Daily Science Dose

It seems that nothing will escape the ravages of global warming, not even weeds. Nothing else can stop them, but maybe accidentally, mankind has figured out a way to heat up our world so much that even those plants that will survive anywhere and in large maddening numbers will finally be vanquished.

Oh, I am just being glib.

But we do need some good science news from time to time, and I aim to please. Researchers from Princeton have realized that global warming may help the fight against invasive species in the Western United States. Areas that once welcomed any and all plants may not be as inviting to pests like cheatgrass, yellow

starthislte, spotted knapweed, tamarisk and leafy spurge.

But before we get too excited, remember a door doesn’t close without a window opening. And the same could be said for this seemingly good news. Hotter and drier temperatures in the American West may hinder some species from taking over, but in other parts of the world, the increasing temps will only serve to make previous unattractive areas a paradise to other invasive species.

The researchers assessed the relationship between climate change and the distribution of five prominent invasive plants in the western United States - known colloquially as the “kudzus of the West” - cheatgrass; spotted knapweed; yellow starthistle; tamarisk; and leafy spurge. Such plants are defined as invasive because they were brought into this country from other lands and now dominate and alter ecosystems in ways that threaten native wildlife, agriculture, and ranching. All have greatly expanded their ranges in recent decades in the western U.S., causing millions of dollars in damage to farmlands and rangelands. Invasive plants are increasingly expensive to control, and it is widely believed that global warming will make the problem worse.

But Bradley and her co-authors find that global warming may also reduce the competitiveness of some invasive plants if conditions become climatically unsuitable to the weeds, “creating opportunities for restoration in areas currently dominated by intractable invasive species,” according to the study.

The five species were selected in part because they represent the most problematic plants in the western U.S. The study authors created “bioclimatic envelope models,” wherein the authors identified where the invasive plant species occurred, and identified critical climate variables such as precipitation patterns and temperature patterns that are associated with the presence of the invasive plants under investigation. The authors then determined what combined set of climate variables best described the distribution of these weeds, and mapped all of the places in the U.S. where these climate conditions occur.

Developing such models is important because scientists can use them to assess how changing climate conditions might affect the distributions of invasive plants. Maps of how invasion risk is likely to change with global warming are also important for land managers designing long-term protocols for fighting invasive plants.–WWS at Princeton news release

And maybe it is just me, but I feel the need to point out that if areas of the American West are going to be becoming less and less hospitable to invasive species, won’t those same areas equally be as inhospitable to us?

However, the bright side of this changing climate pattern paradigm is that maybe department of natural resources people will be able to get a leg up on some really, pesky invasive species. And if the time is right, it will only be our own fault for not taking advantage of this opportunity.

global warming, climate change, invasive species

Setting: Kruger National Park Wildlife Reserve, South Africa along the Mozambique border

Three dead crocodiles were found within the park. The victims suffered a painful death. The fat within their bodies hardened into a rubber-like state. The victims were rendered powerless to move. The crocodiles could not move to eat or drink, and soon they died of either starvation, thirst or exposure.

That was last May. Now, over 170 crocodiles have perished in much the same way within Kruger National Park, a showcase national park that hosts a good number of top predators like lions and leopards in addition to other large mammals like elephants, hippos and rhinos.

The science has come back on what is killing these huge crocs, the Nile variety of crocodile. Pansteatitis or “Yellow Fat Disease” is not a pretty disease and it affects other animals as well as the crocodiles. Domestic cats have been found to suffer from the disease, and also birds and fresh water turtles may become afflicted with this mysterious disease.

The condition attacks fat stores, depleting anti-oxidants and inflaming the fat in a process that scientists believe is very painful.

“There was a big concern that other species could be affected,” Jan Myburgh, veterinarian specialising in toxicology, told AFP.

