which purified beta carotene and gamma tocopherol will be fed to lab mice. This may show whether those substances themselves are critical to preventing
Over less than a decade the rates of land and water grabbing have increased dramatically said Paolo D'Odorico Ernest H. Ern Professor of Environmental sciences in the University of Virginia's College of Arts
and a greenhouse gas that traps heat from escaping Earth's atmosphere. Scientists and policy analysts are interested in learning how curbing the emissions of these chemicals can improve human health
#Paradise found for Latin americas largest land mammalwildlife Conservation Society scientists have documented a thriving population of lowland tapirs--the strange forest
and grassland-dwelling herbivore with the trunk-like snout--living in a network of remote national parks spanning the Peru-Bolivia border.
and subsistence hunters WCS estimates at least 14500 lowland tapirs in the region. The population bridges five connected national parks in northwest Bolivia and southeastern Peru.
The study synthesizes 12 years of research on lowland tapirs in the region. Together with WCS studies on jaguars the results underscore the importance of this protected area complex for the conservation of Latin america's most charismatic terrestrial wildlife species. The Madidi-Tambopata landscape is estimated to hold a population of at least 14500 lowland
tapirs making it one of the most important strongholds for lowland tapir conservation in the continent said the study's lead author Robert Wallace.
These results underline the fundamental importance of protected areas for the conservation of larger species of wildlife threatened by hunting and habitat loss.
The lowland tapir is the largest terrestrial mammal in South america weighing up to 300 kg (661 pounds.
Its unusual prehensile proboscis or snout is used to reach leaves and fruit. Tapirs are found throughout tropical forests and grasslands in South america.
However they are threatened by habitat loss and especially unsustainable hunting due to their large size low reproductive rate (1 birth every 2-3 years) and ease of detection at mineral licks in the rainforest.
Lowland tapirs are considered Vulnerable by the IUCN. WCS collected and systematized 1255 lowland tapir distribution records in the region.
These records came from research observations and camera trap photographs as well as interviews with park guards of Madidi Pilã n Lajas and Apolobamba National parks in Bolivia and Bahuaja Sonene and Tambopata National parks in neighboring Peru and subsistence hunters from 19 Takana
Camera trap data revealed that lowland tapir abundance was higher at sites under protection than sites outside protected areas.
At one site sampled over time the Tuichi River camera trapping has revealed that lowland tapir populations have been recovering following the creation of Madidi National park in 1995.
Madidi National park contains 11 percent of the world's birds more than 200 species of mammals 300 types of fish and 12000 plant varieties.
and wildlife including lowland tapirs including road construction logging unsustainable natural resource use and agricultural expansion. Julie Kunen WCS Director of Latin america and Caribbean Programs said:
the Beneficia Foundation the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund Woodland Park Zoo and other generous supporters.
#Monkeys stressed from longer foraging timesendangered Mexican howler monkeys are consuming more leaves and less fruit as a result of habitat disturbance by humans
It shows that increases in howler monkey'travel time'--the amount of time needed to find requisite nourishment--are leading to increases in levels of stress hormones called glucocorticoids.
and resulting health implications more generally in primates living in habitats disturbed by human activities such as deforestation.
Howlers are arboreal primates that is to say they spend their wholes lives in the trees said Dr Jacob Dunn from Cambridge's Department of Biological Anthropology who carried out the research.
As forests are fragmented the howlers become cut off isolated on forest'islands'that increasingly lack the fruit
This has led to the monkeys expending ever more time and effort foraging for food often increasing leaf consumption
and the monkeys will naturally revert to'fallback'foods including leaves when fruit is scarce.
But as habitats shrink and fruit is harder to find leaves from second-choice plants such as lianas have increased in the Mexican howlers'diet.
and plants--so the monkeys are forced actually to spend more time seeking out the right foliage to eat such as new shoots
The traditional view was that the leaves exploited by howler monkeys were an abundant food source
The monkeys rely much more heavily on fruit than previously believed and when turning to foliage for food--as they are forced increasingly to do--they have to be highly selective in the leaves they consume visiting lots of different trees.
