Stop killing parrotfish to bring back Caribbean coral reefswith only about one-sixth of the original coral cover left most Caribbean coral reefs may disappear in the next 20 years primarily due to the loss
since 1970 including studies of corals seaweeds grazing sea urchins and fish. The results show that the Caribbean corals have declined by more than 50%since the 1970s.
But according to the authors restoring parrotfish populations and improving other management strategies such as protection from overfishing and excessive coastal pollution could help the reefs recover
and causing coral bleaching the report shows that the loss of parrotfish and sea urchin--the area's two main grazers--has in fact been the key driver of coral decline in the region.
An unidentified disease led to a mass mortality of the sea urchin in 1983 and extreme fishing throughout the 20th century has brought the parrotfish population to the brink of extinction in some regions.
and allows algae on which they feed to smother the reefs. Reefs protected from overfishing as well as other threats such as excessive coastal pollution tourism
The report also shows that some of the healthiest Caribbean coral reefs are those that harbour vigorous populations of grazing parrotfish.
which have restricted or banned fishing practices that harm parrotfish such as fish traps and spearfishing. Other countries are following suit.
Barbuda is about to ban all catches of parrotfish and grazing sea urchins and set aside one-third of its coastal waters as marine reserves says Ayana Johnson of the Waitt Institute's Blue Halo Initiative which is collaborating with Barbuda in the development of its new management plan.
Reefs where parrotfish are protected not have suffered tragic declines including Jamaica the entire Florida Reef Tract from Miami to Key West and the U s. Virgin islands.
They generate more than US$ 3 billion annually from tourism and fisheries and over a hundred times more in other goods and services on
The decline in corals started long before climate change began to affect reefs says Terry Hughes author of the 1994 study that predicted the current problems due to parrotfish removal.
This report confirms that vigorous populations of grazing parrotfish are a common attribute of the healthiest Caribbean coral reefs.
Parrotfish populations are crucial to the very survival of coral reefs but are being destroyed despite their enormous ecological and economic value says Jerker Tamelander head of the UNEP coral reef unit.
and respond to the Caribbean coral reef crisis through joint actions including protecting parrotfish under the Protocol on specially protected areas and wildlife of the Cartagena Convention.
#Ancient Arctic sharks tolerated brackish water 50 million years agosharks were a tolerant bunch some 50 million years ago cruising an Arctic ocean that contained about the same percentage of freshwater as Louisiana
The study indicates the Eocene Arctic sand tiger shark a member of the lamniform group of sharks that includes today's great white thresher
and mako sharks was thriving in the brackish water of the western Arctic ocean back then. In contrast modern sand tiger sharks living today in the Atlantic ocean are very intolerant of low salinity requiring three times the saltiness of the Eocene sharks
in order to survive. This study shows the Arctic ocean was very brackish and had reduced salinity back then said University of Chicago postdoctoral researcher Sora Kim first author on the study.
The ancient sand tiger sharks that lived in the Arctic during the Eocene were very different than sand tiger sharks living in the Atlantic ocean today.
The findings have implications for how today's sharks might fare in a warming Arctic region
Maybe the fossil record can shed some light on how the groups of sharks that are with us today may fare in a warming world.
Because sharks are aquatic the oxygen from the ocean is constantly being exchanged with oxygen in their body water and that's
The team analyzed 30 fossil sand tiger shark teeth exhumed from Banks Island and 19 modern sand tiger shark teeth from specimens caught in Delaware bay bordered by Delaware and New jersey.
The paleo-salinity estimate for the modern sand tiger sharks is consistent with the continental shelf salinity present from Delaware south to Florida and from the coastline to roughly six miles offshore known hunting grounds for modern sand tiger sharks
which have formidable teeth and can reach a length of nearly 10 feet. The Eocene epoch which ran from about 56 to 34 million years ago was marked by wild temperature fluctuations including intense greenhouse periods
The salinity gradient across the Eocene Arctic ocean that provided habitat for the ancient sand tiger sharks also was found to be much larger than the salinity gradient tolerated by modern sand tiger sharks living in the Atlantic ocean said Eberle.
The Eocene lamniform group of sharks had a much broader environmental window than lamniform sharks do today.
