Tag: Biodiversity

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Dog’s Mercury by Sarah Das Gupta

Green dog’s mercury
your tiny secret flowers
toxic to canines

By Sarah Das Gupta

Originally a coloniser of ancient woodland, dog’s mercury is a useful ancient woodland indicator, determining areas of ancient woodland, even if there is no tree cover. Some ground-nesting birds like woodcock seem drawn to the plant. Speckled bush cricket nymphs feed on it, as do species of beetle, weevil and mollusc. It is a contributor to biodiversity in ancient woodland.

All parts of this plant are poisonous and can induce jaundice, diarrhoea, vomiting, even death. The epithet ‘dog’ in this context means ’lesser’ or ‘inferior’ to other plants of the family, as applied to other species such as ‘dog’ violet or ‘dog’ rose. The reference to ‘mercury’ probably refers to the god Mercury and the medicinal properties of the species.

From ancient times it has been used externally and its juice is emetic, ophthalmic and purgative. It was used particularly to treat warts and sores. If the leaves are thoroughly heated and dried, it is no longer toxic.

Botanical name:Mercurialis  perennis
Popular names: Dog’s mercury, false mercury, boggard posy, dog’s cole
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Origin:Native to most of Europe – almost excluding Ireland, Orkney and Shetland
Flowering: February to April
Habitat:Ancient woodland, broad-leaf woodland, hedgerows

Further reading:

‘Collins Complete Guide to Wild Flowers’, Paul Sterry, 2006, HarperCollins Publishers.

‘Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field’, John Lewis-Stempel, 2014, Transworld Publishers Ltd.

Articles from ‘The Woodland Trust‘ and ‘Nature’.

Author bio:

Sarah Das Gupta is a young 81 year old. Loves writing haiku and most forms of poetry. Is learning to walk after an accident. Main outside interests include equine sports. Lives near Cambridge, UK. Read other sciku by Sarah here: ‘Redundant Ergot‘, ‘Redundant Vets’, ‘Bird’s Foot Trefoil’, ‘Mistletoe’ and ‘The Glastonbury Thorn’.

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Climate Change by Gerard Sarnat MD

Let’s rewild large parts
of the Earth while we rewild
large parts of ourselves.

by Gerard Sarnat MD

My adult son is an entomologist, specifically a myrmecologist (in his case, an “ant man”) who has been primarily interested in digging in dirt before he could walk. As a pre-teen, we visited Harvard Professor E.O. Wilson’s ant-farm exhibit in Cambridge, which inspired him to write essentially the same increasingly sophisticated paper starting, “Ants have done agriculture and had slaves for millions of years” for grade, high school, college and PhD presentations — all of which I was privileged to attend, and be influenced by. His UC Berkeley college prof paid him the ultimate compliment of “likely being the next E.O. Wilson”.

Rewilding was developed as a method to preserve functional ecosystems and reduce biodiversity loss, incorporating research in island biogeography and the ecological role of large carnivores. In 1967, Wilson’s ‘The Theory of Island Biogeography’ established the importance of considering the size and isolation of wildlife conservation areas, stating that protected areas remained vulnerable to extinctions if small and isolated. By happenstance, a family friend and another geographer, Jared Diamond (most famous for ‘Guns, Germs, and Steel‘) has also influenced my once-boy to be a champion of re-wilding and biodiversity.

Further reading:

‘The Theory of Island Biogeography’, Robert H. MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson, Princeton University Press, https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691088365/the-theory-of-island-biogeography

‘The Theory of Island Biogeography’, Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_Island_Biogeography

‘Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies’, Jared Diamond, W. W. Norton Books: https://wwnorton.com/books/Guns-Germs-and-Steel/

‘Guns, Germs, and Steel’, Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel

Author bio:
Gerard Sarnat MD’s authored ‘HOMELESS CHRONICLES’, ‘Disputes’, ’17s’, and ‘Melting The Ice King’. Gerry’s published by Gargoyle, Newark Public Library, Blue Minaret, Columbia, Harvard, Stanford, Main Street Rag, New Delta Review, Northampton Review, New Haven Institute, Buddhist Review, American Journal Poetry, Poetry Quarterly, Brooklyn Review, LA Review, SF Magazine, NY Times. You can find out more about Gerard’s work here: gerardsarnat.com

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Peat-based Haiku for COP26 by Abby McSherry and The CANN Project

The CANN project (Collaborative Action for the Natura Network) is a cross-border environment project which aims to improve the condition of protected bog and wetland habitats found within Northern Ireland, the Border Region of Ireland and Scotland, allowing the region to meet key EU biodiversity targets and ensuring the future of these internationally important habitats and species. The CANN project is supported by the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). It is led by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council.

