Many kinds of octopus, cuttlefish, and squid are masters of disguise. They conceal themselves using chromatophores-specialized skin cells that hold pigment and reflect light. Cephalopods expand or contract these colored areas, rapidly shifting color or changing skin patterns to blend with their surroundings. A new study shows that even deep-sea dwellers use camouflage to their advantage. Two species-a squid and an octopus-are normally transparent. This makes them invisible to predators that look for silhouettes against surface light. But transparency can't protect them against ocean predators that use their own bioluminescence to illuminate transparent prey. Scientists tested the responses of the two cephalopods to light sources similar to the bioluminescence of deep-sea predators, and observed that the squid and octopus shifted quickly from transparent to opaque in response to this particular spectrum of light. These quick-change artists provide scientists with an important example of camouflage strategies in the ocean depths.

South Africa is home to more than 80 percent of Africa’s remaining rhinoceroses, most of which live in national parks and reserves. But even in these protected areas, hundreds of rhinos are killed each year by poachers responding to a skyrocketing demand for rhino horn, which is used in Asian traditional medicine. Often, poachers sever the horns while the animals are still alive. Poachers attacked three rhinos at the Kariega Game Reserve in March 2012. One rhino died of his injuries shortly after. The two surviving rhinos suffered serious damage to their sinus cavities where the horns were removed. A veterinarian working with the reserve contacted WitmerLab at Ohio University, where researchers use high-tech imaging and digital modeling to study the morphology of vertebrate heads. The researchers scanned a 120-kilogram white rhino head from their storage facility and used the images to create a detailed model of the nasal passages of an adult white rhino, which helped the reserve treat the severely injured animals.

Several recent studies have questioned whether exposure to common pesticides might be impairing bee performance and contributing to the observed population declines. Neonicotinoids are a family of pesticides chemically related to nicotine, and are widely used in both large-scale agriculture as well as in home gardening products. This type of pesticide circulates through flowering plants and collects in nectar and pollen. Recent studies conducted by several research groups have  shown that even low doses of neonicotinoid pesticides can impair bees' navigation abilities and reduce the growth of bee colonies. Insects, particularly bees, are the dominant pollinators in temperate regions worldwide. Declines of honey, bumble, and solitary bees may lead to serious repercussions, not only for crop plant production but for the reproductive success of wild flowering plants, as well.

A new species of frog recently announced itself to scientists studying amphibians in the area surrounding New York City. The marshes and wetlands of the Tri-state area have long been recognized as home to spotted leopard frogs; several species have already been described in the region. But when researchers heard this frog's unusual vocalization, they suspected that it was not one of the known types of leopard frogs. Specimens were collected in northern New Jersey, Staten Island, and Connecticut, and DNA analysis soon proved that the frog with the unique croak was not a hybrid of the more common Northern and Southern Leopard Frogs, but a third, undescribed species with its own evolutionary lineage. As amphibians are highly sensitive to fluctuations in their environment, those living in densely populated urban areas are especially vulnerable. Accurate knowledge of species identities and distribution will help to preserve biodiversity and manage ecosystems in regions with high levels of human development.

When researchers in Brazil studied the early larval stages of the butterfly Aricoris propitia, they discovered that the larvae had solicitous caretakers-fire ants. Fire ants are a notorious invasive species and are frequently seen as pests, but A. propitia butterflies actively seek them out when choosing a location for egg-laying. The ants attend the larvae, transporting them to shelter during the day and carrying them out again at night to feed on the host plant. The ants appear to benefit from the larvae's "ant-organs," which dispense a nectar that produces a stimulating effect. The ants are extremely adaptable, especially in distressed environments, and as deforestation and development reduce the butterflies' habitats in Brazil's Amazon and Cerrado regions, this highly successful partnership may inform scientific understanding of the future distribution and success of the two species. 

Biologists had long assumed that predators were more concerned with the quantity of their food than the quality, but a recent study shows that nutritional value dictates how predatory ground beetles choose their prey. An international team of scientists led by University of Exeter and Oxford researchers collected more than 500 ground beetles in Denmark. One group of beetles was allowed to select from food sources with varying amounts of fat and protein, while the other group was given a fixed diet, where their choices were limited. The beetles that could choose their food freely made adjustments to their intake of fat and protein. The success of their choices was evident when they produced more eggs than the group on the diet with limited choices. These findings further scientists' understanding of the complex relationships between the hunter and the hunted in the wild.

Many species interact in the wild, most often as predator and prey. But recent encounters between humpback whales and bottlenose dolphins reveal a playful side to interspecies interaction. In two different locations in Hawaii, scientists watched as dolphins "rode" the heads of whales: the whales lifted the dolphins out of the water, and then the dolphins slid back in. The two species seemed to cooperate in the activity, and neither displayed signs of aggression or distress. Whales and dolphins in Hawaiian waters often interact, but playful social activity such as this is extremely rare between species. These are the first recorded examples of this type of behavior. 

Fledgling scarlet macaws took to the skies over Guatemala in record numbers this year, thanks to the efforts of researchers and conservationists. During breeding season in the Maya Biosphere Reserve-home to the majority of Guatemala's macaws-chicks were carefully monitored, with researchers climbing 30 meters above the forest floor to inspect nesting cavities and mount video cameras in the treetops. Sick or weak chicks were removed from the nests for treatment and then fostered in nests with other chicks of a similar age. From the 24 nests that were observed, 29 fledglings eventually emerged, a dramatic increase from 2003, when only 1 fledgling was registered from 15 nests.

The soils in tundra, grasslands, tropical forests are very different, but they have one thing in common. They all host an astounding diversity of life. Inhabiting these underground worlds are millions of species, which play vital roles in maintaining soil health and preserving the balance of their ecosystems. A new study has shown that biodiversity underground is much greater than previously thought, with a direct relationship to life on the surface. 

Amphibians that try to feed on the larvae of the Epomis beetle will find that they've bitten off more than they can chew.  Rather than avoiding its predators, the larva lures them closer and then attacks, latching on tight with its hooked jaws and feeding parasitically.  Many of Epomis's  close relatives are prey for amphibians; Epomis alone has turned its predator into a primary food source. The evolution of this successful predatory behavior is of great interest to scientists, as this type of role reversal is unprecedented in the animal kingdom.

Fish were not flourishing in Cabo Pulmo National Park off Mexico's Baja Peninsula until 1999, when local residents elected to enforce no-fishing rules across the entire park. Ten years later, a fish survey led by Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, a postdoctoral researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, reveals the success of this conservation strategy.  

About 300,000 cetaceans—whales, dolphins, and porpoises—are inadvertently caught in fishing nets each year. New genetic analysis of Franciscana dolphins led by Martin Mendez, a postdoctoral fellow at the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History, reveals that related Franciscanas are often netted together. This bycatch pattern may cause a significant loss of genetic diversity in this already rare species. 

Once a meandering river, the Mississippi is now constrained by development and levees lining its banks, leaving communities vulnerable during extreme high-water periods. The floods in May and June 2011 were the worst since 1927.

Biodiversity benefits humankind in many ways: it can inspire medical innovation, boost human health, and even process waste. Now, an experiment by a University of Michigan scientist suggests that biodiversity can help clear human-caused pollution from waterways.

Biologists from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and Açores University in Portugal have learned that undersea peaks, called seamounts, support a wide variety of migratory fish species. Though it's still unknown exactly why these species tend to use seamounts as stopovers on their travels, the discovery makes seamounts attractive open-ocean locations to designate as protected areas.

Between 2000 and 2002, the Chinese State Forestry Administration attempted to count every giant panda living in the temperate mountain forests of central China. The work revealed not only that nearly 1,600 pandas remain in the wild but also where, exactly, they reside. Although scientists have long been aware that pandas live only in isolated forest belts where bamboo grows, they were surprised to discover that pandas also prefer to live in old-growth forest—forest that has never been logged. The finding could help shape how the remaining panda habitat is protected.  

In 2002, a surprising study reported that lianas, or vines, are much more common in the Amazon rain forest than they were decades ago. Researchers have since confirmed this and found that lianas throughout the Americas are indeed growing more rapidly. (In some places, they outpace trees by 60 percent.) Scientists suspect that there's no single cause of this strange trend. Instead, many influences are likely at work, including drought, deforestation, and rising carbon dioxide.  

The unicellular amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum has long been a staple study organism in research laboratories, but the latest discovery about "Dicty" came as a surprise. Scientists from Rice University in Houston, Texas, found that a third of wild specimens are able to sow and harvest the soil bacteria they rely on for food. 

How much do habitat protection, anti-trafficking laws, reintroductions, and other conservation efforts help save Earth's threatened animals? A huge international team of researchers recently attempted to answer this question for vertebrates, or animals with backbones. They discovered that without conservation, vertebrates would be declining 18 percent faster  than they are now.  

Some species of vultures have become increasingly threatened in recent years due to habitat loss and toxicity of the animals they depend upon for food. Scientists recently discovered that vultures in East Africa are no exception. New tallies of the scavengers show that even populations inside protected areas are under intense pressure for survival.

Use of nitrogen fertilizer is radically impacting Earth's nitrogen cycle.

Roads connect people, but they separate animals.

Once a popular source of caviar, Atlantic sturgeon may soon be listed on the Endangered Species Act. New research shows that different types of Atlantic sturgeon may travel hundreds of miles from home, cross international waters, and mix with other sturgeon groups. Restoring Sturgeon populations will require protection wherever they swim. 

To help build the catalog of life, biologists at AMNH search the globe for
species that have never been scientifically described. Discover seven of
these new species in this Bio Bulletin, the last in a series of four to
celebrate the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity.

In what may have been the most devastating ecological disaster in Hungary's history, on October 4, 2010, a river of red sludge poured out of an aluminum production plant reservoir, flooding nearby villages and saturating waterways. Satellite images covering over 700,000 meters and reaching the Danube river. The sludge devastated local aquatic life, and its long-term effects on wildlife remain unclear.

Endangered Florida panthers benefited from the introduction of Texan pumas in their ranks.

