Creighton Litton and Susan Crow (University of Hawai`i at Manoa) and Dr. Greg Asner (Carnegie Institution for Science) shows that soil carbon storage was constant across a highly constrained 5 degrees
Along the west coast of North america winds lift deep nutrient-rich water into sunlit surface layers fueling vast phytoplankton blooms that ultimately support fish seabirds and marine mammals.
and lower reproductive success for seabirds underscoring the importance of upwelling for the conservation of endangered animals and management of commercially important fisheries.
To study the effects of changing strength of upwelling on marine life the team integrated data on how quickly fish grew every year since the 1940s the timing of seabird egg laying since the 1970s and the fledgling success of seabirds since the 1970s.
Because the birds and fish in this study tended to rebound from each of these events within a year or two the increased variability of upwelling strength has led not to long-term declines.
Black noted that changes in upwelling strength did not affect just fish and seabirds. In a sense these representative species were just the tips of the iceberg.
what price male birds pay for carrying the spectacular iridescent feathers they use in displays to attract females.
so it's expected that the male birds would be making a significant sacrifice in their flight performance for being attractive--possibly giving up their lives
He filmed the take-offs of birds carrying full plumage in 3d and then filmed the same birds taking off without their trains.
The display feathers which naturally moult at the end of the breeding season were cropped to judge the change in take off performance between the two states.
Dr Askew observed the position of each bird's centre of mass their wing motions
and then calculated the amount of power used by the birds to accelerate and gain height over the first two wing beats.
These birds do not seem to be making quite the sacrifices to look attractive we thought they were.
Although the drag doubled overcoming that drag is only a tiny part of the power used by the birds during take off.
Therefore the impact of the train on the overall take off performance is negligible allowing birds with
Dr Askew pointed out that the feathers might adversely affect flight stability and the birds'ability to run.
male birds invest about 3%of their daily metabolic energy budget in train growth. Story Source:
and has gone so far as to establish the economic value of pest-eating birds and crop-pollinating bees.
The researchers have developed an extraordinarily detailed data set to show human impacts on phylogenetic diversity a measure of the evolutionary history embodied in wildlife--in this case birds.
For example an area inhabited by two species of blackbirds that diverged only a couple of million years ago would have relatively low phylogenetic diversity.
The tinamou--a speckled football-shaped flightless bird--diverged from blackbirds about 100 million years ago
and if it moved into the blackbird's habitat the phylogenetic diversity of that area would increase significantly.
The biologists counted almost 120000 birds hailing from nearly 500 species in three different types of habitats in Costa rica:
While sparrows are adept at finding shelter in farmlands and are happy to eat a variety of seeds found in those areas the tinamou
and other evolutionarily distinct species are highly dependent on jungle habitats and have very specific needs such as diet that can only be met in those environments.
We find some evidence that birds that evolved in those types of habitats such as blackbirds
and sparrows are doing better in those habitats today. Preserving biodiversity and phylogenetic history is critical for both healthy ecosystems
Having just sparrows in an ecosystem is like investing only in technology stocks: If the bubble bursts you lose Frishkoff said.
Even relatively modest increases in vegetation on farms can support diverse lineages of birds. Story Source:
Seventeen percent of the leopard's diet consisted of assorted wild animals including rodents monkeys and mongoose and birds.
while other species may prefer birds dogs sheep etc. However Pitts argues that these insects are opportunists rather than true specialists.
#State of the Birds report assesses the health of Americas birdsone hundred years after the extinction of the passenger pigeon the nation's top bird science
and conservation groups have come together to publish State of the Birds 2014--the most comprehensive review of long-term trend data for U s. birds ever conducted.
The report finds bird populations declining across several key habitats and it includes a watch list of bird species in need of immediate conservation help.
The report also reveals however that in areas where a strong conservation investment has been made bird populations are recovering.
The full report can be found at stateofthebirds. org. The State of the Birds 2014 is authored by the U S. Committee of the North american Bird Conservation Initiative--a 23-member partnership of government agencies
and organizations dedicated to advancing bird conservation. The report is based on extensive reviews of population data from long-term monitoring.
