Experts Predict Future Extinctions With the Fossil Record

(Photo : chetvergov / Fotolia)

It's no secret that countless species are threatened or in danger of extinction across our tiny blue world. What may be a surprise, however, is that a great deal of those extinctions may be natural. A new study has taken to the fossil record to determine just how many species would still be on their way out even if humans had not been around to sully their natural habitats.

"Our goal was to diagnose which species are vulnerable in the modern world, using the past as a guide," Seth Finnegan, an expert in integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, explained in a statement. "We believe the past can inform the way we plan our conservation efforts. However, there is a lot more work that needs to be done to understand the causes underlying these patterns and their policy implications."

The resulting study, which can be found in the May 1 issue of the journal Science, shows that when human intervention and influence is taken into account, the pattern of extinction seen in this day and age practically mirrors what has been seen over the past 23 million years.

Finnegan and his colleagues then used this patterning to help predict which ocean areas and marine organisms would be most at risk today without the added threat of human-caused habitat destruction, overfishing, pollution, and ocean acidification.

"It's very difficult to detect extinctions in the modern oceans, but fossils can help fill in the gaps," added co-author and conservation biologist Sean Anderson, for Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. "Our findings can help prioritize areas and species that might be at greater risk of extinction and that might require extra attention, conservation or management." (Scroll to read on...)

(Photo : Finnegan et al, Science.) Ocean areas predicted to be at high risk of extinction (red) are overlaid with areas most impacted by humans (black outline) and regions experiencing a high rate of climate change (crosshatch).

Predictably, their results showed some trends that evolutionary and biological experts have long suspected. According to the study, animals with the smallest geographic ranges face the greatest risk of extinction, as it is far easier for tiny and isolated habitats to be radically changed by natural disaster or extreme weather shifts overnight.

Additionally, complex sea mammals, like whales, dolphins, and seals,  appear far more prone to extinction than many shark of invertebrate species. Simple bivalves - clams and mussels in particular - were found to be ten times less likely to experience species-specific extinctions, despite the fact they are so incredibly biodiverse.

And while the study focused on revealing patterns and not the cause and effect behind them, this may have a lot to do with how readily these groups can adapt to a changing world. Bivalves, for instance, survived many mass extinctions in the past because of their hardy nature. Even today, species like the infamous zebra and golden mussels are becoming exceptionally successful invaders because of their ability to adapt with changing water temperatures.

Other invertebrates have even proven their adaptability in the fossil record by going through radical physical. The octopus, for instance, evolved from a heavy and stiff clam-like creature to the uniquely mobile creature we see today. (Scroll to read on...)

(Photo : credits clockwise from top right: living whale (Ari S. Friedlaender), living shark (Kevin D. Lafferty), living echinoid (Simon Coppard), living snail (Nick Hobgood), living clam (Erin Dillon), living coral (Aaron O'Dea), fossil coral (Aaron O'Dea), fossil clam (Jon Todd), fossil snail (Felix Rodriguez), fossil echinoid (Aaron O'Dea), fossil shark (Jorge Carrillo Briceño), fossil whale (Nicholas D. Pyenson).) Fossil and living animals were analyzed by Finnegan and coauthors. Fossil examples on left, living examples on right.

By comparing extinction patterns of the past with areas where human activities, such as fishing impact, the oceans also revealed regions that may boast particularly vulnerable species. These areas included high-biodiversity regions of the tropics such as the Indo-Pacific and the Caribbean, as well as regions such as Antarctica that harbor many unique species.

"The implications of these patterns for the future of coastal marine ecosystems will depend on how natural risk and current threats interact," added study co-author Paul Harnik, an assistant professor of geosciences at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. ""By understanding these patterns in the past, we hope to provide a framework for understanding global change."

That's an understanding the researchers hope can help them focus conservation efforts in the years to come.

For more great nature science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).

