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Hope for white rhinos

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There are only two northern white rhinos left in the world, and both of them are female.  The last male died in 2018. Northern white rhinos live to about 40 and one of the two remaining is 35 and the other 24.  The clock is ticking for the species.

Recently, scientists with the BioRescue consortium successfully used in vitro fertilization to impregnate a southern white rhino.  It was the world’s first IVF rhino pregnancy.

There is now some hope that IVF could be used to produce more northern white rhinos.  For various medical reasons, neither of the remaining two female rhinos can serve as a surrogate mother.  But there is a plan B.

For a number of years, BioRescue has been creating northern white rhino embryos with eggs from the remaining females and sperm that was collected from males before they died.  There are now 30 northern white rhino embryos in cold storage, and they are continuing to produce more.

The recent success with the southern white rhino IVF provides hope that southern white rhino females can act as surrogate mothers with implanted northern white rhino embryos.  The species are similar enough that it should work.

The plan is to select surrogates and implant them.  This should happen this year.  A rhino pregnancy lasts 16 months.  If this is successful, there could be northern white rhino babies in two or three years.  The scientists want the offspring to live with the surviving northern whites for years to learn the social behavior of its kind.

It is possible that these gentle, hulking creatures may get a new lease on life.

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Just two northern white rhinos are left on Earth. A new breakthrough offers hope

Photo, posted September 16, 2017, courtesy of San Diego Zoo Safari Park via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Adirondack lakes becoming inhospitable for trout

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A combination of the warming climate and the phenomenon of lake browning are making the bottom of most lakes in New York’s Adirondack Mountains unlivable for cold water fish – such as trout, salmon, and whitefish – in the summer.

Lake browning occurs when dissolved organic matter from forests turns the water tea-brown.  Browning is the legacy of a century of acid rain and subsequently the fact that forest soils have suffered reduced capacity to absorb weak organic acids, leading to more dissolved plant matter flowing into lakes.  Climate change has increased the frequency of extreme precipitation events and the length of growing seasons, leading to more runoff of organic matter.

Browner water traps more of the sun’s heat at the top of the lake and blocks the sun’s rays from reaching deeper.  The result of the browning is lakes that are either too warm or too deoxygenated to support trout populations.

A study of 1,467 Adirondack lakes by Cornell University researchers found that only about 5% of them may continue to maintain water that is cold and oxygenated enough to support cold-water fish.

Deeper lakes fare much better because they have so much water that their oxygen is hard to deplete, but only 1% of all Adirondack lakes are deeper than 30 meters.  Another 4% are very clear because the influx of cold water outpaces the expansion of low-oxygen zones and limits the effects of browning.

The study urges the protection of as many lakes as possible from species invasions, nutrient and salt pollution, and other forms of environmental degradation. 

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Most Adirondack lakes will likely become unsuitable for trout

Photo, posted July 17, 2011, courtesy of Lida via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Confusion about monarch butterflies

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For years, we have heard that the iconic monarch butterfly is in great peril.  Monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains undertake a 4-generation, 3,000-mile migration in late summer to their winter home in central Mexico.  Since the 1990s, the overwintering monarch colonies began a steep decline causing scientists to fear for the sustainability of the species.  Trying to help, ordinary citizens have been planting milkweed – the food for the caterpillars – and have been rearing eggs and caterpillars on their porches and releasing adult butterflies.

A number of recent studies have rocked the world of monarch science.  A growing group of scientists now believe that monarchs are not in fact imperiled and that the home rearing and commercial breeding of monarchs is actually a major threat to the butterfly.

According to a comprehensive 2022 study, there has been no sharp decline in Eastern monarch populations across their summer breeding range.  The long-term declines in winter colony sizes are real but do not appear to be affecting the collective breeding population of Eastern monarchs. 

An undisputed major threat to monarchs is a parasite known as OE, which weakens butterflies and also makes it unlikely for them to complete migrations.  It turns out that overcrowding of butterflies resulting from the efforts of backyard and commercial breeders is increasing the spread of the disease.  The butterflies are in need of social distancing.

Monarch scientists are split into two camps.  One group calls for the protection of the butterfly under the Endangered Species Act.  The other says that what monarchs most need is for us to leave them alone.  It is a confusing situation.

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Rethinking Monarchs: Does the Beloved Butterfly Need Our Help?

