#Strange bird, sea turtle hatchlings released on protected Indonesian beachworking on a remote and protected beach in Indonesia conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society
and PALSÂ#local partner organizationâ#ecently celebrated the release of rare animal hatchlings into the wild part of a plan to save the olive ridley sea turtle
and an extraordinary bird called the maleo. On February 23 on Sulawesiâ##s Binerean Cape conservation managers released two newly hatched maleo chicks
which quickly flew into the forest and 34 newly hatched olive ridley sea turtles which crawled into the sea.
All hatchlings emerged from protected nests on a 950-meter beach that is now owned and managed by PALS (Pelestari Alam Liar dan Satwa or Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation).
â#oethe joint release of maleos and olive ridleys on the same day is a boost to the conservation of both species in Sulawesiâ#said Noviar Andayani Country Director for WCSÂ##s Indonesia Program
and participant in the Maleo Conservation Project. â#oethe protection of the beachfront lands which are critical nesting grounds for both species will help safeguard this part of Indonesiaâ##s natural heritage. â#The hatchling
and even former maleo hunters to guard nests from egg poachers. The most threatened of the beach nestersâ#he maleoâ#s a chicken-sized bird with a black helmet (or casque) yellow facial skin a red-orange beak
and a nesting strategy more reptilian than avian. After burying their eggs in sunbaked beaches
or in some instances volcanically heated soil the maleo parents abandon their nest. After an incubation period of approximately 70 days the chicks emerge fully feathered able to fly
and fend for themselves. The maleoâ##s entire range is limited to the islands of Sulawesi and Buton and the estimated population numbers 8000-14000 mature individual birds (4000-7000 breeding pairs.
The bird is listed as Endangered on the IUCNÂ##s Red List and is threatened by egg harvesting and habitat loss.
Nest abandonment is normal for sea turtles such as the olive ridley one of three threatened sea turtle species known to nest on the Binerean Cape area.
Weighing up to 100 pounds the olive ridley is one of the smallest sea turtle species . Although widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical seas of the world the olive ridley turtle is listed still as Vulnerable on IUCNÂ##s Red List.
The species is threatened by egg harvesting and direct hunting. â#oethe round-the-clock monitoring of maleo and sea turtle nests on this protected beach prevents the exploitation of these species a threat that still frequently occurs at other sitesâ#said Dr. Peter Clyne Deputy
Director of WCSÂ##s Asia Program. â#oewe hope to extend the program to adjacent coastal areas
and perhaps other sites where these species still persist. â #In addition to conservation efforts in the field WCS also works to conserve maleos at its Bronx Zoo headquarters where curators have reared successfully maleo chicks by recreating the specialized conditions needed for successful reproduction and incubation.
The project managers thank the following contributors: Heidi and Harvey Bookman and the Critically Endangered Animals Conservation Fund of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Wildlife Conservation Society. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length d
which raised cattle and consumed the animals'fresh milk. The research was led by Alessia Ranciaro a postdoctoral fellow in Penn's Department of Genetics in the Perelman School of medicine
The distinct geographic patterns in which these variants were present correlate in many cases with historic human migrations mixing between populations as well as the spread of cattle camels or sheep.
And a variant G-13915 found at high frequencies in the Arabian peninsula and also present in northern Kenya and northern Sudan dates to roughly 5000 years ago around the time that archaeological evidence suggests that camels were domesticated in the region.
and animals that are indigenous to these areas. Greater area than tropical rain foreststropical grassy areas cover a greater area than tropical rain forests support about one fifth of the world's population
Dr. Chris Seabury and research associates (Yvette Halley and Eric Bhattarai) along with members of the Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center (Drs.
One of the most prized American hunting birds and a cultural icon among outdoor enthusiasts the bobwhite quail has undergone a mysterious decline that has been documented for more than 50 years.
The bird was named recently the No. 1 bird in decline in North america by the Audubon Society.
Loss of natural habitat changes in land use pesticides the potential for bird diseases and even climate change have all been mentioned
or draw important inferences regarding bobwhite physiological interactions with their environmentâ#Seabury explains. â#oewe now have a formal resource for studying the bird and identifying new or perhaps even more specific reasons for its serious decline.
