Tag Archives: biodiversity

Global Warming May Have Severe Consequences for Rare Haleakala Silverswords

By Guest PostJanuary 17, 2013Environment, Natureargyroxyphium sandwicense macrocephalum, biodiversity, biological hotspots, climate change, climate induced stresses, climate related decline, climate trends, decline, extinction, flower heads, geological survey, global climate change, global warming, haleakala national park, haleakala silversword, haleakala volcano, human, inflorescence, lloyd loope, manoa, marcia mcnutt, native habitat, patterns of precipitation, paul krushelnycky, plants, population growth rate, rare haleakala silverswords, risk of extinction, rosette, silversword, tropical agriculture, university of arizona, university of hawaii, usgs director, volcano summit

HONOLULU — While the iconic Haleakalā silversword plant made a strong recovery from early 20^th-century threats, it has now entered a period of substantial climate-related decline. New research published this week warns that global warming may have severe consequences for the silversword in its native habitat.

Known for its striking rosette, the silversword grows for 20-90 years before the single reproductive event at the end of its life, at which time it produces a large (up to six feet tall) inflorescence with as many as 600 flower heads. The plant was in jeopardy in the early 1900s due to animals eating the plants and visitors gathering them. With successful management, including legal protection and the physical exclusion of hoofed animals, the species made a strong recovery, but since the mid-1990s it has entered a period of substantial decline. A strong association of annual population growth rates with patterns of precipitation suggests the plants are undergoing increasingly frequent and lethal water stress. Local climate data confirm trends towards warmer and drier conditions on the mountain, which the researchers warn will create a bleak outlook for the threatened silverswords if climate trends continue. (more…)

Biodiversity: The most common issues

By Guest PostJanuary 5, 2013Environmentbiodiversity, biodiversity management, biological resources, coastal, common issues, ecological loss, ecosystem service, edward o wilson, evolutionary biologist, extinction, food, fuel, grassland, human interference, imperative factor, key issue, lincoln navigator suv, luxury cars, marine biodiversity, medicine, Nature, nutrient cycle, pacific northwest, poverty, rural area, shelter, soil formation, spotted owl, tropical forest

Biodiversity can be considered as an imperative factor that plays a crucial role in poverty reduction owing to its basic goods and the ecosystem services it provides. Over three billion people rely on coastal and marine biodiversity and about 1.7 billion people depend upon non-timber forest products and forests for biodiversity.

Common issues relating to biodiversity can be classified as:

Biodiversity as a source of income and food

World’s poor population, especially living in rural areas are dependent on biological resources for meeting most of their needs. At least, 90 percent of their needs relating to fuel, shelter, medicines and food come from biological resources. (more…)

Emerging Consensus Shows Climate Change Already Having Major Effects on Ecosystems and Species

By Guest PostDecember 22, 2012Environment, Natureamanda staudt, animal species, arizona state university, atlantic, bark beetles, biodiversity, bird population, bruce stein, carbon, climate change, coastal habitat, diversity of species, ecological systems, ecological tolerance, ecosystems, extinction, food source, gulf of mexico, human caused stressors, marine fish, mary ruckelshaus, michelle staudinger, migrating birds, nancy grimm, natural resource, pacific coast, peter kareiva, plant, pollution, rainfall, risk, shawn carter, stuart chapin, tempe, U.S. Geological Survey, united states, waterborne disease, wildlife

Plant and animal species are shifting their geographic ranges and the timing of their life events – such as flowering, laying eggs or migrating – at faster rates than researchers documented just a few years ago, according to a technical report on biodiversity and ecosystems used as scientific input for the 2013 Third National Climate Assessment.

The report, Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity, Ecosystems, and Ecosystem Services, synthesizes the scientific understanding of the way climate change is affecting ecosystems, ecosystem services and the diversity of species, as well as what strategies might be used by natural resource practitioners to decrease current and future risks. More than 60 federal, academic and other scientists, including the lead authors from the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Wildlife Federation and Arizona State University in Tempe, authored the assessment. (more…)

Environmental Issues: How True the Climate Changes Affecting Biodiversity

By Guest PostDecember 12, 2012Environmentalgae, annual migratory cycle, biodiversity, biological behavior, biosphere, brianne, caribbean species, changes in climate, changing climate, changing temperatures, climate changes, colonization, corals, current scenario, eccentric rainfall, ecology, ecosystem, elkhorn, environmental conditions, erratic courses, evolution, fishes, fossilized remains, global warming, great barrier reef, mammals, melting, melting of permafrost, migration of animals, migratory birds, oceans, offsprings, penguins, permafrost, phytoplankton, polar bears, polar regions, pollen distribution, regal cigs, satellite pictures, species, staghorn corals, temperature, underwater life, warm air currents, zooplanktons

A changing climate has implications on biodiversity without any doubt. Species in the past have been sensitive to changes in the climate; that has been proved time and again by the fossilized remains and pollen distribution studies. It has been seen or can be concluded safely that climate changes have led to extinction of species in one area and colonization in another.

