Environment-Biodiversity
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Scientists issue urgent warning after alarming collapse of bird populations across the US: 'We have a full-on emergency'
A report from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology shows that bird populations across every U.S. habitat are plummeting, with 229 species in urgent need of help. And the impacts go far beyond bird-watching, pointing to deeper risks for ecosystems, economies, and human health.
New study reveals what urban coyotes are really eating in San Francisco
by Amanda Bartlett 10/3/24 SFGATE
On a foggy morning just after 7 a.m., Tali Caspi sat behind the wheel of a golf cart and drove across the manicured hills of the San Francisco Golf Club, searching for evidence.
These ‘miniature Komodo dragons’ faced extinction on a remote Caribbean island – until a difficult ‘regreening’ project started
https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/reptiles/saving-sombrero-lizards-on-sombrero-island by Graeme Green 5/7/25 DISCOVER WILDLIFE]
At first glance, Sombrero Island doesn’t look like a place where life thrives. The surface of this tiny, remote, windswept land mass, 54km north-west of the Caribbean island of Anguilla, has an austere, moon-like appearance, with white-grey rock, strewn rubble and gigantic craters that are an uncomfortable reminder of the phosphate mining that devastated and permanently altered its landscape.
The reef that shouldn’t exist
by Rhett Ryers Butler 17/6/25 MONGABAY
Some point to environmental quirks. Coastal currents may shield Cocalito from sedimentation and heat. Others cite human behavior: the reef’s shallow waters deter fishers, perhaps allowing a healthier ecological balance to persist.
DOE sets strategic goals for long-term biodiversity preservation
In this line, several meetings have been convened with the participation of faculty members, environmental experts, and managers, as well as NGOs, IRNA reported.
Solar Panels and Biodiversity
by Kaiyo Funaki 11/22/2024 The CoolDown
The solar installations should be thoughtful in their approach, incorporating native and diverse species of trees and wildflowers to support pollinators, installing wildlife-friendly corridors and fencing, and avoiding the use of toxic herbicides. Furthermore, they should utilize semi-transparent, bifacial solar panels that are mounted sufficiently high off the ground and can move with the sun to allow light to reach the vegetation below, which would improve soil quality and promote plant growth.
What is a mass extinction, and why do scientists think we’re in the middle of one?
No species lasts forever — extinction is part of the evolution of life.
But at least five times, a biological catastrophe has engulfed the planet, killing off the vast majority of species from water and land over a relatively short geological interval.
The doomsday vaults storing seeds, data and DNA to protect our future
by Ella Braidwood 12/11/23 The Guardian
Are we allowed to go in?” I surprise myself with this question, given that I’m staring through the small window of a door into one of six underground vaults, each one essentially a walk-in freezer. The temperature inside is -20C. It is a grey winter day at the Millennium Seed Bank in Wakehurst, Sussex and the maze of featureless corridors and reinforced concrete adds to the 1984-ish austerity of the setting. These vaults are designed to withstand the worst apocalypse we can imagine – be it caused by bombs, radiation, floods or disease.
The most famous extinction event in the planet’s history is happening again — in Santa Cruz
by Corinne Purtill 01/06/23 LookOut Santa Cruz
The heat of impact generated massive fires that annihilated everything around them and sent colossal plumes of pollutants soaring into the atmosphere. Within a day or two, toxic clouds of pulverized rock, sulfate aerosols and wildfire soot had blanketed the planet, blocking all but a tiny fraction of the sun’s energy and bringing photosynthesis to a virtual halt for the only known time in history.
‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects
by Tess McClure 3/6/25 The Guardian
Daniel Janzen only began watching the insects – truly watching them – when his ribcage was shattered. Nearly half a century ago, the young ecologist had been out documenting fruit crops in a dense stretch of Costa Rican forest when he fell in a ravine, landing on his back. The long lens of his camera punched up through three ribs, snapping the bones into his thorax.
A new pandemic is killing hundreds of millions of birds, and some species may be completely lost
by Mark Sumner 9/12/22 DAILY KOS
So far, the 2022 flu season among humans has been running well above the average. More than 25,000 patients have been hospitalized with what was thought to be the flu in just the last week, and seasonal influenza remains high across the entire nation. Part of the reason for this is that people are being hit with the H3N2 strain of Influenza A, a variant that hasn’t been around in some time, reducing the level of innate resistance. Another part is that rates of vaccination are down, following years of anti-vax propaganda and lies about the COVID-19 vaccine.