Through an analysis of fossil sand tiger shark teeth from the western Arctic ocean this study offers new evidence for a less salty Arctic ocean during an ancient'greenhouse period'says Yusheng Chris Liu program
Possible solutionsthe impact of these land use changes on fisheries coastal zones and coral reefs--potentially many miles downstream--remains unclear
Humans are not the only ones who need to monitor their exposure to UV rays:
which is often hairless to the rays of the sun increasing the risk of sunburnâ#reports veterinary dermatologist Christa Horvath-Ungerbã ck.
The short hair allows UV rays penetrate down to the sensitive skin and cause sunburn.
and darker animals are less vulnerable to UV rays. Owners of vulnerable breeds should take particular care to protect their animals from the sun. Sun protection for animalsâ#oeas a rule animals should have a shady place to lie in.
  For longer hikes through the mountains where the sunâ##s rays are particularly aggressive sensitive animals should wear a t-shirt coat or hat for protection.
and researched by Lemon assistant professors Sterling Bone and Kristal Ray of Utah State university and assistant professor Paul Fombelle of Northeastern University.
#Protecting and connecting the Flathead National Forest in Montanaa new report from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) calls for completing the legacy of Wilderness lands on the Flathead National Forest in Montana.
The report identifies important secure habitats and landscape connections for five species--bull trout westslope cutthroat trout grizzly bears wolverines and mountain goats.
Located in northwest Montana adjacent to Glacier national park the 2. 4 million-acre Flathead Forest is a strategic part of the stunning and ecologically diverse Crown of the Continent Ecosystem.
Wildlife and Wild Lands on the Flathead National Forest Montana WCS Senior Scientist Dr. John Weaver notes that these protections may not be enough in the face of looming challenges such as climate change.
Reduced stream flow and warmer stream temperatures will diminish habitat for native westslope cutthroat trout
and bull trout that are adapted well to cold waters --while favoring introduced rainbow trout and brook trout.
Weaver found that the Flathead is a stronghold for these fish and wildlife species that have been vanquished in much of their range further south.
His analysis shows that 90 percent of the Flathead has a very high or high conservation value for at least one of the five focal species. In his recommendations Weaver employs a smart strategy for resiliency that protects
and connects large landscapes that have high topographic and ecological diversity. Such a strategy will provide a range of options for animal movements as conditions change.
In total Weaver recommends 404208 acres of roadless area on the Flathead Forest for Congressional designation as National Wilderness
Vital places with particular concentration of present and future habitat include the Whitefish Range adjacent to Glacier national park and the Swan Range east of Flathead Lake.
and decisions about future management on the Flathead National Forest said Weaver. These spectacular landscapes provide some of the best remaining strongholds for vulnerable fish and wildlife and headwater sources of clean water.
These roadless refugia offer a rare opportunity to complete the legacy of protecting wildlife and wildlands on this crown jewel of the National Forest system for people today and generations yet to come.
The parasite spends part of its life cycle in snails that live in warm fresh water before leaving the snail to burrow through the skin of people wading
Timeframes are identified through radiocarbon dating of freshwater snail shells and other organic soil matter. Thin microscopic sections of dirt samples show organization of soil grains revealing
which was considered typical of the Mediterranean diet (vegetables fruit and nuts fish and cereal grains) as well as one point for low intakes of foods untypical of the Mediterranean diet (such as dairy and meat products).
#Spanish slug: Busting an invasion mythspanish slugs (Arion lusitanicus) are one of the most common slug species in Central europe.
The animals sometimes nicknamed killer slugs are known to do their fair share of damage in fields and gardens.
The slug was thought to have originated in Southern Europe. However researchers of the German Biodiversity and Climate Centre and the Goethe University now found out that the prime example of an invasive species is originally from Central europe and thus no immigrant after all.
Control measures such as the EU regulation on prevention early warning rapid response and management of invasive species which is being discussed currently would
therefore not apply to this species. For some time conservationists have made aware of the fact that the rapidly growing number of brown Spanish slugs is replacing the native black slug in Central europe as well as inflicting significant damage on natural vegetation and agricultural products.
today Arion lusitanicus is the most common species of snail in Germany. It is ranked also among the 100 of the worst invasive animal
Allegedly the Spanish Slug made its way to Central europe with imports of fruit and vegetables in the 1950s.