It looks to birds as indicators of ecosystem health by examining population trends of species dependent on one of seven habitats:
grasslands forests wetlands ocean aridlands islands and coasts. This year's report is also a five-year check in on the indicators presented in the inaugural 2009 State of the Birds report.
After examining the population trends of birds in desert sagebrush and chaparral habitats of the West the report's authors identify aridlands as the habitat with the steepest population declines in the nation.
There has been a 46 percent loss of these birds since 1968 in states such as Utah Arizona and New mexico.
Habitat loss and fragmentation due to development are the largest threats. These are also significant threats in the nation's grasslands where the report notes a decline in breeding birds like the eastern meadowlark and the bobolink of nearly 40 percent since 1968.
That decline however has leveled off since 1990--a result of the significant investments in grassland bird conservation.
This report highlights the threats that birds face but it also offers hope for their future
if we act together said Wayne Clough Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. I am gratified that the Smithsonian contributed to this important effort
While habitat loss and fragmentation are the most consistent and widespread threats across habitats they are followed closely on the list by invasive species. Introduced species have a particularly strong impact on islands where native birds have a greater restriction on where they can Live in Hawaii introduced animals
One-third of all U s. federally endangered birds are Hawaiian species . However as with many grassland birds species in several other key habitats have benefited from targeted conservation.
In general shorebirds along the coasts are squeezed into shrinking strips of habitat due to development. But among the 49 coastal species examined there has been a steady rise in population of 28 percent
since 1968--a direct result of the establishment of 160 national coastal wildlife refuges and nearly 600000 acres of national seashore in 10 states. â#ecause the'state of the birds'mirrors
the state of their habitats our national wildlife refuges national parks national seashores and other public lands are critical safe havens for many of these species--especially in the face of climate change--one of the biggest
The creation and preservation of large swaths of forests through public-private partnerships in the Appalachian mountains and the Northwest has helped declining forest-dependent species such as the golden-winged warbler and the oak titmouse.
Efforts like this are essential as forest-dependent birds have declined nearly 20 percent in the western U s. since 1968 and 32 percent in the east.
and restore wetlands through public-private partnerships across the United states thereby reversing declines in waterfowl populations such as the mallard
In addition to assessing population trends in the seven key habitats the North american Bird Conservation Initiative members created a State of the Birds Watch List.
Forty-two of them are pelagic (open ocean) species. Birds like the Laysan albatross and black-footed albatross are facing increasing levels of oil contamination plastic pollution and greatly reduced amounts of prey fish due to commercial fishing operations.
Rising sea levels due to climate change also put their low-elevation breeding habitats in the Hawaiian and Marshall islands at risk of flooding.
More than half of all U s. shorebird species are on the Watch List including the piping plover long-billed curlew and red knot.
The State of the Birds report shows that public-private partnerships are working to successfully strengthen conservation efforts said Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack.
and the Forest Service have improved habitat for bird species and other wildlife as well as promoting more outdoor recreation opportunities
The report's authors have deemed Hawaii the bird extinction capital of the world--no place has had more extinctions since human settlement.
They point to proactive partner-driven conservation as the best way to recover endangered birds and keep other species off the Endangered Species List not only in Hawaii but in all key habitats.
Species like the Bicknell's thrush a bird that breeds in the mountains in the Northeast faces rapid deforestation of its already limited wintering grounds on the island of Hispaniola.
A positive precedent however lies with the cerulean warbler a species that breeds in forests of the eastern U s. and winters in the tropics.
The passenger pigeon once numbering in the billions is a strong reminder that even species considered common can become extinct without careful attention as it did Sept. 1 1914.
Another focus for State of the Birds 2014 is the importance of keeping common birds common.
The report identifies 33 species like the northern bobwhite quail grasshopper sparrow and bank swallow that do not meet the Watch List criteria
but are declining rapidly in many areas. These birds have lost more than half their global population
and the 33 species combined have lost hundreds of millions of breeding individuals in just the past 40 years.
Addressing the conservation needs of these birds will result in healthier more productive land and water for other wildlife as well as for people.
The strongest finding in State of the Birds 2014 is simple: conservation works. Ducks fly once again in great numbers up the Mississippi river and across the Chesapeake bay.
California condors are rebounding from just 22 birds to more than 200 today. Bald eagles brown pelicans peregrine falcons--all species once headed the way of the passenger pigeon--are now abundant.