The CANN project focuses on the conservation and restoration of seven habitat types which are protected as Special Areas of Conservation under the EU Habitats Directive: Alkaline Fens, Blanket Bog, Active Raised Bog, Marl Lakes, Calcareous Fens, Transition Mire & Quaking Bogs. These habitats are identified as being important in ensuring the survival of at risk plants and wildlife, and for promoting and sustaining biodiversity from a local to an international scale.

The CANN project – led by Abby McSherry, the project’s Communications and Outreach Officer – decided to celebrate COP26 by tweeting a Haiku-a-day on the subject of peat’s role in combatting climate change in the run-up to the meeting in November 2021. Below is a small sample of these fantastic haiku. The entire collection has been compiled in a booklet freely available on the CANN project website here.

Day 5

Sphagnum naturally produces phenolic compounds that slow the decomposition of the plants that make up peat. Preventing peat decomposition will help keep the carbon it holds locked away.

Day 10

A raised bog often has a water table perched higher than the surrounding land, which can be hard to understand unless you visualise it as a water droplet perched on the land. It is delicately balanced, and that balance can shift.

Day 20

Carbon is locked up effectively in other habitats too. Lowland fens and mires are significant sinks too and are under even greater threat from damage as they are often surrounded by valuable arable land.

Day 25

Across the world, peat covers just 3% of the land’s surface, but stores one-third of the Earth’s soil carbon, not just a sticking plaster, but potentially a cure for what ails us. If we care for it, it will care for us.

Further Reading:

All 31 haiku (plus some bonuses!) are freely available here, in pdf and flipbook form: https://thecannproject.org/publications/booklet-of-peat-based-haiku-sci-cu-poems/

Find out more about the CANN project and the brilliant work the team are doing here: https://thecannproject.org/

You can also follow the CANN project on Twitter here: @theCANNproject

About Abby McSherry: I have worked in practical conservation and waste management since I gained my BSc in Physical Geography, and discovered early on that I had a talent for translating geek-speak into language that non-scientists could understand and enjoy so I moved more towards the communication side of various conservation projects. I use creative tools garnered from my personal life to find different ways to communicate my science, so poetry, painting, photography and even crochet are as likely to feature as piezometer readings.

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The Masterplan by Dr Lisa Holmes

Zoo science prevails

Conservation cannot wait

“Prevent extinction”

By Lisa Holmes

Celebrating its 90th year, Chester Zoo is one of the world’s leading zoo’s, housing more than 500 species and dedicated to their mission of “Preventing extinction”.

This week marks the release of their new 10 year Conservation Masterplan; a bold vision with the aim to tackle the global extinction crisis using six key targets:

  • Preserve options for future conservation for an additional 150 species through conservation breeding and propagation.
  • Halt or reverse the decline of 200 highly threatened populations of plants and animal species in the wild.
  • Improve landscapes for wildlife totalling 250,000 hectares.
  • Train 5,000 conservationists to deliver positive change for wildlife.
  • Empower 10 million people to live more sustainably.
  • Influence change in five major policy areas for wildlife.

Chester Zoo has an integrated approach to conservation using the skills and expertise of their staff, conservation partners, students, academics and supporters.

Dr Lisa Holmes is the Lead Conservation Scientist for Behaviour and Welfare at the zoo. She works closely with the animal curators and teams to provide an evidence-base for management decisions. With her team of staff and students, she conducts research to monitor the wellbeing of all species and is developing tailored welfare assessments for use within the zoo. She is also Vice-Chair of the Animal Welfare Working Group for the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).

Check out Lisa’s previous sciku ‘A Zoo Without Bars’.

You can read Chester Zoo’s Conservation Masterplan by clicking on the image below:

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Rigs to Reefs

Oh puffing pig fish –
torn between disturbance and
piscine temptations.