The chief worry was for lions — seen feeding on the dead crocodiles — and other cat species, based on the susceptibility of domestic cats, but no dead or sick felines have been found, he said.– TerraDaily

The real problem is that no one can figure out how or why this disease strikes. Most of the scientists working on the case (as well as similar cases over the years) are pointing to strained river resources in the area. The rivers within the Park include the Olifants, the Timbavati, and the Sabie.

The Kruger deaths occurred in a remote gorge which has faced increased siltation from a dam in neighbouring Mozambique, and is fed by one of South Africa’s hardest working rivers which supports various heavy industries.

Clues are now being sought by a multi-pronged programme looking at the entire river system to get a better understanding of the cause and effect links around the deaths.

So, this could be any number of reasons that these Nile crocodiles, which can grow up to 5 meters or 15 feet long and weigh up to 500 pounds, are dying off in such a disturbing way. Not enough fresh water, warmer water, polluted water, diseases spreading in from upriver, a decline in the general health of big carnivores or scavengers willing to eat their own kind.

Disturbing all the same.

crocodiles, South Africa, Kruger National Park, disease, yellow fat disease, pansteatitis, rubber, muscle, health, wildlife, predators, Africa, Mozambique, rivers, water resources

A new study lays out the idea and the evidence that wild harvested fish, animals and plants are becoming adaptive to aggressive harvesting by humans. So adaptive in fact that the species are maturing at smaller sizes and at earlier ages. These rapid mini-evolutionary changes are so alarming that the researchers behind the study warn of “imperil[ing] populations, industries, and ecosystems.”

Human consumption of food stuffs, animals included, is reaching such an imbalance that animals are growing smaller, literally. Size and weights are reduced by 20%, and females are reaching reproductive maturity at younger ages by 25%. That may not seem like such a big idea, but if you are 6 feet tall or 72 inches, if you lost 20% of your height, you’d be a tad shy of 4 feet 10 inches tall. That’s a big difference. Additionally, females having offspring at younger ages usually results in smaller broods in the younger years, leading to a net loss in offspring overall. When smaller animals breed, the resulting offspring will be smaller as well, further reducing the stock size.

The study looked at the food-gathering practices for a number of species, and found that the species that humans found the tastiest have proved the quickest adapters. Not out of anything but necessity, mind you. When a species loses more of its adult population, younger fish will naturally try to fill the procreative gap. In the case of more than 20 species, those natural (yet anthropogenic) changes are occurring at rates that are more than double the rate that other not-so-aggressively harvested species are changing.

This is disturbing news. Not only from the affected species point of view, but from a human standpoint, the food we rely on to feed the six plus billion of us is going to be getting smaller. Smaller food means less food. This burgeoning population know as the human population will be needing more food, not less. These findings are also proof that common fisheries practices that only allow the largest animals to be harvested is a faulty method that is ensuring that smaller representatives of the species will be the only adults left to create the next generations.

mammals, food, wild harvest, fish, animals, plants, adapt, evolution, population, reproduction

The nation of Liberia (on the western African coast, right above the lower left corner of the bulbous top part of Africa) has declared a state of emergency in its Bong County area, along the Guinean border. African army worms are devastating the crops in such numbers that the Liberian government is asking for international aid to combat the infestation.

The African Army Worm (AAW) is a nasty devil that is a remorseless eating machine if ever there is one. The two-inch long worms get their moniker from the worms tactics of moving en masse from field to field, consuming everything in its path. Kinda like a real army, in the Napoleonic sense.

The Liberian Minister of Agriculture told news organizations that so far 19 villages have been decimated by the marauding worms. Not only is the problem with the voracious appetites of the AAW’s, but also the, um, aftermath of the feasting.

This is not the first time that the African Worm Army has terrorized an African country. Three years ago, Zimbabwe faced starvation situations when army worms showed up. Kenya and Tanzania had their outbreaks in the late 90’s.

So, here’s the thing, army worms are generally controlled by pesticides here in the US and in other nations where even the small farmer can afford chemicals to grow stuff. The good majority of African farmers are organic farmers, not because it is the cool thing to do, but rather because that is all they know and can afford. Why would these farmers start using chemicals just when the world is hopefully moving away from chemical-based agriculture?