#Concerns raised about using beta agonists in beef cattleuse of certain animal drugs known as beta agonists in cattle production has received considerable national attention.
Less land would be used to grow the crops used to feed the animals and therefore less fuel to produce the same amount of beef.
This increase in death loss raises critical animal-welfare questions. We believe an inclusive dialogue is needed to explore the use of animal drugs solely to improve performance yet have no offsetting health benefits for the animals to
which they are administered. This is particularly needed for those drugs that appear to adversely impact animal welfare such as beta agonists.
I've worked all my career to improve how animals are handled and these animals are just suffering.
It has to stop. Grandin generally speaks on issues at the slaughter houses with lame cattle due to beta agonists
To paraphrase Dr. Grandin we owe the animals we raise for food a decent life
We certainly need to better understand the manner in which animals fed beta agonist die at the feedlot
and work out how to balance the societal benefits of beta agonist use with societal expectations concerning the welfare of animals raised for food.
#Success of new bug-fighting approach may vary from field to fielda new technique to fight crop insect pests may affect different insect populations differently researchers report.
They analyzed RNA interference (RNAI) a method that uses genetic material to silence specific genes--in this case genes known to give insect pests an advantage.
The western corn rootworm will likely be one of the first crop pests to be targeted with RNAI technology said Manfredo Seufferheld a former University of Illinois crop sciences professor who led the study with crop sciences graduate student Chia
-Ching Chu entomology research associate Weilin Sun Illinois Natural history Survey insect behaviorist Joseph Spencer and U. of I. entomology professor Barry Pittendrigh.
Controlling the western corn rootworm costs growers more than $1 billion a year in the U s. Current methods for keeping the bug in check--crop rotation
They found that microbes in the guts of rotation-resistant rootworms help those beetles that stray into soybean fields survive on soybean leaves for a few days--just long enough for the females to lay their eggs in soil that will be planted in corn the following year.
Rather than studying a laboratory population of insects in the new analysis the team tested RNAI on rootworm beetles collected from fields in three locations in the Midwest--two in Illinois with established rotation-resistant populations
After generations in the laboratory insects gradually lose their natural diversity Seufferheld said. This makes it easier to control them
and may not accurately reflect actual insect responses in the field he said. Seufferheld now works for Monsanto and is based in Buenos aires where he is in charge of insect resistance management.
The team targeted two genes that are regulated differently in rotation-resistant and non-resistant rootworms. The first Dvrs5 codes for an enzyme that helps the rootworms digest plant proteins.
The second att 1 aids in the insects'immune response. These genes have been found to play a role in rootworm resistance to crop rotation.
(which involves feeding it to the bugs) influenced enzyme activity in the rootworm gut. They also recorded how long the beetles survived on soybean leaves after ingesting RNAI.
As expected the RNAI targeting Dvrs5 reduced that enzyme's activity in all three rootworm populations.
But the treatment had less of an effect on rotation-resistant beetles (activity dropped to about 48 percent) than on their nonresistant counterparts (enzyme activity dropped to 24 percent.
But the study does offer important insights into the complexity of insect biology Seufferheld said.
and the insects that feed on those crops this knowledge will help us develop better pest-management strategies that are more in tune with nature.
The findings suggest that targeting a single gene to control a pest species is not the best strategy Spencer said.
We now know that disrupting a particular target gene may enhance undesirable pest characteristic such as rotation resistance
With RNAI we are trying to subtly subvert important processes very precisely to bring about pest death.
This study shows how variation among crop pests may alter the outcome of a seemingly straightforward manipulation.
This is important evidence that insect populations vary in their response to RNAI and might be influenced by other selective events Pittendrigh said.
The findings might be of interest to agricultural biotech firms that are hoping to add RNAI to their pest-killing arsenals he said.
These new findings were reported by scientists from the German Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research Berlin (IZW.
Although insect-eating bats have been shown to avoid foraging in light-polluted areas this is the first study to show that fruit-eating bats also avoid lit areas.
because few other animals than bats disperse seeds into open habitats says Daniel Lewanzik doctoral candidate at the IZW and first author of the study.