Noise pollution from oil and gas drilling platforms can have huge negative impacts upon marine life. However, such rigs can also act as artificial reefs, providing shelter and a hard substrate for predators and prey alike. Moreover trawling isn’t permitted close to rigs, meaning that the seabeds around them are mostly untouched.

Harbour porpoises, Phocoena phocoena, have previously been shown to change their behaviour or avoid areas as a result of unnatural noise levels. Yet a recent study by Tubbert Clausen et al. (2021) has revealed that the temptations of high prey availability can overcome such affects. The team use 21 acoustic loggers, placed on the seabed for up to 2 years to monitor noise levels and harbour porpoise activity.

They found that despite the high noise levels from the largest rig in the Danish North Sea, the porpoises were still found close to the rig, emitting echolocation noises that indicate they were hunting for fish. The platform’s artificial reef effect appeared to increase fish numbers which drew the porpoises closer.

The findings suggest that as platforms come to the end of their lifespans, they could be partially left in place to continue acting as artificial reefs – the rigs-to-reefs concept.

The first line of the sciku refers to two names for the harbour porpoise:

– The ‘pig fish’ from the Medieval Latin porcopiscus, a compound of porcus (pig) and piscus (fish).

– The ‘puffing pig’ which comes from the noise the porpoises makes when surfacing to breathe.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12055

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Mapping Seagrass Loss

Quantifying our
marine meadows – past, present.
A threadbare carpet.

Everyone knows their own science interests, the areas of research that they find thought-provoking. Sometimes I think that there are also subjects that we don’t realise we find fascinating. I never knew I was interested in seagrasses but this is the third sciku I’ve published about them, the second that I’ve written myself. It’s curious that I wouldn’t have known this about myself before today when this research paper caught my eye.

Seagrasses are hugely important ecosystems. In the sciku ‘Forgotten value’ I wrote about how seagrass meadows provide a nursery habitat for over a fifth of the world’s largest 25 fisheries. And as Dr Phil Colarusso showed with his sciku ‘Blue Carbon’, seagrass meadows collect and sequester large amounts of carbon, removing it from the global carbon cycle. As a result seagrass meadows are referred to as blue carbon habitats, along with salt marshes and mangroves.

Today’s sciku is based on a study by Green et al (2021), which examines the historical loss of seagrasses from the waters around the United Kingdom. By scrutinising multiple accounts from as early as 1831 and using data collected from 1900 onwards the researchers were able to estimate the UK’s seagrass losses. It makes for sobering reading:

“At least 44% of United Kingdom’s seagrasses have been lost since 1936, 39% since the 1980’s. However, losses over longer time spans may be as high as 92%.”

The research shows that the UK currently has only 8,493 hectares of seagrass meadows remaining. That’s approximated 0.9 Mt (million tonnes) of carbon, equivalent to around £22 million in the current carbon market. Whilst that may seem a lot, it’s worth considering that historic seagrass meadows could have stored 11.5 Mt of carbon, supporting around 400 million fish.

These losses are catastrophic but the information from this study can be used to inform future monitoring and restoration efforts. What’s more, by quantifying the benefits we gain from seagrass meadows as well as what we’ve lost from their disappearance, the findings also provide an impetus for improved conservation efforts, beyond ‘softer’ arguments such improving biodiversity.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.629962  

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Cobwebs to Foodwebs by Dr. Jon Hare

collecting
fish stomach contents
from file cabinets

By Jon Hare

Field studies take a lot of effort. Think of studying fishes in an estuary – where a river meets the sea. You need the expertise to know the fishes and how to take the variety of biological samples including earbones, stomachs, and gonads. You need a boat and gear to catch fish of different sizes and habits. You need to be able to deal with weather, seasons, and the other elements of nature. You need a group of people with varying expertise committed to work together. You need funding for the project. And the field effort is just the beginning – samples need to be processed in the laboratory, data compiled and analyzed, the results published, and the data made available. Now think about how many field studies or parts of field studies never make it to those final steps of dissemination. What happens to these studies? What happens to all that effort? 

