawberry Farms | Earth Wise

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According to a new study led by researchers from the University of California – Davis, conserving natural habitat around strawberry fields can protect farmers’ yields, their bottom line, and the environment.  The study also suggests that conserving natural habitat in this way has no detectable threat to food safety. 

In this study, which was recently published in the journal Ecological Applications, the research team conducted surveys and experiments at 20 strawberry farms along California’s Central Coast.  This region is responsible for 43% of the nation’s strawberry production. 

The researchers found that strawberry farmers were better off with natural habitat, like forests, grasslands, wetlands, and shrubs, around their farms than without it.  According to the study’s models, adding natural habitat can reduce crop damage costs by 23%.  Removing natural habitat can increase costs by as much as 76%. 

Importantly, the strawberry farms with natural habitat surrounding them showed no signs of increased fecal contamination.  While bird feces were regularly encountered on the ground, only 2 of 10,000 strawberries examined show signs of direct fecal contamination.  Those contaminated berries would be discarded during the hand-harvesting process.   

These findings run contradictory to current best practice recommendations that support natural habitat removal around strawberry farms in order to decrease bird fecal contamination and crop damage.  These food safety requirements were a consequence of the deadly outbreak of E. coli in 2006, which was traced back to spinach grown in this region.   

It seems like our agricultural landscapes can both support and benefit from biodiversity. 

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Natural habitat around farms a win for strawberry growers, birds and consumers

Photo, posted June 16, 2011, courtesy of the USDA via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Bioacoustics

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Researchers are increasingly placing microphones in forests and other ecosystems to monitor birds, insects, frogs, and other animals.  Advances in technology are enabling the wide-spread use of bioacoustics as an important research tool.

Studying animals in their natural habitat Is often a difficult task.  For one thing, many animals are difficult to find, and the presence of humans disrupts their behavior or even drives them off.  Remote cameras are useful, but cameras can only see what is in front of them and aren’t much use for detecting small animals, hidden animals, or ones high up in trees.

Biologists have long recognized the value of recording sound to identify animals and learn about their havior.  Animal sounds can be as definitive a means of identification as visual images and microphones can pick up the sounds from animals located anywhere within their detection range.

The two advances in technology that are turning bioacoustics into a widely used tool are a steep drop in the price of recording equipment and the rapidly expanding capabilities of user-friendly artificial intelligence algorithms.

Autonomous environmental audio recorders tended to cost between $500 and $1000 until quite recently.  Now, such equipment can be had for as little as $70.

The other big challenge is analyzing audio data.  Finding specific animal sounds among hundreds of hours of recordings is an untenably tedious task.  Identifying the characteristic sounds of specific species in crowded environments is a tricky business.  But neural network-based artificial intelligence technology is making such big data analysis quite practical and, remarkably, it is becoming quite user-friendly.

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Web Links

Listening to Nature: The Emerging Field of Bioacoustics

Photo, posted January 28, 2013, courtesy of Felix Uribe 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...)