Photo, posted October 1, 2021, courtesy of Renee Grayson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

More mosquitoes in a warming climate

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Over millions of years, Earth’s climate has warmed up and cooled down many times. However, today the planet is warming much faster than it ever has over human history.  According to scientists, the warming is primarily the result of increased anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.  In fact, human activities are responsible for nearly all of the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions over the last 150 years. 

According to a new study published in the journal Ecology, the warming climate may soon mean more mosquitoes.  A research team, led by scientists from Virginia Commonwealth University, found that rising temperatures, often linked to climate change, can make predators of mosquito larvae less effective at controlling mosquito populations.  According to researchers, these warmer temperatures accelerate the development time of larvae, which leads to a smaller window of time in which predators like dragonflies could eat them.  As a result, twice as many mosquito larvae could make it to adulthood in the study area. 

Predators help stabilize ecosystems and food webs.  The study looked at predator-prey interactions between dragonfly nymphs and mosquito larvae.  In the study of Belle Isle along the James River in Richmond, Virginia, the research team found that warmer pools had more aquatic rock pool mosquito larvae – even when their predators that naturally control the populations were present.

While this species of mosquito is not an important disease vector, the researchers emphasize that these findings likely apply to other mosquito species that do act as vectors for diseases, such as West Nile or Zika virus.

The changing climate is creating the perfect environment for mosquitoes to thrive. 

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Hotter weather caused by climate change could mean more mosquitos, according to VCU-led study

Photo, posted June 20, 2014, courtesy of John Tann via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Thousands of species threatened

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The International Union for the Conservation of Nature is an organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.  The IUCN has been around for nearly 75 years and is the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.

In its latest accounting, the IUCN has determined that more than 44,000 species worldwide are threatened with extinction.  Among them, nearly 7,000 face an immediate threat from climate change.

The organization tracks 157,000 species to compile its Red List and found that climate change poses a growing threat to many kinds of wildlife. At particular risk are freshwater fish including Atlantic salmon, which are now classified as “Near Threatened.” 

In all, about 25% of freshwater fish are threatened with extinction.  This is in part driven by rising sea levels which causes saltwater to be driven up into rivers.  Some 41% of amphibians are threatened with extinction, in part due to more intense heat and drought.  Many populations of green turtles are at risk of extinction because of rising temperatures lowering hatch rates and rising sea levels flooding nests.

It isn’t just animals at risk.  For example, big leaf mahogany, one of the world’s most commercially sought-after timber trees, has moved from Vulnerable to Endangered on IUCN’s Red List.  Thousands of trees have been added to the Red List, many of which are timber species, and some are keystone species in forests.

Endangered and threatened species are often irreplaceable parts of ecosystems which provide humans with many services that only the natural world can.

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More Than 44,000 Species Now Threatened With Extinction

Photo, posted November 22, 2010, courtesy of E. Peter Steenstra/USFWS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Attack of the giant goldfish

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Goldfish are just about the easiest pets to keep.  A species of carp native to East Asia, they have been bred to look pretty and are generally little more than home décor.  We keep them in little glass bowls and feed them mysterious flakes out of a container.  With these confined quarters and meager meals, they remain small, harmless creatures.  But released into the wild, it is a very different story.

People dump pet goldfish into lakes and ponds with some frequency.  Once they are in the wild, these humble creatures can grow to monstrous proportions.  They can eat nearly anything, including algae, aquatic plants, eggs, and invertebrates.  They can kill off native marine wildlife and damage or even destroy fragile and economically valuable ecosystems.

For a few years, Canadian researchers have been tracking invasive goldfish in Hamilton Harbour, at the western tip of Lake Ontario, about 35 miles southwest of Toronto.  That part of the lake has been decimated by industrial and urban development as well as by invasive species.

Goldfish were first spotted in the harbor in the 1960s, mostly died off in the 70s because of industrial contamination, but then recovered in the 2000s.  Goldfish can tolerate a wide range of water temperatures, reach sexual maturity quickly, and can reproduce several times in one season.  In resource-rich places, they can grow up to 16 inches long, making them too large a meal for many predators.

There are literally millions of goldfish in the Great Lakes and not only there.  Feral goldfish are a problem in Australia and in the United Kingdom.  Invasive species are a big problem, even if they start out small and cute.

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Once They Were Pets. Now Giant Goldfish Are Menacing the Great Lakes.

