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The condition in bats known as 'white-nose syndrome' (WNS) was first noted among dead and hibernating bats found in caves near Albany, New York, by the New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation beginning in February 2007. Affected bats appeared to have a white substance on their heads and wings. In early 2008, "white-nosed" bats were once
again seen in hibernaculae. Since March 2008, biologists and cavers have documented thousands of dead and dying bats at over 25 caves and mines in New York, Vermont, Massachusetts
and Connecticut.
A Wildlife Disease Specialist from the USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) met with biologists in some affected areas in March 2008 and collected environmental samples
from affected caves and mines in Vermont, New York and Massachusetts. Live, dead and dying bats were documented in and outside of their hibernacula.
Since February 2008, the NWHC has received nearly 100 bat carcasses, both euthanized and recently dead. Species include little brown, big brown, northern long-eared and eastern
pipistrelle bats, and most of these bats have been from New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
The most common findings in the bats have been emaciation and poor body condition. Many of the bats examined had little or no body fat. A subset of the bats examined also
exhibited changes in the lung that have been difficult to characterize. A majority of bats had microscopic fungal hyphae on the external surfaces of their bodies. The white
substance observed on some bats may represent an overgrowth of normal fungal colonizers of bat skin during hibernation and could be an indicator of overall poor health,
rather than a primary pathogen. Investigations into the cause of the morbidity, including underlying environmental factors, potential secondary microbial pathogens and/or
toxicants, are underway. [...] |
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Environment & Ecology
In the News |
Oil Sands Development: Toxic Pollutants in the Athabaska River |
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High levels of toxic pollutants in Alberta's Athabasca River system are linked to oilsands mining, researchers have found.
The findings counter the reports by a joint industry-government panel that the pollutant levels are due to natural sources rather than human development.
Mercury, thallium and other pollutants accumulated in higher concentrations in snowpacks and waterways near and downstream from oilsands development than in more remote areas,
said a study to be published Monday afternoon in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Upstream and undeveloped sites exposed directly to the McMurray Geologic Formation, the natural source of the oilsands, did not show high levels of pollutants.
The study led by Erin Kelly and David Schindler of the University of Alberta also found that levels of the pollutants cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, silver and zinc exceeded
federal and provincial guidelines for the protection of aquatic life in melted snow or water collected near or downstream from oilsands mining. [...]
[Read More] |
Abstract
For over a decade, the contribution of oil sands mining and processing to the pollution of the Athabasca River has been controversial. We
show that the oil sands development is a greater source of contamination than previously realized. In 2008, within 50 km of oil sands
upgrading facilities, the loading to the snowpack of airborne particulates was 11,400 T over 4 months and included 391 kg of polycyclic
aromatic compounds (PAC), equivalent to 600 T of bitumen, while 168 kg of dissolved PAC was also deposited. Dissolved PAC concentrations
in tributaries to the Athabasca increased from 0.009µg/L upstream of oil sands development to 0.023 µg/L in winter and to 0.202 µg/L in
summer downstream. In the Athabasca, dissolved PAC concentrations were mostly <0.025µg/L in winter and 0.030µg/L in summer, except
near oil sands upgrading facilities and tailings ponds in winter (0.0310.083µg/L) and downstream of new development in summer
(0.0630.135µg/L). In the Athabasca and its tributaries, development within the past 2 years was related to elevated dissolved PAC
concentrations that were likely toxic to fish embryos. In melted snow, dissolved PAC concentrations were up to 4.8 µg/L, thus, spring
snowmelt and washout during rain events are important unknowns. These results indicate that major changes are needed to the way that
environmental impacts of oil sands development are monitored and managed. | |
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Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder
Disturbing evidence that honeybees are in terminal decline has emerged from the United States where, for the fourth year in a row, more than a third of colonies have
failed to survive the winter.
The decline of the country's estimated 2.4 million beehives began in 2006, when a phenomenon dubbed colony collapse disorder (CCD) led to the disappearance of hundreds of thousands
of colonies. Since then more than three million colonies in the US and billions of honeybees worldwide have died and scientists are no nearer to knowing what is causing the catastrophic
fall in numbers.
The number of managed honeybee colonies in the US fell by 33.8% last winter, according to the annual survey by the Apiary Inspectors of America and the US government's Agricultural
Research Service (ARS).