Three cutting-edge medical technologies inspired by biodiversity. This Bio Bulletin snapshot is third in a series to celebrate the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity.

Fungi have been invading ant brains for tens of millions of years. 

Little brown bats may disappear from eastern North America in just 16 years.

Overfishing turned the once-productive Benguela ecosystem off Namibia's coast into a deep-sea dead zone. Biologists recently learned how a native fish, the bearded goby, is thriving in these hostile waters—and keeping the ecosystem productive.

This Bio Bulletin highlights unsung species such as marsh grasses, seaweed, and deep-sea invertebrates that are at risk from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.  

For decades, biologists dreamed of radio devices small enough to outfit on insects so they could precisely track their movements. In recent years, tiny transmitters have been developed and applied to beetles, dragonflies, and crickets—and now, orchid bees. The experiment, which was conducted by researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on Barro Colorado Island in Panama, reveals the lengths that these pollinators will go to to reach the orchids that attract them. 

New maps based on satellite observations of Earth reveal forests across the globe—where they are, and where they are declining. The boreal biome—the band of conifer forest in high latitudes—shows the greatest proportion of tree loss between 2000 and 2005, mostly due to lightning-induced fires. Of all nations, Brazil's forests saw the steepest decline. It is a hotspot of logging and fire-induced clearing in the tropical forest biome. The maps, which were produced by scientists from South Dakota State University and the State University of New York, allow forest monitoring in places that are difficult to access. 

When the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded on April 20, 2010, it set off an oil spill that may exceed the extent and impact of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound. Of grave concern is the oil's near- and long-term effects on both wildlife species and Gulf ecosystems at large. In this Bio Bulletin, view satellite imagery of the shifting surface oil and learn what's at stake. 

The Census of Marine Life is a sweeping 10-year effort to catalog life in the ocean. Four of its fourteen field projects focus on the tiniest sea creatures—microbes, larvae, zooplankton, and burrowers—which are the most numerous of marine species. In fact, the number of microbial species in the ocean is estimated to be 1,000 times greater than the rest of the planet's known biodiversity. This Bio Bulletin highlights this research effort in celebration of the International Year of Biodiversity. 

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is home to one of the world's largest networks of marine protected areas. Like other marine reserves, large segments of the Great Barrier Reef have strict rules against human activities, such as fishing and polluting. New research shows that protected areas can help stop the decline of aquatic life-including fish and corals-and sometimes even increase their numbers. The evidence suggests that designating protected regions is an effective way to improve the outlook for marine life in the increasingly threatened ocean. 

The Northern California coast is home to giant redwoods­­—the tallest trees in the world. The towering evergreens depend on the region's foggy climate, especially during the hot summer months. When rainfall is insufficient to hydrate the trees from the roots, the trees quench themselves by drawing moisture into their leaves from the fog.

Researchers at the University of California–Berkeley recently analyzed the frequency of coastal fog over the past hundred years. They discovered many fluctuations in fog and an overall decline. Scientists are unsure of what has caused these changes. The team's ongoing research will study how the redwoods will likely respond to variations in the climate they rely on.  

With 7 percent of the world's arable land but 20 percent of the world population, Chinese farmers have, for decades, relied upon artificial fertilizer to boost their crops. These artificial fertilizers, while increasing overall crop yields, can also upset the chemical balance in the soil and cause it to become more acidic. Recently, researchers compared samples of Chinese soil from the 1980's and the 2000's and found that agricultural lands across the country have become considerably more acidic. This chemical imbalance may reduce the farming potential of this land in the future.  

The shallow lakes and ponds sprinkled across the Prairie Pothole region in the Great Plains of North America are the breeding ground for many of North America's ducks and waterfowl. New research suggests that if the climate continues its predicted warming trend, this wetland region could become much less wet, which could dramatically reduce duck populations.

Dung beetles, also called scarab beetles, benefit humans and habitats worldwide as they process animal waste. In this video, learn how these insects help—and where their benefits are declining due to human pressures. This Bio Bulletin is the first in a series to celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity.

The health of ecosystems is intimately connected with human health. A line of research from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York, has shown that wildlife-rich regions can lower the risk of Lyme disease to humans. This is because environments with higher numbers of animal species harbor fewer ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. Therefore, humans in these environments are less likely to be bitten by infected ticks.

In the northeastern United States, some of the most common Borrelia hosts, such as opossums and squirrels, infect only a small percentage of the ticks that feed off them. Opossums and squirrels also kill nearly all the ticks that feed on them by consuming or destroying them during grooming. Thus, they do not spread Borrelia easily. Computer models by the Cary team indicate that the loss of these less efficient hosts from tick-prone environments mean the ticks end up feeding on more efficient Borrelia hosts such as mice. The Lyme risk to humans is compounded by the fact that mice are highly adaptable generalist species: they are able to flourish in environments with a human presence, such as residential, agricultural, or industrial areas.

 

A recent independent study of the environment around oil sands processing facilities in Alberta, Canada, shows that the industry emits far more pollution than expected. In this interactive, get a close-up look at the oil mines on a satellite image.

Because of the demand for shark fin soup, the global hunt for sharks has now reached immense proportions: up to 73 million sharks per year, say biologists at the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science. Fin traders seldom reveal their sources, so it's difficult to know where the sharks are hunted. Researchers from the institute are using genetic tracking to pinpoint the geographic origins of sharks whose fins are sold in Hong Kong markets. The information can aid international trade agencies deciding how to best protect the fish.

 

 

 

Lake Atitlán is a deep, clear lake in the heart of Guatemala's volcanic region. Last fall and this fall, it has been overwhelmed by blooms of Lyngba hieronymusii, a species of microscopic cyanobacteria, for the first time in its history. The blooms are prompted by erosion of phosphorus-rich volcanic soil into the lake as well as increasing pollution from nearby communities. Biologists are now testing the blooms for toxicity to better gauge the impact of this little-understood cyanobacterial species, which has rarely bloomed in other lake environments.

Up to one-third of primate species are at risk of extinction worldwide. To explore how changing climate patterns may affect already-threatened primates, biologists from Pennsylvania State University studied how populations of four monkey species in Central and South America respond to El Niño, an ocean-atmosphere cycle which influences weather around the globe.

A team of biologists led by Lindsay Young of the University of Hawaii investigated whether some populations of Laysan albatrosses—large Pacific seabirds—are more at risk from consuming plastic debris in the ocean than others. 

A recent study of Caribbean coral reefs tracks their health after the unusually warm ocean temperatures of the summer and fall of 2005—the same waters that ramped up the strength of Hurricane Katrina.

 

Fossils of two never-before-seen species of tyrannosaur are overturning long-held ideas about the diversity and evolution of this family of dinosaurs. One is an unusually slender, eight-horned tyrannosaur named Alioramus altai, unveiled by AMNH Chair of Paleontology Mark Norell and AMNH/Columbia University PhD student Stephen Brusatte. The other is an ancient, tiny version of Tyrannosaurus rex called Raptorex kriegsteini, recently described by University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno.

Scientists from several conservation groups in India recently traced the genetic signature of 73 local tigers to determine that India's tigers are much more genetically varied than tigers living elsewhere. The find turns conservation attention toward the subcontinent, as efforts focused on its diverse tiger population could help the species make a healthy comeback globally.  

Wildlife specialists now have new tool to combat the illegal hunting and trading of bushmeat, or wild game: genetic barcodes. A barcode is a short section of DNA that is unique to a species. Decoding this sequence enables a fast species ID of an individual animal when it’s not possible to identify the species by sight alone. Conservation ecologist Mitchell Eaton recently worked with scientists at AMNH’s Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics to sequence barcodes for several species of animals commonly traded as bushmeat in Africa and South America. The barcodes are now available to officials to pinpoint the species of origin—many of them threatened—of confiscated meat or leather goods.

Deforestation in the Amazon rain forest is revealing previously unknown species to scientists—but also threatens the animals' survival. This Bio Bulletin highlights the landcover changes that are encroaching on the habitat of a new type of saddleback tamarin recently discovered by researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society. 

As biologists more closely monitor the health of wildlife around the world, they're discovering that many wild animals are afflicted by various types of cancer. For endangered animals, these diseases can even threaten the survival of the species. This Bio Bulletin highlights an exceptional case of an infectious cancer that's pushing a species toward extinction: the Tasmanian devil. 

Hantavirus is an infectious pathogen carried by rodents and occasionally passed to humans, where it can be deadly. A new study led by researchers from the University of New Mexico demonstrates that when rodent biodiversity decreases in Panamanian forests, the risk of hantavirus transmission in these ecosystems increase. Since deforestation can reduce species diversity, the findings have implications for people who live at the fringes of fragmented woodlands. 

The migrations of many large hoofed mammals are in serious decline worldwide, says a new report led by Grant Harris of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History. In fact, a quarter of large migrating species may no longer migrate at all. Fences, agriculture, and other human changes are to blame, as they block natural migration routes and limit access to food and water. As a result, the populations of many of these mammals are shrinking.

The mangrove forests along the coast of Orissa, India, cover only half the area they did 50 years ago. A new study by biologists from the University of Delhi and Duke University showed that even small patches of trees buffered local villages and saved lives during a deadly 1999 cyclone.  

Farmers in Borneo, Indonesia, have long drained and burned the region's peat swamps to create farmland for growing food. But the highly flammable peat causes many of these fires to burn out of control. In a project led by Columbia University's International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Indonesians are now using climate prediction techniques to forecast fire risk during the dry season so they can better prevent wildfires. 

The spectacular lake system of Band-e Amir in the dry highlands of central Afghanistan was recently designated as a national park-a first for the war-torn country. It aims to protect what remains of local wildlife through the cooperation of local residents. 

Eager for a low-impact way to tally scallops in the highly productive fishing waters off Cape Cod, local scallop fishers teamed with scientists and engineers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to design an innovative underwater camera called HabCam. It acts as a satellite for the seafloor, trailing behind a fishing boat and snapping a continuous strip of pictures of the life at the ocean bottom. HabCam surveys are also revealing a potential threat to the scallop fishery: an invasive marine invertebrate that is colonizing the very ground the scallops rely on.  