Photo, posted September 20, 2015, courtesy of Watts 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

Wildlife rebounding in Uganda

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The numbers of elephants, rhinos, and other animals in Uganda’s nature preserves is steadily improving, reversing the trend of steady declines previously caused by poachers, wildlife traffickers, and conflict.

Between the 1960s and 1980s, political conflict and lawlessness in Uganda led to massive declines in some species as poaching, trafficking, and encroachment ran rampant.

Uganda’s population of over 700 northern white and eastern black rhinos was completely wiped out in the early 1980s by people hunting them for their horns.  A charity brought four rhinos in 2005 to a sanctuary called the Ziwa Rhino and Wildlife Ranch and, according to the Uganda Wildlife Authority, there are now 33 in the facility.

Increased conservation efforts have allowed the population of buffalos to increase 77% to over 44,000 since 1983.  The number of elephants has surged almost 300% to nearly 8,000 over that same time period.  There has also been an increase in the number of mountain gorillas in dense forests.

Over the years, the Ugandan government has brought in a string of conservation policies including lengthy jail terms for violations.  As a result, wildlife populations have been on a steady recovery.

It is typical to think about species in terms of how close to extinction they are, but the ultimate goal of conservation is to recover species.  This means not only gaining distance from extinction but also resuming a species’ role in its ecosystem and repopulating its former range.  Whether the wildlife in Uganda is achieving this status remains to be seen, but the trends are very positive.

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Uganda Sees Resurgence of Rhinos, Elephants, Buffaloes

Photo, posted September 15, 2014, courtesy of Rod Waddington via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Megafires and ecosystems

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Wildfires are a natural phenomenon.  They have occurred long before there were people around.  Ecosystems adapt to fires and some species can benefit from them or even depend upon them.  But in recent times, fires have been intensifying and increasing in frequency and they are beginning to outstrip nature’s ability to bounce back from them.

So-called megafires – ones that dwarf typical wildfires in size – have an immediate ecological toll.  They kill individual plants and animals that might have survived smaller fires. 

Over millennia, many species of plants and animals have evolved to adapt to periodic fires.  They are especially sensitive to smoke and take protective action in a timely fashion. Others take advantage of food sources that arise when trees burn.

But even species that capitalize on burned-out areas of forests require oases of healthy woodland for at least part of their activities.  When fires are too widespread, such oases are too few and far between.

Animals that survive fires must find food, water, and shelter in the aftermath.  And all air-breathing animals are going to be impacted by smoke exposure because the chemicals in smoke are toxic to them as well as to people.

In places like Canada’s Northwest Territories, repeated fires have transformed some forests, eliminating dominant tree species and replacing them with others whose light seeds were carried on the wind.

Scientists have estimated that increased global fire activity could push more than 1,000 threatened plant and animal species closer to extinction.  Changing fire patterns are transforming landscapes and utterly remaking ecosystems.

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How Megafires Are Remaking the World

Photo, posted December 19, 2022, courtesy of Brian Pippin/USFWS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Wind turbines and bats

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Collisions with wind turbines are one of the leading causes of bat mortality in North America and Europe.  Most bat fatalities are caused by bats colliding with the rotating blades of wind turbines.  Fatalities are highest during autumn migration and on nights with low wind speeds.

According to a recent study, land-based wind turbines kill as many as 880,000 bats a year and are wiping out so many threatened bats that some species may become endangered unless preventative action is taken.

The big challenge is that bat conservation experts and scientists don’t know how to stop or reduce turbine collisions.  They don’t really know why bats are interacting with turbines to the extent that they are.  Do turbines attract bats?  Do turbines’ bright lights or just their silhouettes stimulate an attraction response?

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $8 million to five research centers to develop strategies for deterring bats from wind turbines. 

One of these is Bat Conservation International, which is an organization whose mission is to accelerate research to address knowledge gaps in bat ecology and behavior and develop technologies and industry methods to reduce fatality of bats at wind farms.  Among the approaches to be tested is limiting the use of nighttime lighting on wind farms to make migrating bats less likely to fly through blades. 

Another team at Boise State University is designing ultrasonic noisemakers to scare off bats. 

In announcing the new program, the Department of Energy states that wind energy must be appropriately and responsibly sited, which includes the protection of wildlife and their habitats.