The collapse in the global honeybee population is a major threat to crops. It is estimated that a third of everything we eat depends upon honeybee pollination, which means that
bees contribute some £26bn to the global economy.
Potential causes range from parasites, such as the bloodsucking varroa mite, to viral and bacterial infections, pesticides and poor nutrition stemming from intensive farming
methods. The disappearance of so many colonies has also been dubbed "Mary Celeste syndrome" due to the absence of dead bees in many of the empty hives.
US scientists have found 121 different pesticides in samples of bees, wax and pollen, lending credence to the notion that pesticides are a key problem. "We believe that
some subtle interactions between nutrition, pesticide exposure and other stressors are converging to kill colonies," said Jeffery Pettis, of the ARS's bee research laboratory.
A global review of honeybee deaths by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) reported last week that there was no one single cause, but pointed the finger at the "irresponsible
use" of pesticides that may damage bee health and make them more susceptible to diseases. Bernard Vallat, the OIE's director-general, warned: "Bees contribute to global food security,
and their extinction would represent a terrible biological disaster."
Dave Hackenberg of Hackenberg Apiaries, the Pennsylvania-based commercial beekeeper who first raised the alarm about CCD, said that last year had been the worst yet for bee losses,
with 62% of his 2,600 hives dying between May 2009 and April 2010. "It's getting worse," he said. "The AIA survey doesn't give you the full picture because it is only measuring
losses through the winter. In the summer the bees are exposed to lots of pesticides. Farmers mix them together and no one has any idea what the effects might be."
Pettis agreed that losses in some commercial operations are running at 50% or greater. "Continued losses of this magnitude are not economically sustainable for commercial beekeepers," he
said, adding that a solution may be years away. "Look at Aids, they have billions in research dollars and a causative agent and still no cure. Research takes time and beehives are
complex organisms." [...]
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ScienceDaily: Ecology News
| Using sophisticated airborne imaging and structural analysis, scientists mapped more than 40,000 termite mounds over 192 square miles in the African savanna. They found that their size and distribution is linked to vegetation and landscape patterns associated with annual rainfall. The results reveal how the savanna terrain has evolved and show how termite mounds can be used to predict ecological shifts from climate change. |
| The Potomac River is showing multiple benefits from restoration efforts. Reduced nutrients and improved water clarity have increased the abundance and diversity of submerged aquatic vegetation, according to an 18-year field study. |
| How many species of insects exist? Researchers found that in tropical mountains there are six times more insects than shown in global calculations. The insects in these areas are also highly specialized in their choice of food. |
| Widespread reports of a decline in the population of bees and other flower-visiting animals have aroused fear and speculation that pollination is also likely on the decline. A recent study provides the first long-term evidence of a downward trend in pollination, while also pointing to climate change as a possible contributor. |
| Researchers use soil moisture and salinity of porewater combined with other data to develop tools for restoring coastal wetlands. |
| While vultures across Asia teeter on the brink of extinction, the vultures of Cambodia are increasing in number, providing a beacon of hope for these threatened scavengers, according wildlife conservation experts. |
| Even though organic methods may increase farm biodiversity, a combination of conventional farming and protected areas could sometimes be a better way to maintain food production and protect wildlife. |
| By integrating satellite mapping, airborne-laser technology, and ground-based plot surveys, scientists have revealed the first high-resolution maps of carbon locked up in tropical forest vegetation and emitted by land-use practices. |
| Ants are not out of their weight class when defending trees from the appetite of nature's heavyweight, the African elephant, a new study finds. Columns of angered ants will crawl up into elephant trunks to repel the ravenous beasts from devouring tree cover throughout drought-plagued East African savannas, playing a potentially important role in regulating carbon sequestration in these ecosystems. |
| A researcher in Israel has developed an improved tool for translating lizard body lengths to weights. The new equations calculate this valuable morphological feature to estimate the weight of a lizard species in a variety of different ecosystems. |
| Previous research has claimed that the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in 1995 is helping restore quaking aspen in risky areas where wolves prowl. But apparently elk hungry for winter food had a different idea. They did not know they were supposed to be responding to a "landscape of fear." |
| A distinct decline in horseshoe crab numbers has occurred that parallels climate change associated with the end of the last Ice Age, according to a study that used genomics to assess historical trends in population sizes. |