This leads to the increased'travel time'and consequent high levels of stress we are seeing in these primates as their habitats disintegrate.
As trying to catch the howlers to examine them would in itself be highly stressful for the animal the best way of evaluating stress levels in wild primates is by analysing their faeces for glucocorticoid stress hormones which are general to all vertebrates.
Monkeys in disturbed habitats suffering high levels of stress is in itself unsurprising perhaps but now we think we know why the root cause from the primates perspective.
Our results also highlight the importance of preserving and planting fruit trees--particularly those species such as figs that can produce fruit during periods of general fruit scarcity--for the conservation of howler monkeys said Dr Jurgi Cristã bal-Azkarate also from Cambridge who led the research
in collaboration with Dr Joaquim Vea from the University of Barcelona. The authors say that further studies are required to fully understand the significance of increases in stress in howler monkeys living in disturbed habitats.
Determining the full relevance of our results for the conservation of primates living in forest fragments will require long-term studies of stress hormones
and survival said Dunn. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Cambridge.
Voles know which acorns have insect larvaeresearchers at the UPM have observed as voles are able to distinguish the acorns containing insect larvae from those that have not.
This is the place where researchers at the School of Forestry from the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid have carried out a research on scattering patterns of acorns for voles
when seed are attacked by insects the fact that larva is or not inside of the acorn can modify the dispersion pattern and consequently the regeneration of these types of forests.
They are interested many animals in this fruit some of them even before they ripen and fall into the ground.
This is the case of small beetles the weevils (Curculio sp. that lay their eggs inside the unripe acorns
These eggs hatch small larvae in worms shaped and feed inside the acorns without altering the external appearance of this fruit.
and are reachable for the rest of animals that seek this fruit during the autumn days (wild boar deer and mice among others).
When larva completes its development it drills a small hole out of the acorn and buries itself in the soil
and through the metamorphosis becomes a new adult beetle. Voles are the main consumers of acorns
and they hide this fruit during autumns in order to consume them in winter time. However many acorns are forgotten in hiding places allowing them a better germination and consequently new trees.
or stolen by another vole and achieving so a dispersal distance up to hundreds meters with respect to its mother tree
But what do voles do attacked with the acorns by beetle larvae? There is not just an answer
Acorns whose larvae had emerged out were rejected rapidly by voles barely touching moving or storing them.
However those acorns in which the larva was still inside the fruit were moved and stored by voles.
The study reveals that voles liked these larvae (rich in proteins) and feed on them decreasing the harm produced by these worms over the acorns.
Therefore voles scattered and buried these acorns that finally contributed to generate new plants. The fact that the larva was resulted still inside definitive for the near future of the acorn and therefore the future of oak forests.
The nature maintains its compensation mechanisms and an apparent harmful beetle can be attractive to voles that at the same time releases acorns from this enemy
and help them to thrive thanks to its rich substance what allows them to survive winter
and maintain this favorable relationship between vole and acorn. These results reveal that we do not know ye the behavior of those ecosystems that we aim to preserve.
The knowledge of multiple existing interactions among animals and plants are essential to know what should be protected
and how our forests should be protected. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by madrimasd.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#Human-tiger conflict: are overestimated the risks? A new study finds a complex web of factors increases perceived risk of tiger attack in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh.
Wildlife conservationists are well aware of the potential conflicts that exist between the endangered species they seek to protect and the human populations
which inhabit areas where the animals live. Carnivores such as tigers pose a risk to humans
and their livestock and can be killed because of this potential risk. Previous research has found that killing of animals can be motivated as much by social and psychological factors such as perception of danger as by any actual real risk posed by a species. A new study published in the Springer journal Human ecology has identified several key factors
which may contribute to perceptions of risk from tigers in a conservation area in Bangladesh.
The study by Chloe Inskip and her colleagues from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology in Kent UK and Wildteam Bangladesh is the first to use participatory risk mapping (PRM)
and in depth interviews to explore the wider socioeconomic context of human-tiger conflict. The survey was carried out around the Sundarbans mangrove forests of southwestern Bangladesh home to one of the world's largest remaining tiger populations.