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Experts Seek to Spare Bats From Wind Turbine Collisions

Photo, posted January 10, 2013, courtesy of Tom Shockey via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Spooky Reality | Earth Wise

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According to the National Retail Federation, American consumers will spend a whopping $12.2 billion on Halloween this year, exceeding last year’s record of $10.6 billion.  A record number of people – 73% of Americans – will also participate in Halloween-related activities this year, up from 69% in 2022.  But it’s not just our wallets that take a beating. 

Halloween generates a frightening amount of waste.  Picture all those flimsy and often single-use costumes, polyester cobwebs, plastic-wrapped candy, mass-produced decorations, and so forth. Scary stuff!  Here are some simple tricks to make the holiday more sustainable this year. 

Invest in quality costumes.  Those mass-produced costumes leave the largest carbon footprint from Halloween.  They are often made from non-recyclable plastic and most end up in landfills by mid-November.   By renting, thrifting, swapping, or making your own costumes, many of the negative impacts of dressing up for the holiday can be avoided.

Find environmentally-friendly decorations and supplies.  For example, carve local pumpkins and either save the seeds and flesh to eat later, compost it, or feed it to animals.  Make your own spooky decorations.  If you do buy decorations, ensure that they are durable and reusable.  And use wicker baskets, old bags, or pillowcases when trick-or-treating.

Finally, purchase organic and fair trade candy if you’re able to do so.  Some of the largest candy manufacturers are major drivers of deforestation and species extinction around the globe due to their demand for sugar, palm oil, and cocoa beans.

Together, we can “green” Halloween.  

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Halloween Data Center

Photo, posted November 13, 2019, courtesy of Christian Collins via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Rivers And Climate Change | Earth Wise

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Our planet is heating up.  Scientists have concluded that the changing climate is primarily the result of increased greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.  Some of the effects of global climate change include thawing permafrost, rising seas, intensifying storms and wildfires, and warming oceans.   

According to a new study led by researchers from Penn State University, rivers are warming and losing oxygen even faster than oceans.  The study, which was recently published in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that warming occurred in 87% and oxygen loss occurred in 70% of the nearly 800 rivers studied.

The research team projects that within the next 70 years some river systems, especially those in the American South, will experience such low oxygen levels that the rivers could “induce acute death” for some fish species and threaten the aquatic diversity of river ecosystems. 

The research team used artificial intelligence and deep learning to analyze water quality data from nearly 800 rivers across the U.S. and central Europe.  The researchers found that rivers are warming up and deoxygenating faster than oceans, which could have serious implications for both aquatic life and humans.

While climate change has led to warming and oxygen loss in oceans and lakes around the world, the researchers did not expect to find warming and deoxygenation in shallower, flowing rivers.  Since life in water depends on temperature and dissolved oxygen, the researchers hope this study serves as a wake up call.  Warming and deoxygenating rivers have significant implications for water quality and the health of aquatic ecosystems worldwide.

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Rivers are rapidly warming, losing oxygen; aquatic life at risk

Photo, posted June 2, 2017, courtesy of Francisco Anzola via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Lithium In The Salton Sea | Earth Wise

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The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, extremely salty body of water in the southern end of California.  It was formed from an inflow of water from the Colorado River in 1905 in the aftermath of a collapse of a canal during spring floods.  At one time, it was a thriving tourist destination and site of real estate speculation.  It was also a crucial habitat for migratory birds and various aquatic species.

Over the past 20 years, the Salton Sea has become increasingly desiccated and polluted with agricultural runoff and waste.  Rising salinity and the shrinking water supply from the Colorado River has made it uninhabitable for many species.

Recently, the Salton Sea has attracted new attention because of untouched lithium deposits located beneath its shores.  The general area has acquired the moniker “Lithium Valley” and has become a place where major energy companies are exploring advanced mining techniques such as Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE).  This new technique enables lithium to be captured from brine deposits without resource-intensive open-pit mining or evaporation pond processes.

Lithium is crucial for making the batteries that power electric vehicles.  DLE mining has attracted large investments from billionaires like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos. 

Lithium mining has generated major controversies because of its potential to damage the environment.  Whether the new mining techniques can avoid these problems and tap into the potential resources near the Salton Sea remains to be seen.  According to experts, the aquifers near the Salton Sea hold enough lithium to supply close to 40% of the global demand.