*Sowell's short-tailed bat (Carollia sowelli) belongs to the large family of Phyllostomidae or leaf-nosed bats.
and then eat it as humans eat corn on the cob. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Forschungsverbund Berlin e. V. FVB.
Grass production must have boomed as did vast numbers of war horses and other livestock that gave the Mongols their power.
In just a matter of years he united the tribes into an efficient horse-borne military state that rapidly invaded its neighbors and expanded outward in all directions.
or more horses and ever-moving herds of livestock provided nearly all food and other resources.
The last dzud alone in 2009-10 killed at least 8 million animals and destroyed the livelihoods of countless herders.
These can be read somewhat like tree rings to estimate the abundance of livestock over time via layers of fungal spores that live in the dung of animals;
#Predation on invertebrates by woodland salamanders increases carbon capturewoodland salamanders perform a vital ecological service in American forests by helping to mitigate the impacts of global warming.
Woodland salamanders facilitate the capture of this carbon before it is released by feeding on invertebrates (beetles earthworms snails ants etc.
and other forest debris. Woodland salamanders are the most common vertebrate species in American forests;
consequently these small seldom-seen animals may play a significant role in regulating the capture of carbon from leaf litter in forest soils.
Dr. Hartwell Welsh Jr. research wildlife biologist at the U s. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) helped conduct a study in Northwestern Calif. that examined how woodland salamander
predation on invertebrates indirectly affects the amount of leaf litter retained for soil-building where nutrients
The objective of the study was to investigate the role of salamanders in regulating invertebrate abundances
The study included soil moisture as a covariate and field enclosures on the forest floor to quantify the effects of woodland salamanders.
and found that woodland salamander predation on invertebrates suppressed some populations of invertebrates and released others with the overall result of increased litter retention and carbon capture in the soil.
and raise awareness of the ecological role woodland salamanders play in the forest carbon cycle. The renowned evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson once said it is the little things that run the world Dr. Welsh said.
While Wilson probably had in mind invertebrates I think he would agree that our research on the influence of one of the primary predators on invertebrates
and their influence on the forest carbon cycle is a good example of what he was talking about.
#In grasslands remade by humans, animals may protect biodiversity: Grazers let in the light, rescue imperiled plantsa comparative study of grasslands on six continents suggests there may be a way to counteract the human-made overdose of fertilizer that threatens to permanently alter the biodiversity of the world's native prairies.
let grazing animals crop the excess growth of fast growing grasses that can out-compete native plants in an over-fertilized world.
The herbivores or grazing and browsing animals feed on tall grasses that block sunlight from reaching the ground making the light available to other plants.
and subtracting herbivores. We have a worldwide experiment going on but it's completely uncontrolled. Gruner a member of the Nutrient Network (which participants have nicknamed Nutnet)
Elizabeth Borer of the University of Minnesota was the study's lead author. The U n. Food and Agricultural organization estimates that grasslands cover between one-fifth and two-fifths of the planet's land area
At the same time grasslands worldwide are being converted to pastures for domestic animals with native grazers like elk and antelope giving way to cattle and sheep.
In each group one plot was fenced to keep grazing animals out. One was treated with a set dose of fertilizers to mimic the effect of excess nutrients from human sources
but was fenced not so the animals could graze. One was fenced both and fertilized. And one was left alone.
In some places native animals were abundant. At others they'd been replaced mostly by domestic animals like cattle goats and sheep.
And still others were former pastures where livestock had browsed in the past but were no longer there. In general where fertilizer was added
and grazing animals were kept out the variety of plants in the experimental plots decreased. Where animals were allowed to graze in the fertilized plots plant diversity generally increased.
The researchers'data analysis concluded that the grazers improved biodiversity by increasing the amount of light reaching ground level.
But grazing animals cut down the light-blocking plants and give the others a chance to bloom.
Where we see a change in light we see a change in diversity said Borer the lead author.
The effect was greatest where large animals wild and domesticated grazed on the test plots:
cattle pronghorn and elk on North america's Great plains; wildebeests and impala on Africa's Serengeti;
and horses sheep and ibex in rural India. In places where the only grazers were small animals like rabbits voles
and gophers the grazers'effect was weak and variable. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Maryland.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#Deer proliferation disrupts a forests natural growthby literally looking below the surface and digging up the dirt Cornell researchers have discovered that a burgeoning deer population forever alters the progression of a forest's natural future by creating environmental havoc in the soil
and disrupting the soil's natural seed banks. The study Deer Browsing Delays Succession by Altering Aboveground Vegetation and Belowground Seed Banks was published online March 7 in PLOS ONE.