Sturgeon in the Caspian Sea are being fished nearly to extinction for the luxury of their eggs: caviar. This Bio Bulletin features efforts to protect the fish by conservation biologists like Phaedra Doukakis with the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook. Here at the American Museum of Natural History, Doukakis and her colleagues are DNA-testing caviar from U.S. gourmet stores to catch illegal importers of the most prized caviar, beluga. 

Bats in the northeastern United States are now emerging from their winter hibernation. But many thousands of them will be too weak to survive. A mysterious affliction called white-nose syndrome has been killing hundreds of thousands of the mammals in caves from New Hampshire to West Virginia. Evidence is building that the symptoms are caused by a new infectious disease that is skipping from cave to cave. As biologists race to find answers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is taking measures to check the syndrome's spread. In late March, the government agency recommended that people in states with white-nose syndrome stop exploring caves to avoid inadvertently transmitting the leading suspect in this deadly scenario: a new species of fungus.

The Antarctic Peninsula is a spit of land that extends off the continent toward South America. Its western side is, on average, warming five times faster than any other place on Earth. The warming is disintegrating the massive ice shelves that extend from the peninsula’s land into the sea. As a result, a number species that depend on ice to survive are declining locally, including Antarctic krill and Adélie penguins, which eat krill. A new study led by Martin Montes-Hugo at the Rutgers Institute of Marine and Coastal Science has uncovered that the local climate changes are also dramatically affecting the base of this food web: marine phytoplankton. Using satellite data and field research, Montes-Hugo and his colleagues have noted a dramatic 30-year drop in phytoplankton off the northwestern shore of the peninsula. The phytoplankton loss is likely contributing to the observed declines. Furthermore, some species that do not depend on ice moving into the region, flourishing, and further disrupting the food webs that have existed there historically.

A team of French and American paleontologists—including John Maisey, curator in the Division of Paleontology at this museum—has made the unexpected discovery that brains can fossilize. In a rock from northeast Kansas, the team found the fossilized skull of a 300-million-year-old fish with a brain-shaped structure at its center. A high-precision X-ray technique called synchrotron radiation revealed the brain's detailed shape, including its lobes and cranial nerves. The researchers made the X-ray scan at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, a high-energy particle accelerator in Grenoble, France.

The rare find is the oldest fossil brain known. "We know that other soft tissues such as muscle, the stomach wall, gills, and kidneys can readily fossilize under the right circumstances, presumably as a product of phosphate-fixing bacteria in an oxygen-free microenvironment. This suggests a rapid burial of the organism within hours of death," says Maisey. "The brain is a far more delicate structure than any of these, suggesting that such rapid preservation can occur even inside the head."  

In early February 2009, areas of the southern Australian state of Victoria were ablaze with bushfires that killed nearly 200 people. The fires came on the tail end of an exceptionally long and blistering heat wave. The extreme event foreshadows Australia's fire risk in a warming world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in 2007 that "heat waves and fires are virtually certain to increase in intensity and frequency" in regions of Australia as the globe warms. The IPCC report also indicated that higher-risk fire danger days could rise up to 70 percent by 2050 in southeast Australia, the most populated area of the country. Although no single extreme weather or fire event can be attributed to climate change at this point, the summer fire tragedy of 2009 sends a sober warning of future fire danger in Australia.

In the rock layers of a vast open-pit coal mine in Colombia, paleontologists have uncovered a fossil of the largest snake known to have existed. The massive 60,000-year-old vertebrae suggest that the creature was about as long as a bus and three feet thick. The discovery team, composed of researchers from Canada, Panama, and the United States, named the snake Titanoboa cerrejonensis (“titanic boa from Cerrejón”) after its size, its close relatives, and the name of the mine. Researchers think Titanoboa would likely have been too large to climb trees like modern boa constrictors. Instead, it probably sought its crocodile prey while swimming through the myriad rivers that cut through its forested coastal habitat.

Beyond being a winning entry in the animal record books, the snake is also a measuring stick for ancient tropical climate. Because the maximum body sizes of some snakes, turtles, crocodiles and other cold-blooded creatures are regulated by the temperature of their surroundings, their size can be used as a temperature gauge. The researchers estimate that the region averaged at least 30-34°C (86 -93°F) 60 million years ago, giving a new data point from which to compare tropical temperature change over time.

Scientists have long understood that artificial light can disrupt wildlife that takes cues from natural light. It's becoming increasingly clear that light reflected off shiny artificial surfaces such as cars, buildings, and roads can also disrupt animal behavior—sometimes fatally. A new review of research on light pollution by a team of Hungarian and American  scientists describes a new concern with polarized light pollution. When light bounces off reflective surfaces, it can become polarized, meaning that the light waves travel along a single plane. This Bio Bulletin describes how artificially reflective surfaces can mimic naturally polarizing surfaces like water, profoundly impacting the survival of species that are sensitive to polarized light.

To learn more about how you can reduce light pollution, visit the Related Links at left. 

Corals, like clams, lobster, and sea urchins, are marine calcifiers—they incorporate dissolved minerals from seawater to grow their hard parts. Calcifiers are considered at risk from our increased introduction of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide in the air increases the temperature of the ocean by ramping up the greenhouse effect, and the absorption of carbon dioxide into the ocean changes its chemistry so that minerals are less available for growth. This Bio Bulletin features a new study from biologists at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, which saw that the growth of Porites coral in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is slowing and is likely a result of climate change.

Majestic American chestnut trees were once a foundation species—abundant and influential—in the eastern woodlands of North America. But in the early 1900’s, a lethal fungus called chestnut blight decimated this ecologically and economically important tree in its native range. In 1983, a group of scientists organized the American Chestnut Foundation with a plan to restore the American chestnut to its native range by breeding it with blight-resistant chestnut species. After decades of work, hybrid seedlings will be finally be planted in national forest land in Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina—the first test of their mettle outside the foundation’s research farms in Meadowview, Virginia.

For decades, China has been planting trees along the rim of the Gobi Desert. This "Great Green Wall" is the largest forestation project ever attempted, designed to stave off the encroaching desert and lessen the severity of dust storms in China's populous northeastern region. As of 2006, 25 million hectares of new forest were growing. A new climate model study projects that when complete, this shelterbelt will be the environmental buffer that China hopes for.   

The striped bass, which can grow upwards of 45 kilograms (100 pounds), is a prize catch for sport fishers in the San Francisco Bay area—especially in recent decades, when big ones have been harder to find. Yet something other than fishing is causing the striped bass populations in the Bay to tumble dramatically. Years of study is revealing that many factors are to blame. They include pumping bay water for agriculture, invasive aquatic organisms, and pollution run-off from homes, industry, and farms.

A new study by University of California-Davis biologist David Ostrach and colleagues reveals the legacy of the chemical burdens on the bay's striped bass. The team compared the offspring of fish collected from the bay with those raised in a lab-based hatchery. The results show that everyday chemicals in the bay (such as those in pesticides and flame retardant materials) are accumulating in the fish over many generations. This is disrupting the development of the fish. "The striped bass is a sentinel for the health of this estuary," says Ostrach. The finding, he says, underscores the need to reduce harmful chemicals in use today and test more carefully the chemicals of tomorrow. 

Scientists have traditionally looked to fossil evidence of extinct species to understand how Earth’s plant and animal life evolved from ancestral forms. By comparing the body structures of species past and present, they can construct family trees that represent change over time. In recent decades, DNA analysis has emerged as another powerful tool to decipher evolutionary relationships. So far, fragments of DNA from about 50 extinct species have been extracted from body parts preserved in permafrost, ancient bones preserved in caves, and other remains. Once the units of DNA in the fragments are sequenced and arranged in their original order, scientists can compare the genetic blueprints of extinct species to those alive today to calculate the degree of relatedness between them and learn when key evolutionary changes arose.

Recently, two groups of scientists—one led by researchers at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, and the other from the Physiogenomics Laboratory at the French Atomic Energy Commission—decoded the complete sequence of mitochondrial DNA for the cave bear, a species that became extinct at the end of the last ice age 10,000 years ago. (Mitochondrial DNA is the kind of DNA found in the mitochondria, the cell’s energy generators. Most of an individual’s DNA is nuclear DNA, which is packaged inside the nuclei of cells.) The DNA evidence allowed the teams to confirm that the cave bear’s closest living relatives are the polar bear and the brown bear. The Max Planck team also decoded DNA from another extinct bear species, the American giant short-faced bear. By understanding the genetics of these extinct species, the researchers were able to sort out the bear family tree with a precision that could not be achieved with fossil evidence alone.

Concerned about a population crash in the smallest beluga whale group in Alaskan waters, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) listed the belugas in Anchorage’s Cook Inlet as endangered under the Endangered Species Act on October 22, 2008. 

The Census of Marine Life is a global effort by marine biologists to answer a tough but basic question: What lives in the ocean? There could be more than a million marine species, yet only a fraction have been described. The goal of the census is to create the most complete database possible of marine life by 2010. A recent expedition to three coral reefs off the coast of Australia has added hundreds of species to the inventory. 

Africa's Sahel, which lies between the Sahara to the north and Africa's tropical rain forests to the south, is vulnerable to many ecological problems that exacerbate one another, including overpopulation, drought, desertification, soil erosion, deforestation, and poor irrigation. This Bio Bulletin highlights Mali's Lake Faguibine and the surrounding region. Once the breadbasket of the country, the lake region is now almost completely dry. The Mali government and international aid projects are struggling to raise funds to dig canals to divert river water to the lakes.  

Ecologists have established a long-term study of streams that flow through urban, suburban, rural, and forested areas of western North Carolina. Their goal is to observe how water quality and different species—from algae to insects to fish—change when roads and buildings are constructed near streams. The work will also enable scientists to forecast how streams in forested areas respond as new development encroaches. Such predictions could help inform land-use decisions by public and private developers.