| Researchers writing a new article examine four possible explanations for why human well-being is increasing despite the global degradation of ecosystem services. Gains in food production, technological innovation generally, and time lags in the consequences of ecosystem degradation all find some support; observable trends suggest these factors may be limited in the future. |
| Coral reefs are sensitive to climate change and track sea level. New observations show that an extensive coral reef existed in the southern Pacific Ocean thousands of years ago. Researchers used multi-beam sonar, coring, and dating to examine a relict reef discovered in water about 20-25 meters (65-82 feet) deep around Lord Howe Island in the southern Pacific Ocean. |
| A unique 'natural laboratory' in the Mediterranean Sea is revealing the effects of rising carbon dioxide levels on life in the oceans. The results show a bleak future for marine life as ocean acidity rises, and suggest that similar lowering of ocean pH levels may have been responsible for massive extinctions in the past. |
| It may seem like birds have the freedom to fly wherever they like, but researchers have shown that what's on the ground has a great effect on where a bird flies. This information could be used by foresters and urban planners to improve bird habitats that would help maintain strong bird populations. |
| With a simple click of the camera, wildlife conservation scientists have developed a new way to accurately monitor long-term trends in rare and vanishing species over large landscapes. |
| Normally, the brilliant red of a male cardinal signals to females that he is a high-quality mate.Ā But that may not be true of cardinals living in urban areas, a new study suggests. Researchers found that the bright red feather coloration of male northern cardinals was less related to body condition for birds living in urban forests than it is for those in rural forests.Ā In other words, even cardinals in relatively poor condition may appear bright red in urban areas. |
| Proponents of organic farming often speak of nature's balance in ways that sound almost spiritual, prompting criticism that their views are unscientific and naive. At the other end of the spectrum are those who see farms as battlefields where insect pests and plant diseases must be vanquished with the magic bullets of modern agriculture: pesticides, fungicides and the like. |
| A new study of a deepwater dispersed oil plume formed in the aftermath of the damaged BP wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico shows that microbial activity, spearheaded by a new and unclassified species, degrades oil much faster than anticipated. |
| Scientists have found that fuel treatments -- even of only a few acres -- can reduce fire severity and protect older trees desirable for their timber, wildlife, and carbon-storage value. |
| Emissions of carbon dioxide are causing ocean acidification as well as global warming. Scientists have previously used computer simulations to quantify how curbing of carbon dioxide emissions would mitigate climate impacts. New computer simulations have now examined the likely effects of mitigation scenarios on ocean acidification trends. They show that both the peak year of emissions and post-peak reduction rates influence how much ocean acidity increases by 2100. |
| To gain new insights on the impact of fishing on coral reefs, marine biologists are taking advantage of an ongoing "natural experiment" at two isolated Pacific atolls -- one inhabited by people, the other off-limits to fishing. |
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| Business Green: The Chinese government has reportedly pledged to increase its hydroelectric power capacity 50 per cent by 2015 as it continues to accelerate efforts to boost its low-carbon energy ... |
| Independent: A genetically modified salmon which grows twice as fast as normal is completely safe for human consumption and poses little risk to the environment according to the US Food and Drug ... |
| Business Green: One of the oldest rail lines in the US will soon become home to a cutting-edge energy-harvesting technology that promises to recover the energy lost by braking trains and feed it into ... |
| Reuters: Increasingly erratic rainfall patterns related to climate change pose a major threat to food security and economic growth, water experts said on Monday, arguing for greater investment in ... |
| Financial Times: As global growth picks up after the economic crisis, carbon emissions are going back up too. With China and India back on track to double their gross domestic product every decade, ... |
| Mongabay: Singapore's Golden Agri-Resources, a holding of the embattled Sinar Mas Group, said it will form a partnership with the government of Liberia to establish a 220,000-hectare plantation in ... |
| New York Times: Spanish trains whisk passengers from Madrid to Barcelona in little more than two and one-half hours. Japan has bullet trains. China is building a vast network of high-speed rail ... |
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This map is an oversimplification of ocean currents and features in the Pacific Ocean. There are numerous factors that affect
the location, size, and strength of all of these features throughout the year, including seasonality and El Nino/La Nina. Depicting that on a static map is very difficult.