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Understanding Python Patterns Could Help Save the Everglades... Maybe

(Photo : Wiki CC0 - Ltshears)

Florida officials have long been waging war with invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades National Park, where an ever-growing (but still hard to find) population of invasive pythons is so prevalent that it's taking a notable chunk out of local mammal populations. Unfortunately, most ecologists won't hesitate to say that the pythons are winning. Now however, the results of a new study may turn the tables, providing new information that can help focus efforts.

The study was recently published in the open-source journal Animal Biotelemetry, and details the largest and longest Burmese python tracking project even completed.

According to the study, researchers first found and captured 19 wild pythons who had made the Everglades their home. That alone is an impressive feat, as the pythons are infamously hard to find, despite the fact that experts estimate there are at least 30,000 pythons in the park, with a growing population that may be reaching upwards of about 10 times that.

Wildlife ecologist Frank Mazzotti told local media in the past that biologists only have a one percent detection rate for the elusive Burmese in the marshlands. Last year, for instance, they found and removed only 141 Burmese from the 1.5-million-acre Everglades National Park. (Scroll to read on...)

(Photo : Flickr: Diana Robinson) You can't blame them for trying to preserve one of the most beautiful and wild natural habitats left in the United States. Sunrise near the Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park, Florida

To help with the detection efforts, researchers led by the US Geological Survey (USGS) strapped radio and GPS tags on the 19 captured pythons, and released them back into the national park. These animals were then tracked for 5,119 days, revealing that python home ranges are roughly an area 3-miles-wide by 3-miles-long.

But how do they chose where to live? The tracking revealed that pythons prefer the Everglades' slough and coastal habitats, with tree islands being the principal feature of common-use areas. This held true even in areas where tree islands - landmarks held together by roots above marshier ground - was not commonplace.

"These high-use areas may be optimal locations for control efforts and further studies on the snakes' potential impacts on native wildlife," Kristen Hart, a USGS research ecologist and lead author of the study, explained in a statement. "Understanding habitat-use patterns of invasive species can aid resource managers in designing appropriately timed and scaled management strategies to help control their spread."

Still, while these revelations will focus efforts, it may not be enough. Experts have stressed in the past that because the Burmese python has no natural predators in the Everglades, even while it is presented with an abundance of food sources, discovery and elimination rates need to be 50 percent or greater to even make a small annual impact on populations.

Whether or not the data from this new study can actually improve discovery rates 50 times over remains to be seen.

For more great nature science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).

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'Protect Our Bees!' Citizens Plea at the White House Garden

(Photo : Pixabay)

This past weekend, the White House hosted the first tour of its garden for 2015, celebrating the arrival of spring with a brilliant display of flowers and cheer. However, those weren't the only things on display. A great number of environmental advocates showed up to urge the First Lady to ensure that not only would the White House garden be free of bee-harming pesticides, but that President Barack Obama stand by his resolution to protect pollinators across the nation.

The advocates who crowded the garden that Saturday were joined by a virtual "swarm" of online supporters, who took to Twitter to urge Michelle Obama to personally take a stand, alongside her husband, against neonicotinoids. (Scroll to read on...)

.@FLOTUS be a true bee ally & ban bee-toxic pesticides on #WHGarden & grounds & urge Obama admin 2 follow .@letsmove pic.twitter.com/dOGUrOWB49

— Friends of the Earth (@foe_us) April 25, 2015

Past studies have named the seed-coating pesticides, commonly known as neonics, as a primary cause behind a recent epidemic of colony collapse disorder (CCD) in honeybees - one that led to a major decline in US pollinator populations, first noticed in 2006. A study published last month even builds upon that revelation, showing that neonics have various adverse effects on wild bee populations as well, impacting bumblebee reproduction in particular. This could explain why nearly one in 10 bee species currently face extinction in Europe, even while US honeybee populations struggle to recover.

"The bees can't wait. The First Lady must stand up for bees and urge meaningful action on bee-toxic pesticides in her backyard and beyond if she wants to ensure healthy and affordable food for America's children and families," Tiffany Finck-Haynes, a food futures campaigner for the advocacy group Friends of the Earth (FoE), said in a recent statement. (Scroll to read on...)