Deer are slowing down forest succession or natural establishment. In fact the deer are preventing forests from establishing says Anurag Agrawal Cornell professor of ecology
and evolutionary biology a co-author on the paper. Deer typically prefer to eat native woody plants
and rebuff invasive species. The study showed that when deer consume native plants the nonnative species are left to flourish dropping seed in the soil.
As forests normally mature their grasses give way to herbs and shrubs and then new trees eventually take root.
Expanding deer populations in the Northeast however stall forest development and promote the growth of thorny thickets of buckthorn viburnum and multiflora rose bushes.
If deer leave the forests alone such trees as cottonwood locust and sumac can sprout
and grow unimpeded. The researchers found that the impacts of deer grazing on vegetation were resulted severe
and in bare soil and reduced plant biomass less recruitment of woody species and relatively fewer native species. And the deer's negative impact on seed banks resulted in significantly decreased overall species richness and relatively more short-lived species
of both annual and biennial plants. Co-author Antonio Ditommaso Cornell associate professor of weed ecology and management and research technician Scott Morris gathered soil cores--from both within and outside of fenced deer exclosures
--and germinated the seed. They found the soil cores from outside of the exclosures contained many more seeds from nonnative species. Deer select forests for their trees
but in doing so disrupt forest system growth trajectories concludes the study. It's obvious that the deer are affecting the aboveground species
but it's like an iceberg. There are major effects below the soil surface. We are seeing a divergence of seeds contained within the soil from what should be there says Ditommaso We are not seeing the seeds of woody plants.
Instead we're seeing an escalation of nonnative seed and the virtual elimination of woody plant seeds.
The multiyear study was conducted on Cornell land near Freese Road in Ithaca where the deer density is about 39 animals per square kilometer--about 10 times greater than it was before European settlement in the late 1700s.
#Teen elephant mothers die younger but have bigger familiesasian elephants that give birth as teenagers die younger than older mothers but raise bigger families during their lifetime according to new research from the University of Sheffield.
Experts from the University's Department of Animal and Plant sciences studied the reproductive lives of 416 Asian elephant mothers in Myanmar Burma
and found those that had calves before the age of 19 were almost two times more likely to die before the age of 50 than those that had their first offspring later.
However elephants that entered motherhood at an earlier age had more calves following their teenage years than those that started reproducing after the age of 19.
The team's findings will help maximise fertility in captive and semi-captive elephants reducing the strain on the endangered wild population.
Research found that Asian elephants which can live into their 70s could give birth from the age of five.
The team also found elephants that gave birth twice in their teenage years had calves three times more likely to survive to independence than those born to mothers who had their first young after the age of 19.
Dr Adam Hayward of the University of Sheffield's Department of Animal and Plant sciences said:
Asian elephants are endangered in the wild and low fertility in captivity necessitates acquisition of elephants from the wild every year to maintain captive populations.
Our research was carried out on semi-captive Asian elephants working in timber camps in Myanmar. As religious icons in Southeast asia and a key species of the forest ecosystem their decline is of serious cultural and ecological concern.
Our results will enable the management of captive and semi-captive elephants to be tailored to maximise fertility reducing strain on the wild population.
This study represents a unique analysis of the ageing process in a similarly long-lived mammal.
which are typical of most animals. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Sheffield.
#Deer feeding puts birds at risk, research showsby comparing the fate of artificial nests close
and far away from supplementary feeding sites located in the forest for ungulates such as deer and wild boar researchers found that those nests in the vicinity of feeding sites were depredated twice more.
This predation hotspot effect extends far away from the feeding site itself: in a radius of 1-km the probability of nest survival is lowered.
When accounting for all feeding sites in the study region (ca 2000 km2) this would mean that in one fifth of the area ground-nesting birds will have little chance to see their eggs hatching.