 

A survey of 47,000 square kilometers of forest and swampland in northern Congo has revealed a previously unknown population of endangered western lowland gorillas. The estimated tally of 125,000 gorillas in this region doubles previous counts of this subspecies of gorilla. The results of the survey, which was led by teams from the Wildlife Conservation Society and the government of the Republic of Congo, may propel the establishment of a new protected area in the region.

In July, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added eight new natural sites to its World Heritage List. The designation will support international efforts to protect these unique environments.

On a typical mountain, every 1000 meters of elevation increase brings a temperature drop of 6°C. In the tropics, some species have evolved to live only in the cool-temperature oases of mountain peaks. It is these high-elevation species that stand a lot to lose as global warming heats up their habitats. AMNH researchers now suggest that climate change is already driving reptiles and amphibians that live on Madagascar's highest mountains toward extinction.

Chris Raxworthy, an Associate Curator of AMNH's Department of Herpetology, led a team that surveyed 30 species of chameleons, geckos, frogs, and other species living on northern Madagascar's Tsaratanana Mountains both in 1993 and 2003. Raxworthy discovered that overall, the species are gradually climbing to higher elevations in order to remain in the cooler temperature zones they require for survival.

Three of the species endemic to the very highest area of Tsaratanana's summit—meaning they do not live anywhere else—were not seen in 2003. This hints that they could already be extinct or are likely to become so before the century's end.

Onslope deforestation is further hindering the ability of these reptiles and amphibians to find the habitats they need. "The Malagasy government is creating important new reserves and protecting forests," says Raxworthy. "Yet with a phenomenon like global warming, this conservation problem requires a global solution." Extinctions of high-altitude species may be preventable if humans worldwide take dramatic action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

As the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics approach, the coastal city of Qingdao, China, is struggling with an environmental setback to the sailing events that will be held there. A bright green bloom of algae is blanketing one-third of the waters of the training area, making practice difficult. Thousands of troops and volunteers have responded to Qingdao's pledge to clear the infested waters by mid-July. 

When we litter on land or dump trash in waterways, it can easily blow or wash out into the ocean. At sea, boats discard and lose nets and other items into the water. This marine debris is a serious threat to ocean life. Creatures that mistake trash for food or become entangled in it can die. 

Detecting and removing marine debris is difficult and slow, as most of it is done by eye and by hand. But scientists are using remote sensing—satellites, gliders, and other instruments that analyze from afar—to learn where debris collects in the world's oceans and where it poses the most hazard to marine life.  

Every tree species has evolved to spread its seeds in a particular way. Some seeds, like those in scaly pinecones or fuzzy catkins, float on wind currents. Others, such as beechnuts and oak acorns, are carried, eaten, and deposited far and wide by animals. A new study of Spanish forests explores how different seed dispersal strategies help—or hinder—trees regrowing after forest loss.

The research, which was led by ecologist Daniel Montoya Terán at Madrid's Universidad de Alcalá, found that animal-dispersed tree species were able to regenerate more easily after deforestation, when seed abundances decline. Animal-dispersed seeds are spread in a more targeted fashion than wind-scattered seeds. They also tend to be bigger, with more nutritional material to kick-start germination in deforested landscapes. 

The study underscores the importance of conserving both trees and the animal species upon which they depend for survival.

The number of visitors to California's Yosemite National Park has swelled to four million a year. Now scientists think the impact of so many human beings is rippling among the web of organisms in the park, from cougars to mule deer all the way down to the park's signature wildflower, the evening primrose.

Although many of the Yosemite's cougars were shot by park officials in the 1920's, some of these predators remain. Yet they seem to avoid Yosemite Valley, the picturesque main entrance to the park that is home to numerous roads and buildings. The deer recognize this safe haven, says Oregon State University forestry scientist William Ripple. "We think the deer are moving closer to where the humans are." The many mule deer browse heavily on young California black oak and primrose in Yosemite Valley, and the plants are often unable to reach reproductive age. Ripple and his colleagues noticed that oak trees away from the visitor center were taller and more abundant.

By pushing predatory cougars out of the valley, humans have indirectly increased mule deer and reduced oak and primrose populations. This is an example of a trophic cascade—one that appears to be reducing biodiversity in one of the nation's most spectacular landscapes.

The loss of mangrove forests along Myanmar’s coast may have been a critical factor in the catastrophic death toll and damage from Cyclone Nargis earlier this month. This is underscored by several scientific reports after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which showed that villages nestled within dense mangrove forests suffered less loss of life and withstood more damage during that event than deforested villages. The dense roots and foliage of these salt-tolerant trees can absorb wave energy from tsunamis and storm surges (waves produced by severe weather), thus protecting coastlines.

Cyclone Nargis generated a 3.5-meter-high storm surge that struck Myanmar’s coast, which is home to about half the country’s citizens. For decades, coastal residents have cleared mangrove forests to establish rice paddies that feed the nation. The disaster may regalvanize the efforts to replant mangroves along Southeast Asian coastlines that were prompted by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.

Scientists in western Canada have long been tracking the extent of the mountain pine beetle. This native insect kills weak and old lodgepole pine trees, thus promoting healthy growth of young forests. In times of drought, beetle populations can spike, spreading to healthy pine trees. Historically, cold winters kept beetle populations under control. A new study published in the journal Nature highlights how climate change is promoting pine beetle outbreaks—and how the outbreaks are contributing to climate change.

Global warming is making winter conditions more suitable for the beetle and allowing it to spread to more northern latitudes and higher elevations. This ongoing beetle infestation is the worst scientists have ever recorded, affecting an area about the size of the state of Alabama.

Dead and decaying pines are now widespread in British Columbia, releasing more carbon into the atmosphere than the live trees can absorb during photosynthesis. The new study, which was led by Natural Resources Canada forest ecologist Werner Kurz, predicts that this positive feedback will continue, ultimately releasing over one billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have analyzed the current and predicted “water budget”—the amount of water going in and coming out—of Lakes Mead and Powell, critical reservoirs along the Colorado River. Much of the urban population in the southwest as well as California’s most productive agricultural areas depend on water from the Colorado River.  

Increased temperatures from global warming are decreasing rain and snowfall and are increasing evaporation in the Colorado River watershed. This is reducing runoff into the reservoirs. The team predicts the water storage in Lakes Mead and Powell has a 50 percent chance of becoming exhausted by 2021 if climate change reduces runoff as predicted and if water consumption continues at current levels. This scenario would have dire consequences for the American Southwest.

Most monarch butterflies that live east of the Rockies—up to one billion individuals—migrate to just 12 cool, high-altitude mountain forests in central Mexico every winter. The oyamel fir trees there act as a blanket and an umbrella, keeping the butterflies at a comfortable temperature and humidity until they leave in March to return north. The butterflies overwinter at these sites year after year, a migratory phenomenon unique among insects.

Recent images from the high-resolution IKONOS satellite show illegal clear-cutting of oyamel firs in a protected area of Lomas de Aparicio, one of the overwintering sites that had large colonies of monarchs last year.

“This is one more example of serious deforestation events that go back to 1986,” says Lincoln Brower, biologist and monarch expert at Virginia’s Sweet Briar College. “If the butterflies lose the safe overwintering areas in Mexico, they will freeze to death when they return to the cleared forests. All that will remain will be very small populations in deep southern Florida, with occasional individuals that disperse northward.”

The network of rivers in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta has a long history of human modification to fulfill residential and agricultural water needs. The Cosumnes River, which flows into the delta, is relatively unimpeded save for earthen levees erected along its banks to prevent natural flooding events from ruining nearby agricultural fields.

Scientists from University of California–Davis recently analyzed the sediment trail of a flood that broke a Cosumnes levee using airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data to measure surface elevation. Similar to radar, this technique uses laser light instead of radio waves to document elevation and the height of trees. The data and analyses will help land managers understand how accidental and intentional levee breaks can keep a river flowing more naturally and foster the restoration of forests and other river ecosystems.

An international group of scientists led by the Scripps Institution of Oceangraphy has released major findings from an ongoing expedition to the Line Islands in the Pacific Ocean. At Kingman Reef, which is virtually unimpacted by humans, biologists saw an abundance of healthy coral. They also counted more fish at Kingman and proportionally more predators (such as sharks) than at any other coral reef in the world.

Mountaintop removal is a type of coal mining that is both environmentally and residentially destructive. Mining companies use dynamite and huge machines called draglines to flatten mountain summit to extract the valuable seams of coal inside. Mountaintop removal occurs most commonly in West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. The extent of the practice is clearly visible on satellite imagery, which is featured in this Bio Bulletin.

Mangrove trees live in the saltwater fringes of tropical coastlines. Although they provide important economic benefits for coastal communities, mangroves in Southeast Asia are often destroyed and replaced with profitable rice paddies, coconut palm plantations, and shrimp farms. A new study by an international team of economists and ecologists weighs the value of mangrove forests and shrimp farming in Thailand to understand how best to preserve this unique ecosystem.

Scientists have long recognized that the way humans use land—say, for agriculture or development—affects the quality of the water that drains and flows from it. New research on a Michigan watershed maps how these effects persist over time. Since rain may travel through the ground for 100 years or more to reach a river or lake, land use decisions from long ago influence the chemical constituents that the water may carry.

This research, which was conducted by scientists at Purdue and Michigan State University, demonstrates how land use today affects the water quality of rivers and streams far into the future.

Traveling to—let alone researching—the ends of the Earth is a challenge. To galvanize scientific investigation of the still-mysterious polar regions, the International Council for Science and the World Meteorological Organization initiated International Polar Year, a massive endeavor that supports and organizes research in both the Artic and Antarctic. The "year" runs from March 2007 through March 2009, and it is the fourth effort of its kind in history.

Life persists in the extreme environments of the poles, and biologists and ecologists are eager to understand the unique adaptations necessary to live on and among ice.  To mark International Polar Year, Bio Bulletin presents recent ecological discoveries of the icy land and seas of Antarctica (part I) and the vast Arctic region (part II).