Although there are no human inhabitants of the Sundarbans eight sub-districts with a total population of around 1. 7 million people lie directly adjacent to the forest boundary.
Records indicate that approximately 30-50 people are killed annually by tigers in the area. The researchers held 54 semi-structured interviews in six villages which border the Sundarbans forest followed by 385 questionnaires in a further ten border villages.
Of all the issues related to lives and livelihood tigers were the most commonly reported problem. Other issues recorded were related largely poverty including low incomes dependence on natural resources poor infrastructure and services and a lack of clean water together with soil erosion and weather.
Inskip and her colleagues identified the fact that these issues had a direct impact on villagers'perceptions of risk from tigers.
The respondents'perceived susceptibility to and their ability to mitigate human-tiger conflict was influenced largely by their poverty related-problems.
The authors suggest that any actions taken to improve these socioeconomic issues will also reduce the perceived level of risk from tigers
and help to reduce the rate at which tigers are killed. For conservationists this would mean a shift from traditional models of conflict reduction to holistic models which also incorporate situation-specific actions to reduce risk perceptions.
In many poor rural communities in conservation areas such as the Sundarbans risk perception reduction is likely to be tied strongly to poverty alleviation.
The structural sanitation and pest infestation problems documented in these kitchens are interrelated said the study's lead author Sara A. Quandt Ph d. a professor of epidemiology and prevention at Wake Forest Baptist.
They found violations of eight regulations in at least 10 percent of the camps across a broad spectrum--structure water supply kitchen equipment sanitation and pest infestation.
study suggestsin Missouri forests dense thickets of invasive honeysuckle decrease the light available to other plants hog the attention of pollinators
and offer nutrient-stingy berries to migrating birds. They even release toxins to make it less likely native plants will germinate near them.
Whether it will stop journalists from interpreting a quarrel over nuance as a complete reversal of opinion is given another question the powerful editorial attraction to man-bites-dog stories.
and to provide bird habitat is the black hat in the oak-hickory forests. The fire tree (Morella faya) a canopy tree from Macaronesia that boosts nitrogen levels in the soil making it inhospitable to native species
It was seeded by birds carrying honeysuckle berries from backyards. To prevent it from turning beloved nature preserves into shrub monocultures people must remove it from their yards
Extreme weather potent force for Arctic overwintering populationsclimate change is known to affect the population dynamics of single species such as reindeer
or caribou but the effect of climate at the community level has been much more difficult to document.
Now a group of Norwegian scientists has found that extreme climate events cause synchronized population fluctuations among all vertebrate species in a relatively simple high arctic community.
because it is composed of just three herbivores in the winter--the wild Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) the Svalbard rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta hyperborea)
and the sibling vole (Microtus levis) and one shared consumer the arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus). The community's population fluctuations were driven mainly by rain-on-snow events the researchers found.
The ice keeps reindeer from grazing on their winter pastures and also reduces food accessibility for the rock ptarmigan
and sibling vole populations causing extensive simultaneous population crashes in all three species in the winter and spring after the extreme weather.
However the arctic fox which mainly relies on reindeer carcasses as its terrestrial winter food source didn't see a decline in its population size until a year after the herbivore die offs.
Even though the synchronized die offs decrease the number of live prey available for foxes to eat the high number of reindeer carcasses generates an abundance of food for foxes during icy winters and the subsequent spring and summer.
This leads to high fox reproduction. But almost no reindeer carcasses will be available during the following winter mainly
because those reindeer that survived the previous winter are more robust and also subject to reduced competition for food resources.
At the same time none of the other herbivores is able to recover in the summer after the icing.
The net result is low fox reproduction and a strong reduction in the arctic fox population size one year after the herbivore die offs.
We have known for a long time that climate can synchronize populations of the same species but these findings suggest that climate
and particularly extreme weather events may also synchronize entire communities of species says lead author Brage Bremset Hansen from NTNU's Centre for Conservation Biology.
Svalbard's relatively simple ecosystem which lacks specialist predators combined with large weather fluctuations from year to year
and strong climate signals in the population dynamics of herbivores are the likely explanations for how such clear climate effects can be observed at the ecosystem level.