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As Companies Eye Massive Lithium Deposits in California’s Salton Sea, Locals Anticipate a Mixed Bag

Photo, posted October 28, 2021, courtesy of Christian Collins via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Cost Of Invasive Species | Earth Wise

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According to a new report published by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the United Nations, invasive species introduced to new ecosystems around the world are causing more than $423 billion in estimated losses to the global economy every year.  These economic costs are incurred by harming nature, damaging food systems, and threatening human health.

According to the report, these costs have at least quadrupled every decade since 1970 and the estimates are actually conservative because it’s difficult to account for all of the effects of invasive species.

The report estimates that humans have intentionally or unintentionally introduced more than 37,000 species to places outside their natural ranges.  More than 3,500 of them are considered invasive because they are harmful to their new ecosystems.  Invasive nonnative species were a major factor in 60% of known extinctions of plants and animals.

Some species are relocated deliberately by the wildlife trade and international shipping.  Other plants and animals end up hitching a ride with ordinary travelers as they move about by car, boat, plane, or train. 

Invasions can damage human health.  Mosquitos that transmit diseases like malaria, dengue fever, and the Zika virus have become invasive around the world. The wildfires in Hawaii this summer were fueled by invasive nonnative grasses in a warming climate. 

Nearly every country in the world has agreed to participate in a sweeping agreement to preserve biodiversity and reduce invasive species.  It is an essential global goal.

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Invasive Species Are Costing the Global Economy Billions, Study Finds

Photo, posted June 2, 2022, courtesy of Sam Stukel (USFWS) 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

Protecting The Amazon Rainforest | Earth Wise

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The Amazon rainforest absorbs one-fourth of all the carbon dioxide absorbed by the land of the Earth.  It is by far the world’s largest rainforest, bigger than the next two largest – in the Congo Basin and Indonesia – combined.  Nearly two-thirds of it is found in Brazil but the more than 2 million square miles of rainforest includes portions in 8 countries.

The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the Amazon rainforest is 30% less today than it was in the 1990s as a result of deforestation, to a great extent driven by cattle ranching as well as other agricultural activities.

In early August, the leaders of the eight countries that are home to the Amazon River basin agreed to work together to conserve the rainforest.  The agreement, called the Belém Declaration, provides a roadmap to stave off the rampant deforestation. 

The agreement provides coordination between the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela to establish law enforcement to combat illegal mining and logging as well as to pool development funds for conservation and sustainable employment.  Despite the unity portrayed at the meeting, many of the governments in South America are in a precarious position because of various economic and political struggles

Apart from its critical climate impact, the Amazon rainforest is a haven for biodiversity and further deforestation would be disastrous for tens of thousands of species and could transform it into a net emitter rather than absorber of greenhouse gases.  Some parts of the region have already reached that point.

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Amazon Countries, Led by Brazil, Sign a Rainforest Pact

Photo, posted October 17, 2016, courtesy of Yeoboya 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

Global Aquaculture And Environmental Change | Earth Wise

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Blue foods are fish, invertebrates, algae, and aquatic plants that are captured or cultured in freshwater and marine ecosystems.  They include approximately 2,200 species of fish, shellfish, plants and algae as well as more than 500 species farmed in freshwater.  Blue foods play a central role in food and nutrition security for billions of people, and are a cornerstone of the livelihoods, economies, and cultures of many communities around the world.

But many of the world’s largest aquatic food producers are highly vulnerable to human-induced environmental change.  According to a new paper recently published in the journal Nature Sustainability, more than 90% of global blue food production is at risk from environmental changes, with top producers like the United States, Norway, and China facing the biggest threat.  Alarmingly, the research also found that some of the highest-risk countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa demonstrate the lowest capacity for adaptation. 

The paper is the first-ever global analysis of environmental stressors impacting the production quantity and safety of blue foods. A total of 17 anthropogenic stressors were surveyed, including rising seas and temperatures, ocean acidification, changes in rainfall, algal blooms, pollution, and pesticides. 

The research is one of seven scientific papers published by the Blue Food Assessment as part of a global effort to inform future aquatic food sustainability. 

The report calls for more transboundary collaboration and for a diversification of blue food production in high-risk countries to cope with the impact of environmental change. 

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Web Links

Vulnerability of blue foods to human-induced environmental change

New research finds that more than 90% of global aquaculture faces substantial risk from environmental change

Photo, posted December 30, 2014, courtesy of NOAA’s National Ocean Service via Flickr.

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