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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…)

Too Few Salmon is Far Worse Than Too Many Boats for Killer Whales

By Guest PostJune 7, 2012Environment, Natureblack labrador, boats, canada, candice emmons, chinook salmon, columbia river, elwha river, factor, food source, fraser river, fraser river chinook, glucocorticoids, haro, hormone level, juan de fuca, katherine ayres, killer whales, klamath river, marine mammals, pacific northwest, puget sound, rebecca booth, resident killer whales, salish sea, salmon, samuel wasser, sandra hines, scat detection dogs, southern resident, straits of georgia, toxins, transient orcas, tucker, university of washington, US, west coast

Not having enough Chinook salmon to eat stresses out southern resident killer whales in the Pacific Northwest more than having boatloads of whale watchers nearby, according to hormone levels of whales summering in the Salish Sea.

In lean times, however, the stress level normally associated with boats becomes more pronounced, further underscoring the importance of having enough prey, according to Katherine Ayres, an environmental and pet-behavior consultant who led the research while a University of Washington doctoral student in biology. Ayres is lead author of a paper appearing online June 6, in the journal PLoS ONE.

In a surprise finding, hormone levels show that southern resident killer whales are best fed when they come into the Salish Sea in the late spring, Ayres said. The Salish Sea includes Puget Sound and the straits of Georgia, Haro and Juan de Fuca. Once there they get a necessary boost later in the summer while eating Chinook salmon at the height of the Fraser River run. (more…)

UA Researchers Hunt Bomb-Eating Bugs

By Guest PostApril 29, 2012Environment, Weaponsarmy, aromatic amines, bacteria, bacterial eating habits, bio augmentation, bomb eating bugs, cancer, carcinogenic compound, conventional explosive, cytotoxic, degradation pathway, department of defense, ed stiles, environmental effect, environmental fate, environmental impact, fate and toxicity, food source, groundwater, humic polymer, humus, imcs, insensitive munitions compounds, james a field, jon chorover, molecular ecology technique, munition, mutagenic, nitro aromatic compound, organic matter, polymerization, reyes sierra, site selection, surface water, threat, tnt, university of arizona

UA researchers are investigating bacterial eating habits as part of a $1 million study to determine the environmental fate of newly developed munitions.

University of Arizona researchers are studying the environmental effects of insensitive munitions compounds, or IMCs, which are new, more stable explosives that won’t detonate in response to heat or shock.

Not much is known about the environmental impact of IMCs, which the U.S. Department of Defense hopes will reduce injuries and fatalities among troops who handle explosives. (more…)

Tag Archives: food source

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

Too Few Salmon is Far Worse Than Too Many Boats for Killer Whales

UA Researchers Hunt Bomb-Eating Bugs