It is improbable that all species can or will be able to adapt to changing conditions specially the sudden changes. This leads to impact in ecosystem dynamics and also on community composition. (more…)

Genetic Patterns of Deep-Sea Coral Provide Insights into Evolution of Marine Life

By Guest PostNovember 17, 2012Environment, Natureancient, barnacles, biodiversity, biogeography, bivalves, bryozoans, bubblegum coral, canyons, circulation model, climate change, continental slopes, coral, cryptic species, csiro, deep sea coral, early pliocene, eastern north pacific, Epoch, fjords, gastropods, gene flow, genetic diversity pattern, geological features, global warming, historical pattern, hypothesis, juan sanchez, late-miocene, marine life, marine organism, migration, migration pattern, moss animals, niwa, north atlantic, ocean acidification, oceanic circulation, organism, paragorga arborea, pattern, period, ph, red algae, santiago herrera, sea stars, seagrass, seamounts, South Pacific, southern indian, species, spiny dogfishes, timothy shank, trans arctic interchange, western north pacific, whoi

Patterns Also Shed Light on How Environmental Disturbances Affect Aquatic Organisms

The ability of deep-sea corals to harbor a broad array of marine life, including commercially important fish species, make these habitat-forming organisms of immediate interest to conservationists, managers, and scientists. Understanding and protecting corals requires knowledge of the historical processes that have shaped their biodiversity and biogeography.

While little is known about these processes, new research described in the journal Molecular Ecology helps elucidate the historical patterns of deep-sea coral migration and gene flow, coincident with oceanic circulation patterns and events. The investigators propose a scenario that could explain the observed evolutionary and present-day patterns in certain coral species. The findings can help scientists determine how climate change and other global processes have affected ocean habitats in the past and how they might do so in the future. (more…)

In Blown-Down Forests, a Story of Survival

By Guest PostOctober 19, 2012Environment, Naturebiodiversity, black bears, black birch, broken trees, damaged trees, david foster, dead wood, deserts, device, ecological processes, ecosystem, environmental decision, financial, fires, floods, forest, forests blown, grasslands, harvard forest, harvard university, Health, hurricanes, ice storm, intense wind, logging, lter, massachusetts, matt kane, national, native plant, natural events, polar regions, recovery, red maple, salamanders, science foundation, snapped limbs, southbridge, tornadoes, uprooted trunks, wildlife, woodland, woodland landscape

To preserve forest health, the best management decision may be to do nothing

In newscasts after intense wind and ice storms, damaged trees stand out: snapped limbs, uprooted trunks, entire forests blown nearly flat.

In a storm’s wake, landowners, municipalities and state agencies are faced with important financial and environmental decisions.

A study by Harvard University researchers, supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and published in the journal Ecology, yields a surprising result: when it comes to the health of forests, native plants and wildlife, the best management decision may be to do nothing. (more…)

Scientists Uncover Vast Differences in Earth’s Polar Ocean Microbial Communities

By Guest PostOctober 10, 2012Environmentalison murray, Antarctica, arctic ocean, biodiversity, biodiversity pattern, biogeographically, canada, changing climate, coast, community, continental, drainage basin, earth, environmental selection, flow, france, freshwater, glacial melt, global ocean, jean françois ghiglione, kevin bakker, marine, marine life, marine microbe, michigan, microbial community, microbial diversity, new zealand, ocean, oceanic circulation, oden, polar ocean, polar region, polar year, pole, sea ice, sloan foundation, southern, spain, structure, Sweden, swedish icebreaker, united states, university

ANN ARBOR— An international team of scientists, including a University of Michigan graduate student, has demonstrated that a clear difference exists between the marine microbial communities in the Southern and Arctic oceans, contributing to a better understanding of the biodiversity of marine life at the poles.

The most comprehensive comparison of microbial diversity at both of Earth’s polar oceans showed that about 75 percent of the organisms at each pole are different. This insight sheds light on newly recognized biodiversity patterns and reinforces the importance of studying Earth’s polar regions in the face of a changing climate. And it highlights the need for further research on the impacts of sea ice, seasonal shifts and freshwater input in both regions. (more…)

Student’s Summer Internship Taught Her the Value of Elm Trees

By Guest PostSeptember 24, 2012Education, Environmentamerican, ann boleyn, archbishop, Argentina, autumn, biodiversity, bioethics society, China, church, climate change, conservation foundation, council, david shreeve, david smith, disease, dutch elm, elm city, elm tree, England, Environment, environmental charity, environmental issue, environmental work, essex, gold, harlow, hyde park, Israel, kingman brewster, london, michelle bayefsky, new haven, ocean, odds award, queen, sapporo, singapore, uganda, uk, united kingdom, yale junior

Michelle Bayefsky hopes that London’s future will be filled with elm trees.

The Yale junior spent part of her summer in that city helping to ensure that will be the case.

An International Bulldogs Internship allowed Bayefsky the opportunity to work for an environmental charity called The Conservation Foundation, which among other initiatives is engaged in a project to re-establish elm tree populations in the United Kingdom (U.K.). For Bayefsky, the experience was not only an introduction to environmental work, but also confirmed that small actions can sometimes have a big impact. (more…)