Now that is a surprise. More than 600,000 plant species have been deleted by the by scientists, from the dictionary of life, after a comprehensive assessment. There was obviously duplication. The study team was led by UK and US scientists. Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, is a key partner.
The duplication had resulted in a list of more than 1 million flowering plant species. Scientists have been naming new plant species without realizing that many were in fact the same.
The scientist put under the scan existing plant lists and worked out an "accepted" name for each species. So far the researchers have found 301,000 accepted species, 480,000 alternative names, and have 240,000 left to assess. In some cases, plants thought to be the same have been assessed to be different species using DNA techniques.
The project has taken nearly three years and the official results will be announced later this year.
Getting an idea about the extinction threshold of endangered animals is very important for the wildlife manager. It is not an easy task. A new study by Dr John Drake, an ecologist at the University of Georgia, Athens, and Dr Blaine Griffen of the University of South Carolina, Columbia, provides a statistical alarm beeper for the manager.
The major causes of animal extinctions today are habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, poaching and pollution. But to say when an endangered population will become so endangered that it is doomed to extinction if nothing is done to help is an almost an impossible task.
The results of the new study are based on a simple laboratory experiment, but if the technique works in the wild, it could help wildlife managers know when they need to put in that extra effort.
Theoretical biologists have surmised that the tipping point toward extinction would be preceded by a phase of critical slowing down. This means that a population takes longer and longer to bounce back from small declines.
In the experiment the scientists set up 60 small tanks and put populations of water fleas (Daphnia magna) in each. After letting theDaphniaget settled for several months, Dr Griffen mimicked environmental degradation in half the tanks by gradually cutting back the blue-green algae he fed them. These nutrition deprived populations began to slowly shrink. After about 270 days, they passed a tipping point and died out within a year. The other 30 populations, which received a stable food supply, fluctuated in size but persisted.
Dr Drake then analyzed the trends in population size. Four statistical measures of abundance showed signs of critical slowing down in the degraded environments but not in the healthy ones. The slowing down lasted as long as eight generations before the populations crossed the tipping point to extinction.
The study has exciting prospects for the wildlife manager. Come on guys ,pay more attention to your environment and fine tune your filed observations.
The study by Dr Drake and Dr Griffen appear in the latest issue of Nature.
The plethora of arguments for and against the proposed Athirapally hydro-electric project in Kerala has started leaving a bad taste in the mouth. Some of the comments from both the sides have acquired the dimensions of mudslinging.
Let me make it absolutely clear that I am not a protagonist of any dam. I would be the happiest man if even a tiny patch of forest is left undisturbed in its pristine form.
My query to the opponents of dam is what are their contributions for giving suggestions for alternatives? Shouting for and against the dam is something that any Tom Dick and Harry can do. Let us not run away from the fact that we need electricity. Let us be pragmatic. Thermal power plants in thickly populated Kerala are fraught with lot of imponderable outcomes. Wind and tide energy are yet to make an impact. I know of couple of guys who shout against dams, but cannot live without fan and air-conditioning. Charity should begin at home. Why not fight for a thermal or other option for Kerala outside the state and ensure that it comes to us at a rate that is equivalent to the hydroelectric power that would have been generated in Athirappally? This might sound simplistic but I am sure that if the environmentalists fight for it, it will surely see the daylight. The entire nation stands to benefit if our forest are saved from the predators that comes in the garb of protagonists of “development”. So there is no harm in demanding our pound of flesh.
Stop the bitching and get down to business please. Mr Balan is only doing his job as electricity minister. If he was in the opposition may be he too would have opposed the project. Leave behind the bickering and let us work for the holistic development of the state.
A perusal of the paper in Conservation biology, Consevation biology: A displacement behavior for academia? by Whitten et al set me thinking about research and the practice of conservation. (Whitten.T, Holmes.D., and Mackinnon. K. Conservation biology, 15(1), 1-3)
Yes there is a slip between the cup and the lip when it comes to conservation research and field practice.
Despite the voluminous research that we have, practitioners are at times, at their wits’ end to find solutions for problems that face them. What is holding back is lack of appropriate information at the appropriate time. Effective communication between researchers and mangers is lacking. It is in fact a sticking point in many areas.