Hanson and Courtenay (2020) describe the fate of one such effort. A multi-year fish-related field program was undertaken from 1991 to 1993 to describe the structure and function of the Miramichi River and Estuary ecosystem in eastern Canada. After several years, the project ended owing to a change in priorities (and funding); the team of scientists and fishers went their separate ways. Some of the results were published – primarily around high profile species like Atlantic cod and Atlantic salmon. However, many of the samples and much of the data never made it to the dissemination stage of science. 

The study by Hanson and Courtenay is part of an effort to recover the large amounts of field data stored in old file cabinets, on floppy disks, and in unpublished theses. In their study, Hanson and Courtenay use data collected during the Miramichi Estuary program and present detailed descriptions of the stomach contents of more than 8,000 individual fish across a range of species. Through these analyses, they describe the seasonality in the estuary both in terms of fish occurrence and diet. They also identify a small shrimp species (Crangon septemspinosa – Seven-spined Bay Shrimp) as a keystone species, linking estuarine and coastal foodwebs. Although the findings are not earth-shattering, the results and data are now available for future studies, which could model foodweb dynamics in the ecosystem (e.g. using EcoPath) or document ecosystem changes over the past three decades (a neat example from Long Island Sound, USA). Field studies and the subsequent research based on field studies are essential to developing strategies for ecosystem resilience and climate adaptation and ultimately for living sustainably within the earth system. 

Original research: Hanson, J. M., & Courtenay, S. C. (2020). Data Recovery from Old Filing Cabinets: Seasonal Diets of the Most Common Demersal Fishes in the Miramichi River Estuary (Atlantic Canada), 1991–1993. Northeastern Naturalist, 27(3), 401-433. https://doi.org/10.1656/045.027.0302

Dr. Jon Hare is a scientist who works in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. His research background is fisheries oceanography and climate change impacts on marine fisheries. Check out Jon’s other sciku ‘Owls of the Eastern Ice’, ‘Varves’, ‘Signs of Spring’ and ‘Glacier Mice‘.

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Glacier Mice by Dr. Jon Hare

unexplained movements
of a moss ball herd
island bioglaciology

By Jon Hare

My brother sent me an NPR story about a herd of fuzzy green “glacier mice”. The concept is crazy – small rocks, covered in moss, on a glacier, moving in tandem like a herd of miniature muskox. Hotaling et al. (2020) studied moss balls on an Alaskan glacier. They tagged the balls and tracked them for 54 days to understand their movement and then revisited the site over the next three years to understand persistence.

Photo credit – Tim Bartholomaus (http://tbartholomaus.org)

The moss balls moved in unison at approximately 2 cm day-1. Speed of movement was related to rate of ablation of the glacier surface: more ice melting, greater speed of movement. The direction of movement, however, was not related to ablation, nor slope, wind direction, or direction of solar radiation. Further, the moss balls persisted over years with an annual survival rate of 0.86, which equates to a greater than 6 year life span. It is hard to imagine a herd of moss balls surviving six Alaskan winters to move around together in subsequent summers.

These moss balls are also hotspots of biological diversity – they provide an island-like habitat for an array of organisms. How the biodiversity survives the winter is also unknown, as are the rates of colonization and extinction on the moss balls – raising questions of island biogeography on a glacier.

Original research: Hotaling, S, T. C. Bartholomaus and S. L. Gilbert (2020). Rolling stones gather moss: movement and longevity of moss balls on an Alaskan glacier. Polar Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00300-020-02675-6

Dr. Jon Hare is a scientist who works in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. His research background is fisheries oceanography and climate change impacts on marine fisheries. Check out Jon’s other sciku ‘Owls of the Eastern Ice’, ‘Varves’, ‘Signs of Spring’ and ‘Cobwebs to Foodwebs’.

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Holdfast

Marine forests sway,
sheltering, pristine, unchanged.
For how much longer?

Giant kelp forests are some of the most diverse, productive and dynamic ecosystems on the planet. A marine algae (not a plant), giant kelp anchors itself to the seabed and grows up towards the surface, with some species growing up to 30-60 centimetres vertically a day to reach heights of 45 meters. Whilst typically found in temperate and polar coastal oceans, deep water kelp forests have been discovered in clear tropical waters where the sunlight can penetrate far enough below the water surface for the kelp to grow, potentially as far down as 200 meters.

