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Salamander Population Size Helps Predict Health of Forest Ecosystems and Inform Forest Management Decisions, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostJanuary 25, 2014Naturebiodiversity, conservation, forest ecosystems, forest management, grant connette, life history, predictor, ray semlitsch, salamander population, salamander recovery, salamander recovery rate, southern appalachian mountains, survival of amphibians, united states, university of missouri, woodland salamanders

Researchers suggest a balance between timber harvest and conservation biology

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Woodland salamanders are small, lungless amphibians that live in moist, forest habitats throughout the U.S. and the world. Salamanders often serve as vital links in forest food chains; their population size and recovery from major disturbances can help predict the health of forest ecosystems. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have determined that salamander population size reflects forest habitat quality and can predict how ecosystems recover from forest logging activity. MU researchers believe these findings can be translated to other species within forest ecosystems throughout the world.

“One of our primary interests is in conservation of amphibians and the habitats that they utilize,” said Ray Semlitsch, Curators’ Professor of biological sciences in the College of Arts and Science at MU. “We are trying to understand how land use, and particularly forest management, affects the survival of amphibians on the landscape. We also determined that salamander recovery—or the amount of time it takes for salamanders to repopulate a cut forest area—can help forest managers determine appropriate logging schedules.” (more…)

Habitat research methods give a new peek at tiger life with conservation

By Guest PostOctober 28, 2013Naturebhim gurung, biodiversity, China, chitwan national park, conservation, habitat research, himalayan lowlands, human population, jianguo jack liu, michigan state university, neil carter, nepal, nepal tiger trust, panda, protected area, sustainability, systems integration, tiger habitat, tiger life

Twelve years ago, a team led by Jianguo “Jack” Liu at Michigan State University showed that China needed to revisit how it was protecting its pandas. Now research on tiger habitat in Nepal, published in Ecosphere journal of the Ecological Society of America, again shows that conservation demands not only good policy, but also monitoring even years down the road.

“Understanding long-term outcomes of conservation programs is crucial and requires innovative methods,” Liu said. “Now we’re learning that Nepal’s outstanding efforts to protect tigers are best supported with close monitoring because conservation situations are so dynamic. In both cases, the key is to understand how the people who live near the valued wildlife are faring as well.” (more…)

Mapping Out How to Save Species

By Guest PostJuly 14, 2013Natureamphibians, analytical methods, biodiversity, birds, blue moon foundation, cambridge, clinton jenkins, conservation, duke university, England, global concentration, global network, lucas joppa, mammals, map, microsoft research, north Carolina, priority areas, protected areas, saving species blog, species, state university, stuart pimm

In stunning color, new biodiversity research from North Carolina State University maps out priority areas worldwide that hold the key to protecting vulnerable species and focusing conservation efforts.

The research, published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pinpoints the highest global concentrations of mammals, amphibians and birds on a scale that’s 100 times finer than previous assessments. The findings can be used to make the most of available conservation resources, said Dr. Clinton Jenkins, lead author and research scholar at NC State University. (more…)

Rare Rabbit

By Guest PostMay 24, 2012Naturebukit barisan seletan, canr, conservation, jennifer mccarthy, kerinci seblat, kyle mccarthy, leopards, liwa region, mohamed bin zaved, national park, oryx, population, rare rabbit, rare rabbit species, rare striped rabbit, rarest species, sumatra, sumatran striped rabbit, university of delaware, wild cats, wildlife journal, world

UD’s McCarthy part of group that films rare striped rabbit in Sumatra

With cameras set up in Sumatra looking for medium- and small-sized wild cats, such as leopards, a research group involving the University of Delaware’s Kyle McCarthy, found images of something else entirely — a rabbit. Not just any ordinary rabbit, but a Sumatran striped rabbit, one of the world’s rarest species and one that had been captured on film only three times before.

There has never been a viable study of the Sumatran striped rabbit and McCarthy, assistant professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR), said that while his group plans on continuing their study of small cats, they are now also focusing on the rare rabbit species. (more…)

800-Year-Old Farmers Could Teach Us How to Protect The Amazon

By Guest PostApril 14, 2012Environmentagriculture, Amazon, amazonian forest, amazonian savannas, archaeologist, cattle ranching, charcoal, climate, columbian encounter, conservation, deforestation, doyle mckey, ecosystem, Environment, european settlers, farming, farmland sustainably, fire, francis mayle, french guiana, global warming, indigenous people, jose iriarte, mitchell power, old world diseases, paleoecologist, phytoliths, plant remains, pollen, raised field, savannas, stephen rostain, sustainable use, university of exeter, university of montpellier

In the face of mass deforestation of the Amazon, we could learn from its earliest inhabitants who managed their farmland sustainably.

Research from an international team of archaeologists and paleoecologists, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows for the first time that indigenous people, living in the savannas around the Amazonian forest, farmed without using fire.

Led by the University of Exeter, the research could provide insights into the sustainable use and conservation of these globally-important ecosystems, which are being rapidly destroyed. Pressure on the Amazonian savannas today is intense, with the land being rapidly transformed for industrial agriculture and cattle ranching.

By analysing records of pollen, charcoal and other plant remains like phytoliths spanning more than 2,000 years, the team has created the first detailed picture of land use in the Amazonian savannas in French Guiana. This gives a unique perspective on the land before and after the first Europeans arrived in 1492. (more…)

Border Fences Pose Threats to Wildlife on U.S.-Mexico Border, Study Shows

By Guest PostJuly 19, 2011Nature, Sciencearroyo toad, biological diversity, border fences, california coasts, california red legged frog, conservation, department of homeland security, fire, harmful mutations, human impacts, human migration barriers, human population growth, hurricane, impacts on the ecosystem, inbreeding depression, jesse lasky, landscape, species in california, texas gulf, the jaguarondi, the university of texas at austin, threats to wildlife populations, tim keitt, unforeseen disturbances, us mexico border, walter jetz

AUSTIN, Texas — Current and proposed border fences pose significant threats to wildlife populations, with those animals living in border regions along the Texas Gulf and California coasts showing some of the greatest vulnerability, a new study from The University of Texas at Austin shows.

“Our study is the first comprehensive analysis of threats to species across the entire U.S.-Mexico border,” says Jesse Lasky, a graduate student in the laboratory of Tim Keitt, associate professor of integrative biology. “The scale at which these fences stretch across the landscape is large, so it’s important for us to also have a large-scale view of their effects across the continent.” (more…)

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