These sites attract not only deer and wild boar--the boar is also a nest predator--but also corvids rodents bears and other species of nest predators
which are not the target of feeding. Therefore this management practice widespread in Central europe comes into conflict with the conservation of ground-nesting birds such as grouse species
which are declining worldwide. The study was conducted by researchers of the Institute of Nature Conservation of the Polish Academy of Sciences in the Carpathian mountains where this practice is rooted deeply and increasing.
Hundreds of tons of food are thrown every year in the forest without thinking on the collateral effects
The study recommends to avoid ungulate feeding in the breeding areas of bird species of conservation concern such as capercaillie
or black grouse and to stop feeding before the bird nesting season starts. We urge for sensible feeding practices
The spread of diseases for instance is one of the reasons why deer feeding has been banned in many regions of North america.
#Birds of all feathers and global flu diversitya group of international scientists have completed the first global inventory of flu strains in birds by reviewing more than 50 published studies
and performed as part of the USAID PREDICT project identified over 116 avian flu strains in wild birds.
This is roughly twice the number that were found in domestic birds and more than ten times the number found in humans.
Additionally an analysis of studies that sampled more than 5000 birds suggested some regions may have more viral diversity than others.
Avian flu outbreaks come with no warning. In 2013 an H7n9 avian flu strain caused a deadly outbreak in people in China.
This year another strain known to infect birds H10n8 has caused human cases for the first time. As was the case in the H7n9 outbreak most direct bird-to-human spillover events
(when a virus jumps from one species to another) of avian flu can be traced back to human contact with domestic poultry.
Although avian flu strain diversity often originates in wild birds it is the mixing of viruses among poultry pigs
Completing the first global inventory of flu strains in birds is a key step in building that understanding.
This snapshot of the world of flu virus diversity in birds is the outcome of many years of ecology
The scientists also looked at patterns of flu diversity in different bird hosts. Mallards carry the highest number of strains at 89
and ruddy turnstones were second with 45. The more a strain was shared across wild bird types the more likely it was to be found in domestic birds a risk factor for spillover events.
They also noted that some strains could be specific to certain bird types. For example gulls and shorebirds (Charadriiformes) carried ten strains that have not been identified in any other bird order.
According to Dr. Olson This inventory isn't about blaming wild birds but it allows us to map
what we know and informs our understanding of what drives viral diversity and the emergence of rare viral strains that can infect people.
Given that flu viruses can jump from domestic poultry to people ongoing efforts at improving biosecurity at poultry farms
and markets remain key to outbreak prevention. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Wildlife Conservation Society.
marine turtles fruit bats free-range pigs and chickens rather than primarily relying on growing crops for human food and animal fodder.
and sulphur in adult human bone collagen and compared these with ratios in ancient and modern plants and animals from the location
and domesticated animals they brought with them were practicing a mixed subsistence strategy. The dietary pattern we found suggests that
and consuming wild animals--especially fruit bats--and that whatever horticultural food they produced was relied not heavily on she says.
and greater access to protein from sources such as tortoises pigs and chicken than women did.
Some of this could indeed be avoided by capitalising on ruminants'ability to digest food that humans cannot eat such as hay silage and high-fibre crop residues.
Thousands of these animals have been exported to Asia and Africa in an attempt to alleviate malnutrition.
but sick animals can make people sick. In low-and middle-income nations 13 livestock-related zoonoses (diseases transferable between animals and humans) cause 2. 4 billion cases of human illness and 2. 2
million deaths each year. Animal management should include measures to control transmissible diseases by improving hygiene quarantining new arrivals on farms
Supplements can boost the productivity of ruminant animals by encouraging microbes in the rumen to grow quickly
and provide the animals with better nutrition. Also with some supplements animals can produce more milk and meat for proportionally less greenhouse gas.
Raising animals for milk and meat is considered often at odds with the challenge of feeding a growing human population
but for undernourished communities there are health benefits to consuming healthy animal products. However the goal of public health should be a balanced diet across all countries with a target of no more than 300 grams of red meat per person per week.
Keeping animals provides wealth status and even dowry payments. However the benefits of keeping animals are disrupted
when conventional grazing and mixed-farming practices are replaced with industrial systems that prioritise short-term production. Policies to encourage high welfare efficient management should consider cultural as well as natural factors.
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