Unfortunately, this is a sticky subject. You don’t want the sustenance farmer to die due to a pest infestation that could have been prevented by a safe-enough pesticide, but then again, we really don’t know the long-term effects of said pesticide…what do you do?

African army worms are naturally contained by something that eats them, so how can poor African farmers foster an environment in which the natural enemy of the AAW is welcome to cull the AAW population and attempt to keep the numbers in check. That takes trees.

Birds eat the worms, right? And birds live in trees and bushes, in other words, birds need strong natural habitats full of trees and bushes. Unfortunately, Liberia and most of Africa is experiencing problems with deforestation. A growing human population needs room, and trees are the first to go.

Also, there are better ways to farm organically, and education is needed to attempt to grow adequate amounts of crops for not only the farmer and his or her family, but also the village and the nation.

Liberia, african army worms, Africa, crops, damage, agriculture, state of emergency, Bong County, Guinea, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya, deforestation

This is rather unsettling. I ran across this article today about brown pelicans literally falling from the sky along the Pacific Coast. And no one knows why…yet.

Some scientists are initially pointing their fingers at demoic acid. Demoic acid is produced by nasty phytoplankton and has made news lately for its effects on sea lions and other marine creatures.

Brown pelicans are being found many miles inland, along freeways, in yards, and parking lots. The birds are disoriented and feeble. Some birds are so weak that people can walk up to them and pick them up, which is not at all usual. Many of the symptoms are those of demoic acid poisoning, but other symptoms are leaving researchers and rescuers stumped.

While some of the symptoms resemble those associated with domoic-acid poisoning — an ocean toxin that sometimes affects sea birds and mammals — other symptoms do not. Domoic acid also apparently has not been found in significant amounts offshore, although more tests are needed.

Rescuers are wondering whether the illness is caused by a virus, or even by contaminants washed into the ocean after recent fires across Southern California. Many of the birds also have swollen feet. — Seattle Times

The Brown Pelican is the only pelican species that lives only along sea shores. Other species may be found inland, but not the Brown pelican, which makes these inland suicide runs all the more troubling. The Pacific population of Brown Pelicans has been on the Endangered Species list since June 1970. Recently, the species has been considered for delisting, but this troubling news may prevent that. The species was initially listed, like many large birds, due to DDT poisoning. The East Coast population has been de-listed, but the Pacific population has been growing more slowly.

Bodies of dead birds and blood samples have been sent off to the US Fish and Wildlife Service in addition to the California Department of Fish and Game for testing. Bird rescue organizations along the coast are alarmed at the numbers of dead or sick adult birds they have seen in the last week and a half.

In the last few years, numerous reports have been published about increasing numbers of Brown Pelicans starving along the Pacific Coast. So this new development may be related, or could have facilitated whatever is plaguing the brown pelicans.

pelicans, brown pelicans, Pacific, marine, endangered species, US Fish and Wildlife Service, DDT, sea lions, demoic acid, poisoning, starvation, California, rescue, disease, illness

Meet the Lord Howe Island Tree Lobster (Dryococelus australis).

This not so little bug, stretching up to 5 inches or 13 centimeters long, was thought to be extinct until 24 of them were found on a lonely outcrop nearly sixteen miles off of its namesake Lord Howe Island in 2001. The tree lobsters (I think you can see how they got that name just by looking at them) were once common on the small island northeast of the Sydney, Australia that is designated as a World Heritage site. They were common, that is, until black rats swam for it from shipwrecked boat to the Island ninety years ago. Rats like to eat bugs, and thus the Island’s native population of “stick” bugs were wiped out.

But this tenacious bug clung to life.

And this is not the first time that the Lord Howe island tree lobster has clung to life after losing its Island home.

Scientists have discovered that the Lord Howe variety tree lobster is older than the island for which it is named.