Traveling to—let alone researching—the ends of the Earth is a challenge. To galvanize scientific investigation of the still-mysterious polar regions, the International Council for Science and the World Meteorological Organization initiated International Polar Year, a massive endeavor that supports and organizes research in both the Artic and Antarctic. The “year” runs from March 2007 through March 2009, and it is the fourth effort of its kind in history.

Life persists in the extreme environments of the poles, and biologists and ecologists are eager to understand the unique adaptations necessary to live on and among ice.  To mark International Polar Year, Bio Bulletin presents recent ecological discoveries of the icy land and seas of Antarctica (part I) and the vast Arctic region (part II).

Two ship accidents in one week caused more than a million gallons of oil to leak into sensitive marine areas. This Bio Bulletin highlights the locales-San Francisco Bay and the Black Sea-and the spills' impacts on seabirds and other aquatic life.

In late October, Southern California suffered a series of devastating wildfires that governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called "among the worst disasters in California's history." More than 2,000 square kilometers of land and hundreds of residences burned.

Although extreme drought exacerbated this event, fire periodically burns California's chaparral, a dry habitat whose trees and shrubs evolved to reproduce and thrive in the wake of fires. While fire suppression over many decades has decreased the natural frequency of fire, encroachment of development into the chaparral that remains at the edges of San Diego and Los Angeles is especially risky to human life and property. View satellite imagery of October's fire events in this Bio Bulletin.

Scientists from WWF and the American Museum of Natural History are among the many international teams now working to help catalog and protect species in Vietnam's central Truong Son Mountains. Eleven species were recently identified in the Green Corridor, an intact stretch of tropical forest in the central part of the range. This area is also thought to be critical habitat for the saola, an antelope relative discovered in 1992. The saola's estimated worldwide population is fewer than 250 individuals.

The discoveries underscore the importance of three newly proposed reserves designed to maintain forest connectivity among the Green Corridor and existing reserves in Vietnam and adjacent Laos. The conservation plan broadens the protected area available to all species living in the lush lowland forests of the central Truong Son Mountains.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin River delta is at a crossroads. More than a century ago, the region, which is upriver from San Francisco Bay, was converted from freshwater tidal marsh into a hub of California's water supply. According to a recent report by the Public Policy Institute of California, "Most Californians drink water that passes through the Delta, and most of California's farmland depends on water tributary to the Delta."

Serious declines of native species like the delta smelt, invasions of nonnative ones, and rising sea levels from climate change are just some of the region's concerns. This Bulletin highlights another major issue-how decades of draining and diking have contributed to a notable subsidence of the land, leaving the system physically unstable. The possibility of earthquakes from the five major faults near the delta only compounds the risk of widespread flooding and saltwater pollution, which would seriously affect water supplies. Yet as the delta's issues mount, so does attention from stakeholders seeking lasting solutions to both sustain natural ecosystem processes and manage the delta's resources for the benefit of all.

Archaeologists have drafted the largest map yet of the region around the grand Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia. Covering 3,000 square kilometers-nearly four times the size of New York City-he Angkor civilization (900 to 1600 A.D.) was the largest settlement in the preindustrial world. It dwarfed even the largest Mayan cities. A third of this area was covered by a labyrinthine network of canals, reservoirs, and other waterways. The water management system attempted to make the most of Cambodia's monsoon climate, storing water during the dry season and channeling it to villages and rice paddies to support an urban populace of hundreds of thousands.

The study, which was conducted over eight years by the international Greater Angkor Project, used ground and aerial surveys to map visible features. Radar-equipped NASA aircraft detected subtle differences in surface texture to delineate invisible features long buried by modern developments and vegetation.

Angkor was abandoned in the 16th century. Scientists are still piecing together the story of its demise, but some think that the extent of the settlement and its demand for natural resources may have been greater than what the environment could sustain.

Wolves, elk, and groves of tall, mature aspen trees dot the wildlife-rich Lamar Valley in the northern region of Yellowstone National Park. Young aspen are beginning to flourish in some of these groves. What is missing from this picture are the middle years for Yellowstone's trees: aspen that sprouted in the last several decades, not the last several years.

A new study by Oregon State University biologists William Ripple and Robert Beschta explains those missing years by investigating the interconnectivity of species in Yellowstone. Wolves were eradicated from Yellowstone in the 1920's and reintroduced in 1995. The wolves not only predate on the elk, but introduce a "fear factor"-they scare them away from browsing on new aspen shoots. This Bio Bulletin highlights the dynamics of this ecosystem, which, even though protected, is still susceptible to declines when a key species is removed.

The summer of 2007 saw a series of wildfires in Greece, most notably a five-day blaze that destroyed much of a protected forest atop Mount Parnitha just outside of Athens. Dominated by native Greek fir and Aleppo pine, the forest was rich with biodiversity, including 96 plant species that are endemic (found nowhere else), rare, or protected. The site is included in the European Union's Natura 2000 list of the most threatened habitats in Europe.

Athens is now coping with the loss. The forest cooled the city, offsetting the heat from the 2.5 million cars in Athens. Parnitha was also used recreationally by many city dwellers. Indeed, urban pressures may have triggered the disaster: both malfunctioning power lines and arson to clear land for development have been suspected.

Renewal plans are now in the works. The many challenges include staving off erosion of the scorched soil, monitoring wild animal grazing of new seedlings, and replanting vegetation.

This year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is issuing a series of reports about the state of global warming. This Bio Bulletin highlights the impacts of global warming noted in the second report, such as animal range shifts and an increased likelihood of severe heat waves. Humans may be able to mitigate the impact of global warming by dramatically reducing the amount of greenhouse gases we generate. See the related links to find ways to reduce your own emissions.

The southeastern United States is now in its worst drought in over a century. Lack of rain has exacerbated forest fires across the region. Parched bodies of water, such as Georgia's Okeefenokee Swamp and Florida's Lake Okeechobee, have burned with significant blazes. See satellite imagery of this season's fire and its effects in this Bio Bulletin.

When closely analyzing satellite images for his research on sea turtles, population ecologist Kyle Van Houtan, then at Duke University, kept noticing unusual tracks in coastal waters. Zooming in, he realized they were the ghostly sediment wakes of bottom trawlers, fishing boats that drag nets along the seafloor to capture shrimp, flounder, and other bottom-dwelling species. Van Houtan and fisheries researcher Daniel Pauly of the University of British Columbia realized that these tracks were visible on coastal satellite images worldwide. Some of these images are so high resolution that they show what appear to be seabirds flying overhead, ready to scavenge the dead fish that the trawlers leave behind.

"Bottom trawling is like clear-cutting the ocean floor," says Van Houtan. Besides the unwanted bycatch-four pounds for every pound of shrimp caught-bottom trawlers kick up sediment that adversely affects ocean environments in many ways. They destroy the structure of the sea bottom, reducing the complexity of the habitat. The disturbed mud can smother the remaining seafloor life and redistributes pollutants and nutrients that had settled out of the seawater, which can fuel harmful phytoplankton blooms.

Learn about bottom trawlers and see mudtrails along the Louisiana coast in this Bio Bulletin.

A sweeping satellite analysis by researchers at the Woods Hole Research Center shows that roads have expanded more than expected in central Africa's lush forests, especially those for logging purposes. Roads provide not only access to timber species like mahogany, but afford poachers more access to species such as forest elephants, gorillas, and chimpanzees. Watch road expansion in the Congo Republic and learn about its impacts in this Bio Bulletin. 

South Korea's Saemangeum Estuary is the most important stopover for shorebirds along the Yellow Sea. At least 27 species of birds rest and feed at this midway point during their migrations along the East Asia-Australasia flyway.

Saemangeum is also the site of a land reclamation project where 400 square kilometers of tidal flats-an area six times the size of Manhattan-is to be converted to rice fields and freshwater reservoirs. While the South Korean government says this will boost food production in this economically depressed region, conservationists and scientists say the project will cause long-term declines in populations of many of the shorebird species that visit Saemangeum. This Bulletin shows how the completion of a 33-kilometer-long seawall on April 21, 2006 has changed this estuary.

As of May 7, over 110,000 acres of pine plantations, natural forest, and swamp in southeast Georgia have burned in the worst forest fires ever seen in the state. The fires are aggravated by extreme drought conditions. This Bio Bulletin showcases satellite imagery of the progress of the Sweat Farm Road fire.

Over the last 10 years, herpetologists like Raoul Bain at the Museum's Center for Biodiversity and Conservation have been intensively studying frogs in Southeast Asia to discover cryptic species. A group of species is considered cryptic when the species are barely distinguishable from one another and have long been considered to be one species. Cryptic speciation is common in amphibians, in part because they've been studied less than larger animals.

This interactive highlights Odorrana chloronota, a species of frog found in swift rivers and streams across Southeast Asia, or so it seemed until Bain, Bryan Stuart from Chicago's Field Museum, and other herpetologists from around the world looked carefully at its physical and genetic distinctions.

A new set of satellite images is convincing scientists that severe storms can carry river sediment far into Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

In late January, heavy monsoonal rains triggered flooding across northern Queensland. The floodwaters carried heavy loads of sediment along rivers and out to sea. The sediment plume eventually dispersed as far as 130 kilometers into ocean, beyond the outer reef. Sediment plumes can inject agricultural pollutants into reef systems, as well as limit oxygen and light for coral. As the number of earth-observing satellites increase, scientists are better able to monitor sediment plumes as they occur.

A team of biologists led by J. Craig Venter, one of the scientists who first sequenced the human genome, is now sailing around the world. The goal of the Global Ocean Sampling expedition is to sample and sequence the DNA of a vast diversity of ocean microbes.

So far, the team has completed sequencing for samples taken from North and Central American waters. One finding is that marine microbes in different environments have distinct genetic signatures. A gene that controls microbes' sensitivity to light seems adapted to the color of available light in different environments. Microbes living in greener waters, such as those near the North Atlantic coast, are sensitive to green light. The green plant pigment chlorophyll is abundant here as phytoplankton and algae. Microbes in bluer waters, such as the azure depths near Panama, are sensitive to blue light.

These adaptations likely help the microbes survive in their environments. This ambitious research shows how modern genetic techniques can clarify the adaptations and evolution of organisms. It will turn up vast stores of genetic information on our still-mysterious oceans.