‘Pretty damn cool’: Ellie Goulding on rewilding as a cure for our planet – and our mental health
by Ellie Goulding 23/6/22 The Guardian
I just got back from a walk in Hyde park, headphones in, Max Richter playing, after a sweltering 30C day in London. I stopped halfway to take my trainers off and pad my feet on the grass. This is where I often go when I need to breathe, and not to think.
Once There Were Billions
Once-there-were-billions Smithsonian Libraries 2014 2016
Once an amazing diversity of birds—some in breathtaking abundance—inhabited the vast forests and plains of North America. But starting around 1600, species began to disappear, as humans altered habitats, over-hunted, and introduced predators.
Why indigenous folklore can save animals’ lives
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200728-the-mythical-creatures-that-protect-the-philippines BBC By Arnel Murga 28th July 2020
A belief system born of indigenous communities in the Philippines could help protect the country’s endangered species, from leopard cats to cloud rats. Part of indigenous wisdom, the “mariit” belief system (pronounced mar-ee-it) is deeply rooted in the relationship of the Filipinos with the environment. It can be traced back to the pre-colonial Filipino practice of animism, or the belief that everything possesses a soul. Mariit stretches back more than 500 years, affecting everything from where buildings are constructed, to how a driver negotiates a stretch of road. Increasingly, it is also being integrated into nature conservation.
Caught in the act: camera traps snare rarest species - in pictures
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2020/jul/28/caught-in-the-act-camera-traps-snare-rarest-species-in-pictures The Guardian July 2020
Snow leopards, tapirs, oriental storks and many others feature in WWF’s new collection. Its camera traps are wildlife friendly, as they cause little environmental disturbance, while producing permanent, verifiable records of some of the world’s rarest animals.
The technology can also give scientists vital insights into population numbers and trends at a time when poaching has reportedly increased
Continent-wide Shifts in Song Dialects of White-Throated Sparrows
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)30771-5
*We study the cultural evolution of white-throated sparrow song over two decades *Doublet-ending songs spread west to east, replacing triplet-ending songs in Canada *Geolocators reveal birds from different dialect groups overwinter together *Song tutoring on wintering grounds may facilitate the cultural spread of dialects
‘Insect apocalypse’ poses risk to all life on Earth, conservationists warn
A new report suggested half of all insects may have been lost since 1970 as a result of the destruction of nature and heavy use of pesticides. The report said 40% of the 1million known species of insect are facing extinction. The analysis, written by one of the UK’s leading ecologists, has a particular focus on the UK, whose insects are the most studied in the world. It said 23 bee and wasp species have become extinct in the last century, while the number of pesticide applications has approximately doubled in the last 25 years.
Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers
• Over 40% of insect species are threatened with extinction.
• Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and dung beetles (Coleoptera) are the taxa most affected.
• Four aquatic taxa are imperiled and have already lost a large proportion of species.
• Habitat loss by conversion to intensive agriculture is the main driver of the declines.
• Agro-chemical pollutants, invasive species and climate change are additional causes.
The Bugs We Can’t Live Without
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-bugs-we-cant-live-without-11561042039 WSJ 7/17/2019 Paywall
Insect populations are in dramatic decline, and the consequences could be serious for everything from waste management to agriculture
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/7/17/1871812/-Continued-plummeting-insect-numbers-threaten-a-collapse-of-nature?utm_campaign=trending DailyKos 7/17/2019 No Paywall
"Nearly half of all insect species worldwide are in rapid decline and a third could disappear altogether, according to a study warning of dire consequences for crop pollination and natural food chains. The recent decline in bugs that fly, crawl, burrow and skitter across still water is part of a gathering "mass extinction," only the sixth in the last half-billion years. "We are witnessing the largest extinction event on Earth since the late Permian and Cretaceous periods," the authors noted.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/03/climate-crisis-is-about-to-put-humanity-at-risk-un-scientists-warn The Guardian Biodiversity Crisis UN report 503 2019
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/06/human-society-under-urgent-threat-loss-earth-natural-life-un-report The Guardian Loss of Natural World 5/06/2019