To prevent future extinctions like the passenger pigeon the report's authors point to science technology and knowledge as the foundation of proactive partner-driven conservation.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Smithsonian Institution. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length l
#Experts create multiuser, multiantenna scheme to make most of UHF bandrice University wireless researchers have found a way to make the most of the unused UHF TV spectrum by serving up fat streams of data over wireless hotspots that could stretch
For example researchers will be able to relate forest architecture with habitat quality and the biodiversity of certain birds.
and importance to the health of the landscape he noted citing wetlands teaming with birds amphibians and beneficial insects.
and waterfowl enthusiasts as prime wildlife habitat researchers believe that the underwater grass beds at the shallow Susquehanna Flats began to decline in the 1960s
#Flapping baby birds give clues to origin of flighthow did the earliest birds take wing? Did they fall from trees
but a new University of California Berkeley study provides a new piece of evidence--birds have an innate ability to maneuver in midair a talent that could have helped their ancestors learn to fly rather than fall from a perch.
The study looked at how baby birds in this case chukar partridges pheasant-like game birds from Eurasia react
The researchers Dennis Evangelista now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of North carolina Chapel hill and Robert Dudley UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology found that even ungainly day-old baby birds successfully use their flapping wings
From day one post-hatching 25 percent of these birds can basically roll in midair
By nine days after hatching 100 percent of the birds in the study had developed coordinated
and control in development and evolution of flight in birds. The researchers'study appeared Aug 27 in the online journal Biology Letters published by the Royal Society.
and allowed the ancestors of today's birds to effectively use their forelimbs as rudimentary wings.
Dudley noted that some scientists hypothesize that true powered flight originated in the theropod dinosaurs the ancestors to birds
because they are hunted by eagles hawks foxes and humans and therefore must be very alert
The Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlã¢ntica) is one of the most important and threatened biodiversity hotspots in the world containing the only living examples of nearly 10000 species of plant and more bird species than all of Europe.
--and protect its plants birds and other animals--by paying land owners on a large scale to set aside land for conservation.
Jean paul Metzger from the University of SãO Paulo collected data on birds mammals and amphibians living in the forest.
Using mist nets to capture birds as well as pitfall traps to capture mammals and amphibians they painstakingly recorded information on 25000 individuals made up of 140 species of birds 43 species of mammals and 29 species of amphibians.
They collected data in 79 different forest regions across 150 kilometres and estimated that to maintain a similar level of biodiversity
Sows don't usually start their oestrous cycles again during lactation only coming on heat after their piglets have been weaned says Ms Alice Weaver Phd candidate with the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences.
Ms Weaver's study investigated whether oestrus could be stimulated while sows were still feeding their piglets so the sows could be mated before their piglets were weaned.
or not says Ms Weaver. We've shown that piglet weaning age should be able to be increased with sows still producing the average 2. 4 litters a year.
It's best used as a training tool rather than a circus act to stop animals from doing
The study which appears Aug 21 in PLOS Pathogens found strong genetic evidence that three tree species--Canary Island pine Pohutukawa
#How hummingbirds evolved to detect sweetnesseverything about hummingbirds is rapid. An iridescent blur to the human eye their movements can be captured with clarity only by high-speed video.
These hummingbirds look mad. The birds'preference for sweetness is plain but only now can scientists explain the complex biology behind their taste for sugar.
Their discovery required an international team of scientists fieldwork in the California mountains and at Harvard university's Concord Field Station plus collaborations from Harvard labs on both sides of the Charles river.
Now in a paper published in Science the scientists show how hummingbirds'ability to detect sweetness evolved from an ancestral savory taste receptor that is mostly tuned to flavors in amino acids.
Feasting on nectar and the occasional insect the tiny birds expanded throughout North and South america numbering more than 300 species over the 40 to 72 million years
and all birds taste things the same way that mammals do: with sensory receptors for salty sour bitter sweet
What about hummingbirds? she recalled. If they are missing the single sweet receptor how are they detecting sugar?