A new study published in Nature explores where exactly conservation measures in high-diversity regions-called biodiversity hotspots-might be most effective. A team of international scientists genetically analyzed hundreds of plant species in South Africa's cape region, where 70 percent of the flora is found nowhere else. The team learned that the western side of the region is dense with many closely related species. The eastern side is more "phylogenetically diverse": it has fewer numbers of different species, yet its plants are less closely related, thus representing more branches on the tree of life.

The scientists concluded that preserving phylogenetically diverse regions such as the eastern Cape region may prove to be more practical to humanity in the long run. The strategy would save a greater variety of plants that could ultimately prove useful to humankind, such as providing food and medicine.

Decades ago, much of the Everglades' wetlands were drained to plant sugarcane. Now, efforts are underway to reconstruct some of these wetlands to handle the environmental impacts of sugarcane cultivation.

Sugarcane growers use phosphorus to fertilize their fields. During storms and flooding events, the nutrient runoff drains south into the Everglades' natural wetlands. The phosphorus fuels invasive cattail growth at the expense of native sawgrass. It also encourages algal blooms, which reduce oxygen available to the Everglades ecosystem.

A series of man-made wetlands are now being installed south of the agricultural area by flooding old fields and seeding them with native vegetation. The wetlands that have already been constructed appear to be effective at filtering out phosphorus runoff before it reaches the Everglades. They are just one part of Florida's massive effort to restore its "river of grass."

 

 

On February 2^nd, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a summary of its fourth and latest report. It contains the panel's most definitive language yet to describe the connection between human activities and global warming: "Most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations." In the language of the IPCC, "very likely" means a certainty of greater than 90 percent.

The IPCC assessed sheaves of scientific papers to compose its report. Many of these papers are documenting current-day effects of climate change on species around the world. This bulletin highlights just four of these effects.

Humans may be able to mitigate the impact of global warming on biodiversity by dramatically reducing the amount of greenhouse gases we generate. See the related links to find ways to reduce your own emissions.

A new database of the world's freshwater systems, called HydroSHEDS, has enormous potential to assist conservation planning. The maps, derived from high-resolution elevation data of the entire globe measured in one 2000 space shuttle flyover, detail the precise whereabouts of rivers and streams around the globe.

Of particular interest is the information now available on remote, poorly mapped areas such as the Madre de Dios river system in South America's Amazon basin. Current conservation efforts in this biodiversity-rich tropical ecosystem focus more on land areas and less on river systems. Now, the precision data will allow scientists to redraw protected area boundaries to include these essential freshwater habitats, especially ones that represent unique ecosystems and connect existing protected areas.

 

 

A new United Nations report calculates that raising livestock contributes more to global warming than does transportation. Of the greenhouse gas emissions that can be traced to human activities, livestock manure emits 65 percent of global nitrous oxide, and the animals' digestive systems release 37 percent of global methane. Both gases are more damaging than carbon dioxide.

The impacts of livestock are clear in Brazil's Cerrado, a vast tropical savanna that is now a leading global hotspot for cattle production. Over 71 percent of the ecoregion has been converted into pastureland and agricultural fields. The UN report suggests that recognizing the local and environmental tolls of meat and dairy production can help improve livestock industry practices and curb future impacts.

 

 

Global warming is stressing polar bear populations by depleting sea ice in their Arctic habitat. Now, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The listing will only be official after public comment and more scientific review.

Polar bears use sea ice as a platform to breed, travel, and hunt their main prey, seals. In Hudson Bay, summer sea ice is melting three weeks earlier than it did in the 1970's. Western Hudson Bay's polar bear population declined 22 percent between 1987 and 2004 because they have less time to catch seals before the summer ice melts. The shortening of the bears' hunting period is worsening their physical condition during the late summer and fall period where they typically rely on their fat reserves for survival.

 

 

A new study in Nature suggests that warming ocean temperatures are lowering the growth of phytoplankton worldwide.

In 1999, the climate was in a La Niña phase. Ocean temperatures were cooler in the Eastern Pacific, and phytoplankton growth was strong. In 2005, the climate switched to an El Niño phase. Ocean temperatures warmed in the Eastern Pacific, and phytoplankton growth stalled. In this interactive, areas of differential growth are indicated by green (higher-than-average growth) and red (lower-than-average growth), as measured by satellite.

Phytoplankton productivity decreases because the warm layer of surface water inhibits mixing with colder, deeper, nutrient-rich waters. This prevents nutrients from reaching the surface, where phytoplankton live.

Higher ocean temperatures from global warming may be lowering phytoplankton productivity worldwide. Since these organisms support the marine food web, any changes would impact the health of our oceans.

A new study shows that elephant and buffalo populations are rebounding in Serengeti National Park. Using historical data, scientists found a direct relationship between the size of the park's budget for anti-poaching efforts and the population abundance of its signature species.

Most poaching in Serengeti today is done by local villagers to acquire and sell meat, but trophy hunting has severely affected species in the past. One example is the park's black rhinos, of which only a handful remain due to rampant targeted hunting in the late 70's and early 80's. However, elephant and buffalo in Serengeti have been rebounding for at least 10 years with the help of the increased enforcement.

A new study shows that forests are increasing in nearly two dozen nations. In Vietnam, new tree plantations have reversed the country's trend of shrinking forests. The plantations are often monoculture plots, and thus are not biologically diverse, but they relieve logging pressure on natural forests. The study's scientists predict that within 40 years, forests will be increasing in most of the 50 countries they analyzed.

 

 

The number of the world's dead zones, or low-oxygen marine areas that affect marine life, has doubled every decade since 1960. The current count is about 200. Some of these zones appear to be growing in size and persistence.

Expanding urban and agricultural areas fuel these zones by adding more nutrients to coastal waters. The nutrients, which include fertilizer runoff, sewage, and pollution, spark blooms of phytoplankton. Bacteria decomposing the phytoplankton consume oxygen in the water, leaving little for other marine life.

This snapshot features the Baltic Sea, which has the most severe and persistent dead zone in the world.

Decades of studying intertidal species reveal that they are especially sensitive to climate change.

The acorn barnacle, Semibalanus balanoides, struggles to reproduce in water warmer than 10°C. Since 1872, rising ocean temperatures have shifted the acorn barnacle's range in France 300 km northward, where waters generally stay below 10°C. Half of this change has occurred in the last 30 years.

An isolated population does persist off the coast of northern Spain. Cold, deep waters rise to the ocean surface there. While global warming is pushing many intertidal species north, some populations survive where local conditions support them.

 

 

The Mississippi River carries sediment to the Gulf of Mexico, which shapes its delta. But because the flow and floods of the Mississippi River are controlled with levees and other barriers along its banks, the delta is developing differently than it did before human intervention. Now, the river sediment flows directly into deep Gulf waters, creating a constantly-growing spit of land dubbed the "bird-foot" delta. The river isn't able to add sediment to the wetlands nearer to shore, so they are eroding.

Officials are considering proposals to open levees along the southernmost portion of the Mississippi River. Allowing the river to flow more naturally would replenish the eroding wetlands. It would also allow the sea to erode the bird-foot delta away.

On September 23, Nepal's foremost conservationists and government officials for the environment died in a 24-passenger helicopter crash in Kanchenjunga, a Himalayan conservation area. Those lost were dedicated to the protection of this alpine region in concert with local communities. For the World Wildlife Fund's list of the 24 deceased, click here.

Kanchenjunga's rugged, forested terrain is home to the world's third-highest peak. The helicopter was transporting the conservation delegates from a ceremony in the area's southwest corner when the vehicle crashed into a steep slope. At the ceremony, Kanchenjunga residents assumed conservation responsibilities of the reserve, including wildlife monitoring and poaching enforcement.

Although some of the work is now in the hands of residents, the tragic loss is a blow to conservation in Nepal.

 

 

Northern Siberia is dotted with "thaw lakes"-water bodies that freeze and thaw with the seasons. A new study by scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks shows these lakes both affect and are affected by global warming.

The warmer climate is thawing the permafrost, or ice-riddled soil, under the lakes. The melt is causing lakes in this region to grow in number and size.

As the permafrost thaws, microbes convert the soil's organic matter into methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The gas bubbles through the lake water into the atmosphere. The study found that Siberia's thawing wetlands are a significant, underestimated source of atmospheric methane.

The prized red king crab is overfished near Alaska, but in Norwegian waters it is flourishing as an invader.

Russian scientists introduced the giant crustacean to the Barents Sea off northern Russia in the 1960's. Since then, the omnivore has been eating its way west into Norway. It devours a wide range of seafloor life: worms, mollusks, sea urchins, and more.

The ecological toll of the estimated 12 million red king crabs now crawling in the Barents Sea is still under research. However, since harvesting the edible crab is a lucrative enterprise, Norway and Russia are not limiting the spread of this invasive species at the moment.

 

 

Scientists in Colombia recently spotted two critically endangered frog species that were last seen 14 years ago. The team from Colombia's Magdalena University and conservation group Fundación ProAves located a small number of frogs in forested streams about 2,000 meters high in the Santa Marta mountains.

The species were decimated in their known historical range, which is entirely within this mountain group. The culprit is likely a fungus that has been killing amphibians throughout South America. The newly found frogs, however, appear healthy. Conservationists are racing to protect them before the fungus encroaches.

The conflict in Lebanon has caused an oil spill feared to be the worst environmental disaster in the country's history.

On July 13 and 15, bombs hit storage tanks at an oil-fueled power plant. Between 10,000 and 15,000 tons of oil leaked from the tanks and is drifting in the Mediterranean Sea. Satellites have helped monitor the spill, but due to the instability of the area, site visits and initial cleanup began only recently.

Scientists are concerned about the hazards the oil poses to biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea. It may coat bluefin tuna eggs floating in the water, and block young green sea turtles from swimming out to sea after hatching.