The Lord Howe tree lobster appears to be harboring even more surprises. As part of an analysis of the evolutionary origin of stick insects, biologist Thomas Buckley of Landcare Research, New Zealand’s main research institute for environmental science, and colleagues collected DNA from three tree lobster groups, including D. australis, and about 70 other stick insect species. The team found that D. australis was more than 20 million years old, 13 million years older than the rocks on Lord Howe Island.

So where did this species evolve? Buckley thinks that the solution lies under the Pacific Ocean. Lord Howe Island is the youngest of an old chain of islands formed as the Indo-Australian tectonic plate travels north over a fixed volcanic center, or hot spot. Older islands are now submerged inactive volcanoes. The Lord Howe tree lobster may have evolved in one of these drowned islands and traveled south as its habitat eroded away, the team reported online 16 December in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.–ScienceNOW Daily News

How about that? This insect really wants to survive, and has been island-hopping for a good part of its existence. And it seems that DNA analysis has more to tell us about this creepy crawly that just won’t die.

The Lord Howe Island tree lobster is a unique species from two other tree lobsters tested recently by Buckley. The LHI tree lobster and its previously-assumed brethren on New Caledonia and New Guinea evolved apart from one another in a process called convergent evolution.

Convergent evolution is when separate species develop similar evolutionary traits in response to similar environments, despite the fact that they are not closely related. Think wings on birds and bats. Birds and bats are hardly related, but both classes developed wings in response to environmental and evolutionary pressures.

In the case of tree lobsters, you can see how similar (top photo) the New Guinea tree lobster and the Lord Howe Island tree lobsters species are (hi, as in scary), but also how different in the bottom photo where you can see the tree lobsters side by side with another distant relative, a typical stick bug (my infinite thanks to Bug Girl’s Blog for the link to the German site where I got these images).

tree lobster, Lord Howe Island, Australia, extinct, insect, bug, DNA, New Zealand, New Guinea, New Caledonia, World Heritage, stick bugs, convergent evolution, evolution

My thanks to the FEED newsletter from the Union of Concerned Scientists for this one.

It seems that traditional breeding methods are out-performing genetic modifications in developing drought-resistant crops. And as water becomes more and more scarce, drought-resistant crops are a big deal.

The United States Department of Agriculture has recently published some news about drought-resistant soybeans. By going back to the home of the soybean, China, for variety species that are not known in the US, and using some more exotic Chinese varieties of the staple crop, breeders have been able to cross a drought-resistant variety with a more common variety to produce soybeans that are testing well here in the US.

Using conventional breeding methods, Carter and his team develop hundreds of new breeding lines each year, for a total of more than 5,000. Five of them have stood out for further development and are now in validation trials across the South. Based on the results of these tests, the team will soon release advanced breeding lines that carry the slow-wilting trait and also show good yield potential when rainfall is plentiful.

The slow-wilting lines yield 4 to 8 bushels more than conventional varieties under drought conditions—depending on the region and environment, says Carter. For example, under drought conditions, normal soybeans yield 30 bushels per acre, but slow-wilting types yield about 35 bushels per acre. –USDA

That’s zero for genetically-modified drought-resistance, and a gazillion for traditionally-bred drought-resistance.

Ok, I have no data to back up that “gazillion” claim, but traditional breeding has been around for a long time, and there is no telling how many times it has helped develop crops that can go without water for a bit or withstand long, hot summers or even thrive in harsh conditions. If it were not for traditional breeding, well, we may not have many sub-species and varieties that we have today.

Besides, traditional breeding is the way Nature does it, so why shouldn’t we?

On another note, a NGO (non-governmental organization) is working with farmers in Africa and developed a drought-resistant variety of cassava (a staple in that part of the world and others, also known as yuca). And this variety is producing 6 to 10 times the amount of cassava that the usual seed stock is producing.