A high proportion of papers published in scientific journals by conservation biologists are seldom read outside of the academic world. Many conservation biologists think that the end of the project is an end in itself. Converting the science into practice seldom happens. Scientist and mangers have differing professional responsibilities and expectations which in turn compromise the desire and motivation to learn from each other’s expertise.
Ideally there should be sharing of conservation-related experiences between scientists and practitioners. This obviously does not happen. The mundane workshops that are organized at present do not produce any fruitful results.
I feel that for every paper that is published there should be a shorter version sans hyperbole, meant for mangers. A brief introduction followed by recommendations would suffice. This should become the modus Vivendi for interaction between scientists and researchers.
Many conservation projects are designed to help implement certain specific policy decisions. Policy relevant research assumes significance in this context. Interaction between researchers and mangers before the start of the work will create a win -win situation for all.
Politician usually does not like to be told by scientists what to be done, but if the approach is to convince them that research can help achieve policy goals then they are all ears. Professor Adrain Newton from Oxford says conservation is a highly political endeavor.
Let us start a new chapter where there is continuous interaction between scientists and the manager. The end beneficiary will be our biodiversity.
This post is in response to a request from my friend Ramesh. Ramesh was asking me whether there is any paper highlighting the importance of Nature Experience vis-a-vis future conservation initiatives. I drew his attention to the paper “The Impact of Nature Experienceon Willingness to Support Conservation” by Patricia A. Zaradic, Oliver R. W. Pergams , Peter Kareiva.Ramesh was thrilled and requested me to post an item in Highrange Tidings even though I had put a small write up in Tahrcountry couple of months ago. So here it comes.
Patricia, Oliver and Peter hypothesized that willingness to financially support conservation depends on one's experience with nature. They used a novel time-lagged correlation analysis to look at times series data concerning nature participation, and evaluate its relationship with future conservation support. Future contributions to conservation NGOs was taken in to reckoning. The results suggest that the type and timing of nature experience may determine future conservation investment. Time spent hiking or backpacking is correlated with increased conservation contributions 11–12 years later. Each hiker or backpacker translated to $200–$300 annually in future NGO contributions.
The paper has very clear message for us. Kerala forest department regularly conducts nature camps for students and other interested groups. The paper cited gives a very clear indication that the nature camps are indeed an investment for future. The rider is that the camps have to be run on professional basis. It would be worthwhile if an analysis of the camps is done in Kerala. It would be an eye opener for other states also.
Citation: Zaradic PA, Pergams ORW, Kareiva P (2009) The Impact of Nature Experience on Willingness to Support Conservation. PLoS ONE 4(10): e7367. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007367
Assam forest department has realized the need to hone the physical and mental efficiency of frontline staff at the initial training itself. They have roped in an NSG commando to impart rigorous training to new recruits.250 recruits which include women are undergoing the rigorous training. The anti-Poaching drive of the department is expected to get a tremendous boost with this new training.
We were one of the first to emphasize the need to train forest guards using NSG commandos ( Sunday, Mar 16, 2008) Read what I have written in Hindu here
It would be a great boon for conservation if other states follow this path breaking training methodology.
Karera bird sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh was established in 1981 to help save the Great Indian bustard. Things were hunky-dory in the initial stages. At the time of declaration there were 15 birds. The population grew to 40 over the years. Then mysteriously the dip started. Not a single Great Indian bustard has been sighted since 1994.
Now Madhya Pradesh Government is under pressure from the local populace to declassify the park and it has acquired vociferous proportions. The villagers surrounding the sanctuary are totally against the park authorities. They complain that they are not allowed to buy, sell or make any significant changes to the land.
Experts say Mechanised farming and over-grazing by cattle coupled with encroachment has spelt doom for the sanctuary.
Great Indian bustard requires undisturbed nesting areas. If the egg or offspring do not survive, bustards desert that particular area. On the other hand if the offspring survives, they will return to the same place.
Shri Alok Kumar IFS, chief conservator of forests recently told BBC "The bird has disappeared over a period of time. Something could have been done earlier. It is impossible to hold any one person responsible,"
This is a classic case of failure of conservation when the needs of the local people are not taken in to consideration while devising conservation strategies. The local community has to be involved in conservation if conservation is to success in a thickly populated county like India.