More bird genomes were sequenced and still no sweet receptor. So began Baldwin's quest to understand how hummingbirds detected sugar
and became highly specialized nectar feeders. A doctoral student in organismic and evolutionary biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology she is a member of the lab of Scott Edwards Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Curator of Ornithology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
and Taste in San francisco. They agreed to work together on experiments that would eventually reveal how hummingbirds evolved
After cloning the genes for taste receptors from chickens swifts and hummingbirds--a three-year process--Baldwin needed to test what the proteins expressed by these genes were responding to.
She joined forces with another scientist at another International Taste and Smell meeting. Yasuka Toda a graduate student of the University of Tokyo and co-first author of the paper had devised a method for testing taste receptors in cell culture.
and swifts the receptor responds strongly to amino acids--the umami flavors--but in hummingbirds only weakly.
But the receptor in hummingbirds responds strongly to carbohydrates--the sweet flavors. This is the first time that this umami receptor has ever been shown to respond to carbohydrates Baldwin said.
and hummingbird taste receptors into hybrid chimeras to understand which parts of the gene were involved in this change in function.
Does this different taste receptor subunit drive behavior in the hummingbirds? Back at the feeding stations the birds answered yes.
They spat out the water but they siphoned up both the sweet nectar and one artificial sweetener that evoked a response in the cell-culture assay unlike aspartame and its ilk.
Researchers in the Wildlife Toxicology Laboratory necropsied hundreds of birds throughout a 19-million-acre area of land
and discovered large numbers of parasitic eyeworms in many of the birds they sampled. The study part of multi-million-dollar Operation Idiopathic Decline and funded by the private Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation is titled Evidence of an Oxispirura petrowi Epizootic in Northern bobwhites
Rick Snipes president of The Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation said he was impressed with the researchers'findings.
and parasite study done in the United states in more than 80 years Snipes said. To date we have invested $4. 3 million In operation Idiopathic Decline
Throughout the Rolling plains Kendall and others found a significant infection rate with the birds they trapped.
Once inside the birds they move freely from eye to eye through the sinus cavity where they suck the blood of the birds mate
These birds need to be 100 percent performance ready to get away from a Cooper's hawk. If you are a quail in the wild
Eggs from eyeworms in quail would be left behind in the birds'feces which in turn would be eaten by more crickets.
hen harrier conservation on UK moorlandsas another grouse shooting season begins research out today in The british Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology shows ecology could help break the decades-long deadlock
and conservationists seeking to protect hen harriers on UK moorlands. Led by Professor Steve Redpath of the University of Aberdeen the study involved grouse managers and conservationists as well as ecologists.
The model showed that at certain population densities harriers can coexist with profitable grouse shooting.
The model suggested that across the grouse moors of England there was room for 70 pairs of hen harriers at relatively low cost for grouse shooting.
when harriers breed at levels that have a significant economic impact on grouse shoots the excess chicks would be removed from the grouse moors reared in captivity
Similar schemes are used in continental Europe where harriers breeding in crops are threatened by harvesting. The next step is for grouse managers
and conservationists to use the results of the model to agree on an acceptable number of harriers
The standoff between grouse managers and hen harrier conservationists is one of the UK's most bitter and contentious wildlife conflicts.
Grouse managers want to maximize the number of birds available for shooting and see any predation by hen harriers as a threat.
Hen harriers eat grouse and are killed illegally so despite being protected legally the birds have disappeared all but on moorland managed for intensive grouse shooting.
There were no breeding harriers in England in 2013. Grouse moor management has benefits for biodiversity and for communities.
The question however remains as to how the illegal killing can be stopped without losing these benefits.
A quota scheme provides a possible solution. Any decision about how to use this model depends as much on politics as on science.
Many fish marine mammals and birds are also found in kelp forest communities including rockfish seals sea lions whales gulls terns snowy egrets as well as some shore birds.
#Ravens rule Idahos artificial roostsa new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) U s. Geological Survey (USGS) and Idaho State university (ISU) explored how habitat alterations
including the addition of energy transmission towers affect avian predators nesting in sagebrush landscapes. Researchers compared nesting habitat selection between Common Ravens
and three raptor species commonly found in sagebrush ecosystems: Red-tailed hawks Swainson's Hawks and Ferruginous Hawks.