USDA, drought-resistance, genetically-modified, traditional breeding, genetics, GMO, NGO, soybeans, cassava, yuca, Africa, crops, agriculture

While I was watching NOVA last night, which was called “Ocean Animal Emergency” and truly saddening, I was struck by a small seal pup that had facial tumors growing out of its mouth. The tumors were found to be inoperable, and the poor, little Harbor seal had to be euthanized.

The moment I saw the seal’s tumors I was reminded of another creature that has become afflicted with grotesque facial tumors, the Tasmanian Devil.

Are the facial tumors afflicting the harbor seal on NOVA and Tasmanian Devil related? Could there be something more to this? What is it that is causing these odd, devastating growths? In January 2008, reports came out detailing that Tasmanian Devils have elevated levels of chemicals used as flame retardants in their blood stream. Could these chemicals be causing this kind of growth? Or are the chemicals just enabling this kind of cancer, making some animals more susceptible to disease?

The science is still out on the Tasmanian Devil, but as more than 60% of the wild population has died in the last decade since this facial cancer was first discovered, there may not be much time for scientists to figure it out.

The facial growth I saw on the harbor seal did not look quite as gruesome as that which I have seen in pictures of tasmanian devils. The harbor seal’s tumors looked more like big “toes” sticking out of its mouth. The seal didn’t look bothered by them, so it is unsure if the tumors were causing pain of any kind. I have to wonder if there is some correlation between the toxins we keep dumping in the ocean and this poor seal’s face.

NOVA explained that the seal and sea lions that are euthanized at the Marine Mammal Center are given a post-mortum examination, and blood and tissue samples are collected. I have to wonder what the MMC will find, if anything. Of course, it may simply be a birth defect, and I am worrying over nothing. But as seals are higher up on the food chain and consume other marine creatures, they could be the front line when it comes to realizing the effects of the many, many substances we allow to flow into our waters.

The MMC and other marine researchers are finding that another toxin, domoic acid, is killing sea lions and the numbers are only increasing. The domoic acid is a toxin released by the Pseudo-nitzschia algae, an algae that needs sunlight and nutrient-rich water, which are usually not the same water. However, with increasing amounts of nutrients in the form of fertilizers running into our near-shore waters, like Southern California where many sea lions are dying, algae blooms are becoming common in the spring and early summer.

seals, NOVA, pbs, ocean, animals, marine, mammal, tumors, growths, flame retardants, chemicals, toxins, cancer, tasmanian devil, water, pollution, algae, bloom, California, Marine Mammal Center, sea lions, domoic acid, Pseudo-nitzschia, harbor seal

Did you know that the present time is already considered one of the great mass extinctions? Humans seem to be the major culprit in this, the Holocene extinction event, but scientists have recently began surmising that a similar extinction 251 million years ago was caused by the same thing. But with no humans around 251 million years ago, what is it that I am talking about — yep, carbon dioxide.

The Christian Science Monitor published an article this last week detailing the current hypotheses of a team of researchers and scientists from multiple disciplines.

Now scientists are rethinking another of earth’s great die-offs. The end-Permian extinction 251 million years ago was the worst of earth’s five mass extinctions. Ninety percent of all marine life and 70 percent of terrestrial life disappeared. It took five million years, perhaps more, for the biosphere to recover.

But while the die-off was uniquely devastating, evidence of a single cataclysmic event, like an asteroid strike, hasn’t been found in the geological record. Scientists now suspect that “the mother of all mass extinctions” was of Earth’s own making. And the more they learn about it, the more parallels they see to today’s world: A bout of greenhouse-gas-induced global warming, much like today’s, set off a chain of events that culminated in oxygen-depleted oceans exhaling poison gas.