Kelp forests are home to a vast number of species, from those living in the surface canopy to those on the seafloor. This makes them key areas to protect for species richness, much like rainforests and coral reefs. Yet many kelp forests are under threat due to marine pollution, water quality, kelp harvesting, overfishing, invasive species and climate change.

This makes the recent survey of kelp forests in southern South America heartening. Friedlander et al. (2020) re-surveyed 11 locations at the easternmost extent of Tierra del Fuego and compared their findings to surveys originally conducted in 1973. They found no differences in kelp densities or anchor diameter. Sea urchins, if not kept in check, can decimate kelp forests but the researchers also found no difference in sea urchin numbers. Additionally, comparisons of satellite imagery showed no long-term trends over the past 20 years.

It’s thought that the remoteness of the location has meant these kelp forests have been relatively unaffected by human disturbance, although increases in sea temperature as a result of climate change are likely to have an impact in the future.

A note about ‘Holdfast’ – The title refers to both the wish that kelp forests such as the one surveyed in this study persist and survive, and to the root-like mass that anchors kelp to the seafloor which is known as the kelp’s holdfast.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229259

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Amid fields of rubble

Seamounts amid fields
of rubble, scars and lost gear.
A glimmer of hope.

Seamounts are underwater mountains that rise at least 1,000 meters above the seafloor with their peaks hundreds or even thousands of meters underwater. Seamounts are often thriving areas of marine life, based around high levels of plankton and deep-sea corals.

However the fishing practice of trawling can decimate these areas, destroying corals and causing huge population crashes in the species that depend on them. Deep-sea coral growth rates can be as little as micrometres a year meaning that recovery, if possible, could be very slow. As a result it’s unknown whether protecting areas damaged by trawling is worthwhile or whether once lost these deep-sea communities are unlikely to recover.

New research by Baco et al. (2019) sheds comforting light on this dimly known area. Whilst little evidence supports seamount recovery over 10 years, their study examined recovery following 30-40 years protection from trawling. Encouragingly many of the sites surveyed showed multiple signs of recovery, including coral regrowth and higher levels of animal life compared to areas still being trawled. The research is clear and much needed evidence to support continued seamount protection efforts.

Author’s note: I thought that the research study’s title was too poetic to improve upon so used part of it in this sciku. The full title is ‘Amid fields of rubble, scars, and lost gear, signs of recovery observed on seamounts on 30- to 40-year time scales’ by Amy R. Baco, E. Brendan Roark and Nicole B. Morgan.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw4513

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Wild, rural, urban

Mammal density

wild, rural, urban – the same.

Rocking the suburbs.

 

Urban development encroaches on natural spaces, reducing and altering animal habitats. A consequence of this is that many species have evolved to live around humans, although developed areas are thought to have low species diversity and abundance.

Yet research by Parsons et al (2018) in coordination with citizen scientist volunteers suggests this might not be the case. Using camera traps placed in areas of varying development (from wild to urban) and scale (from forests to yards) the researchers found that mammals were found in similar or higher levels of abundancy and species richness in developed areas compared to wild areas. The research highlights the need to conserve wild areas and preserve green spaces within cities.

The keen eyed may spot that the final line of this sciku is a reference to Ben Folds’ first solo album ‘Rockin’ the Suburbs’, released in 2001.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.38012.001

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Fluttering by at dusk by Roy McGhie

Fluttering by at dusk,

dawn, and in between.

Crop diversity!

Recent research by Olimpi & Philpott (2018) concludes that crop diversity as a management practice drives bat activity, and that crop diversity and less frequent pesticide use increase bats’ insect prey populations. The study notes that this could be a useful management tool where other options, such as hedgerow or tree management, are not available.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2018.06.008

Roy McGhie works for Natural England as an Uplands Advisor. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here. If you enjoyed his sciku, check out his previous poems Ghost Ponds, A Heady Mixture and Hedgerow Snuffling.

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Where are all the wildflowers?

Monoculture crops.

Where are all the wildflowers?

Where is all the life?

 

Modern intensive agricultural practices have had a devastating impact upon the native wildlife that inhabits arable land, from the density of worms in the soil to the number of apex predators patrolling the skies. In particular, monoculture crops, herbicides, pesticides and the removal of hedgerows have resulted in depleted numbers of invertebrates and subsequently the numbers and variety of birds and other vertebrates that feed upon them.