Using the data from their field research and reviewing historical data from other studies the scientists developed models to predict nesting probabilities for each species. Overall the analysis showed that transmission towers
and other artificial substrates (e g. cell towers billboards buildings) are preferred overwhelmingly by ravens as nesting sites
and are preferred not by any of the three hawk species. A nest located on artificial substrate is nearly 100 percent 89.4 percent
and 87.1 percent more likely to be that of a raven than that of a Swainson's Hawk Red-tailed hawk and Ferruginous Hawk respectively.
Raven populations have increased precipitously in the past four decades in sagebrush ecosystems largely as a result of fragmentation and development of anthropogenic structures.
Our study shows that in addition to habitat fragmentation the addition of human-made structures benefit ravens
whereas some species of raptors like the Ferruginous Hawk have been impacted and limited in nesting areas said study lead author Peter Coates an ecologist with the USGS Western Ecological Research center.
Why the difference in nest selection between ravens and large hawks? The answer may be linked to the availability of preferred prey.
Ravens are opportunistic foragers eating just about anything including carrion. In addition they tend to be highly intelligent birds that adapt quickly to changing environments
and have been shown to transmit learned behaviors from one generation to the next. Conversely hawks tend to be strongly territorial intolerant of human disturbance
and prefer prey like jackrabbits that occupy similar habitats said coauthor and USGS ecologist Kristy Howe whose masters thesis research with WCS formed the foundation of this study.
The study took place on the sagebrush landscapes of the U s. Department of energy's Idaho site
Ravens were classified as an uncommon breeder within this area as recently as 1986. Common Ravens are now the most pervasive predatory species nesting in this area accounting for 46 percent of nests among these four avian predator species. Transmission towers are the tallest objects at the study area.
Nesting on or near them may afford ravens myriad advantages including a wider range of vision greater attack speed
and greater security from predators range fires and heat stress. While this is good news for ravens it could be bad news for sensitive prey species including the Greater Sage-grouse.
Howe speculates on the study's other implications and directions for future research: Since ravens are important predators of young birds
and eggs and hawks are predominantly predators of adults these landscape changes could shift ecosystem dynamics.
Predation risk would now likely be greater for sage-grouse eggs and young and correspondingly lower for adult sage-grouse and other prey species. This adds new insights for ecosystem managers who seek to understand the complex relationships between ravens hawks sage-grouse populations and habitat changes.
Increases In common Raven distribution and abundance in the American west mirror declines in distribution and abundance of Greater Sage-grouse where energy transmission corridors and other land use changes have altered sagebrush steppe
habitat said David Delehanty of ISU. Industrial development wildfires invasive plant species and other disturbances are changing sagebrush landscapes throughout the western United states. Our results shed light on how these avian predators might change with them said Coates of USGS. The study Landscape alterations
influence differential habitat use of nesting Buteos and ravens within sagebrush ecosystem: Implications for transmission line development will appear in the August 2014 print issue of the journal The Condor.
This study is currently online. Authors include Kristy Howe of WCS and USGS Peter Coates and Michael L. Casazza of the USGS and David Delehanty of ISU.
For additional information on this story or to speak with the scientists involved please contact Scott Smith at 718-220-3698.
â#¢73 percent of ravens nests were located on artificial nesting substrates of which 53 percent were located on transmission line towers. â#¢Both ravens
and Red-tailed hawks selected nest sites in close proximity to habitat edges while Swainson's and Ferruginous Hawks selected nest sites far from habitat edges.
Red-tailed hawks: â#¢70 percent of nests located on natural substrates (cottonwood and juniper tress) â#¢Breeding pairs of Red-tailed hawks also considered a generalist species increased substantially from the mid-1970s (1 nest) to the mid-1990s (33 nests)
and have remained stable since that time. Swainson's Hawks: â#¢98 percent of nests located on natural substrates (juniper cottonwood
and cultivated trees) â#¢Nested in communities dominated by native grasses and near agricultural areasferrugionous Hawks:
â#¢Approximately 74 percent of nests were located on natural substrates mostly juniper trees. â#¢Selected areas dominated by contiguous stands of sagebrush. â#¢Ferruginous Hawk nests were located farther from roads
and other human developments when compared to the other species. â#¢Most likely to be impacted negatively by human encroachment.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Wildlife Conservation Society. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
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