No Spanish slugs to be found in Spainwhen taking stock German researchers however could not find a single individual of the slug in its presumed home country.
In the spring of 2010 researchers of the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre and the Goethe University collected 300 specimens of the snail in 60 locations in France Spain the UK and the Benelux countries
and identified the species they came from. Instead of the Spanish slug we found numerous so-called cryptic species which are indistinguishable using traditional methods of taxonomy
which is based on morphology. Therefore the animals were identified using DNA sequence data lead author Prof.
But looking into the genes of the slugs yielded even more insights. Shared mutations in the genetic information of different individuals indicate relationships between them.
Perhaps the rapid increase in Spanish slugs we have seen in the last decades is caused by changes of land use practice.
and have daily adventures from their perch near Fresh Pond in Cambridge Mass. When Ruby died suddenly in April from apparently ingesting rat poison it was a local tragedy as well as a national warning about the serious dangers these chemicals pose to wildlife.
A fishing cat recently named Hunter was born April 15 on Asia Trail. Inhabiting India and Southeast asia fishing cat populations are declining
and the species is considered endangered because of habitat loss and hunting for food and fur. The first pair of twin fishing cats was born at the National Zoo in May 2012.
Only one other facility accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums has bred successfully fishing cats since 2009.
A leaf-tailed gecko hatched June 2. The leaf-tailed gecko is a large nocturnal gecko from Madagascar threatened with extensive habitat loss from cattle grazing logging agriculture and collection for the pet trade.
Findings from this research study indicate people aren't very good at reading nutritional labels even in situations where they are choosing between salmon and Spam.
Approximately 20 percent picked Spam as the healthier option over salmon said Northup. Northup hopes the results of this study will contribute to an increased dialogue on how food is marketed guide development of specific media literacy
#Forest loss starves fish: Forest debris that drains into lakes is important to freshwater food chainsresearch shows forest debris that drains into lakes is an important contributor to freshwater food chains--bolstering fish diets to the extent that increased forest
cover causes fish to get'fat'and sparse forest leaves smaller underfed fish. Debris from forests that washes into freshwater lakes supplements the diets of microscopic zooplankton
and the fish that feed off them--creating larger and stronger fish new research shows.
The researchers warn that as forests are eroded through human activities such as logging the impacts will be felt in aquatic as well as terrestrial food chains.
This enabled scientists to study Yellow perch fish from different parts of a lake that has varying degrees of surrounding forest coverage.
Carbon from forest debris has a different elemental mass than carbon produced by algae in the aquatic food chain.
By analysing the young Perch that had been born that year scientists were able to determine that at least 34%of the fish biomass comes from vegetation increasing to 66%in areas surrounded by rich forest.
Essentially the more forest around the edge of the lake the fatter the fish in that part of the lake were.
Scientists say that the young fish in lake areas with scant forest cover were much smaller
tiny translucent creatures that also feed on algae. The fish then feed on the zooplankton. Until recently algae were believed to be the only source of food for zooplankton
but the new research builds on previous work that showed they also feed on bacteria from forest matter drained into lakes.
The researchers worked along the food chains in the mini deltas. Where you have dissolved more forest matter you have more bacteria more bacteria equals more zooplankton;
areas with the most zooplankton had the largest'fattest'fish said Tanentzap. Areas of Daisy Lake closest to the nickel smelt-works remain bare--dirt
and rock instead of the once lush forest. The young fish in these parts of the lake were considerably smaller due to less available food.
This leaves them susceptible to poor health and predators as they won't be as strong so less likely to go on to breed and repopulate.
fish included tuna salmon mackerel sardines; legumes included beans lentils and peas; and nuts. Nine categories of intake frequency were recorded from never or less than once per month to six or more per day.
Furthermore substituting one serving per day of combined legumes nuts poultry and fish for one serving per day of red meat was associated with a 14%lower risk of breast cancer overall and premenopausal breast cancer.
and replacing red meat with a combination of legumes poultry nuts and fish may reduce the risk of breast cancer.
Now imagine that you manage acres of old-growth forest--or another natural resource like some fish in the ocean.
and Resource Economists researchers from Arizona State university and Yale university have developed a first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary equation to estimate the current monetary value of natural resources such as fish stocks groundwater
The value of a fish in waterconsider the example of reef fish in the Gulf of mexico.