The farmer and writer John Lewis-Stempel approached this issue by taking a small arable field in south Herefordshire, UK, and spending a year growing wheat following traditional methods. Whilst sowing a mix of wheat he also sowed various species of wildflower, both in the margins of the field and amongst the crop itself. As the year processed he charted the wildlife that appeared in the field, from harvestmen and worms to hares and barn owls.

The blossoming of life was astonishing, absent in the vast, monoculture fields that dominate much of agricultural Britain. Lewis-Stempel’s work begs the question whether such endeavours if repeated across the countryside could transform the levels of biodiversity in the UK? Are the (supposed) gains that modern intensive farming bring worth the environmental devastation they create? As a consumer I am guilty of benefitting from cheap food, it’s hard not to be. But as Lewis-Stempel says “every time one buys the lie of cheap food a flower or a bird dies”. I do believe in flowers and birds, I do, I do.

I can’t recommend his book documenting the project enough: ‘The Running Hare: The Secret Life of Farmland’. From the quality of the prose to the clearly outlined arguments throughout, it is outstanding. If you care about native species, conservation or agriculture then this is essential reading. For everyone else it’s just highly recommended. (And how nice it is to see Herefordshire getting any form of recognition or acknowledgement in the media).

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Forgotten value

Forgotten value

of seagrass meadows. Crucial

for world’s fisheries.

Life in the ocean is under threat from a variety of manmade issues, including climate change, mining and over-fishing. Yet our understanding of marine ecosystems still remains far from complete.

New research by Unsworth et al (2018) has revealed just how important seagrass meadows are for fish populations and as a result for humanity’s fisheries. Seagrass meadows are found in the shallow seas around all the continents (aside from Antarctica) between the intertidal zone and 60 meters deep.

The researchers found that seagrass meadows provide a nursery habitat for over a fifth of the world’s largest 25 fisheries and provide support to a large number of other small-scale fisheries around the world. The study indicates that these seagrass meadows should be maintained in order to maximise their role in global fisheries production.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12566

Interested in seagrass meadows? They also play a hugely important role in sequestering carbon. Find out more with this sciku here.

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Giant becomes five

Giant becomes five

endangered salamanders.

Hidden extinction?

 

The Chinese Giant salamander is the world’s largest amphibian, adults can be 2 meters long and weigh up to 50 kg. It’s critically endangered in the wild due to habitat destruction, fungal infection and because the species is used as a luxury food source in China. It is kept in far greater numbers in captivity as a result of it being farmed for food. Two studies published in Current Biology add additional concerns for the future of this species in the wild.

In what is thought to be the largest wildlife survey conducted in China, Turvey et al (2018) found that giant salamander populations were either critically depleted or had been eradicated, as well as finding plenty of evidence for illegal poaching. The researchers were unable to confirm the survival of wild Chinese giant salamanders at any of their survey sites, raising the question of whether this species is all but extinct in the wild.

In a companion piece of research, Yan et al (2018) performed a genetic analysis on Chinese giant salamanders and found that the species actually consists of at least five species-level lineages, potentially up to eight. This suggests that some of these distinct lineages (effectively separate species) may well have already gone extinct in the wild – a phenomenon known as cryptic or hidden extinction. This has crucial importance for conservation efforts, particularly with regards to re-releases from captive populations where the five lineages have been mixed and the resulting offspring are effectively hybrids.

Original research:

Turvey et al (2018): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.04.005

Yan et al (2018): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.04.004

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The year’s best species

Mystery protist.

Apes, snailfish and amphipods.

The year’s best species.

 

Every year since 2008 the College of Environmental Science and Forestry has released a Top 10 New Species list. 2018’s selection include single celled organisms, plants and animals (including two species of beetle) as well as a prehistoric marsupial lion identified from fossils. All 10 species are fascinating but those highlighted in the sciku are:

Protist – Ancoracysta twista, a single celled predatory Eukaryote with harpoon-like organelles that it uses to immobilise its prey. Intriguingly its evolutionary origins are unclear and it doesn’t fit neatly within any known groups.