It seems that increased volcanic activity started burning through coal beds, releasing enormous amounts of carbon dioxide — something we humans are doing, we are like little volcanoes, I guess. The Earth’s population at the time was already stressing the system, and when the extra CO2 entered the atmosphere, it lead to warmer seas (sounds familiar). The warmer seas lead to increased weathering and erosion, which washed nutrients into the oceans, thus leading to algae blooms (again, familiar). When the algae dies, the decomposition process requires oxygen, effectively starving the water of oxygen. When water does not have enough oxygen, many organisms cannot live in that water, except for anaerobic organisms that breathe in sulfates and give off hydrogen sulfide as exhalation. Hydrogen sulfide is poisonous to us oxygen-loving organisms.

And the lessons for today? At the Permian boundary, “you’re in a state of gradual warming, then as you approach that boundary, the warming in­­creases dramatically,” says Jeff Kiehl, a senior scientist at the Na­­­tion­­­al Center for Atmospheric Re­­search in Boulder, Colo. “It wasn’t a linear warming.” Says Professor Kump: “This shows us what could happen if we push the system too hard…. We don’t know where the intermediate thresholds are.”

We’re still some way from the atmospheric CO2 levels hypothesized at the end-Permian extinction – which were perhaps 10 times preindustrial levels, or 2,800 ppm. Yet, according the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, if trends continue we’re still approaching 1,000 ppm of CO2 by 2100. That’s not Permian-extinction levels, but it would be the highest CO2 concentration in 80 million years, and a level at which both ocean anoxia and lesser extinctions have occurred.

This theory on what lead to the “great dying” at the transition between the Permian and Triassic periods (the extinction event is called the Permian-Triassic extinction event, appropriately enough) has been bouncing around for a while now, once scientists started questioning the evidence of the Killer Asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs. It seems that despite the asteroid’s impact and subsequent devastation, many big dinosaurs stuck around for quite some time afterward. When the asteroid impact theory gained popularity, some scientists felt that all of our many mass extinctions throughout Earth’s history were caused by otherworldly impacts, but not all the evidence added up.

Until fossil records started showing evidence of little sulfide-emitting organisms, and then scientists started looking at the Permian-Triassic more carefully.

From a Scientific American article from 2006:

But the biomarkers in the oceanic sediments from the latest part of the Permian, and from the latest Triassic rocks as well, yielded chemical evidence of an ocean-wide bloom of the H2S-consuming bacteria. Because these microbes can live only in an oxygen-free environment but need sunlight for their photosynthesis, their presence in strata representing shallow marine settings is itself a marker indicating that even the surface of the oceans at the end of the Permian was without oxygen but was enriched in H2S.

Also, the P-Tr event is marked by volcanic activity in Siberia, of all places, and only a couple of months ago, scientists discovered that large amounts of methane are leaking from the Siberia Seabed. Hmm, methane is a greenhouse gas that has 20 times the power to trap heat that carbon dioxide does, and if that “leak” continues, well, estimates that 50 percent of all species will go extinct in the next century may not be too far off the mark.

extinction, mass, permian, triassic, dinosaurs, humans, mammals, volcanic activity, volcanoes, asteroid, impact, Siberia, methane, carbon dioxide, population stress, warming seas, sulfides, oxygen, algae bloom, anaerobic, greenhouse gas, global warming

Ok, that is a bit misleading, I admit, but scientists have discovered a fungus in South American that produces octane and other hydrocarbons that are also found in petroleum.

Gary Strobel, a plant pathologist at Montana State University, happened upon a fungus growing on an Ulmo tree in Patagonia. When he and other researchers grew the fungus in their lab, they found that the fungus “exhaled” the same hydrocarbons that are found in diesel fuel.

From Science:

After discovering the new fungus wedged between cells in a stem from an Ulmo tree (Eucryphia cordifolia), Strobel and colleagues cultured the organism, collected the gaseous compounds it produced, and ran the compounds through a mass spectrometer to identify them. When he saw the printout, Strobel says, “every hair on my body stood up.” The list included octane, 1-octene, heptane, 2-methyl, and hexadecane–all common components of diesel fuels.