The die offs among resident herbivores shape predator abundance which could in turn affect the migratory prey that reside in the area in the summer such as sea birds and barnacle geese.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Docampo and his colleagues tested their hypothesis by watching genetically modified versions of the parasitic cell both in laboratory cultures and in mice.
and mice in the experimental group remained disease free. We knew that these organelles were rich in acidic calcium
The parasite is transmitted through the bite of the tsetse fly a large flying insect found throughout the midcontinent of Africa that survives by drinking blood from human and animal hosts.
or eradicating the tsetse fly which has proven difficult. Even when humans are successful in avoiding the bite of the tsetse fly domesticated animals like cattle
and pigs may fall victim to nagana the animal version of sleeping sickness which when translated from Zulu means depressed in spirit.
As the name implies infected animals lose strength do not produce milk and eventually die.
We hope that potential therapies will be equally applicable to animals and that it will have a positive impact on the area's economic outlook.
Although the cells within humans and animals are more complex than trypanosomes they do carry organelles that function in similar ways to the ones they hope to block in the parasite.
but the birds choose to lay their eggs on a substrate that maximizes camouflage said P. George Lovell of Abertay University
and the University of St andrews. Furthermore the maximization seems specific to individual birds. Karen Spencer also of University of St andrews and a co-author had noticed earlier that female quail lay eggs that vary a lot in appearance
Some birds consistently lay eggs covered in dark spots; others have many fewer spots or in some cases almost none at all.
that birds might make optimal egg-laying choices based on the special characteristics of their own eggs. To find out they gave female quail in the lab a choice between four different backgrounds on
Birds laying eggs with little patterning instead choose lighter surfaces to match the predominant background color of their eggs.
and eaten by predators through careful decision-making the researchers say. Animals make choices based upon their knowledge of the environment
and their own phenotype to maximize their ability to reproduce and survive Lovell said. In this specific case birds know what their eggs look like
and can make laying choices that will minimize predation. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Cell Press.
Changes in the timing of flowering have broad implications for the animals and insects that depend on the plants.
Earlier blooming exposes plants to a greater risk of experiencing cold snaps that can damage blossoms
In an analysis of 18 years of data from 1296 counties in 15 states researchers found that Americans living in areas infested by the emerald ash borer a beetle that kills ash trees suffered from an additional
When emerald ash borer comes into a community city streets lined with ash trees become treeless.
The data came from counties in states with at least one confirmed case of the emerald ash borer in 2010.
The emerald ash borer was discovered first near Detroit Michigan in 2002. The borer attacks all 22 species of North american ash
and kills virtually all of the trees it infests. The study was conducted in collaboration with David Butry with the National Institute of Standards and Technology;
#Leopards and tigers in India: New genetics research underscores importance of protecting forest corridorsas rapid economic expansion continues to shape the Asian landscape on
which many species depend time is running out for conservationists aiming to save wildlife such as tigers and leopards.
Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute have used genetic analysis to find that the natural forest corridors in India are essential to ensuring a future for these species. According to two studies recently published in two papers these corridors are successfully connecting populations of tigers
and leopards to ensure genetic diversity and gene flow. The results of the study that focused on tigers were published in Ecology
and Evolution and the results from the study that tracked leopards were published in Diversity and Distributions.
This research provides crucial information about the need to maintain these vital veins to support tiger
and leopard populations said Sandeep Sharma SCBI visiting scholar and lead author of the Ecology and Evolution paper.
These habitats and corridors in India are threatened by infrastructural developments and need to be conserved if we want to save these species for future generations.
The authors of the two papers used fecal samples to analyze the genetics of tiger and leopard populations in four reserves in central India:
The Kanha and Pench reserves and the Satpura and Melghat reserves are connected via forest corridors that tigers leopards humans and cattle share.
The researchers found that both tiger and leopard populations in the reserves had maintained a high level of genetic diversity.
Neither tigers nor leopards were genetically distinct with one exception among the leopards which the scientists hope to explain with additional research.