Under the scheme fishermen were assigned individual tradable quotas or shares of the fish stock which created a market for the fish as a capital asset.
The Gulf's reef fish contributed more than $256 million to U s. national wealth in 2004--and three times that after management reforms.
The ability to treat fish in the water as a capital asset encouraged fishermen to preserve the natural resource in turn enhancing sustainable fishing practices that led to higher returns.
The researchers hope to apply the method to measure the value of all U s. fish stocks as well as other natural assets like groundwater and forests.
#Mosquito control pesticide use in coastal areas poses low risk to juvenile oysters, hard clamsfour of the most common mosquito pesticides used along the east and Gulf coasts show little risk to juvenile hard clams and oysters according to a NOAA study.
However the study published in the on-line journal Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology also determined that lower oxygen levels in the water known as hypoxia
What we found is that larval oysters and hard clams can withstand low levels of pesticide use
but they are more sensitive to pesticides if their ecosystem is suffering from local climate stressors like hypoxia
Hopefully these data will benefit both shellfish mariculture operations and environmental resource agencies as they manage the use of mosquito control pesticides near their coastal ecosystems.
NOAA Fisheries estimated that U s. oyster and hard clam landings for 2010 were worth nearly $118 million and $41 million respectively.
Shellfish growers however are concerned that pesticide spraying near the coastlines may contaminate both their hatcheries and source waters.
This is compounded by a lack of data on the toxicity of mosquito insecticides for these shellfish.
These ecologically and economically important species inhabit tidal marsh habitats along the U s. Atlantic and Gulf of mexico coastlines.
Clams and oysters are also important for the coastal ecosystem because they filter water improving water quality
The study sought to address a lack of toxicity data for mosquito control pesticide effects on shellfish early life stages.
The research team examined the toxicity of four mosquito control pesticides (naled resmethrin permethrin and methoprene) to larval and juvenile life stages of hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) and Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica.
Overall clams were more susceptible to mosquito control pesticides than oysters. Naled an organophosphate chemical was the most toxic compound in oyster larvae
while resmethrin was the most toxic compound in clam larvae. Decreased swimming activity was observed after four days in larval oysters
and decreased growth was found in juvenile clams and oysters after 21 days. Using a hazard assessment
which compared the toxicity thresholds to concentrations expected in the environment the researchers calculated a low-level of risk to clams and oysters from application of these pesticides for mosquito control.
The researchers also tested the pesticides'toxicity under climate stress conditions. The more extreme climate conditions caused increased pesticide toxicity.
The study did not address the impacts of the pesticides on other shellfish such as shrimp or lobsters.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by NOAA. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
The U s. Fish and Wildlife Service manages the restored areas while the undisturbed area at Sioux Prairie is managed by the Nature Conservancy Oak Lake by SDSU and Spirit Mound by the S d. Game fish and Parks Department.
Originally from Des moines Iowa she began working with ants as an undergraduate at Iowa State university focusing on how burning
Variation with agethe U s. Fish and Wildlife Service sites that had once been crop or pasture land were restored anywhere from one to four years ago according to Winkler.
in order to stimulate the growth of algae which sequesters carbon. The approach ranked as the study's least viable strategy in part
because less than a quarter of the algae could be expected to eventually sink to the bottom of the ocean which would be the only way that carbon would be sequestered for a long period of time.
Additionally increasing the algae blooms would likely wreak havoc by decreasing the oxygen available for other marine life.
and harm fish and wildlife. This according to a first-of-its-kind study released today by scientists at Syracuse University
They also contribute to acid rain ozone damage to trees and crops and the accumulation of toxic mercury in fish added Driscoll.
In our study women who ate protein-rich foods including lean meats fish and chicken as well as fruit whole grains and vegetables had significantly lower risk of preterm birth.
coffee grounds are a great compost for cultivating mushrooms particularly gourmet mushrooms such as oyster shiitake and reishi.
a miniscule skeleton shrimp from Santa catalina Island in California a single-celled protist that does a credible imitation of a sponge a clean room microbe that could be a hazard during space travel and a teensy fringed fairyfly named Tinkerbell.