Although other microbes are known to make individual volatile hydrocarbons common in fuels, Strobel says none can match the synthetic repertoire of G. roseum, which makes a staggering 55 volatile hydrocarbons: “No one has ever observed anything like this with any microbe before.” He suspects that the fungus produces the hydrocarbon stew to inhibit other organisms from growing nearby.

So this little fungus gives off these noxious fumes in order to carve out a nook for itself to live, and this “perfume” just happens to be the same stuff that we humans rely on for transportation needs. My question is naturally, if we do find a way to harness this octane brew, will it still burn off into carbon dioxide?

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

Seriously, this is pretty neat, that a small microorganism can produce gasoline and jet fuel, but how is producing renewable fuels that are burned and give off carbon dioxide among other gases help us in the long run? I agree that these fuel-producing microbes could alleviate “peak oil” and great loss we will all suffer when the eventual day comes when we run out of oil. But unless scientists can also find a microbe that can turn carbon dioxide into oh, let’s say, oxygen, I don’t see how these new biofuels, renewable or not, can help mitigate all that carbon dioxide we all have had a hand in pumping into Earth’s atmosphere.

However, to play the positive side of Lulu, this new fungus could provide impetus for people to preserve what little undisturbed wilderness we have left on this planet. If this little fungus was growing on a tree in Patagonia, who knows what is growing on trees in Canada’s arboreal forest, or the rainforess of Borneo. We could wipe out these trees and forests and other undisturbed ecosystems before we have the opportunity to stumble upon little hydrocarbon-producing fungi.

biofuels, gas, oil, octane, fuel, transportation, fungus, ulmo tree, South America, Patagonia, hyrdocarbons, forests, rainforest, Canadian arboreal, wilderness, carbon dioxide, oxygen

Earlier this month, Science Magazine reported that an international collaboration of scientists have published a comprehensive database of everything mammalian. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) pulled together information from all parts of the world as well as going back into records from the 1500’s in order to get a total picture of what is going on in the world of warm-blooded vertabrates.

The database, part of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, updates and expands a survey from 1996 and includes both land and marine species. Taking 5 years to compile, the effort involved more than 1700 researchers from 130 countries. They combed their literature and pooled their unpublished knowledge of ecology, taxonomy, distribution, population trends, threats, and conservation efforts. The species were then classified according to their extinction risk. “We wanted to make this one-stop shopping for scientists and policymakers,” says IUCN and Conservation International mammalogist Jan Schipper, who coordinated the project.

The bad news is that one quarter of those 5487 species are on the fast track to extinction. Half are experiencing declining numbers. Out of the total number, more than 860 species are too poorly known to be properly assessed in terms of population health.

The good news is that since the last published database, 700 new species of mammals have been discovered. Also encouraging is that well-established and funded conservation programs are working for the most part in many areas.

More numbers…

29 of the species in the database may already be extinct, including China’s freshwater dolphin the baiji.

188 species are critically endangered.

1 in 5 species that are not already showing danger of extinction are showing decreases in population.

1139 species are presently threatened with extinction.

Habitat loss is the major reason for declining numbers in addition to hunting for land mammals. Marine mammals face the same threats, but also suffer more acutely from pollution issues and fishing including by-catch of species that are not regulated by fishing agencies. The larger the animal, the higher the risk of extinction, such as in such animals as gorillas and rhinos. Marine mammals are facing the biggest threat in the North Atlantic and Pacific as well as in the waters around Southeast Asia.

The new database “is the most valuable effort to date to summarize the state of conservation and threats to the world’s mammal populations,” says mammalogist Don Wilson of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. “By detailing threats at the species level, it will now be possible for management agencies in every country in the world to prioritize their efforts to try to mitigate these threats.”

With more and more people needing more and more room, I cannot say with any conviction that we can save some of these mammals. That brings up an interesting question: What do we save? What can we save? And who decides?

mammals, extinction, endangered, species, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, database, marine, land, Southeast Asia, China, baiji, dolphin, gorillas, rhinos, North Atlantic, North Pacific, pollution, habitat destruction, hunting, by-catch