The isolation of Isle Royale in Lake Superior has led to its relatively simple food web. Here, wolves eat mostly moose, and moose eat mostly balsam fir. Since 1959, scientists have consistently studied the interactions of these three organisms on Isle Royale to understand what factors influence population.

This year, the moose population was measured at 450 individuals: half of what it was in 2003. Unusually warm summers of late have stressed the moose, making them more vulnerable to predation. The effects of this climate change are ringing throughout Isle Royale’s food web. Because the heat-stressed, sickly moose are easier to catch, the wolf population has grown with the increased food supply. Balsam fir is also recovering with fewer moose around to eat it.

The Wildlife Conservation Society recently announced an unusually strict initiative, dubbed "Tigers Forever," to bolster tiger populations across Asia. One area of focus is the thick forests of the Western Ghats mountains in India, where WCS has set firm goals in a dozen reserves: an increase from 260 cats to 390 in 10 years. The society is holding itself accountable for the numbers.

Poaching of tigers, and more importantly their prey such as deer and wild boar, has reduced tiger populations in India. In one reserve, Nagarahole National Park, conservationists have spent years monitoring tigers, prey, and the poachers themselves. This has increased the tiger count in Nagarahole to about 60 animals. WCS plans to use similar tactics in the Western Ghats' "empty forests": those dense with trees but not tigers.

Coral reefs around the world are plagued by infectious disease and rising ocean temperatures, yet the reefs fringing Madagascar's north tip appear to be beating the odds. A recent scuba expedition here documented the highest coral diversity in the western Indian Ocean. Surprisingly, the northeast reefs seem less susceptible to bleaching, or tissue loss from rising sea temperatures. The survey scientists suspect adjacent cool water currents may be counteracting local climate change. 

Until a recent biological survey, the Rubeho Mountains were a virtually unexplored block in Tanzania's Eastern Arc Range. An international science team analyzed tracks, recorded audio, and used camera phototraps to count 163 animal species, several of which are endemic to the region. One, a frog, is new to science. Such diversity is typical for the species-rich Eastern Arc Range.

Logging and poaching continue unchecked in the Rubeho Mountains, even though it is mostly a forest reserve. The survey confirmed that the Rubehos are as worthy of conservation as the neighboring mountain blocks, and may help boost monitoring and management of the reserves.

Satellites can monitor atmospheric conditions above Earth. Some days, wind blowing eastward from the Gobi Desert clears the air above China’s largest cities. More often, however, a cloud of gray haze lingers in this mountain-flanked region. 

The haze contains soot, gases, and chemicals from coal-fired power plants. Dust storms  and fires also add particles. The pollution triggers respiratory illness and contributes to acid rain and global warming. As China's energy needs mount, the country is attempting to reduce its dependence on coal.

In the 1980's, elkhorn and staghorn coral were abundant along the Florida Keys. Since then, elkhorn populations have declined by up to 95 percent in parts of their range, and staghorn populations, by 98 percent. In May 2006, the two were listed as threatened species: a first for coral.

Outbreaks of disease are primarily to blame for the coral collapse, with contributions from hurricanes, sediment, runoff, and rising sea temperatures from global warming. The so-called "white diseases" are lethal and contagious, caused by infection by a common human and animal fecal bacteria.

Scientists and residents of the Florida Keys are now working to recover and regulate access to these now-threatened species.

In 1923, scientists set aside the old-growth forest on Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal for the study of tropical ecology. In one 124-acre plot, scientists have been mapping and measuring every tree wider than 1 cm since 1979. By intimately studying changes on Barro Colorado, researchers can better understand tropical forest dynamics worldwide.

 

In May, builders poured the final concrete of the main wall of the Yangtze River’s massive Three Gorges Dam, which began construction thirteen years ago. Built for hydroelectric energy and flood protection, the 2.3 km long, 185 m high dam is the world’s largest. When the dam is complete in 2008, a 660 km long reservoir behind it will submerge thousands of riverside villages between the cities of Chongqing and Yichang, which are currently being evacuated. By 2008, the dam will generate an estimated 3 percent of China’s electricity.

The dam is already changing the Yangtze River environment. Sediment, pollution, and raw sewage are collecting in the rising reservoir. The sediment backlog has drastically reduced the sediment supply reaching the Yangtze’s delta in Shanghai. Tidal currents are now eroding the unreplenished wetlands in the delta, receding Shanghai’s coast and degrading its ecosystem.

In 2003, the leaves and stems of trees of the Erythrina genus in Taiwan were found mysteriously swollen. The culprit was identified as a never-before-seen species of wasp, which lays eggs in the trees, deforming them with galls. The wasp has since appeared across the tropics where Erythrina trees grow.

By 2005, the Erythrina gall wasp spread to most of the Hawaiian Islands. Scientists suspect infested leaves found their way into a Hawaii-bound boat shipment from Taiwan, and in a similar fashion hopped from island to island on Hawaii.

On Maui, scientists first noticed infestations on nonnative, ornamental Erythrina variegata trees near Kahului Harbor. The wasp has since spread south to the native Erythrina sandwicensis forest. These trees, locally called wiliwili, flourish on the dry leeward slopes of the Haleakala volcano. Wiliwili are not only a keystone species in this ecosystem but have been long valued by Hawaiian communities for their flowers, seeds, and wood.

Scientists are currently testing insecticide controls and are investigating biological agents in Africa to help stop the wasp from destroying Hawaii’s treasured native forest.

About 16,000 years ago, Namibia’s Etosha Pan was a lake. But climate change evaporated it. Today, Etosha Pan is situated in Etosha National Park and is a dry lakebed white with minerals.

Namibia is usually hot and dry, but spring thunderstorms have been vigorous this season. Because of the recent rain, water in the normally dry Ekuma River flowed into a shallow inlet bay of Etosha Pan. The low sheet of water, replete with algae and vegetation, is visible on a recent photograph taken by astronauts on the International Space Station.

The newly drenched regions of Etosha Pan are attracting hordes of wildlife.

Phytoplankton are microscopic marine plants that are the basis of the ocean food chain. They are so plentiful that their activity is measurable from space.

A harmful species of phytoplankton—the algaeAlexandrium fundyense—is now blooming in the Gulf of Maine. Its levels are far too low to detect with satellites, but even low levels of Alexandrium can be toxic to shellfish and humans that eat them.

It is unclear exactly what factors influence the "hatching" of Alexandrium cysts into algal cells and the cells' exponential growth into blooms, but weather patterns and the amount of nitrogen and silicate in the water have been implicated. Such blooms, called "red tides", are expected throughout the coming summer, though the organisms may not multiply enough to discolor the water and have no relationship to tidal patterns. Shellfishing bans are currently being set along Gulf of Maine shorelines to ensure public safety.

The Aral Sea was once the fourth-largest lake in the world and abundant with fish. But in the 1960’s Russian cotton cultivation diverted huge amounts of water from the rivers that feed the Aral Sea, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya. By the 1990’s the lake had lost 75 percent of its volume, leaving a dry, salty, polluted lake bed and a scourge of ecological and social problems.

In the last few years, the World Bank has funded repairs of dikes and other structures to increase the capacity and efficiency of the Syr Darya River. The new Kok-Aral Dam diverts the water into the North Aral Sea. Just months after the dam’s completion, the North Aral Sea is already rising significantly. Some fish, and hopes, have returned to the region.

Global warming is affecting boreal forests, the chilly evergreen forests of   Canada, Alaska, and northern Europe and Russia. Scientists had predicted that the boreal forests would extend as temperatures rise, lengthening the growing season. Indeed, woody shrubs have expanded northward into the treeless tundra. However, recent satellite research indicates that the boreal forest is growing slower than expected in its southern regions.

Scientists suspect that boreal trees, which are mostly spruce, fir, and pine, are adapted to thrive in cold climates. Longer, hotter, and drier summers from global warming may actually stunt growth in these trees.

 

 

The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska is a 23-million-acre area with untapped oil deposits underground. The Teshekpuk Lake region on Alaska’s North Slope, the northerly edge of the state, is the largest gathering spot for waterfowl in the National Petroleum Reserve. The lack of predators at Teshekpuk makes it a safe site for 60,000 waterfowl to nest and molt their feathers in summer. Caribou also calve on the edges of the lakes.

The U.S. government recently opened 389,000 acres of the lake-dotted sedge meadows at Teshekpuk to oil drilling and related construction. How the development will affect the ecosystem is now under debate by environmental groups, Alaska Natives, and petroleum interests.

As spring arrives in North America, so do birds migrating from the Caribbean and Central and South America. Species travel along characteristic routes called flyways. There are four flyways in North America: the Atlantic, the Mississippi, the Central, and the Pacific.

The Appalachian Mountains form the western barrier of the Atlantic flyway. To the east, New Jersey's Cape May juts into the Atlantic Ocean. Its location and food resources make it an essential resting stop for weary, hungry waterbirds migrating along the Atlantic flyway. Further north, New York City’s Central Park is a green refuge for scores of songbirds traveling along the coast.

In the Middle Atlantic and Northeastern states, late April is the peak time to view these visitors before they continue their annual journey north to nest and breed.

The island nation of Kiribati has created the third-largest marine reserve in the world.

The protected islands are pristine and nearly unpopulated. Sharks, tuna, and other at-risk predators are plentiful in the surrounding waters.

No commercial fishing is allowed within 111 km of each of the eight Phoenix Island atolls. An international endowment will pay the Kiribati government for lost fishing income and reserve management costs.

Scientists have found a rare, critical fossil that bridges a gap in the evolutionary record between fish and tetrapods, animals that walk on land.

The 3 m long creature had scales and fins like a fish, but a neck and flat head like a crocodile. It may have had both gills and primitive lungs. Its front limbs bent like arms.

The 375-million-year-old fossil was lodged in icy bedrock between the frozen ocean and the glacier's edge on Ellesmere Island in Canada's northernmost territory, Nunavut. The site was once a shallow river delta. Scientists think the creature may have pushed above the shallow water with its legs to breathe air or pulled ashore for short periods.

Last spring, biologists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute explored the South Pacific Ocean floor in the submersible Alvin. Alvin dove 2,200 m to hydrothermal vents on the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge 1,500 km south of Easter Island.