(Photo : pixabay)

The Saturday plea was closely followed by the presentation of a letter and petition signed by more than 200,000 Americans asking that the White House publically commit to taking meaningful steps to protect pollinators from neonics.

"President Obama must not miss this opportunity to act," added Katherine Paul, associate director of the Organic Consumers Association. "The science is clear. Neonicotinoids are harmful to pollinators, and without pollinators, the US food supply is at risk. We call on the First Lady today to protect bees in her garden from bee-toxic pesticides and set an example for the nation."

However, it's important to note that US governmental offices and other parties haven't exactly been sitting on their hands. (Scroll to read on...)

(Photo : pixabay)

Since 2012, groups like FoE were releasing annual reports and launching campaigns to spread the word and get neonics out of our gardens and farms. This actually saw a decent amount of success, with large garden retailers like Lowes Home Improvement and BJ's Wholesale stripping products pre-treated with the pesticides from their shelves.

It also prompted the launch of the Pollinator Health Task Force - a group of experts personally asked by the president to investigate the threats neonics pose to US pollinators.

Similarly, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced back in July that it would be "phasing out" neonics - both immediately ceasing any neonic related work in their wildlife refuges, and removing any plants that were likely to have been pre-treated with the pesticide. This work is expected to be completed by 2016.

The US Environmental Protection Agency even expressed its opinion, in a recent report, that the risks of neonic use heavily outweigh any benefits.

"In our analysis of the economic benefits of this use we concluded that, on a national scale... farmers see little or no benefit from neonicotinoid seed treatments," Jim Jones, assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, recently announced.

This was closely followed by a recent a moratorium on new or expanded uses of neonics while their adverse effects are investigated by the agency.

The results of these investigations are currently being taken into consideration, and in the near-future the Task Force is expected to announce its final decision on how neonics and other pollinator threats should be handled.

Likewise, a final vote concerning neonic use in the European Union is expected to be decided by this December.

For more great nature science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).

 

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Cat Seizures Caused by Crinkling Tin Foil? It's a Real Thing, Say Experts

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Be careful what kind of sounds you make around your cat. You may be throwing Whiskers into brief seizures without even knowing it! A new study has revealed that auditory-induced seizing is a very real problem in felines - one that most veterinarians never believed existed.

This problem was first uncovered by the charity group International Cat Care (ICC - formerly known as the Feline Advisory Bureau) who set out to once and for all settle a problem they had been hearing about for years. Owners and care centers alike had been seeing a strange phenomenon where some cats would behave erratically around certain sounds - such as the crinkling of tin foil or the panning of a metal spoon on a ceramic feeding bowl.

They called it "Tom and Jerry Syndrome," after the easily startled cartoon cat, and ICC asked veterinary neurologists at Davies Veterinary Specialists to investigate. Once word of the investigation spread, ICC even started receiving reports from hundreds of cat owners across the globe who had noticed the same problem in their cats - a problem most of their vets didn't believe existed.

Now, those vets may have a lot of apologizing to do. The result of the investigation, as published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, has revealed that Tom and Jerry Syndrome is a very real thing, with neurological roots. Experts call it feline audiogenic reflex seizing (FARS) - where ARS is a condition already recognized in even humans.

During the study, a total of 96 cats were assessed so that experts could determine what kind of seizures were experienced, for how long, and with what triggers. They determined that FARS covers a wide spectrum of responses, including 'absences' (non-convulsive seizures), myoclonic seizures (brief, shock-like jerks of a muscle or group of muscles), or your run-of-the-mill tonic-clonic seizures. (Scroll to read on...)

(Photo : Sarie Gilbertson) Kuching Mahal (which means 'cat expensive' in Indonesian), a 16-year-old Birman that experiences feline audiogenic reflex seizures.