Ape – Orangutans now come in three flavours: Bornean, Sumatran and now a newly identified Southern Sumatran species of orangutans. It is the most endangered great ape in the world.

Snailfish – Whilst snailfish are found at all depths, 2018’s species is the deepest fish in the sea, found in the Mariana Trench at 7,966 meters below the surface. It appears to be the top predator in its benthic community and is tadpole-like and around 4 inches long.

Amphipod – Epimeria quasimodo is found in the Antarctic Ocean. The 2 inch long crustacean takes its name from the hunchback of Notre Dame and has beautiful vivid colours.

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Rivers cut corners by John Norwood

Rivers cut corners

Reducing the meander

Over centuries

This poem is one of several that were inspired looking out of an airplane window. I was looking at an oxbow lake and thinking about how the river took a short cut. It is a simple reflection on what may seem static is decidedly not so with a shift of time frame. Incidentally, someone called me on this, claiming that rivers actually meander more over time. Turns out both cases can be true, but the meaning of the poem is the same either way.

Oxbow lakes are formed from curves in rivers as the water erodes the banks of bends, pinching off a loop of river that becomes an oxbow lake as it’s isolated from the main body of the river. Many rivers were channelized during the 19th century to be used as water ways, forming artificial oxbow lakes which may since have silted up or dried out. A study by Seidel et al (2017) suggests that reconnecting such oxbow lakes to the main channels might be an important measure for native species conservation and river restoration.

The name oxbow comes from the U-shaped collar that used to be used as a harness around the neck of oxen as they pulled ploughs. Other terms for oxbow lakes are loop lakes, cutoff lakes and horseshoe lakes.

Original Research: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/clen.201600211

John Norwood is a Mechanical Engineer working with Carbon, Inc. to revolutionize how things are made. His interests include old houses, yoga, baking, cryptography, and bluegrass music. You can follow him on Twitter under the handle @pryoga

Enjoyed this sciku? Check out some of John’s other work: Universal truth, The answer is none, God may be defined, With enough data, and Squeamish ossifrage.

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Tool of the future?

Environmental

DNA: Conservation

tool of the future?

 

Conservation efforts depend on the knowledge of species distribution patterns and population size estimates in order to know what needs protection and the subsequent impacts of conservation efforts. But there are a number of difficulties association with biodiversity monitoring techniques, including issues to do with correct species identification and invasive methods.

Environmental DNA – “genetic material obtained directly from environmental samples (soil, sediment, water etc.) without any obvious signs of biological source material” – could be a non-invasive and easy to standardise method of biodiversity monitoring. The advances of next-generation sampling technologies has meant individual or multiple species (through DNA metabarcoding) can be detected from such environmental samples quickly and cheaply.

Thomsen and Willerslev (2015) provide a thorough review of the main findings, future potential and limitations of eDNA for biodiversity monitoring and conservation. They document the successes of eDNA so far and discuss pitfalls such as contamination, inhibition, errors, interpretation and problematic reference DNA databases.

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Black and white cat-foot

Black and white cat-foot.

Your numbers are rising but

your home shrinks and splits.

 

The giant panda (whose Latin binomial name literally means black and white cat-foot) is a poster species for animal conservation yet recently the IUCN Red List downgraded the species from endangered to vulnerable based on an increase in adult population since 1988.

Despite this population increase there remains concern for the future of the species. A study by Xu et al (2017) using remote sensing data suggests that both the total amount of available giant panda habitat and the average size of habitat patches (an indication of habitat fragmentation) have decreased substantially. Whilst total area and habitat patch size have shown signs of an recovery since 2001, they still remain below 1988 levels (1.7% and 13.3% lower respectively).

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Ghost ponds by Roy McGhie

After many moons,

even when buried alive –

Zombies in ghost ponds!

A study in Norfolk has shown that historic ponds infilled by agricultural activity, even after over 100 years have passed, maintain viable aquatic plant propagules. These ghost ponds can have the potential to restore locally extinct species assemblages. Alderton et al, 2017.

Roy McGhie works for the North Yorkshire Moors National Park as a Countryside Manager. He has a strong background in environmental conservation and education, and plays a mean game of tennis. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here. If you enjoyed his sciku, check out his other poems A Heady Mixture, Fluttering By At Dusk and Hedgerow Snuffling.