Hydrothermal vents are found at geologically active regions of Earth’s crust. At vents in oceanic crust, emerging lava causes heat and toxic fluids to emanate underwater. Only specialized marine creatures can tolerate these intense conditions.

At several hydrothermal vents the scientists spotted a bizarre, previously unknown species: a 15 cm long white crab “hairy” with fine spines. The crustacean, dubbed the “Yeti crab,” is also blind, a common feature among deep sea animals. The spines may help the crab sense food or mates on the dark ocean floor.

Insects, birds, and other creatures that pollinate crops and wild plants are declining globally. Sufficient pollination is critical for healthy, diverse populations of flowering plants.

A recent study determined that pollinator decline affects regions with high plant diversity more than low-diversity regions. Therefore areas rich in flora, such as South Africa’s Western Cape province, stand to lose the most from the loss of pollinators.

Competition for pollinators gets stiffer the more flowering species are present. Flowering plants that can’t get enough pollen to bear healthy fruit could face extinction.

 

Bristlecone pine trees are among the handful of species that can survive California’s barren White Mountains.

The Sierra Nevada range lies to the west of the White Mountains and blocks the eastward-blowing precipitation from reaching them. The White Mountains are subsequently one of the driest places on Earth. Still, bristlecone pines are superbly adapted to the drought, poor soil, and bitter winds here. They survive best on north-facing slopes, which receive less of the baking sun.

The world’s oldest trees—in fact, the world’s oldest living things–are still growing, stunted and slowly, in the White Mountains. Some bristlecones here, at least one over 4,700 years old, are as ancient as the Giza pyramids. 

 

The seasons bring changes to the snow and ice covering Greenland and its adjacent waters, which can affect the predictable seasonal migration patterns of walruses.

Biologists are now using satellites to track walruses as they travel long distances to forage for clams. Their migrations are very synchronized to the break-up and freezing of ice on the water’s surface. In summer, the solid sea ice in shallow waters breaks up, allowing walruses to feed at inshore beds. In the winter, inshore ice freezes first, so the animals travel to dive deeper for food in offshore areas.

Scientists also use satellites to track where sea ice is forming and its density. Used together, these remote techniques can gauge how walruses cope with environmental and climate change.

A small island in Indonesia is home to a single turtle species. The illegal pet trade has left its future grim.

The odd, long-necked turtle lives in Roti Island’s shrinking wetlands. Pet collectors in the United States, Europe, and Japan have prized the turtle since it was named a new species in 1994. Pet traders pay locals who capture it $100, much more money than a yearly income on Roti.

Although it is illegal to trade this turtle, its legal protection is weak. Now, the Roti Island snake-necked turtle is nearly extinct.

The fringes of New Guinea’s Foja Mountains are so rich in resources that its residents rarely enter the deepforest interior. In November, scientists ventured to this pristine jungle for only the second time in history.

The American, Indonesian, and Australian expedition uncovered dozens of species rare or unknown to science in the Foja Mountains. Most were unafraid of humans.

Although the area is already a wildlife sanctuary, the findings are sparking concern that poachers will now target the area.

The community on Ahus, an island of Papua New Guinea, has restricted fishing in certain lagoons for generations. These reefs, called tambus, are fished with spears or nets only a few times a year to acquire larger fish for ceremonial occasions. Scientists were curious whether this tradition helps conserve reef resources.

The scientists compared fish in restricted vs. nonrestricted reefs around Ahus Island. Fish biomass—the mass of all the fish in the lagoon—was indeed up to 60 percent greater in the restricted reefs.

Such fishing traditions likely help replenish local food resources. The data can also inform modern fisheries management.

The third in a three-week series of Bio Snapshots covering important new research on global warming and biodiversity.

Scientists have just learned that some plants produce methane, a major greenhouse gas.

The research could explain a puzzling discovery a year ago: high amounts of methane over tropical forests.

The new finding implies that methane from global vegetation contributes to Earth’s natural greenhouse effect. The extent to which this surprising methane source affects our post-industrial global warming is still under debate.

The second in a three-week series of Bio Snapshots covering important new research on global warming and biodiversity.

Global warming is now being blamed for massive extinctions of frogs in Central America. Two-thirds of the 110 species of harlequin frogs here have disappeared in recent decades.

New research in Costa Rica’s Monteverde cloud forest shows that its frogs are dying from outbreaks of a lethal fungus. The fungus thrives in wet, cool daytime conditions. The study suggests that global warming may be fostering such conditions in Monteverde: Higher temperatures would evaporate more water from trees into the local atmosphere, which in turn could increase cloud cover.

Increased cloudiness would make Monteverde shadier and wetter, providing an optimal growth environment for the frog-killing fungus. The research discovered that frog extinctions are occurring in concert with temperature changes.

The first in a three-week series of Bio Snapshots covering important new research on global warming and biodiversity.

Global warming is relocating the butterflies of Spain’s Sierra de Guadarrama mountains.

Temperatures around the Sierra de Guadarrama have risen 1.3 degrees C in the past 30 years. The warming has forced 16 butterfly species to shift their habitat to higher, cooler elevations. On average, the butterflies have ascended 212 m in three decades.

As the populations are squeezed closer to the tops of the peaks, the butterflies now have one-third less space in which to live than they did thirty years ago. As global warming causes available habitat to shrink further, extinctions may occur at the lower margins.

Over 4 million km of paved roads crisscross the United States, with more built daily. In winter, salt is regularly applied to melt ice on roads in the Northeast. But road salt runoff drains into streams and drinking water. 

Scientists have been testing freshwater in three regions of the Northeast for thirty years. The salt buildup has made some urban, suburban, and rural streams 25 percent as salty as seawater. If excessive salting and road-building continues in the Northeast, by 2100 its freshwater may be toxic to wildlife and unfit to drink.

In Africa, lakes are the water supply most affected by humans and climate.

Satellite images reveal how Ghana’s shallow, salty Songor Lagoon has changed from 1990 to 2000. Intensive salt harvesting  has disturbed the lake’s ecosystem, reducing the biodiversity of its aquatic life. Streams that feed the lake have been also diverted frequently for irrigation. This has significantly reduced the lake’s size.

Sustainable use of Africa’s 677 lakes is essential to maintain their ecological health.

Killer whales, not polar bears, are now the most toxic Arctic mammal known. 

In winter, killer whales hunt herring that spawn in the fjords of northern Norway. Pollutants in the water accumulate in the fatty herring, and then build up in the blubber of the whales.

Blubber samples from whales in Tysfjorden contain PCBs, pesticides, and chemicals found in household items such as computers and carpets. The chemicals originate in countries around the world, then flow north to the remote Arctic on ocean currents.

Scientists have identified 595 sites with species in critical danger of disappearing. Most represent the last place on Earth where a species lives. Half of these habitats have no protection. Without it, extinction may be inevitable.

Three featured species:

· Marvelous spatuletail (Loddigesia mirabilis), Utcubamba Valley, Peru: 
Fewer than a thousand birds live in a single valley.

· Santa Marta parakeet (Pyrrhura viridicata), Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia:
Despite protection, habitat loss is still a threat.

· Rodrigues fruit bat (Pteropus rodricensis), Rodrigues Island, Mauritius:
Deforestation leaves bats at risk of starvation and cyclone damage.

During the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, parts of southeast India were hit with water nearly 10 m high. A recent study in Cuddalore District suggests that deforestation—which is occurring to coastal mangrove forests across Southeast Asia—may raise the risk of tsunami damage.

Scientists found that areas along the Cuddalore coast with dense trees withstood destruction from the Indian Ocean tsunami, while unforested areas were damaged partially or completely. Villages within the forests were likewise sheltered. Conserving coastal forests may be play a key role in protecting people during future tsunami events.

Every fall, monarch butterflies living east of the Rocky Mountains migrate to their winter roosts in Mexico. By early December 2005, as many as 200 million monarchs landed in forests on just a few Mexican mountains. The high-elevation forests contain the only remaining stands of oyamel fir trees, where the butterflies gather. Scientists are still unclear how the monarchs navigate the thousands of kilometers of their perilous annual journey.

Some grizzly bear populations in the United States are rebounding after decades of hunting.

In 1850, grizzly bears occupied grasslands and mountains across the American west. Today, only five U.S. populations remain. The grizzly bear population in Yellowstone National Park has doubled in the last 30 years, and now is estimated at 600 individuals. As a result, the U.S. government is taking steps to remove the Yellowstone population from the endangered species list.

As the human population gets more connected, animalpopulations become more separated.

Recently, biologists studied 27 groups of desert bighorn sheep, which live on the rocky mountains of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. The scientists found that sheep populations nearest highways and cities were the most genetically inbred.

The study confirms what scientists have long suspected—that bighorns cannot cross major fenced highways and other urban barriers to join new groups. Without adequate gene flow, the health—and existence—of the bighorn sheep are at risk.

Alien plant species nearly overtook a lush islet off Mauritius…until a giant weed-eating tortoise was introduced. 

The Aldabran tortoise is a close relative of native Mauritian tortoises that were hunted to extinction. The tortoises prefer to graze on invasive plants rather than the endangered native ones. Thanks to the tortoises, weeding, and replanting, Ile Aux Aigrettes is slowly returning to its original state.

In 1974, a red seaweed called hookweed was introduced to Hawaii to produce carrageenan, a food thickener. Today, hookweed chokes Hawaii’s shallow waters. The industry never materialized, and virtually no one eats the seaweed otherwise.

Hookweed snags native seaweeds as it grows and washes ashore. Now biologists fear hookweed will infest the pristine Northwestern Hawaiian Islands reserve. Divers are currently monitoring several sightings of the invader there.

 

Fifteen years ago, 283,000 elephants roamed the savannahs of eastern and southern Africa. Today, there are more than 355,000.

The elephant populations are recovering from a century of poaching, habitat loss, and drought.

Current elephant densities, however, are stressing habitat in national parks. Still, the species’ status has been improved from “endangered” to “vulnerable”.