Disturbingly, cats suffering from this last FARS response lost consciousness as a result, and the seizing could last for minutes on end.

FARS was also found to be strongly associated with common high-pitched noises. A whopping 85 percent of the cats could seize if startled by the crinkling of tin foil, while just over 82 percent responded to the bowl clanking. More than half the cats also had FARS triggers with things like the clinking of glass (72 cats), the crinkling of paper bags (71), violent keyboard tapping (61), and even the clinking of coins (59). In addition, a hammer on nails and even human tongue clicking were identified as infrequent triggers.

All of these are high-pitched noises, and the seizing problem was seen worst of all in cats past the age of 15 (with FARS onset ages ranging from 10 to 19). The problem also appears to affect the Birman pedigree the most - that fluffy breed characterized by a white, luxurious coat; a black tail, face and ears; and stunning blue eyes.

Surveyed owners of suspected FARS sufferers also revealed that, as expected, the loudness of the sound influences its severity. By muffling or simply avoiding making these noises, seizure instances could be significantly reduced.

So what can be done about it? The preliminary results of ongoing studies suggest that levetiracetam - an anticonvulsant normally used to treat epilepsy - may be just what the vet ordered.

"Our experience is that it can completely rid a cat of these sound-induced seizures, including the myoclonic twitches," study author Mark Lowrie said in a statement. "One owner reported that levetiracetam had 'truly been a miracle drug for my cat.'"

Claire Bessant, Chief Executive of the ICC, added that she was surprised and thrilled with the success of these the results.

"How wonderful," she said, "to be able to go back to those worried owners who came to us for help with a problem previously unrecognized by the veterinary profession with not only an explanation for their cats' behaviors, but a way to help them as well."

For more great nature science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).

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Black Vultures Return to Southern Portugal After Decades

(Photo : Flickr: Michael Wifall)

The appearance of vultures is traditionally an ill-omen, but not this time. Two breeding pairs of Eurasian black vultures have shown up in southern Portugal, marking the return of this critically endangered species after a whopping four decades away.

As you likely knew, vultures feast on the carcasses of other animals, earning themselves infamy for ominously circling above like harbingers of death. They also aren't friendly looking animals, with oily black feathers, a balding head, and a cruelly curved beak designed for the ripping and tearing for flesh.

Between shrinking habitats, a decline in local prey, and increasingly frequent power line collisions, vultures became very rare in Portugal by the mid 1950s. According to conservation group Fauna and Flora International (FFI), the poisoning of carcasses as a means for controlling wild dog populations eventually led to the unintentional decimation of the region's remaining population, with the last black vulture breeding pair disappearing by the 1970s. Globally, the species was classified as near-threatened.

Effort to see these birds - an essential clean-up crew in the Portugal's ecosystem - return saw some breeding pairs finally reappearing in Portugal by 2010. However, with the birds remaining absent in well over half the country, it was locally designated as a critically endangered species.

That's why the reappearance of these pairs in the south is a source of new hope. FFI partner Liga para a Protecção da Natureza (LPN) had first reported spotting these breeding pairs closely following the completion of several artificial nesting platforms created by the LIFE-Nature project "Habitat Lince Abutre." (Scroll to read on...)

(Photo : LIFE Habitat Lince Abutre/LPN.)

"After more than forty years without confirmed breeding south of the Tagus River in Portugal, a period during which only a failed nesting attempt was registered (about twenty years ago and on the same area), the settling of these two Black Vulture pairs on these artificial nests represents a success of the conservation [project] and an important milestone for Black Vulture conservation in Portugal," the LPN announced.

The hope is that these pairs are but the first of a growing breeding colony, as has already been seen to a small extent in northern Portugal.

The Eurasian black vulture (Aegypius monachus) is one of the world's largest birds of prey, with a wingspan that can reach almost three metes across. It is found mainly in forested habitat, and feeds on the carcasses of wild rabbits and domestic livestock.

For more great nature science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).

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