The corridors appear to allow individuals to move between reserves facilitating genetic exchange. However the proliferation of roads rail lines mining urbanization and other forms of development through the corridors jeopardize these species'ability to move between reserves.
and Pench tiger reserves as has the widening of a national highway (NH-7) and a broad-gauge railway line that cut across the corridor between the Kanha and Pench tiger reserves.
By looking at two species we were really able to illustrate the functionality of these corridors said Trishna Dutta SCBI visiting student
and other species. The Indian subcontinent contains the largest number of tiger conservation areas which are home to 60 percent of the world's wild tigers.
Leopard range has extended historically through most of Sub-saharan africa along parts of the North African coast through central south and Southeast asia and north to the Amur river valley in Russia.
In addition to Sharma and Dutta the papers'other SCBI authors are Jesã s Maldonado a research geneticist at SCBI's Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics and John Seidensticker head of SCBI
The other authors are Thomas Wood in the Department of Environmental science and Policy at George Mason University and H. S. Panwar former director of Project Tiger India and Wildlife Institute
and promotes research programs based at Front Royal the National Zoo in Washington D c . and at field research stations and training sites worldwide.
#New Antarctic geological timeline aids future sea-level predictionsradiocarbon dates of tiny fossilised marine animals found in Antarctica's seabed sediments offer new clues about the recent rapid
and shells of animals made of calcium carbonate. Such'calcareous'microfossils are critical for using the radiocarbon technique to determine the age of the sediments
Wild yaks are the third largest mammal in Asia second only to elephants and rhinos.
While polar bears represent a sad disclaimer for a warming Arctic the recent count of almost 1000 wild yaks offers hope for the persistence of free-roaming large animals at the virtual limits of high-altitude wildlife.
and the role wolves may play on population dynamics. The team's next steps will be to process data to understand more about climate change impacts on this high elevation ecosystem
but the mass vaccination of poultry has continued by those breeders subscribing to the Lion Quality Code of Practice
and using the Lion Mark on eggs. The code of practice requires mandatory vaccination of all young hens destined to lay Lion eggs against Salmonella as well as traceability of hens eggs
and feed a best-before date stamped on shells and hygiene controls at packing stations.
Lion eggs now account for around 85%of the total market. Sarah O'brien Professor of Epidemiology and Zoonoses from the University's Institute of Infection and Global Health attributes a dramatic fall in the number of Salmonella cases in humans to this mass vaccination programme in poultry.
Wheeler JG Sethi D Cowden JM et al. Study of infectious intestinal disease in England: rates in the community presenting to general practice
#NASA Mars rover preparing to drill into first Martian rocknasa's Mars rover Curiosity is driving toward a flat rock with pale veins that may hold clues to a wet history on the Red planet.
since the landing It has never been done on Mars said Mars Science Laboratory project manager Richard Cook of NASA's Jet propulsion laboratory in Pasadena Calif. The drill hardware interacts energetically with Martian material we don't control.
and use those to scrub the drill. Then the rover will drill and ingest more samples from this rock which it will analyze for information about its mineral and chemical composition.
It was as it turns out bugs says Robert Kennedy a remote sensing specialist at Boston University who consulted with U s. Forest Service experts to confirm his observations.
and near Mount Rainier where the insect outbreak lasted ten years from its onset in 1994 till the insects killed all the trees
what people think of as crummier images says Curtis Woodcock a remote sensing specialist at Boston University who employs a similar method to Kennedy to build an image of the landscape out of Landsat data pixel by pixel.
--but also the slow and subtle changes that take place over many years including pulses of insect outbreaks.
In the satellite imagery they had found two kinds of insect signals. The first is a classic mountain pine beetle outbreak.
The beetles attacked lodge pole pines the same species affected in outbreaks throughout British columbia and Colorado.
and Mount Rainier is the western spruce budworm an insect that moves into an area and eats the needles off the trees.
The imagery produced by Landtrendr is a remarkable tool for looking at change over time says Woodcock.
We found that the beetles do not disturb watersheds in the same way as logging
beetle-killed areas another indication of how understory vegetation compensates for environmental conditions in beetle kill areas.
The researchers measured stream nitrate concentrations at more than 100 sites in western Colorado containing lodgepole pines with a range of beetle-induced tree damage.
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