Crawling slowly into the final spot on the alphabetical list is Zospeum tholussum a tiny translucent Croatian snail from one of earth's deepest cave systems.
the shrimp Liropus minusculus with its phantasmagoric appearance and the gecko which bears a disturbing likeness to some imaginary monster.
Skeleton shrimp: A See-through Crustacean Liropus minusculus Location: California U s a. This tiny shrimp the smallest in the genus was identified from among specimens originally collected from a cave on that island of romance sunny Santa catalina off the coast of Southern California.
Part of a marine family known as skeleton shrimp only distantly related to the ones some humans love to dip in cocktail sauce this crustacean is the first of its genus to be reported in the northeastern Pacific.
The new species has an eerie translucent appearance that makes it resemble a bony structure.
The male's body measures just 3. 3 millimeters (about an eighth of an inch;
Domed Land Snail: Looks Ghostly Moves Slowly Zospeum tholussum Location: Croatia Living in complete darkness some 900-plus meters (nearly 3000 feet) below the surface in the Lukina Jama-Trojama caves of western Croatia is zospeum tholossum.
This land snail lacks eyes as they're not necessary in the total darkness of the caves
Even by snail standards Zospeum tholossum moves slowly creeping only a few millimeters or centimeters a week.
Researchers suspect these small snails measuring only 2 millimeters in length (0. 08 inch) travel in water currents
and fisheries science and is currently an instructor in the wildlife technology program at Penn State Dubois.
but now a new study has shown a direct link between eating fish fruit and dairy products and improved lung function among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
. and Europe the study specifically looked at COPD patients'lung function within 24 hours of eating grapefruit bananas fish and cheese.
What they found was that people who reported recently consuming fish grapefruit bananas or cheese had showed improvement in lung function less emphysema improved six-minute walk scores improved SGRQ scores
#Best way to rid a garden of pesky snails? Use your strong throwing armthe new study published May 16 in the journal Physica Scripta has used statistical models to show that simply killing the snails you find in your garden offers little advantage
if you want to remove them completely. According to the researchers gardeners should revert to damage limitation as their results proved that snails are part of larger colonies that live in the garden
and come and go as they please using a homing instinct. As opposed to simply killing a snail throwing it over the wall is pretty effective
and the results showed that if snails are moved out of the garden by a distance of 20 meters
or more the likelihood of those particular snails finding their way back home into the garden was almost zero.
Co-author of the study Professor David Dunstan from Queen Mary's School of Physics and Astronomy said:
We showed that the number of snails regularly or irregularly visiting a garden is many times greater than the number actually present at any one time in the garden.
As such gardeners shouldn't be setting out to eliminate their gardens of snails. To achieve such a feat would require the gardener to rid the whole neighbourhood of snails
which would be a slow process. Gardeners should be setting out to minimise the damage done by snails
which our results showed could be achieved quickly by simply removing the snails over 20 meters away.
A recent poll by the Royal Horticultural Society showed that one-in-five gardeners in the UK have thrown snails into their neighbours'gardens.
Whilst our study shows that this may be more beneficial than actually killing them we believe the gardening community would benefit as a whole by removing the snails to a convenient wasteland rather than passing the burden onto their neighbours.
In 2010 co-author of the study Dr Dave Hodgson from the University of Exeter discovered along with amateur scientist Ruth Brooks that snails have a homing instinct.
Professor Dunstan's own study began in 2001 when a small suburban garden was being refurbished.
and after a few days severe damage from snails had been observed. Rather than kill the snails the owners systematically removed them from the garden for six months.
Each snail that was found had marked its shell and was thrown then five meters over the garden wall into wasteland.
All snails that returned to the garden were given an extra mark on their shell whenever they were found.
A total of 416 snails were marked and thrown over the wall 1385 times during the study.
After collecting the results Professor Dunstan teamed up with Dr Hodgson to statistically analyse the data from his 2001 experiment using computer simulations to see
In the computer model each of the snails were created as objects set up with a number of different properties
if the snails were given a homing instinct. A gut feeling or even a gut certainty that the data say something is not science.
and the only way we were able to do this was to give the snails a homing instinct continued Professor Dunstan.
Snails reveal themselves as an abundant amenable and enigmatic model organism for the study of animal behaviour and statistical modelling.
Our plan is to develop snail behaviour studies as a fun teaching exercise for budding scientists of all ages.
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